That Day is Coming

June 12, 2016 Background Scripture: Zephaniah 3:1 – 8 Lesson Passage: Zephaniah 3:1 – 8 The southern kingdom of Judah was facing the same plight the northern kingdom of Israel faced over a century earlier. So there is little wonder that Zephaniah’s prophecy bears some similarities to the prophecies of Amos, Micah, and Isaiah. Those prophets warned Israel earlier. God changes not. Divine justice and mercy ensures that the wicked are punished and the obedient are spared. The prophet’s declaration of impending judgment was also a warning to the people of God to return to Him and be spared. Israel had learned firsthand and should have been an example for Judah. Instead, the people of Judah ignored the history of their ancestors to the north and followed the same path of reckless living. God always punishes His enemies but His children are spared if and when they repent and return to obediently following Him. Zephaniah proclaimed God’s judgment upon the nations; none would be spared. After pronouncing judgment upon the nations, the prophecy turned then to the unrepentant among God’s people. They were trusting in their leaders more than they were trusting God. In a sense, the temple and the temple leaders in the capitol city of Jerusalem had become gods to them. Again and again the people of God had demonstrated their preference for physical things they could touch and see rather than an invisible and living God. They wanted to be more like the people around them than they were perhaps willing to admit. Such blatant apostasy would not be continuously overlooked by God. A day of reckoning was coming—even against the people of God. Just as Zephaniah pronounced God’s judgment upon the surrounding nations, he was also pronouncing God’s judgment against Jerusalem. Since Israel had been decimated by the Assyrians many years before Zephaniah’s ministry, the remaining Jews in Judah were represented symbolically by the capitol city of Jerusalem. Judgment against Jerusalem was clearly seen as judgment against the heart of the nation. Judgment against a nation’s capitol is, in fact, an absolute judgment against the nation. The fall of Jerusalem at the hands of her enemy would be the final evidence of the fall of Judah. God declared the failure and corruption of the leaders within Jerusalem who the people were depending on. Throughout the land of Judah, the people looked towards Jerusalem and the Temple for their sense of directions, independence, and protection. The princes, judges, prophets, and priests were all declared unqualified to serve in their respective offices by God but yet the people were still depending on them rather than relying on the Lord. Today’s lesson is a reminder that people of God are not at liberty to sin. I believe in the absolute security of the believer in Christ but that in no way purports to grant a license that permits believers to sin. All sin is against God. Believers don’t avoid sin to please God but rather we don’t sin because we are children of God. When we choose to walk contrary to God’s holiness, we dare not forget that there is a day of reckoning. That day is coming. Robert C. Hudson May 25, 2016