What question are Sherezer and Regem-melech asking in this passage?

Sherezer, Regem-melech, and their men come to the house of the Lord with a specific question about fasting. For many years they had kept a fast in the fifth month, weeping and setting themselves apart to remember the fall of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple. Now that some of the people are back in the land and the temple is being rebuilt, they want to know if they should keep doing this. Their question shows they still care about worship, but they are unsure how their old rituals fit their new situation.

Why does God ask, “Did you at all fast unto me, even to me”?

God’s question shows that the main issue is not whether they fasted, but why they fasted. They had kept these fasts for seventy years, but God asks if their fasting was really for Him at all. Their hearts were not fixed on God, His mercy, or His commands. Instead, their fasts had become habits and outward shows. By asking this, God is exposing empty religion that goes through motions without love, repentance, or a real desire to walk in His ways.

What does this passage teach about true fasting and worship?

This passage shows that true fasting and worship are about the heart, not just the outward act. God points out that when they ate and drank, they did it for themselves, and when they fasted, it was much the same. True fasting is meant to turn a person toward God in humility, to listen to His word, and to change how they treat others. God ties worship to obeying His call to do what is right, to show mercy and compassion, and to refuse to harm others in thought or deed.

Why does God talk about justice, mercy, and compassion in answer to a fasting question?

God’s answer moves from the ritual to the life behind it. He tells them to execute true judgment, show mercy and compassions to each other, not to oppress the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, or the poor, and not even to plan evil in their hearts. By doing this, God shows that worship is not just about special days or food, but about how people treat one another every day. A fast without justice and kindness is empty, because God cares deeply for the weak and wronged.

What does it mean that they made their hearts like an adamant stone?

Saying their hearts were like an adamant stone pictures a will that has become hard and unyielding. They were not just careless; they pulled away the shoulder, stopped their ears, and chose not to listen to the law and to the words God sent by the prophets through His Spirit. A stony heart refuses correction and does not want to change. This hardness is what brought God’s great anger, because they pushed away many warnings and calls to return before judgment finally came.

Why did God scatter the people among the nations in this passage?

God explains that He scattered them with a whirlwind among nations they did not know because they would not listen when He cried to them. When He spoke through His prophets, they ignored Him. So when trouble came and they cried out, He did not listen. Their land, once pleasant, became desolate with no one passing through or returning. This scattering was not random; it was the result of long‑term refusal to hear God’s word and to live in the way He had clearly set before them.

What was happening in history when this message came to Zechariah?

This message came in the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month. The people had begun to return from exile, and the temple in Jerusalem was being rebuilt after its earlier destruction. Some still lived away from the land, but they sent gifts and questions to those in Jerusalem. They had kept fasts during seventy years of captivity to mourn what was lost. Now, with rebuilding underway, they were wondering which of their old practices still fit God’s will.

How does this passage speak to people who feel spiritually sluggish or stuck in routines?

The people in this passage were still keeping fasts and asking questions, yet their hearts often lagged behind their actions. God does not praise their slowness, but He does answer them and calls them deeper. For anyone who feels stuck in routine, this shows that going through motions is not enough, but it also shows that God is willing to speak to those who still seek Him. It invites honest self‑examination: Are my habits drawing me toward justice, mercy, and a softer heart toward God and others?

What does this passage teach about God’s character and patience?

Here we see that God cares about both worship and daily life. He sends His word again, after many earlier prophets, showing that He is patient and keeps calling people back. He watches how His people treat widows, orphans, strangers, and the poor. At the same time, He is not indifferent when His word is ignored. His patience has a limit, and continued hardness leads to judgment. So we see a God who is gracious and slow to anger, yet also holy and serious about obedience.

Zech.7.1

Zechariah 7:1

King James Version (KJV)

And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;

Chapter:

A Call to Justice and Mercy

1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;

2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the Lord,

3 And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

4 ¶ Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying,

5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

7 Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?

8 ¶ And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying,

9 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his Spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.

13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts:

14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

Context:

A Call to Justice and Mercy

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.