Because of
their abandonment of the LORD and His ways, the prophet Zephaniah was
given the task of sharing the LORD's judgment upon the people of
Judah and Jerusalem. Neither royalty nor their children, merchant
people or servants would be exempt from the punishment from the LORD.
The LORD said He “will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish
the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The
LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil”. In
chapter one and verse thirteen, the LORD went on to share through
Zephaniah how “their goods”,
“their houses” and
“their vineyards”
would be affected as well where we read:
Therefore
their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they
shall also build houses, but not inhabit them;
and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
The
verse begins, “Therefore their goods
shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation:”
Zephaniah began with the words “Therefore
their goods”
which was their “strength, might, efficiency, wealth and army”
“shall become a booty”
which is all one Hebrew word “mĕchiccah”
and means “spoil or plunder”, “and
their houses”
which were their “dwelling places, habitations, shelter and abode”
“a desolation”
or “devastation and waste”. When judgment falls upon the people
of Judah, all their possessions and personal dependencies including
their own homes were to be the spoil of the enemy and destroyed.
The
verse continues, “they shall also
build houses, but not inhabit them;”
Zephaniah went on to say, “they shall
build houses” or
“establish, cause to continue their houses” “but
not inhabit them”
which means “dwell in, remain, sit or abide in them”. In other
words, people will have constructed their homes believing they would
occupy them, but will not be able to live in them.
Finally
the verse says, “and they shall plant vineyards, but not
drink the wine thereof.” In
addition to their “goods”
and their “houses”,
Zephaniah wrote, “and they shall plant”
or “fasten, fix and establish” “vineyards”
which were “fields set with plants of nobler quality which were
cultivated as a garden or orchard” “but not drink”
or “imbibe” “the wine thereof”
which literally means “effervesce and referred to fermented grape
drink”. We can imagine those who tilled, planted, cultivated,
weeded and watered their “vineyards”,
and when judgment was to fall, they would never partake of their
efforts and labors.
When
we think about Zephaniah's words, we can picture in our minds how
horrible it would be to have all our goods, houses and fields
overtaken by someone else. What would it be like to be conquered in
such a horrible manner? Judah and Jerusalem faced these consequences
because they abandoned the LORD God and His ways, and if they had
only turned to Him, these things would not have occurred. But they
did not listen, and judgment fell. What about our own lives and the
lives in our country? Should we not take the time to think about what
would happen if the LORD should bring His punishment upon us? As we
allow the LORD Jesus to search our hearts and minds, let us imagine
others whom we do not know occupying our goods, our houses and our
places of importance, and determine whether we have need of
repentance before it's too late.
Next
time Zephaniah shares about the nearness of “the great
day of the LORD”, 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.
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