Wake Up Complacent Ones - ZEPHANIAH START

We come to the prophesies of Zephaniah. He is another minor prophet with a major message. His book is not often preached or referenced, but it is still powerful. His name is like the treatment his book receives today. Zephaniah means, "concealed of God". As we discover truth on these pages, we uncover the Lord's Word for our good. 

Zephaniah 1:1 (ESV) The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 

Zephaniah prophesied after the fall of the Northern Kingdom to Assyria and during the days of King Josiah, a great reformer who purified the temple and brought back acceptable worship to Israel. Yet the die had been cast through Josiah's predecessors, and disaster was still awaiting the southern kingdom of Judah. 

A prophetess named Huldah delivered this message during his reforms:
2 Kings 22:18–20 (ESV) But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’ ” And they brought back word to the king.

Thus, the book opens with that assurance of trouble yet to be visited upon Judah:
Zephaniah 1:2-3 (ESV) “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD. 3 “I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the rubble with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.

The Lord's judgment is irreversiable by this time. 
Zephaniah 1:4 (ESV) “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,

The Lord promised that this judgment was meant for breaking Judah free from her attachment to Baal. Though Josiah destroyed the altars to this false god, the people's hearts would be drawn back in years to come.

Yet the judgment will be selective. For those who had forsaken the Lord and serve false images:
Zephaniah 1:5–6 (ESV) those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom, 6 those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him.”

The Lord calls out the superstitious practices of Israel. 
Zephaniah 1:8–9 (ESV) And on the day of the LORD’s sacrifice— “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. 9 On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud.

The royal officials put on the clothing of foreign nations to fit in. In verse 9, Zephaniah references the bizarre practice of leaping over thresholds of a house in respect for foreign gods. 

In verse 12, the prophet calls out another spiritual problem: lethargy, assuming the Lord would simply ignore their wrongdoing. He does not ignore; in fact, he seeks out those complacent hearts who forsake Him.
Zephaniah 1:12 (ESV) At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’

Complacency in the heart is the road that leads to sin. When men grow complacent, sin and bondage creep in. Zephaniah calls out this spiritual cancer in Israel, warning them that the God they believe is not concerned is indeed actively involved in the affairs of men. 

We listen to this ancient prophet with somber reflections of our own hearts. May we not be found sleeping but alert to the Lord's Word and call to repentance. 

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