This chapter deals with the practical matter of whether people should continue to fast and mourn the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. People came from Bethel to ask the priests: “Should I mourn and fast as I have done for many years?… and God asked what was your real motive when you fasted over these 70 years?… then the Lord said he had always required people to administer true justice above all else; show mercy and compassion to one another… don’t oppress the widow or the orphan, the foreigner or the poor. In your hearts don’t think evil of each other… but your forefathers would not listen… which angered God… and he said that’s why he scattered them like a whirlwind when he did”.
