"I will completely remove all things from the face of the earth.. I will remove man and beast; I will remove the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea and the ruins along with the wicked; I will cut off man from the face of the earth," declares the Lord. It will come about at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are stagnant in spirit, who say in their hearts, "The Lord will not do good or evil!"
From among the twelve minor prophets, Zephaniah's message summarizes all of them. He was writing before the Babylonian captivity and the words he records from God are extreme and exaggerated. The language is greater than the language of a coming invasion, but is more similar to the language used in Noah's narrative about the sweeping away of all life except the family of Noah.For this reason, it applies not only historically to Judah, but to all of God's people for all times, including our church era. Even though there are many sins by Judah against their God, the greatest sin recorded in found in verse 12. Here, God declares that the people have gone complacent and no longer fear him. They believe that he will do nothing, either good or bad. For this reason, God is declaring that the Day of the Lord is coming, and everyone from the least to the greatest will know that he is God.
Daily Prayer: Father, I and everyone else do not fear you as we ought to. Sin has so affected us that we don't understand the weight of sin in our hearts. It is like the fish in water who doesn't understand it is wet! We become so immersed in it that it seems normal, and we dismiss it instead of repenting from it. Forgive our sins Father, and renew our spirit so that we both love and fear you as we should. In Jesus name I pray Amen.
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