When we
consider the LORD's judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem, we may wonder
why the surrounding cities of “Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron”
and the nearby countries of “Moab and Ammon” were punish with
them as well. We know the people of Judah and Jerusalem forsook the
LORD and His ways, but why were these “Gentiles” judged? In
chapter two and verse ten of Zephaniah's prophesy, the LORD shares it
was because of their “pride”, “reproach” and “magnifying
themselves” where we read:
This shall
they have for their pride, because they have reproached
and
magnified themselves
against the people of the LORD of hosts.
The
verse begins, “This shall they have for their pride, because
they have reproached
and magnified...”
Zephaniah
said the “breeding of
nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my
people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess
them” concerning
Moab and Ammon, and went on to add, “This
shall they have for their pride”
which is all one Hebrew word, “ga'own”
and means “majesty, exaltation, excellence and arrogance”.
Zephaniah continued, “because
they have reproached” which
also is one Hebrew word “charaph.”
that means “to defy and taunt” and comes from a root word which
means “to pull off, expose, carp at, defame, rail and upbraid”
“and magnified”
or “grown or become great or important, promoted, made powerful and
praiseworthy”. Moab and Ammon were “prideful, defying, railing
and self-promoting”, and this was sufficient reason for judgment to
fall upon them.
The
verse continues,
“...themselves
against
the people of the LORD of hosts.” Zephaniah
went on to add against whom Moab and Ammon exhibited these traits as
he wrote, “themselves
against the people” or
“nation, compatriots, kindred and countrymen” “of
the LORD”
or “Yehovah or Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name
for the one true God” “of
hosts”
which refers to “that which goes forth as an organized army, war,
warfare or service”. Moab and Ammon put themselves in a position
that was directly in opposition “against” the one true God and
His people, and therefore judgment came upon them.
When
we meditate upon these words of Zephaniah, we realize at least one
thing, “We do not want to be against the LORD and His people”.
Those who are against Israel and Judah align themselves directly
against the army of the living God, and the punishment will
eventually be extinction as it was for Moab and Ammon. For example,
when was the last time we ran into a Moabite or an Ammonite? We must
always seek to keep ourselves according to God's ways, and when our
ways are in conflict with His, we must move. The LORD is always in
perfect alignment, and anyone who thinks or places themselves in
prideful, defying, railing and self-promoting ways in opposition to
Him, only do so to their own demise. Let us trust in, rely upon and
cling to the LORD Jesus Christ, and when we begin to alter ourselves
with pride, railings and magnification, may He correct us before we
stray too far away.
Next
time Zephaniah shares how “the LORD will be terrible to
them”, 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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