Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God. Her officials within her are roaring lions; her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. Her prophets are unprincipled; they are treacherous people. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law. The Lord within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.
“I have destroyed nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are laid waste; they are deserted and empty. Of Jerusalem I thought, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept correction!’ Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did. Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, “for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them—all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.
“Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder. From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings. On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from you your arrogant boasters. Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill. But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the Lord. They will do no wrong; they will tell no lies. A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.”
Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
“I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you. At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have suffered shame. At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord. - Zephaniah 3
The central idea of this chapter is at the end of verse 8 and the start of verse 9, The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger. Then I will purify the lips of the peoples that all of them may call on the name of the Lord. God attempted to convince his chosen people to choose a better, more productive course by showing them the result in the other countries that they could watch. But they didn't get the hint and so God judge the other countries and then Israel. Then he tried another course of action. Rather than a negative example: don't do what they did-he gives a positive example: watch how they are coming back to me and then you, too, will come back to me.
He makes the heroes of his people the meek and the humble (vs. 12), the oppressed, the injured, the dispossessed (exiles, vs. 19) and give them the praise and honor that used to be heaped on all of the corrupt officials (vs. 3-4)
This really sounds like the sermon on the mount. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Like the hearers of Zephaniah, they would be the ones who would see and experience the kingdom of God.
Humility seems to be the key. God wants his people to be humble and let him be the one who raises them up. If we push hard to be bigger or more important, we find out how small we really are because God will show us so that we will give him credit for any promotion.
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