Trusting in the Wrong Traditions

Some church fights are almost predictable: touch a tradition and sparks fly, but challenge shaky teaching and the room goes quiet. We start there, then let Zechariah 7 confront the deeper issue behind religious habits, spiritual routines, and even sincere acts like fasting. When a delegation asks whether they should keep a long-standing fast that remembers Jerusalem’s fall, God doesn’t rush to a simple yes or no. He asks a harder question about motive: was it actually for Him, or was it for themselves?

From that heart-level probe, we move to what God calls His people to practice every day: true justice, kindness, mercy, and refusal to plot evil in the heart. Zechariah connects spiritual drift to real-world consequences, reminding us that rejecting God’s Word leads to judgment, not because God is petty, but because He is holy and we are obligated to listen. If you care about Christian discipleship, biblical obedience, and what authentic worship looks like, this is a needed mirror.

Then Zechariah 8 opens a window into future hope: God returning to Zion, a restored Jerusalem, and the promised kingdom where peace and joy replace fear and mourning. That promise isn’t escapism, it’s fuel. It strengthens the hands of people doing faithful work right now, and it even reframes old traditions as future celebrations when redemption is complete. If this encouraged or challenged you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review with the one tradition you’ve learned to hold with open hands.

Get instant, biblically faithful answers to your Bible questions. https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask

Learn more at https://www.wisdomonline.org/

Transcript

Traditions Versus Truth

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Unfortunately, in many churches today, I'm afraid that if the pastor started preaching some kind of false doctrine, some sort of strange interpretation, the people would just sit there quietly. At the close of the service, they'd go up, shake his hand, tell him what a fine sermon it was, and then go home and eat lunch. But let the pastor get up there and suggest that the church get rid of Wednesday night dinners or change the color of the carpet, and there'd be a church split. You know, now he's messing with traditions. He's asking for trouble. Now there's nothing wrong with traditions, and there's nothing wrong with Wednesday night dinners. Traditions are meant to honor special occasions, and frankly we all have them. But our traditions must always uphold the truth, not take precedence over the truth, or even distract us from the truth. As we sail now into Zechariah chapter 7, what we have here is the prophet Zechariah being confronted with a question about a well a long-standing tradition. Let me set the stage first with this opening verse here in chapter 7, which tells us that this is taking place about two years after those visions were recorded we just looked at, together in our last study in chapters 1 through 6. By now, reconstruction of the temple by the former Jewish exiles is, well, it's moving forward wonderfully under the encouragement of Zechariah and the prophet Haggai. But now at this point, the people of Bethel, about twelve miles north of Jerusalem, well they send a delegation to Jerusalem with a question about a tradition. Here's what they ask in verse three. Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month as I have done for so many years? Well, what are they talking about here? Well, if you look over at chapter eight, down at verse nineteen, you discover that the Jewish people had been observing four annual fasts. Now, these fasts were not commanded by their law, but they had been instituted during their captivity to weep over the fall of Jerusalem in five hundred eighty six BC. And this particular fast, taking place in the fifth month, was especially for the purpose of remembering the burning of the temple by the Babylonians. So you have these well-intentioned, sincere people of Bethel, and they want an answer. Now that the temple is being rebuilt, should they continue fasting, weeping in the fifth month? Well, instead of answering their question, Zechariah asks them some questions as he's directed by the Lord. Zechariah relays these questions here to all the people of the land and the priests, verse five. Here are the questions. When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? Now these questions are rhetorical, and the answers are obvious. They had kept the fast throughout the seventy years of captivity, but they they weren't centered on the Lord. They weren't focused on the Lord at all. They were just formal acts, traditions without any God centered thought. The same was true of their feasting. It was really for them to, you know, feel feel better about themselves. Listen, beloved, the Lord isn't bothered by their traditions. He's really interested in their motives behind those traditions. And I think it's rather sad to this day to see people observing religious traditions that really have nothing to do with God at all. In fact, many people today are more faithful to human traditions than they are to God. God looks at the heart. It's an obedient heart that pleases him. And this is what he's going to emphasize here in verse nine. Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor. And let none of you devise evil against another in your heart. How about making these your traditions? See, Zachariah is reminding the Jewish people here that previous generations had failed to follow God's commands. In fact, the Lord says here in verse eleven, they refused to pay attention and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. In other words, they're rejecting the word of God. They they don't even want to hear his prophets either. Now there are consequences to that kind of defiance. So the Lord says here to them in verse 13, As I called and they would not hear, so they called and I would not hear. So they eventually experience God's judgment. Verse 14, I scattered them among all the nations, and the pleasant land was made desolate. Let me tell you something, beloved. God is incredibly gracious and merciful and patient, but we need to understand he's not obligated to listen to us. We are obligated to listen to him. He's not an errand boy, you know, for the believer. He is Almighty God. Now here in chapter 8, God is urging them to obey based on the promise of future blessings. Both past discipline and future hope are always good motives for following the Lord, even today. You're going to be a wise person if you learn from the consequences of sin, even if it's in the lives of other people that you know, and you watch how God deals with them. You're going to be a wise believer if you live in light of your future with the Lord one day. And here's Israel's promise for the future. Verse three. Thus says the Lord, I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain. Now this of course is looking forward to the millennial age when Jesus Christ reigns on earth. In this wonderful season, Jerusalem, the headquarters, the capital city, so to speak, is going to be characterized by faithfulness to God. Now we're told here that the elderly are going to sit safely outdoors and children are going to be playing in the streets in total safety. Now, Zechariah uses the promises of their future relationship with the Lord to again motivate them to keep serving him now. Verse 9 says, Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets who are present on the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. Those working on the temple can continue their work, knowing they're they're part of the Lord's plan for the nation, which now culminates in this wonderfully renewed relationship in a beautifully restored land. This is going to be their future. This is going to be our future in Christ's kingdom on earth. And for Israel, whether going to experience agricultural prosperity and peace like never before, not only will the Lord save them and redeem them as they repent, he's going to bless them. And they're going to be a blessing to the rest of the world throughout this kingdom age, verse 13 tells us. So in light of this future day, the Lord says to the workers here in verse 13, fear not, but let your hands be strong. Well, now with that, Zachariah goes back to that troubling little question. You know, those people from Bethel wondered about fasting on the fifth day, and that was troubling them. Well, the Lord says to them now here in verse 19, that fast which recalls the fall of Jerusalem, is going to be to the house of Judah now seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. In other words, when the kingdom of Christ is established, you know, their tradition of fasting is going to be turned into a new tradition. It's going to be a thanksgiving feast, so to speak. So chapter 8 ends with another glimpse of the millennial kingdom, that future kingdom of blessing. Redeemed Israel is not only going to enjoy the Lord's personal reign there from that capital city, but all the other nations around the world are going to join with them in annual traditions of worshiping the Lord in Jerusalem. Listen, beloved, when you take to heart biblical history, that is the past, and biblical prophecy, which is the future, what happens? Will you develop a proper perspective and attitude in the present toward those God-given responsibilities that you have today? You remember, you belong to the king. You're heading toward a glorious kingdom where Christ is going to reign on earth. And in that day, another prophet, Habakkuk, records for us the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Well, in light of that, stay on course, run your race, whatever it is, but let joy be your traveling companion. And how can you be joyful? He's redeemed you from your past sin and he has a future kingdom just ahead. Well, until next time, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.