In The Word
Read: Zephaniah 2:1-3:7
Judgments on Judah’s Enemies
2 Gather yourselves together, yes, join together,
You nation without shame,
2 Before the decree takes effect—
The day passes like chaff—
Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you,
Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you.
3 Seek the Lord,
All you humble of the earth
Who have practiced His ordinances;
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
Perhaps you will remain hidden
On the day of the Lord’s anger.
4 For Gaza will be abandoned,
And Ashkelon will become a desolation;
The inhabitants of Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
And Ekron will be uprooted.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
Canaan, land of the Philistines;
And I will eliminate you
So that there will be no inhabitant.
6 So the seacoast will become grazing places,
With pastures for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7 And the coast will be
For the remnant of the house of Judah,
They will drive sheep to pasture on it.
In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;
For the Lord their God will care for them
And restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the taunting of Moab
And the abusive speech of the sons of Ammon,
With which they have taunted My people
And boasted against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of armies,
The God of Israel,
“Moab will assuredly be like Sodom,
And the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah—
Ground overgrown with weeds and full of salt mines,
And a permanent desolation.
The remnant of My people will plunder them,
And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”
10 This they will have in return for their arrogance, because they have taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of armies. 11 The Lord will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.
12 “You also, Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”
13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north
And eliminate Assyria,
And He will make Nineveh a desolation,
Parched like the wilderness.
14 Flocks will lie down in her midst,
All animals that range in herds;
Both the pelican and the hedgehog
Will spend their nights in the tops of her pillars;
Birds will sing in the window,
Devastation will be on the threshold;
For He has uncovered the cedar work.
15 This is the presumptuous city
That dwells securely,
Who says in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.”
How she has become a desolation,
A resting place for animals!
Everyone who passes by her will hiss
And wave his hand in contempt.
Woe to Jerusalem and the Nations
3 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,
The oppressive city!
2 She obeyed no voice,
She accepted no discipline.
She did not trust in the Lord,
She did not approach her God.
3 Her leaders within her are roaring lions,
Her judges are wolves at evening;
They have no bones to gnaw in the morning.
4 Her prophets are insolent, treacherous men;
Her priests have profaned the sanctuary.
They have done violence to the Law.
5 The Lord is righteous within her;
He will do no injustice.
Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He does not fail.
But the criminal knows no shame.
6 “I have eliminated nations;
Their corner towers are deserted.
I have laid waste their streets,
With no one passing by;
Their cities have been laid waste,
Without a person, without an inhabitant.
7 I said, ‘You will certainly revere Me,
You will accept discipline.’
So her dwelling will not be eliminated
In accordance with everything that I have stipulated for her.
Instead, they were eager to corrupt all their deeds.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). God is love, but He is also just. He is coming back, but not as a Lamb; instead, He will come in all His glory. If we have followed God’s teachings, then we will humbly seek Him, looking forward to His coming instead of dreading the Day of Judgment. However, those who are rebellious, who do not listen to His voice, who do not follow His teachings, who mock Him and His people, they will be judged. Their pride will be exchanged for destruction.
It’s easy to be deceived or even fooled when you don’t really know the Truth. Yeshua is the way, the truth, and the life. He desires a relationship, not a form of religion. In Jeremiah 4:22, God says, “For My people are foolish, they know Me not.” It is not enough to only know about Him and only read His Word. He reminds us in Matthew 7:26 that, “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.” Have you had a true personal encounter with Him? If you have encountered Him, have you entered into a personal, intimate, daily relationship with Him? We get to know Him more by spending time with Him and following His teachings; when we do that, we won’t be deceived.