Zechariah 7:10
And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
The verse is the Lord's command to judge fairly and truthfully while showing mercy and compassion to one another, forbidding any oppression or exploitation of widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor, and forbidding harboring or plotting evil against another in the heart. It is God's own law sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets, so to refuse it was disobedience to Him. It was urged upon His people who were to be His moral light and fellow workers, including those returned from captivity to rebuild, yet they turned away, stopped their ears, and hardened their hearts like flint because it opposed their selfish course. Because they would not hear, He would not hear their cry but poured out great wrath and scattered them like a whirlwind among unknown nations until the land lay desolate. The same requirement binds in every age, with rich temporal and spiritual blessing conditioned on obedience, demanding integrity in business and in thought, word, and deed, peace and mutual upbuilding in the church, and faithful, honest labor for God without hindering His servants or neglecting needy fields.
Meaning and Original Setting
The command is to execute fair and truthful judgment and to show mercy and compassion every person to his brother and neighbor. It forbids oppressing, exploiting, crushing, or taking advantage of the widow, the fatherless or orphan, the stranger or foreigner, and the poor. It forbids harboring, plotting, planning, or secretly imagining evil against a brother or neighbor in the heart.
These words are the Lord's word and part of His law, sent in His Spirit through the former prophets, so that refusing to heed them was disobedience to God's law. They were spoken as God's exhortation and earnest pleading to His people, who should have been a moral light and fellow workers with Him but were living for themselves and leaving their appointed work undone. This included the Israelites returned from captivity and engaged in rebuilding, whose fulfillment of His promises of blessing was made conditional on not repeating former sins.
The appeal came close and personal, as with a hand on the shoulder, to men whose influence worked like evil leaven among the people. It stood opposite their selfish course, so they were displeased with it and wanted their own wisdom. They pulled away the shoulder, stopped the ears, and hardened the heart like flint or adamant stone lest they should hear the law and the words sent.
Refusing to hear brought God's judgment and great wrath. When the people cried out He did not hear them, as they had refused to hear Him. He scattered them like a whirlwind among unknown nations and brought desolation on the land, a warning given before their dispersion.
Timeless Duty and Application
God's promises of blessing are conditional on obedience, and on not repeating the sins that marked His people before the captivity, so living out true judgment with mercy and compassion toward every brother, refusing to oppress widow, fatherless, stranger and poor, and refusing to imagine evil against a brother in the heart brings rich reward in temporal and spiritual things. The same commands bind in every age and must be heeded now, for they lay bare wrong traits of character that have to be overcome. What was a warning before dispersion remains a present duty to deal justly, to show mercy and compassion, to refuse oppression of widows, orphans, strangers and the poor, and to put away evil plotting in the heart.
True worship is proved in everyday dealings by just judgment, mercy and compassion governing how one person treats another, without exploiting the vulnerable and without harboring evil thoughts against a brother. Right principle and integrity must rule business as well as thought, word and action, so knowledge and means entrusted from above are not to be seized as private property for speculation nor used to oppress others. To drive hard bargains and impose cruel or unaffordable terms, and to take advantage of widow, fatherless, stranger or poor, is to violate the word of the Lord.
Within the church this requires truthful judgment with mercy and compassion one to another, putting away oppression and rejecting evil thinking against one another. Blame and censure are to be laid aside for the pursuit of peace and for building one another up. A struggling institution is to be repaired and sustained by willing and cheerful help, rather than by blaming others or withholding aid.
For workers in God's cause the verse is a guide for serving Him wholeheartedly, with fair and compassionate treatment of others, especially widows, orphans, strangers and the poor, and with no evil imagined against a brother. It demands fair judgment, mercy and compassion toward the neighbor, with principle and honesty toward fellow workers. To hinder His servants and to neglect the Southern field breaks His purpose, and such neglect stands as a witness against those answerable for it.