Zechariah 7:13, commentary and pictures

It declares a reciprocal judgment that because they would not listen when he called to them, he in turn would not listen when they called to him. His call to them had come through the law and the former prophets by his Spirit to obey and do what is right, to execute true judgment and to show mercy and compassion to the vulnerable such as the widow, the fatherless, the stranger and the poor, imagining no evil against a brother. Their refusal was deliberate hardening, pulling away the shoulder and stopping the ears and making the heart as adamant stone, choosing their own wisdom and selfish and idolatrous way and walking contrary to his instruction and purposes. That refusal brought great wrath in scattering with a whirlwind among unknown nations and leaving the pleasant land desolate, giving enemies power to humble them and withdrawing blessing through calamities such as drought, famine and plague by which iniquity is punished. It stands as present warning that selfish worldly violation of his law, hindering his servants and neglecting needy fields, and persisting in wrong toward others deprive his people of blessing and witness against them, calling those who worship to put away sin and honor his house and keep his law in loyalty, and to answer need with help rather than blame instead of refusing repeated instruction.

Meaning and Historical Setting

The verse declares a reciprocal judgment: because they would not hear when He cried to them, so when they cried He would not hear. The refusal to listen when He called them to obey His law and do what was right was followed by His refusal to hear when they cried to Him, after they had hardened their hearts against the words sent through the former prophets and thereby brought His wrath. When people refuse to listen to the Lord He may refuse to hear their cries, for human disobedience brings judgment upon itself.

His crying to them was His call through the law and the former prophets by His Spirit to obey, to do what is right, and to execute true judgment. It was a call to show mercy and compassion every man to his brother, to show mercy, compassion and care for the vulnerable, including the widow and the fatherless, the stranger and the poor, and to imagine no evil against a brother. Those who should have been a moral light were displeased with that teaching to judge fairly, to show mercy, and to refrain from oppressing the vulnerable.

Their refusal was deliberate hardening: they refused to hearken, pulled away the shoulder, stopped their ears that they should not hear, and made their hearts as an adamant stone lest they should hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent in His Spirit by the former prophets. They wanted to follow their own wisdom and their own unsanctified, unsubdued way, living for themselves and neglecting the work appointed them. Having forgotten God for idolatry, they persisted in walking contrary to His instruction and in opposition to His purposes and heaven's principles.

That refusal brought great wrath from the Lord of hosts and judgment in which He would not hear their cry. He scattered them as with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not, and the pleasant land was left desolate. He permitted their enemies to have power over them to humble them, since He could not deliver them from the sure consequences of their actions, and their course deprived them of blessing. Nature obeys God's command, and He can use drought, famine, plague and other calamities by which iniquity is punished.

Present Warning and Application

The reciprocal judgment falls on God's people in the preceding twenty years, because as they refused to hear God's words through the former prophets, so He did not hear them when they cried to Him. Their selfish, worldly practices and violations of God's law brought them under God's controversy and deprived them of His blessing, with scattering among the nations as the outcome of that refusal. The same refusal to hear God's call to justice, mercy, compassion, and care for the vulnerable brings the same refusal of God to hear when they cry to Him, followed by judgment in scattering among the nations and desolation. That warning rests on those who hinder the Lord's servants and neglect the work in the South, and that neglect stands as a witness against them.

Refusing to hear God, hardening against His law and the words sent through the prophets, and persisting in wrongdoing means He will not hear when they cry to Him, and in its historical setting that refusal was followed by great wrath, scattering among unknown nations, and desolation of the land. Applied to dealings within the Lord's household, refusing God's counsel and failing to act rightly toward others brings serious consequences. Those who assemble to worship God are warned not to be like those thus represented, who pulled away the shoulder, stopped their ears, and made their hearts as an adamant stone lest they should hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in His Spirit by the former prophets. Great wrath came from the Lord of hosts, so that as He cried and they would not hear, so they cried and He would not hear, followed by scattering with a whirlwind among all nations they knew not and leaving the pleasant land desolate.

Instead they are to come with pure, believing hearts to put away sin and all unrighteousness, to honor the Lord by sacredly regarding His house because He has promised to be there, and to keep His law in loyalty and obedience in order to live in it and receive blessing, for neglecting His temple dishonors Him. The verse warns against refusing God's instruction and hardening against the law and the messages sent through earlier prophets, for then God in turn does not hear their cries, and that reciprocal judgment came with great wrath, scattering among the nations, and desolation of the land. Rejecting the Lord's repeated calls through the prophets leads to His refusal to hear when they cry to Him, and that stubborn refusal brought His wrath, scattering, and desolation. Those addressed are therefore urged not to follow that course, but to respond to need with help rather than blame.