Project 119: Zephaniah 2
| Project 119
This week's devotions are written by MBBC Student Ministry Intern Allison McSwain.
The content of Zephaniah 2 is a little unexpected to me. After reading chapter 1, I am anticipating the Lord’s great and terrible judgment to fall on Judah. However, this next chapter opens with an appeal for Judah to repent:
“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
who do His just commands;
seek righteousness; seek humility;
perhaps you may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the Lord” (Zephaniah 2:3, ESV).
How great the grace of our Lord is! It meets us when we least expect it. Too many people mistakenly believe in a false dichotomy between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. To them, the Old Testament God is wrathful and concerned only with justice. The New Testament God, on the other hand, is forgiving and loving. How incorrect this thought is! We see here the Lord’s great, undeserved love for His people even in the midst of their sin. Not only does God offer Judah a chance to avoid the judgment coming its way, He also pronounces woe and judgment on Judah’s enemies! The Lord promises that a remnant of His people will survive the oncoming judgment, and not only survive, but thrive—possessing and plundering the lands of their enemies. That sounds like a very loving, forgiving God to me.
Today it is my prayer that you and I will not become like Nineveh, an enemy of God and the “exultant city” mentioned in verse 15: “that said in her heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else’” (Zephaniah 2:15, ESV). Nineveh’s pride led to her downfall. She boasted of her wealth and grandeur, neglecting what really mattered: relationship with and service to Yahweh. Examine your heart today and ask the Lord to reveal any areas of pride. Let us not boast in ephemeral things that do not matter, but let us instead boast in our gracious God who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Zephaniah 2 (ESV):
Judgment on Judah’s Enemies
1 Gather together, yes, gather,
O shameless nation,
2 before the decree takes effect
—before the day passes away like chaff—
before there comes upon you
the burning anger of the LORD,
before there comes upon you
the day of the anger of the LORD.
3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,
who do his just commands;
seek righteousness; seek humility;
perhaps you may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the LORD.
4 For Gaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the LORD is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,
with meadows for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 The seacoast shall become the possession
of the remnant of the house of Judah,
on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the LORD their God will be mindful of them
and restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab
and the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become like Sodom,
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the LORD of hosts.
11 The LORD will be awesome against them;
for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all the lands of the nations.
12 You also, O Cushites,
shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,
and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts;
even the owl and the hedgehog
shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city
that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!
Everyone who passes by her
hisses and shakes his fist.