Zechariah 7:6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
Don’t Replace God with a Tradition
Suppose you run into a friend who tells you that he has just celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary by gathering some friends to have a big dinner, play putt-putt golf, and stay out late. You are shocked, and you ask him what his spouse thought about it. Your friend replies, “My wife didn’t care. My wife went to celebrate with a quiet evening at home alone.” Now that would be pathetic and laughable. You’re not celebrating an anniversary unless you are remembering the one to whom you’re married.
God had instituted a number of fasts, feasts, and traditions for His people Israel that are recorded in the Old Testament. God’s people had also instituted some traditions of their own. None of these traditions were bad; they were good. But the point of all these traditions was to point God’s people toward Him and not to become a replacement for Him.
Zechariah 7 speaks of a tradition that commemorated the burning of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. When God’s people began construction of the new temple, they began to wonder if they should still be commemorating the burning of the first temple.
They brought this question before God Who responded with two probing questions. The first question is found in Zechariah 7:5, “When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?” Then verse 6 says, “And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?” Notice the contrast between a commemoration that is unto God and one that is for ourselves.
God is not saying that tradition is wrong, and God wasn’t necessarily even condemning the memorials themselves. When we practice traditions in our lives, we need to ask two questions: “What is the purpose?” and “Are we fulfilling that purpose?” Tradition is good, and it is a part of the rhythm of life, but God is unimpressed by any tradition that replaces a love for Him and a heart for others.