"Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another." In 518 BC after re-construction of the temple was started but before its completion the people of Bethel sent representatives to Zechariah in Jerusalem to ask whether they should continue to perform ritual fasts commemorating the destruction of the temple since the temple was now being rebuilt. Fasting was a religious ritual concerned with demonstrating repentance and attempting to change God's disposition toward the penitent ones. God responded to the inquiry through the prophet Zechariah. Although the original question addressed a matter of religious practice, God responded by asking a deeper question, a matter of the heart: By fasting do you not seek God's favor, but when you stop fasting and celebrate, do you abandon that concern for God's favor? In other words, if the people had learned the lesson that the destruction of the temple was intended to teach and had truly repented and turned from their sins, then they could stop fasting. But if all their fasting didn't change them, then it was simply a waste of time. The test of true repentance is a life of obedience to God, a heart that has been changed. A change of heart has always been the test of true repentance and always will be. Has God changed you to the extent that it changed your behavior and you now act differently than you did before? Are you now merciful and empathetic to others as God is to you? If there's no change in behavior, then there's no change of heart!
