A Call to Repentance
“Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable (shameless) nation, Before the decree is issued, or the day passes like chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you! Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.
Judgment on Nations
For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon desolate; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be uprooted. Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you; so there shall be no inhabitant.”
The seacoast shall be pastures, with shelters (Underground huts or cisterns, lit. excavations) for shepherds and folds for flocks. The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed their flocks there; in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will intervene (visit) for them, and return their captives.
“I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the people of Ammon, with which they have reproached My people, and made arrogant threats against their borders. Therefore, as I live,” says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—Overrun with weeds and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation. The residue of My people shall plunder them, and the remnant of My people shall possess them.”
This they shall have for their pride, because they have reproached and made arrogant threats against the people of the Lord of hosts. The Lord will be awesome to them, for He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; people shall worship Him, each one from his place, indeed all the shores of the nations.
“You Ethiopians also, you shall be slain by My sword.” And He will stretch out His hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness. The herds shall lie down in her midst, every beast of the nation. Both the pelican and the bittern shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be at the threshold; for He will lay bare the cedar work. This is the rejoicing city that dwelt securely, that said in her heart, “I am it, and there is none besides me.”How has she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down! Everyone who passes by her shall hiss and shake his fist.
Consider Zephaniah. Zephaniah is from a royal family, well – connected. Quite likely, Zephaniah has grown up with the sons of the “best people” in Jerusalem. Now Zephaniah is stuck trying to warn and persuade his friends that they must repent or be destroyed. In an earlier day, the Dale Carnegie book How to Win Friends and Influence People was extremely popular. Prophecies such as this one are not going to win Zephaniah any friends! On the other hand, some righteous people remain in Judah, and Zephaniah is encouraging them. “Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.”
Next, Zephaniah turns his attention the nations surrounding Judah: the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Ethiopians and Assyrians. In Zephaniah’s time the coast is heavily populated, and the Philstines have five major cities: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath. Each of these cities is highly developed with beautiful buildings and very active market places; yet, God is promising that their destruction will be so complete that there will be only ruins left. These cities that are the pride of the Philistines will become places where shepherds herd sheep and even dig shelters in the ground because there are no buildings left at all.
“Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—Overrun with weeds and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation. The residue of My people shall plunder them, and the remnant of My people shall possess them.” Want to see what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? Go look at the Dead Sea and the land around it. At this time, the countries of the Moabites and the Ammonites are lush farming areas; however, God is promising that these lands will become deserts. These lands have never recovered.
The lands ruled by Assyria will suffer a similar fate while the Ethiopians will be conquered. “This is the rejoicing city that dwelt securely, that said in her heart, “I am it, and there is none besides me.”How has she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down! Everyone who passes by her shall hiss and shake his fist.” This is God’s judgement on Nineveh.
APPLICATION: The main message of this chapter is simple: Repent while you still have time! Never assume that tomorrow is promised to you. Accidents can happen to anybody. Cancer, heart attacks, strokes – all can overtake us without notice. We were living in New York City in 1983 while I trained in pediatric cancer surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. One night a number of us were gathered in someone’s apartment to watch a special program on television. One friend came in briefly, but left because he had a terrible headache. The next morning our friend’s wife found him collapsed in the bathroom. That headache our friend had been suffering the night before was actually the beginning of a brain hemorrhage. Although the hospital did everything it could for one of its own, this young doctor died at the age of 31. There had been no warning signs whatsoever.
What can you gain from turning your heart to God? Galatians 5 tells us that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self – control. All these things can be yours if you will only turn your heart over to God.
PRAYER: Today’s prayer is borrowed from DailyPrayerGuide.net.
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