On December 7, 518 (22 months after his eight night visions) Zechariah is asked by God to
prophecy to a delegation of Jews who have come down from Bethel to ask the priests and the prophets in Jerusalem a question regarding the fast they have been keeping for 68 years to mourn the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians in 586. This seems like a logical question since Zerubbabel is in the process of rebuilding the Temple on the same location.

The names of the men from Bethel are Babylonian names so it would appear these men are Jews who were born in Babylon during the captivity and have returned to Israel to reside at Bethel.

Although it is a reasonable question concerning the observance of the fast considering the
situation and the activities occurring in Jerusalem at that time, yet the Lord through Zechariah rebukes the Bethel delegation. The reason for the rebuke is simple: The forefathers in the
previous generation had been taken to captivity not because they failed to follow rigid religious
rituals, but because they did not practice justice and mercy in their society. The prophets of
those days (Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Ezekiel, etc.) warned them that God was looking for godly
lives not religious rituals alone.

The very fact that these men had made the effort to make a trip to Jerusalem to enquire about
a single religious ritual meant they were getting started on the wrong foot. Through Zechariah
God told them the same thing he told the people of Jerusalem before they were taken into
captivity. God is looking for justice and mercy. He does not want to see violence and oppression. Obviously the rituals were important considering the fact God was empowering his people to rebuild the Temple where rituals could be conducted and knowledge could be gained through the explanation of these religious practices. The problem in the past was lack of obedience, not the lack of knowledge.

 "Let us rejoice in the truth, wherever we find its
lamp burning."
– Albert Schweitzer