Gather Together Zephaniah 2:1

“The great day of the LORD” was near to Judah and Jerusalem for their apostasy and abandonment of “Yehovah God” and His ways, and though the people there held positions, money, reputation or status, none of them was to be exempt from His punishment and judgment. In chapter two and verse one of his prophesy, Zephaniah calls for the people to “gather” themselves “together”, and calls them “O nation not desired” where we read:

Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O nation not desired;

The verse begins, “Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together,...” Zephaniah began, “Gather yourselves together” which is the Hebrew word “qashash” and means “assemble, collect as in gathering stubble or sticks” “yes, gather together” which is the same word “qashash” employed again. Zephaniah's called for the people assemble themselves as those who might avoid punishment by coming together before the LORD.

The verse continues, “O nation not desired;” Zephaniah went on to call them, “O nation” or “people” “not desired” which means “longed for, yearned for deeply”. The idea is both “not desiring” which means they did not desire the LORD and “not longed for” or “were not desired themselves”.

When we think through these words of Zephaniah, we see the beckoning of the LORD for the people of Judah and Jerusalem to turn to Him. Oh what tragedy it is when people reject the LORD and become as a people who are undesirable themselves. The LORD God is desiring for the people to “gather together” for the forgiveness of their sins rather than the judgment of them, and if they would only assemble to do so, pardon would be before them. How many who read these words have turned away from the LORD Jesus and forsaken His ways? How many will be challenged today to “gather” themselves “together” and be available for his pardon? May we examine our hearts and minds and “gather together” before Him in repentance should we discover any wayward way lest we become “not desired”.

Next time Zephaniah declares before, before, before and before, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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