In The Word
Read: Zephaniah 1
Day of Judgment on Judah
1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah:
2 “I will completely remove all things
From the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will remove human and animal life;
I will remove the birds of the sky
And the fish of the sea,
And the ruins along with the wicked;
And I will eliminate mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “So I will stretch out My hand against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will eliminate the remnant of Baal from this place,
And the names of the idolatrous priests along with the other priests.
5 And those who bow down on the housetops to the heavenly lights,
And those who bow down and swear to the Lord, but also swear by Milcom,
6 And those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And those who have not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him.”
7 Be silent before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is near,
Because the Lord has prepared a sacrifice,
He has consecrated His guests.
8 “Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
That I will punish the princes, the king’s sons,
And all who clothe themselves with foreign garments.
9 And on that day I will punish all who leap on the temple threshold,
Who fill the house of their lord with violence and deceit.
10 And on that day,” declares the Lord,
“There will be the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate,
Wailing from the Second Quarter,
And a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail, you inhabitants of the Mortar,
Because all the people of Canaan will be destroyed;
All who weigh out silver will be eliminated.
12 And it will come about at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
And I will punish the people
Who are stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good nor harm!’
13 Their wealth will become plunder,
And their houses desolate;
Yes, they will build houses but not inhabit them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”
14 The great day of the Lord is near,
Near and coming very quickly;
Listen, the day of the Lord!
In it the warrior cries out bitterly.
15 That day is a day of anger,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of trumpet and battle cry
Against the fortified cities
And the high corner towers.
17 I will bring distress on mankind
So that they will walk like those who are blind,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
And their blood will be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
Will be able to save them
On the day of the Lord’s anger;
And all the earth will be devoured
By the fire of His jealousy,
For He will make a complete end,
Indeed a horrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and also from the cup of demons (I Corinthians 10:21). The Lord will stretch out His hand against those who bow down not only to Him, but also to false gods. They are those who have turned back from following Him and those who have not sought Him. He will punish those who are stagnant in spirit. In Revelation 3:16, He says, “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”
“The Lord God jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us” (James 4:5). He will not share His glory or His rule with anyone or anything. We cannot serve two masters, and we cannot be on both sides of the fence. We must choose. Whose side are you on? Some people think they can sit on the fence, becoming stagnant or lukewarm, not making the decision to surrender to Him right now. They believe that allows them to live however they please, and then later contemplate their eternity. However, not making the decision for Jesus is actually making a decision for the enemy since the enemy owns the fence. They are really serving Satan, whether they realize it or not. Choose for yourselves, today, whom you love and whom you will serve; but as for me and my house, we will love and serve the Lord fully with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.