As Zephaniah
continued his prophesy, he shared how the “nations, towers,
streets and cities” of those whom the LORD would judge would be
affected by His punishment. The devastation was to be so strong that
there would be “no inhabitant” within their places of
abode. In chapter three and verse seven of his prophesy, Zephaniah
shares the LORD's hope for the people to turn to and “fear”
or “reverence” Him where we read:
I
said, Surely you will fear me, you will receive instruction; so their
dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they
rose early, and
corrupted all their doings.
The
verse begins, “I said, Surely you will fear me, you will receive
instruction;” Zephaniah began with the phrase, “I said”
which means “say, utter, speak, answer, avow and avouch” “Surely
you will fear” or “revere, be afraid of, stand in awe of,
reverence, honor and respect” “me, you will receive”
which means “get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, acquire, buy, bring
and take away” “instruction” or “discipline,
chastening or correction”. The LORD stated through Zephaniah His
assumptive conclusion that after seeing all the destruction and
devastation of others, they would exalt and reverence Him and receive
disciplinary correction in the areas they needed it.
The
verse goes on to say, “so their dwelling should not be cut off,
howsoever I punished them:” Zephaniah continued, “so their
dwelling” or “habitation, refuge and lair” “should not
be cut off” which means “cut down, cut off like a body part,
cut out, eliminated, killed and hewn”. Zephaniah added, “howsoever”
or “which and all or in the whole” “I punished them”
which means “attended to, mustered, numbered, reckoned, visited,
appointed, looked after, paid attention to and cared for them”. The
idea was if the people had only reverenced the LORD, he would have
been ready to pardon them for their iniquities, and they could have
continued living in their homes.
Finally the verse says, “but
they rose early, and
corrupted all their doings.” Zephaniah
added, “but they”
or “truly, surely, indeed and in fact the people” “rose
early” which means “started early and
made an early start” “and corrupted” or
“destroyed, ruined, spoiled, marred, injured and made decay of”
“all their doings”
which refers to “their wantonness, deeds and evil practices”.
Instead of turning to the LORD in awe and reverence, the people got
an early start to openly sharing their wickedness. Their evil deeds
not only separated them from the LORD, but caused them to further
continue in their open display of them.
When
we meditate upon Zephaniah's words, we see how the LORD allowed
Himself to relate to the humanity of man. When He surmised, “Surely
you will fear me”, there was a sense of hope in His words that
people would return to Him, and yet, people not only rejected Him but
turned even further away from Him. The devastation of the “nations,
towers, streets and cities” who surrounded the people had no
lasting effect or alteration of their behavior. Isn't it much like
this today? Though others have suffered for their apostate manner of
living, rather than turn to the LORD in awe, people worsen their
behavior before Him. Some even “flaunt” their sins in the streets
which is “wantonness”, and dare anyone to rebuke them for their
unrighteous behavior. The LORD Jesus continually makes His appeal for
people to “reverence” and “be in awe” of Him, and this is for
their own benefit. While we think through this idea, let us be as
those who “fear” the LORD and attribute to Him the glory
He so deserves.
Next
time Zephaniah tells the people to “wait upon” 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
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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