Hearts of stone, meaningless prayers, and the forgotten Word of God

Zechariah 7

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

• And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions.
• When we pray, eat, and drink, are we really doing it for the Lord, or ourselves?
• Do not harden your hearts as in the day of the provocation.
• A heart of stone brings the wrath of God.

And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions.

“Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, when the people sent Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to the house of God, to pray before the Lord, and to ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?” Zechariah 7:1-3

Darius was the Emperor after the downfall of the Babylonian Empire. Darius released the Jewish people who were once captives to the Babylonians. Under Darius, the Jewish people were permitted to rebuild the first temple of Jerusalem, which the Babylonians destroyed. During that time, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, in the month of Chislev, which was about late November to mid-December.

During that time, the Jewish people sent representatives to the house of the Lord to pray and also to ask the priests if they should weep in the fifth month and fast, as they had done for 70 years in captivity to the Babylonians. That signifies insincere mourning and fasting, which was set like clock-work instead of a genuine heartfelt mourning and grieving. That is verified in the coming verses. Every year, for seventy years, in the month of July or August [Fifth month of Ab], the Jewish people would put on mourning clothing and would fast. They were mourning and fasting over the destruction of the first temple, which was the Temple that Solomon built.

Now that the Jewish people were allowed to rebuild the temple, they wanted to know if they still needed to grieve every July or August for the destruction of the first temple. They were now rebuilding the temple, the second temple. The Jewish people were very mechanized in their mourning rituals, having no real heartfelt sense of mourning and fasting. That is an example of how the letter of the law kills genuine and heartfelt feelings while the Spirit gives life, “…the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 2 Corinthians 3:6 Our Lord Jesus says,  “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Matthew 6:7

As followers of Jesus Christ, we do not mourn over the destruction of manmade buildings, not even the destruction of the fallen churches. That is compared to the rejoicing we have to be the temple of God, with the Christ, Jesus, being our Priest, and we being the temple of the Holy Spirit. “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.” Hebrews 9:11 Jesus said, “Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.” Mark 2:19-20

When we pray, eat, and drink, are we really doing it for the Lord, or ourselves?

“Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me? When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? ” Zechariah 7:4-6

The Spirit of the Lord sent a word to the Jewish people through Zachariah. In the seventy years of ritualistic mourning and fasting [every year in the month of July/August], were they really mourning and fasting for the Lord? That is the question asked to every person, every Believer of today, when we pray are we really praying in the spirit to communicate with the Spirit of God? Or are we just saying vain words, amounting to nothing more than rituals from a heart hardened to the presence of the Holy Spirit, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24

When you eat and drink, are you really eating and drinking for yourselves? Eating and drinking was a time for gathering in the name of the Lord, to fellowship with one another in harmony with God the Creator. In the seventy years of captivity to Babylon, the Israelites were eating and drinking but not in the name of the Lord. They were enjoying the food of the Babylonians but not sincerely fellowshipping in the Lord. Today, how often do we really fellowship in the Holy Spirit when we eat our food? Are we just eating to fill our appetite or do we really have our heart open to our Lord Jesus Christ in the process?

When prayers become ritualistic, directed towards physical needs, and not of the Holy Spirit, the house of prayer becomes a den of thieves, “And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” Matthew 21:13

The culture of today, which is global, has turned prayers into a non-spiritual event and no association is made with eating and fellowshipping in the name of Jesus the Christ. Their requests and petitions are made to the beast that has power over physiology to cause earthly physical “prayers” to be answered. Their heart is hardened against the Spirit, against God, and against Jesus Christ. The beast they serve gives them what to speak, do, think, and feel. That beast gives breath/life to the image of the beast to speak by speaking and living through people everywhere. By what they are given to say and do, the yare groomed to the mark, name, and number of the beast.

To have a heart right with God through Jesus Christ, we have to ask if what we are doing and praying for is just something we want or really for Him. As our Lord Jesus prayed, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:42-44

 “Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?’ ” Zechariah 7:7

Zachariah, by the Spirit of God, is reminding the Israelites of what their life was like before their captivity to Babylon. They lived in a land that was populated and prosperous, as too were the South and the Lowland. The reason they were brought into captivity by the Babylonians is because they turned away from God, rejected the Ten Commandments, and the sacrifices made to atone for sin meant nothing to them. Should not they have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets? As followers of Christ, in the good times and in the bad times, we must live for God through Jesus Christ, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, as quoted, “Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” Psalms 62:8

There has been an enormous falling away from the freedom once held in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The falling away has happened since after WW2 when the United Nations (global government of the beast) was established (as described in Daniel 8:1-14). Since that time, people have progressively become captives to the beast forming their thoughts, feelings, words, and behaviors. Today’s culture have turned away from God, discarded the need for the remission of sin through Jesus Christ, and ridicule the presence of the Holy Spirit. They scoff at Holiness. Click here for a post on the global falling away and the “man of sin”.

God requires mercy from us not superficial service.

“Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.’” Zechariah 7:8-10

Where does true justice, mercy, and compassion come from? Certainly not from rituals, nor seeking physical fulfillment for self, nor from meaningless prayers. True justice, mercy, and compassion comes from the Spirit, a heart receptive to God and His Son Jesus Christ who gives us His Holy Spirit. Rituals and non-spiritual service love go cold, which we see happening in the world today. Today’s culture prefers to live by the beast that gives them what to do, say, feel, and think instead of living in the genuine and warm love, faith, peace, and perseverance of the Lord.

As love goes cold in a lawless world, the population has evil in their heart continuously against belief in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. People everywhere plan evil against others. “…the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5 Click here for a post on Genesis 6.

Widows are being oppressed, which are those who are not married to the culture of the beast, and literally single women who are not part of the family structure of today’s atheistic culture. Their desire to live a life, and to survive, independent of today’s social network is oppressed. Orphans are being oppressed as well. Like the widows, they have no part in today’s culture, no way to make an independent living, and their desire to be “self-made” is oppressed.

Today, we are seeing a world with a heart of stone with no true justice, no mercy, and no compassion. It’s a world under the direction of the government of the beast, a beast that governs by giving people what to do, say, think, and feel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is ignored and oppression is around every corner. The Holy Spirit says to us, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6

Jesus Christ came to this world to bring justice, mercy, and compassion, as quoted,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Luke 4:18-19

Do not harden your hearts as in the day of provocation.

“But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.” Zechariah 7:11

The reason the Israelites were brought under the captivity of the Babylonians in the first place is because they refused to listen to the word of God through His prophets. They shrugged their shoulders to show they didn’t care about the word of God. They plugged up their ears to keep from hearing what the Lord expected of them. Through Zachariah, the Lord was warning the Israelites not to do the same as they become freed from the captivity to the Babylonians.

We who are born-again through Jesus Christ know that we were among those who shrugged our shoulders and plugged up our ears to the Gospel of Christ. Now that we have been set free from the ways of the world, we never want to return to the day of indifference to God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

“Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the day of provocation.” Hebrews 3:15

“Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 7:12

We live in a world where people in every city around the world has a heart of stone against the Gospel of Christ (Everyone except those whose name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life). Jesus Christ came to this earth in the Spirit of God to share the Good News of the Kingdom of God, and people refuse to hear Him. The great wrath of God has already come in part to this world, and more is to come. Global warming is already in the world, and in its intensity is the Fourth Plague, as written in Revelation 16:8-9. That leads to the power center of the beast being destroyed (Fifth Plague Revelation 16:10-11), which leaves the global government of the beast powerless. That leads to the Battle of Armageddon (Sixth Plague Revelation 16:11-16). Jesus Christ comes back when the Seventh Trumpet sounds within the Seventh Plague.

“Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. “But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.” Zechariah 7:13-14

Every word that the Lord has spoken through the prophets, and Jesus Christ [the word made flesh], has and is coming to pass. But no one is listening because they choose to listen to the beast that gives them what to think, say, feel, and do. Since 1940, there has been the fulfillment of Bible prophecy that the whole world witness. Whether a follower of Jesus Christ or not, those prophecies are in plain sight for all the world to see. Click here for a list of those prophecies and scroll towards the bottom of the page.

People who do not hear the words of the Christ, the Lord our God will not hear their cries when they call out in their misery within this world. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33 Those who live for the beast that governs by giving people what to speak, do, think, and feel have made this world desolate of the pleasant things of the Holy Spirit. They put for bitter for sweet, evil for good, and darkness for light. They are hostile to Holiness, hostile to the goodness of God, and hostile to the compassion of Jesus Christ. When they cry out in the misery of their own making, in their rejection of the Christ, Jesus, the lord will not hear them.

In the year 70 AD [37 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ], by the command of the Roman Emperor Titus, Jerusalem was destroyed, along with the second temple. The Jewish people were scattered with a whirlwind, and a Jewish occupation/government never inhabited the land after that. Not until 1948. For 1878 years, Jerusalem remained desolate, no one returned to reclaim Jerusalem, the pleasant land of our Lord Jesus was desolate.

Today, the global government of the beast and its global culture will be scattered with a whirlwind, this planet will be destroyed and made desolate. They will not recognize the nations in their ruins. Thus, this planet becomes desolate after them, no one will be passing through or return to the the land of this planet. As the cliche says, “They made their bed and now they will sleep in it.” This present heaven and earth passes away and the Lord creates a new heaven and earth. That new heaven and earth is the place of the eternal New Jerusalem, the home of everyone who confesses Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1