Today in God's Word—December 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
December 14, Zephaniah 2
Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD. - Zephaniah 2:3
"I'm going to count to three, and you'd better do it before I get to three." I'm sure you've probably heard a parent say that to their young child. Maybe you've said it yourself. The little boy is too busy playing to do what Mama said to do. And the parent who's tired of waiting teaches the stubborn little one a double lesson. He's learning to count, and he's learning that the time to obey is now, not later.
The first three verses of Zephaniah 2 remind me of that common drama between a parent and child. Judah is grouped with the other nations destined for destruction. The "nations" is usually a reference to the neighbors. But in this place, God called Judah "O shameless nation." The sinful nations around Judah are about to experience the fire of God's wrath. Judah is also guilty, and God warns them through Zephaniah to turn back to him before it is too late. Like that counting parent, God warned them that time was of the essence, and they'd better obey before it was too late. See the four "before" statements in verse 2? They'd better humble themselves and return to God "before" the decreed destruction begins, "before" God's enemies are burned like chaff, "before" they experience the burning anger of the Lord, "before" the awful day of the Lord's judgment comes to them.
What did God want them to do before it was too late, and they suffered the consequences? He wanted them to seek him instead of idols, to seek righteousness instead of wickedness, and seek humility instead of prideful rebellion against God's holy will for them. If they would at last listen and return to God, "perhaps" they might be hidden from the flames when God unleashed the fire of his wrath on the ungodly.
The rest of the chapter looks west to the Philistines, east to the Moabites and Ammonites, south to Egypt and north to Assyria and pronounces the doom of them all. These nations had warred against God's people and practiced the grossest forms of idolatry and wickedness. They were marked for destruction. The wrath of God would reduce the greatest of their cities to desolate wilderness when the Lord poured out his anger on them. God would judge them for their hatred of his people. He would destroy their worthless idols along with them. When God judged Nineveh, the sprawling, populous city would become the habitat of wild animals.
The Lord used a quote from the arrogant Assyrians to illustrate their stubborn pride. They said, "I am, and there is no one else." They used language that rightly belonged to God alone to describe their smug security and defiance. God told them all those things to show them what happened to people who rebelled against God. And he warned them the same crushing judgment was on its way to them unless they humbled themselves and sought him and his will for their lives.
We may outgrow (or outlive) and no longer feel threatened by Mama or Daddy counting to three before painful consequences come to us. But we still face deadlines with consequences, don't we?
It's a fact of life. If we persist in doing certain things until it is too late, we reap undesirable consequences. If we fail to do other things before the deadline, we suffer the threatened
consequences. It's true about things of this world and our physical lives. It's even more true and certain about our relationship with God and spiritual life. God set before Judah the call to seek him, and showed them the consequences that were coming if they failed to do it before time ran out. Let's not leave this chapter without applying its message to ourselves.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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