Day 36 - Zephaniah

Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction.

She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God. Her officials are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. Her prophets are arrogant; they are treacherous men. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law.

The Lord within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.

“I have cut off nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are destroyed; no one will be left—no one at all.

I said to the city, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept correction!’ Then her dwelling would not be cut off, nor all my punishments come upon her.
But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did.

Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, “for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them— all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.

“Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder. From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings. On that day you will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from this city those who rejoice in their pride.

Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill. But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will speak no lies, nor will deceit be found in their mouths.

They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.”
Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.

The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:1-17)

The Lord does judge the nations. Talking about God's judgment isn't really popular these days, but you can't really read the Minor Prophets and not think about judgment. Zephaniah is clear that God has His eyes on the leaders and rulers, even all the people. And the collective actions of the people of a nation bring judgment or blessing on the entire nation.

Now, the encouraging thing about this passage is that it is clear God sees the righteous, too. The work of the faithful does not go unnoticed. Even when the righteous are in an 'unholy nation', surrounded by those that plot evil, God will not leave them alone. In fact, he will protect them and draw them close to him. For he is mighty to save. Sounds like a good idea for a song:)

No matter what situation you find yourself in - stay faithful...God notices.