Zephaniah
continued his prophesy concerning the “wrath, trouble, distress,
wasteness, desolation, darkness, gloominess, clouds and thick
darkness” of the nearness of “the great day of the LORD”.
He said it would be “a day of the trumpet and alarm against the
fenced cities and against the high towers”. He declared how the
LORD would bring so much “distress upon men” they would
“walk like blind men” and “their blood shall be
poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung”. In chapter
one and verse eighteen of his prophesy, Zephaniah the royal prophet
shared how not even “silver or gold shall be able to deliver
them” where we read:
Neither
their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day
of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire
of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them
that dwell in the land.
The
verse begins, “Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able
to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath;” As he
continued his thought, Zephaniah declared, “Neither their
silver” which referred to their “lesser precious metal used
as coins or money” “nor their gold” which was their
greater precious metal used as coins, money or measure of weight”
“shall be able” or “capable to prevail, overcome, have
ability, have strength or be a victor” “to deliver” which
means “tear away, strip off or spoil” “them in the day”
which is the Hebrew word “yowm” and means “day, time, period or
year” “of the LORD's” which refers to “Yehovah or
Jehovah, the existing One and the proper name of the one true God”
“wrath” or “outpouring, overflow, excess, fury and
outburst”. In other words, not even their precious earthly means
would be able to keep them from the outpouring of the LORD's fury
when His judgment falls upon them.
The
verse goes on to say, “but the whole land shall be devoured by
the fire of his jealousy:” Zephaniah continued with, “but
the whole land” which means “country, territory, district,
region and inhabitants” “shall be devoured” or “eaten,
burned up, consumed and slain” “by the fire” which
refers to “flames and anger” “of his jealousy” which
refers to “his ardor, zeal and passion”. No one within the land
of Judah and Jerusalem would be exempt from the consuming power of
the LORD when His punishment would fall.
Finally
the verse says, “for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all
them that dwell in the land.” Zephaniah added, “for he
shall make” or “do, fashion, accomplish, produce, prepare,
attend to and put in order” “even a speedy” or “hurried,
disturbed, anxious, hasty and terrified” “riddance”
which means “completion, termination, full end, complete
destruction, consummation and annihilation” “of all them that
dwell” which refers to “those who remain, sit and abide”
“in the land” or “country, territory, district, region
and inhabitants”. Not only would the LORD's judgment be complete,
but it would also rapidly be upon everyone who lived in Judah and
Jerusalem.
If
we meditate upon these words of the LORD through Zephaniah, we should
allow ourselves to be in the position of the ones hearing his
prophecy. What an ominous proclamation was made against the people
Judah, and when we think about no one being exempt even if they have
earthly means such as “silver and gold”, we know the
completeness of the punishment from the LORD. The people had forsaken
God and His ways, and now His punishment was to fall upon them. Let
us take heed to Zephaniah's prophesy and examine our own ways to be
certain we follow after the LORD Jesus Christ and listen should He
ever warned of pending doom.
Next
time we begin a new chapter and see Zephaniah tell the people to
“gather together”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment