Seeking God’s Favor – Part 1
Zechariah 7:1-14 (1-7)
December 4, 2016
Tonight we enter a new section in the book of Zechariah.
We spent quite a while covering that one infamous night
In which Zechariah had 8 visions from the LORD.
But those visions are now over and God’s truth revealed from those.
Now we move into a new segment.
It is actually a period of time 2 years down the road.
(1) “In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev.”
• It has now been 2 years since the night visions and that also means that the temple is about ½ completed at this point.
And God is about to speak again.
This time the message being prompted by a question
That is presented by a traveling delegation.
(2) “Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to seek the favor of the LORD,”
The question that they ask is
The catalyst for this next message from Zechariah.
This delegation will ask a question and Zechariah 7 & 8
Are God’s answer to the question they ask.
You are familiar with “Bethel”.
• It was a city 12 miles north of Jerusalem.
• It is most famous for its having been a center for apostate worship.
1 Kings 12:28-29 “So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.”
• I’m sure you remember how Solomon’s son Rehoboam split the kingdom and how Jeroboam became king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
• One of the first things he did was set up a golden calf in Dan so that the people of Israel would not return to Jerusalem to worship because he feared he would lose his kingdom.
• Those golden calves he set up became the sin that Israel never recovered from. Nearly every king after him has the same horrific legacy, “He did not depart from the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat”
But now, it is apparent that after the exile,
Some of the refugees have once again begun to inhabit that city.
And on this day a delegation of them shows up in Jerusalem,
Where the temple construction is under way.
The men are called “Sharezer and Regemmelech”
• Which are not Jewish names, but are most likely pagan names
• They were given in Babylon (similar to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego)
And they come with the men of Bethel “to seek the favor of the LORD”
“to seek the favor of the LORD” is a really interesting phrase.
A literal translation of the phrase would be: “to soften the face of the LORD”
Or “to stroke the face of the LORD”
It is a phrase that routinely speaks of intense prayer before God.
BUT IT CAN ALSO INDICATE AN ATTEMPT TO APPEASE GOD.
The idea is to flatter God with prayer;
To inquire before God in such a way as to appease Him
And provoke a favorable response from Him.
Obviously seeking God’s face in intense prayer is a great thing.
The problem is when we only do it to satisfy our own selfish desires.
We are familiar with what James said:
James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
We’ll see in a moment where this delegation falls on that issue,
But I want to make sure you understand what is happening.
• These people have traveled to Jerusalem to pray and seek the face of God.
• They have come to soften His face toward them.
• They have come to try and receive His favor in their lives.
• And they are inquiring about a specific thing they’ve done.
(3) “speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?”
I actually think this is quite a loaded question
And one which reveals their hearts to an enormous extent.
Why do I say that?
Because they don’t just come asking, “LORD, what is your desire for me?”
They come saying, “We’ve been doing quite a lot for quite a while, is there anything else?”
It sort of reminds me of the questioning of the Rich Young Ruler
When he told Jesus, “All these [commands] I have kept; what am I still lacking?” (Matthew 19:20)
There is an almost self-sufficient arrogance going on there.
Like the Pharisee in the temple:
Luke 18:11-12 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’”
It’s not really a person entreating God’s favor
So much as it is a person telling God why they ought to receive it.
And make no mistake their sacrifice was a real one.
“Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain as I have done these many years?”
Just by way of explanation:
• There was no fast which was commanded for the fifth month of the Jewish
year.
• This was a fast which emerged as a result of the destruction of the temple,
which had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in the fifth month.
2 Kings 25:8-12 “Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile. But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.”
Naturally those who saw the temple destroyed and survived the slaughter and who were carried into Babylon remembered that horrific event.
• America still remembers December 7th
• America still remembers September 11th
• You still remember dates of the death of loved ones or other tragedies in your
life.
These Jews who had been exiled turned the 5th month
Into sort of an obvious time of fasting and mourning
Over the destruction of their temple.
The 137th Psalm gives a little insight into their mourning.
Psalms 137:1-6 “By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst of it We hung our harps. For there our captors demanded of us songs, And our tormentors mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” How can we sing the LORD’S song In a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, May my right hand forget her skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.”
They naturally remembered and wept and fasted.
But think about it.
• That was over 70 years ago.
• Odds are good many of these people weren’t even alive when it happened.
• These people didn’t feel the sting
• They’re still going by their Babylonian names
I wasn’t alive December 7, 1941
While I try to understand what it must have been like, I’m sure it’s an entirely different emotion for those who lived it.
My kids weren’t alive September 11, 2001
They have no idea of what that felt like to us.
Here we have a group of refugees who are still keeping up with the fasts and ceremonies of those who originally felt the sting.
(It has become more about tradition than emotion)
And they have done it “these many years”.
And before we just pass this off as insignificant let me ask you when the LAST TIME YOU FASTED from anything from any amount of time was.
(I’m sure some of you have; in a purely temporal sense some of gone on diets)
You and I know that giving up things that the flesh craves for any period of time is not necessarily something that we eagerly do.
Whether it’s food or entertainment or comfort or anything else.
Now, many in our culture will do it if they can see a payoff.
• For example, people will go without sugar if they are promised to lose weight or
to feel better or to be healthier.
• People will put their body through rigorous training if they can get toned or win
the competition, etc.
But not many are too hip on sacrificing
Especially if they can’t see a value in it.
BUT HERE WE HAVE
• People who have been putting themselves through a fast
• Which God never commanded,
• And which has lost its personal sting,
• And they are wondering if there is any benefit in it?
I mean beyond that, it seems a little strange to fast about losing the temple when the new temple is well on its way.
Do you understand then what is happening?
These people want the payoff.
These people want God’s favor.
They want God’s blessing.
And they want to know
How much spiritual currency they have accumulated for having been so faithful to this uncommanded fast for so many years.
Seems like it ought to be worth something right?
Now of course we could go into a long message
Talking about the impossibility of earning God’s favor.
• We could talk about how all our righteous deeds are filthy rags.
• We could talk about how there is none who does good, not even one.
• And we could talk about how only in Christ are we made pleasing to God.
In short we could talk about the impotence of religious works
And the necessity of grace.
BUT THAT ISN’T THE ISSUE HERE
The issue isn’t JUSTIFICATION
We’ve already been through the night visions.
Is God pleased with Israel?
Yes.
• He has already revealed that He is jealous for them.
• He has already revealed that He will defend them.
• He has already revealed His election of them and justification of them.
• He has already revealed that He is working through them.
• He has already revealed that He will sanctify them.
• And He has revealed that He will crush their enemies.
On top of that He has delivered them from Babylon back to Israel
Where He is now helping them rebuild the temple and their land.
Yes, God is pleased.
The question is regarding the benefits or reward or favor that is achieved by those who are already saved.
HOW DO I ACHIEVE GOD’S FAVOR?
So these people came up who have been sacrificing themselves through a ritualistic fast and they want to know if it has pleased God and if He wants them to continue?
(2-3) “Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to seek the favor of the LORD, speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?”
Well, let’s see how God answers.
God answers by asking them to consider 3 things.
#1 CONSIDER THE REAL PURPOSE
Zechariah 7:4-7
That is to say; EXAMINE THE MOTIVE
Why are you doing it?
It is not specifically stated, so we can’t be dogmatic,
But it could be that this delegation from Bethel
Actually felt like maybe God wasn’t rewarding them as He should have.
You know, they felt like participating for 70+ years in an uncommanded fast
Was worth a little more blessing than they were actually receiving.
And I think that fits the context,
Especially when you consider the answer that is given here.
The Lord actually calls to mind a parallel incident
That is eerily similar to the current one.
First He says:
(5-6) “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted? ‘When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?”
That is to say: “All this fasting you did, was it for Me or was it for you?”
And then He says:
(7) “’Are not these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous along with its cities around it, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?'”
In other words we realize that in verses 5&6
God was simply quoting Himself from earlier times.
They wanted to know if their fasting was producing any reward or favor?
And God basically says, “I’ve answered that question before haven’t I? And the answer now is the same as the answer was then, which is, ‘Why are you doing it?’”
When did God answer this question before?
TURN TO: Isaiah 58
• Isaiah (as the LORD just revealed) ministered during a time when Jerusalem
was prosperous and was full of people.
• But those people were greedy and still thought God was giving them the short
end of the stick so they came to God with a question.
(READ 1-3a)
Recognize the question?
Stated a little different, but the same basic point.
Hey God, we’ve been fasting here,
And it doesn’t seem like it’s paying off the way it should.
In that day God revealed that the reason was because they didn’t fast for Him, they fasted for themselves.
(READ 3-14)
That was a pretty strong point there from God wasn’t it?
Sure you fast, you do without certain foods,
But you don’t do it because you want to please Me.
• You aren’t really seeking Me, you aren’t really concerned about what I want.
• You are just going through some ritual whereby you expect that I will be
obligated to reward you.
INCIDENTALLY THIS IS A VERY REAL ISSUE IN REGARD TO RELIGION.
We talk some about the reformation and why it is important,
Here is another aspect.
In the Catholic church we talk of the term “merit”.
And merit is: the quality of being particularly good or worthy, especially so as to deserve praise or reward:
Now, in the Catholic system there are three types of merit.
Congruent Merit is that which is given and is fitting, but is not required. Meaning you do something good which could be rewarded, but doesn’t have to be.
For example; You clean the bathroom here at the church.
A reward would be fitting, but it is not required.
Condign merit is that which requires a reward and in fact, it is unjust not to receive a reward for it. Merit that is so virtuous that it obligates God to reward it. (Jesus work, some of the saints)
Meaning you do something that God owes you for,
And God would be unjust if He failed to reward you.
And in the Catholic church there four requirements that must be met here.
1) It must be morally good
2) It must be morally free (done with pure motive)
3) It must be done with the assistance of grace (beyond natural human ability)
4) It must be inspired by a supernatural motive (done in love or faith etc.)
And if you do something that meets those 4 requirements
Then God is bound to give you reward.
The third is Supererogatory Merit
Which are works that go beyond God’s requirement and you actually obtain more merit than you need. (The extra merit is deposited in the Treasury of merit where others can obtain it through indulgences, etc.)
Now obviously that is legalism, not the gospel.
That is also why grace was so often defined as “God’s unmerited favor”,
Meaning God chose to reward you when you did nothing to deserve it.
But you understand why this was such an issue in the reformation.
It’s because so much of the time WE WANT TO BELIEVE IT.
We may not admit it, but we want to believe that if I go to church or if I read my Bible or if I give money that God owes me a reward.
In fact, we get offended if we think God short changes us and gives us hardship instead of “blessing” or even worse if God “blesses” someone who has done less than us.
Here’s a story for you:
TURN TO: Matthew 19
• Of course you remember the Rich Young Ruler who went away sad.
• And then you remember Jesus making the point about how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Well then comes Peter asking for the balance
In his own personal treasury of merit.
(READ 19:27-29)
• Jesus told Peter he would be rewarded.
So does Jesus there actually affirm the reality of Condign merit?
You would think that if it were not for the next statement He makes.
(30) “But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.”
Well that’s kind of cryptic, what did He mean by that?
(READ 20:1-16)
We learned that God dispenses reward according to grace not merit.
Every one of those laborers received more than they deserved.
And Jesus’ parable there was meant to reveal that
We are not rewarded based upon our merit,
But based upon God’s generosity.
Peter wasn’t receiving many times as much because of his sacrifice.
Peter was receiving many times as much because of God’s generosity.
But we like to let that old issue of merit
And what I deserve creep in don’t we?
Well that is what is creeping in here.
These people (like in Isaiah’s day) have been sacrificing for quite a while.
And they want to know what it has earned them.
Perhaps you are curious how much God owes you
For that spiritual service you’ve been performing.
SO LET’S SEE HOW MUCH VALUE YOUR SERVICE IS WORTH.
First issue God raises is that you CONSIDER THE REAL PURPOSE
So we sacrifice for God and we feel like we’ve earned a little reward from God, and to that God asks the question:
Why did you do it?
We’ll look at the rest of the chapter next time
