Zechariah 7:4-7

Zechariah 7:4-7

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

What does Zechariah 7:4-7 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

This is the first of four messages that Zechariah received from the Lord that bear on the question just raised. That there were four separate messages seems clear since each one begins with the same preamble: "The word of the Lord came" ( Zechariah 7:4; Zechariah 7:8; Zechariah 8:1; Zechariah 8:18). The first two, in chapter7 , are negative, and the last two, in chapter8 , are positive.