hypocrites – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

Many people criticize Christians for hypocrisy, warranted or not. But to God, it is a serious issue.

In this passage, we see the returnees who had been exiled to Babylon coming before Zechariah and asking if they should continue fasting in the fifth and seventh months as they and their parents had done for the previous seventy years.

But God replied to Zechariah,

Ask all the people of the land and the priests, “When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?

And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?” (Zechariah 7:5–6)

In other words, “You did these religious rituals, but it meant nothing because it didn’t come from your heart. It was just a show.”

The word “hypocrite” originally meant a “stage actor.” And that’s what these exiles were. They pretended to be pious, but in reality, they were not.

Then God reminded them of what he had commanded their forefathers before the exile.

This is what the Lord Almighty said:

‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

But they refused to pay attention. (Zechariah 7:9–11)

And God warned them that it was because they had hardened their hearts that they had been sent into exile in the first place.

‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty. (Zechariah 7:13)

What do we take from all of this?

God isn’t impressed with our pious religious rituals. He’s more concerned with our daily lives. How do we treat others? Do we show mercy and compassion to others? And are we concerned with true justice?

I was watching a movie today, Amazing Grace, about William Wilberforce’s efforts to get the slave trade banned in Great Britain.

As I think of Wilberforce’s life, I think that’s the kind of thing God wants from all of us. Wilberforce had compassion on those who were being shipped and dying as slaves, and worked hard for its abolishment.

We may not have the same kind of influence on a country-wide scale as Wilberforce did. But we do have influence with every single person that we touch. At home. At work. In our neighborhoods.

Do people see the compassion and mercy of Christ in our lives?

That’s what God wants from us. And that’s what’s ultimately going to change this world: the body of Christ showing his love and compassion to all we come in contact with.

Let us not be hypocrites who merely go to church, read the Bible, and pray.

Let us be people who are filled with God’s compassion and mercy. And let’s make a difference in this world that God has put us in.

Whether favorable or unfavorable

Let’s face it. Sometimes God’s will is not convenient for us.

There are times we’d much rather do something other than what God has asked us to do. And it’s so easy to focus on what we want or what we think is right that we push God’s will to the side.

That’s what happened to the remnant of Jews in these chapters.

After Gedaliah’s assassination, two leaders of the remnant, Johanan and Jezaniah went up to attack his assassin Ishmael and his band.

Ishmael and his people were going, along with their captives, to the land of the Ammonites who had hired them for the assassination.

Johanan and Jezaniah were successful in recovering the captives, but Ishmael and eight of his men escaped.

At that point, Johanan and Jezaniah had to decide what to do.

They were frightened that Nebuchadnezzar would hold them responsible for Gedaliah’s death, and were contemplating running to Egypt.

Before doing so, however, they consulted Jeremiah, saying,

Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do….

Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God. (Jeremiah 42:3,6)

One gets the impression, however, that more than asking God’s will, they were hoping for God’s blessing on their plans.

They probably started making their plans for Egypt, fully expecting Jeremiah to say, “Yes, God wants you to go to Egypt. Go in peace.”

But Jeremiah told them just the opposite.

First he told them that God was grieved at having to bring judgment upon Judah, and that if they stayed in Judah, God would plant them there and they would be fruitful.

He also told them that they would have nothing to fear from Nebuchadnezzar.

After saying this, however, he warned them against going to Egypt saying that if they did, what they feared would come to them: they would die in Egypt and never see Judah again.

Then Jeremiah said,

You made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’

I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all he sent me to tell you. (Jeremiah 42:21-22)

I like the King James and New King James translations here. The King James says,

For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God. (21)

The New King James puts it,

You were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God. (21)

Despite their promise to do whatever God said, favorable or not, the people disobeyed God, going to Egypt anyway.

What about you? When you come to God, do you do so hypocritically?

Do you dissemble in your heart saying, “Lord, I’ll do whatever you ask,” when you really mean, “I’ll do whatever you ask if it fits with what I want to do?”

Sometimes it seems favorable us to do things God’s way. It’s easy to obey God then.

But how about when it seems unfavorable? What will you do?

If, for example, it means leaving a comfortable life, or if it means leaving behind your job or your girlfriend or boyfriend, will you do it?

God does desire what’s best for us. If only we could recognize that and trust him enough to obey him.

Do you?