Zephaniah 2: 1-15
The first chapter told us about God's final destruction of this Earth, and it focused on Jerusalem and Judah.
Chapter two now tells God's people that He will judge her enemies, too.
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame,
Before the decree takes effect--The Day passes like the chaff--Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, Before the Day of the Lord's anger comes upon you.
Zephaniah is telling his hearers to get right before all this comes about. We can all listen to him.
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the Earth who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the Day of the Lord's anger.
Maybe if we of all the Earth, humble ourselves and seek the Lord, God will hide us from the devastation He will bring on all the wicked of the Earth.
Then he names all the pagan nations surrounding Israel: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, the Cherethites (Philistines) on the seacoast; all of Canaan, calling down desolations on them, so that their territories will become the property of Israel, the House of Judah, because the Lord their God will care for them and restore their fortune.
This can be when King Jesus sets up His Kingdom, and portions out the territories for His peoples.
Then God says that He will make Moab and Ammon like Sodom and Gomorrah, just nettles and salt pits, a perpetual desolation.
And, The remnant of My people will plunder them and the remainder of My Nation will inherit them.
Because God has heard all the insults with which they insulted them. God had told Abraham that he would curse those who cursed him and his descendants, and He will carry out this destruction at this time.
This they will have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of Hosts. The Lord will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the Earth; and all the coastlands of the Nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.
And every knee will bow.
Then He says how He will stretch out His hand toward the North to destroy Assyria and Nineveh; and describes how desolate that whole area will be.
This is the exultant city which dwells securely, who says in her heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me." How she has become a desolation, a resting place for beasts! Everyone who passes by her will hiss and wave his hand in contempt.
This description can be not only Assyria of Zephaniah's day, but can also be an arrogant super-power today who can be like this. So if the shoe fits ... !
Zephaniah was preaching to the people of his day, so he named all the peoples as they were then, and the situations that were extant at that time.
We can also apply these same consequences to peoples and Nations today who are doing the same things those ancient peoples did. God does not change, and His Word is for us today just as it was for those people then.
And after Josiah's reign as the king over Judah, his successors turned back to the idols and false gods of the peoples around them, even more violently than their predecessors. So Judah was carried off into exile, as the Northern Kingdom of Israel had, years before.
God gave Josiah to Judah for a few years, to forestall the judgment He would bring upon them; but after Josiah, they effectively called down judgment upon themselves.
I believe God has given us also a reprieve, an opportunity to turn back to Him and His righteous ways. We as God's children need to be working to promote His righteousness in our neighborhoods and societies and our culture, to tear down the temples of infant sacrifice as Josiah did, by removing public funding, and changing the thinking processes of our Nation.
I think that after this reprieve, our society will go right back to it's demon sacrifices and evil and wicked lifestyles, even worse than they have been in the past, like Judah did. We are all still human.
That's why God sent His Son to be born as a human being, to die our human death for each of us, shedding God's own Blood to wash us clean, and to cause us to be re-born spiritually with His own Holy Spirit living in us.
We have Divine Life living inside us, not to make us gods, but to give us Divine power to overcome temptation and gain the victory over our enemy, the devil.
O my Father, thank You for Your written Word. Thank You that we can trust You to have protected and preserved what You have told us, as the most ancient parchments say what our modern translations still say, with no conflicts or changes in any meanings.
Please help us to take to heart the seriousness of Your warnings. Your prophets spoke to the peoples of their day, but Your warnings are just as terrifying to us today, as our Nations are no better than those ancient ones were, and are calling down upon themselves the same judgments.
Help us be Your Light in this dark World. As the darkness deepens and swirls around us, let our Light shine ever brighter, as the Lighthouse that warns the boats away from the deadly reefs and shoals.
Strengthen us, Father, against the attacks from the enemy and his minions. Use our lives and our testimonies to draw all Your lost lambs into the relationship with You that You desire with all of us. Increase our territories to reach out to those who have yet to hear Your Name.
And let this Good News be preached to every living being to give them an informed choice, whether they will choose You and Your Love, or to rebel against Your gracious and generous offer.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
