Zephaniah 1: Dark Diagosis

Key Verse
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place …6 those who have turned back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”
 
Meditation
The right diagnosis leads us to the cure for sickness and bodily health. In today’s reading, the prophet Zephaniah presents a dark diagnosis of Judah’s spiritual health. Judgement was coming because they had put gods before the Lord their God (vv. 1-4), the root sin bearing fruit of a litany of other sins (vv. 4-13). To receive the diagnosis is to repent and return to the Lord. To reject the diagnosis is to continue to walk towards destruction. 
 
During the reign of Josiah (@ 620 BC), Zephaniah warned Judah of God’s use of the Babylonians for His judgement. Born from a royal line (v. 1), the contemporary of Jeremiah preached to help God’s people return to God from their hearts. Zephaniah’s message contains rich OT prophetic pictures of sin, punishment, and restoration; all centered on a central motif: The Day of the Lord (vv. 7, 9, 10, 14).
 
King Josiah’s rule was marked with religious reform (2 Kings 23). Wayward people rejected revival by walking the path the wicked path of welcoming self-rule. Symptoms of such rebellion include prayerlessness, not listening to God’s word, avoiding or abusing corporate worship, injustice, and foolishness. Wayward ways welcome ruin.
 
Jesus went the way of the cross to take the punishment our sin deserves so His people can be welcomed by our Father’s unconditional love. Jesus took God’s Day of judgement so all who believe can be born again in our Father’s family! 
 
Later in Zephaniah we will see one of the most glorious pictures of restoration in the OT, but we will not appreciate it until we see the dark diagnosis for humanity.
 
Today’s Reading
The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

The Coming Judgment on Judah
2 “I will utterly sweep away everything
    from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away man and beast;
    I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
    and the fish of the sea,
and the rubble with the wicked.
    I will cut off mankind
    from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
    and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
    and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 those who bow down on the roofs
    to the host of the heavens,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
    and yet swear by Milcom,
6 those who have turned back from following the Lord,
    who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

The Day of the Lord Is Near
7 Be silent before the Lord God!
    For the day of the Lord is near;
the Lord has prepared a sacrifice
    and consecrated his guests.
8 And on the day of the Lord's sacrifice--
“I will punish the officials and the king's sons
    and all who array themselves in foreign attire.
9 On that day I will punish
    everyone who leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master's[c] house
    with violence and fraud.
10 “On that day,” declares the Lord,
    “a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,
    a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
    For all the traders[d] are no more;
    all who weigh out silver are cut off.
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
    and I will punish the men
who are complacent,
    those who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
    nor will he do ill.’
13 Their goods shall be plundered,
    and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
    they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
    they shall not drink wine from them.”
14 The great day of the Lord is near,
    near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
    the mighty man cries aloud there.
15 A day of wrath is that day,
    a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
    a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16     a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
    and against the lofty battlements.
17 I will bring distress on mankind,
    so that they shall walk like the blind,
    because they have sinned against the Lord;
their blood shall be poured out like dust,
    and their flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
    shall be able to deliver them
    on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
In the fire of his jealousy,
    all the earth shall be consumed;
for a full and sudden end
    he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially the dark diagnosis of the prophet Zephaniah?
 
-God’s message of judgement is good news for those with faith in Him, leading people to repent and return to Him. Where do you need to see God’s provision on the cross and repent of your rejection of His love and grace?
 
- Where do you need to live FROM the judgement of God, knowing there is “no condemnation for those in Christ”? Moving from shame, how can you (specifically) shine in your sanctification?
 
Key Verse
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place …6 those who have turned back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”