Week 32 Zechariah
In chapter seven men come and ask Zechariah: should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction, as we have done for so many years?
It seems like a straightforward enough question. You’d figure Zechariah’s answer-options would be either YES or NO.
Should we keep fasting? YES.
Should we keep fasting? NO.
But Zechariah doesn’t say YES or NO. Instead he’s off-on-a-tangent telling them there’s a problem with the quality of their fast: in your holy festivals, you don’t think about (the Lord) but only of pleasing yourselves.
It can’t be a simple YES or NO. It’s an answer conditioned by a circumstance.
Should we keep fasting? YES…if you can figure out how to do it right.
Should we keep fasting? NO…not if you’re going to keep doing it this way.
Let’s say a guy is doing dead-lifts and he’s using bad technique by bending his back. He comes to me and asks: should I keep training? Well I can’t really answer either YES or NO because there’s a glaring problem that directly affects the answer.
NO you should quit training (if you’re going to keep using that unhealthy technique).
YES keep training (but only if you correct your technique).
You can’t answer a non-straightforward question straightforwardly. You have to straighten up the question first.
Before what’s-the-answer comes what’s-the-real-question?
Note: quotes from Zechariah 7:3, 6 (NLT)