Focus

Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.

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Read

Zephaniah 3:1-13

Ah, soiled, defiled,
oppressing city!

It has listened to no voice;
it has accepted no correction.
It has not trusted in the Lord;
it has not drawn near to its God.

The officials within it
are roaring lions;
its judges are evening wolves
that leave nothing until the morning.

Its prophets are reckless,
faithless persons;
its priests have profaned what is sacred,
they have done violence to the law.

The Lord within it is righteous;
he does no wrong.
Every morning he renders his judgment,
each dawn without fail;
but the unjust knows no shame.

I have cut off nations;
their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
without people, without inhabitants.

I said, “Surely the city will fear me,
it will accept correction;
it will not lose sight
of all that I have brought upon it.”
But they were the more eager
to make all their deeds corrupt.
Punishment and Conversion of the Nations

Therefore wait for me, says the Lord,
for the day when I arise as a witness.
For my decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
all the heat of my anger;
for in the fire of my passion
all the earth shall be consumed.

At that time I will change the speech of the peoples
to a pure speech,
that all of them may call on the name of the Lord
and serve him with one accord.

From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
my suppliants, my scattered ones,
shall bring my offering.

On that day you shall not be put to shame
because of all the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst
your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty
in my holy mountain.

For I will leave in the midst of you
a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord—

the remnant of Israel;
they shall do no wrong
and utter no lies,
nor shall a deceitful tongue
be found in their mouths.
Then they will pasture and lie down,
and no one shall make them afraid.

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Reflect

We hear a lot of talk about justice these days, but there can be no justice apart from obedience to God. An individual cannot, through willpower, education, or discipline, overcome the sin within his or her self. Neither can a culture overcome its sin apart from a Savior because there is no human power to conquer sin. How can a sinner save herself or himself since she or he is already infected with sin? Neither can a culture, church, or civilization save itself apart from God’s intervention.

Zephaniah prophesizes against governmental leaders and judges as lions and wolves devouring everything they can. But of particular interest to us is the criticism of spiritual leaders. The prophets are reckless and faithless. Those who should teach and preach are careless of the truth and lack faith themselves. Priests who minister for the people have lost their reverence for the Lord. When ministry is reduced to vocation, the sacred is profaned.

But Zephaniah’s concluding criticism is most telling, “they have done violence to the law.” We see plenty of examples of governmental, community, and spiritual leaders doing violence to the law. When officials justify excessive use of force, when political leaders disregard unappealing but appropriately established laws, when citizens refuse to respect the rights of others, or destroy the property and even lives of others with violence, then the rule of law is damaged and civil society is imperiled.

So, what happens when our church leaders do violence to God’s laws? How devastating it is when church leaders ignore or even promote immorality, tone down Biblical restrictions so as to not offend public sentiment, and refuse to accept the authority of Scripture. And is it harmless when they do not live lives of faith themselves? The end result is that sin increases in the Church and in the world. The Church loses her saving saltiness as her members become indistinguishable from the world. The Law of God should determine our values, morals, behavior, priorities and character.

The Church isn’t here to build utopia; we are commissioned to preach the good news of God’s salvation found only in Jesus Christ. Everyone who receives Christ is transformed for the better. We are not going to make politicians behave, but we can elect people who fear the Lord. We can remove from Church leadership anyone who doesn’t live life in submission to Christ, doesn’t teach obedience to Christ’s commands, or who preaches that spiritual or social salvation can be found in anyone else.

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Pray

Lord God Almighty, in Your Word, grace, and presence, You have given us all we need for life and godliness. But Lord God, we have leaned on splintered crutches of our own making and rested against leaning walls of human philosophy instead of holding fast to Your unchanging, unfailing and infallible Word. Forgive us for letting the world have so much influence on us. Grant us strength, courage and humility to confess the name of Christ Jesus even if it offends all human powers.

Go with God!