Zechariah 7:10

"“Thus has the LORD of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother."

Key Reflection

In Zechariah 7:10, the LORD addresses the people of Judah after they had ceased their fasting and mourning practices, instead seeking a divine response through prophets like Zechariah. The original audience would have understood that God was calling for justice and compassion to be enacted among them, reflecting His own nature. This instruction underscores the importance of not only ritual observance but also ethical behavior, ensuring that legal proceedings were fair and that individuals showed mercy towards one another, echoing the values of a just society governed by divine will.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

And oppress not -He had commanded positive acts of love; he now forbids every sort of unlove. “He that oppresseth the poor,” Solomon had said, “reproacheth his Maker. The widow, the orphan, the stranger, the afflicted”Proverbs 24:31, are, throughout the law, the special objects of God’s care. This was the condition which God made by Jeremiah; “If ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if ye oppress not the stranger the fatherless and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt, then will I cause you to dwell in this, place”Jeremiah 7:5-7.

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