Zechariah 8:19 (CSB)
“The LORD of Armies says this: ‘The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will become times of joy, gladness, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah. Therefore, love truth and peace.'”
Finally the answer. They had asked about one fast. God names four.
The tenth month marked the day Nebuchadnezzar’s siege began. The fourth, the day the walls fell. The fifth, the day the temple burned. The seventh, the murder of Gedaliah and the scattering of those left behind. Four funerals for one fallen city. God turns every one of them into a festival.
Now notice what He does not say. He does not say forget the fast. He does not strike the dates from the calendar. He replaces the fast with a feast, which means the memory stays. You will still remember, in the fifth month, that the temple burned. You will remember it at a celebration.
Some of us carry a past we would give anything to forget. God does not offer amnesia. He offers something better. Keep the date, He says. Rejoice on it. The sin is remembered. The sorrow is remembered. The harm is remembered. And none of it holds you any longer.
Notice the order too. The feast comes first, and then the command. Therefore, love truth and peace. Grace, then obedience. Never the reverse.
Jesus said the same thing about Himself. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy (John 16:20). His disciples mourned His death. His enemies celebrated it. It did not stay that way. The cross was the darkest fast in human history, and resurrection morning announced a feast that will not end.
Spurgeon said of the Lord’s table that it is not a funeral but a festival. He was right. Remember your sin there, and then smile, because you have been forgiven.
Which is it for you today, fast or feast?
Reflect
Name the date on your own calendar that you still mourn. The anniversary you brace for, the memory you keep at a distance. Bring it to Christ and ask Him to turn it into a festival, not by erasing it but by redeeming it. Then love truth and peace as a free man rather than a debtor.