What Is Genuine Faith?

Zechariah 7 is two years into the prophet's ministry. He has seen the visions and now he will proclaim God's Word, interpreting them for the people of Israel and us. 

Zechariah 7:1–3 (ESV) 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. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the LORD, 3 saying to the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

The chapter begins with people from Bethel seeking the Lord's favor and asking the priests about fasting. You can understand why they sought these answers. Their nation was in a desperate place, recently returned from exile, and as the Temple would be rebuilt, they wondered about what sort of religious practices they should follow. The natural heart of man tends toward rebellion OR self-righteousness. In this case, they wondered how they might secure God's blessing on themselves through sacrifice and offerings. 

Zechariah 7:5–7 (ESV) “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 Were not these the words that the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’ ”

True prophets rarely answer questions as the people expect. Zechariah is a true prophet. He brings them to the heart of the issue. What was the point of all their fasting? What was the point of the people's religious activities before the exile? As Isaiah and Jeremiah remind us, the nation was both religiously active and utterly rebellious, which led to God's judgment. 

A quote the Lord uses from Isaiah reminds us:

Isaiah 29:13 (ESV) And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me...

And elsewhere:

Isaiah 58:2 (ESV) Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. 

The Lord sent these people into judgment as they practiced rituals and offerings because their hearts were not truly set on serving Him. And so the question is, how can we know when our sacrifices are false?

Zechariah 7:8–10 (ESV) And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

Zechariah carries on the same message of Isaiah and the pre-exilic prophets. When you truly love and worship the Lord, you will care for one another and not exploit each other. True worship of God is made pure by genuine concern for those around us. 

It is no different in the New Covenant. The Lord commanded:

John 13:34 (ESV) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

So John proclaimed to the Church:

1 John 4:20–21 (ESV) If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

It really is that simple, though we make it so hard. To love God truly is to recognize that you are not the center of the Universe but rather a servant of the Most High to glorify Him by loving and serving others. For this reason, Christ laid down His life to form a new community of faith that genuinely loves their neighbor as itself.