Justice of God
Zephaniah 3:4-13
The Lᴏʀᴅ within her is righteous; he does no injustice; every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame.
I said, ‘Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you.’ But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt.
“On that day you shall not be put to shame because of 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. But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lᴏʀᴅ…”
There are so many voices to listen to with each clamoring for our attention. Each claims authority to speak into our lives but which is worthy? Zephaniah was born during the kingship of Manasseh and grew up a contemporary of Josiah. Manasseh was known for evils including priests and prophets who served other gods and themselves; deceit, wickedness, injustice were hallmarks. This leadership of Judah was a stark contrast to the LORD who was righteous, doing justice consistently. Somehow, Josiah and Zephaniah were brought up under godly men who knew the ways of the LORD and taught them rightly.
God sought to again turn Judah back to Himself and did what He could to make that way. He demonstrated His righteousness in hopes that Judah would respond:
“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 a man, without an inhabitant. I said, ‘Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you.’ 1
God desires they will understand and accept His correction, turning back into relationship with Him as His faithful people but they were not willing:
But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt. “Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed. 2
God looks forward to a time when Judah and all of His peoples will accept invitation,
“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lᴏʀᴅ and serve him with one accord… “On that day you shall not be put to shame because of 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. 3
Josiah was beginning his reign as King of Judah when Zephaniah was prophesying and fits the prophecy for what was to come,
But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lᴏʀᴅ, those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.” 4
The last return to the LORD before Captivity came under Josiah who began his reign at 8 years and initiated widespread reforms for the LORD beginning when he was 18. Precisely what was written by Zephaniah even before the changes began, came to be. God is faithful to His purposes even to those who would remain in the land of Judah after the Captivity began being those left ‘a people humble and lowly seeking refuge in the name of the LORD’. God is good and just all the time—even when we don’t recognize it.
All Scripture references from the Blue Letter Bible, ESV
at https://www.blueletterbible.org
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
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