Zephaniah 3:1-7
1 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
To the oppressing city!
2 She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the LORD,
She has not drawn near to her God.
3 Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
4 Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have polluted the sanctuary,
They have done violence to the law.
5 The LORD is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails,
But the unjust knows no shame.
6 "I have cut off nations,
Their fortresses are devastated;
I have made their streets desolate,
With none passing by.
Their cities are destroyed;
There is no one, no inhabitant.
7 I said, 'Surely you will fear Me,
You will receive instruction'—
So that her dwelling would not be cut off,
Despite everything for which I punished her.
But they rose early and corrupted all their deeds.
Here is the unrighteous wickedness of God’s people contrasted with the absolute righteousness of their LORD. Let us not point the finger and judge them harshly for this for there is a tendency in us all to turn from Him to sin in unrighteous directions until we also turn back in repentance. Jerusalem was singled out as the center of the kingdom for judgment with the aim of corrective repentance to reform her who was rebellious and polluted with sins of idolatry and immortality. The people were disobedient to the scriptures as God’s own words for life and living, and refused correction when the messengers sent to her pointed these out. They did not really trust Him or His word and made themselves distant from Him by no longer seeking Him with a whole and devoted heart. She was oppressing others with evil kings and their princes along with corrupt judges out for their own dishonest gain (1 Samuel 8:3, Titus 1:11), a warning to us all until the Lord’s return. Even the prophets became insolent and full of treachery instead of humble service as examples to the flock as they had been called (1 Peter 5:2). The priests likewise polluted the place of worship and atonement with statues of idols and did violence to God’s word in twisting it for their own gain and power as Rome does still. Reformation is therefore still in order before judgment falls again. Nonetheless, God is righteous always in the midst of His own no matter our sins of wicked unrighteousness. He cannot do anything wrong or wicked as some still accuse Him of today to avoid accountability for their sin and face His judgment of corrective discipline or worse. As it is written, God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7) and He knows who are His and we know therefore how we are to live (2 Timothy 2:19). He brings justice to the darkness of our fallen world every day along with His mercies (Lamentations 3:22-23) of which we humbly rejoice in as we confess our sins for forgiveness (1 John 1:9)! Those who continue to be unjust in unrepentant unrighteousness know no shame and face a fearful encounter with His justice if not turned away from their disobedience and rejection of His word to us all. He reminded the people in the days of Zephaniah how He had leveled the ungodly nations and left nobody of them alive. This was to bring the fear and awe of God to all who witnessed these acts of God and to turn them towards Him, just as world events continue to be provided for us to consider these things. Many will unfortunately continue in their corrupt deeds and face the same consequences as those did in the days of the prophet here. May all who read understand and turn to the gospel of grace instead!
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