Today's Blog Title: "A Call To Repentance"
Today's Blog Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 2:1-15
Today's Blog Key Verse: Zephaniah 2:3
In verses 1-3, the people doomed for judgment in the "Day of the Lord" were commanded to "gather together" perhaps in repentance. In verse 3, "Seek the Lord", is the language of true repentance, renewal, and regeneration. What characterizes a person who truly seeks the Lord? The prophet mentions humility, expressed in a willingness to submit to God and "do what He commands." He mentions RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is a COMMITMENT to doing what is RIGHT and also establishing what is right within one's society.
In verses 4 and 5, the focus of Zephaniah moves from the description of God's judgment on Judah and Jerusalem to a description of DIVINE JUDGMENT on the surrounding nations.
The "seacoast shall be pastures" is a reference that the coastal cities of Philistia and the coastal plain that the Philistines dominated for so long would one day become the possession of the Hebrews. The same God who brought destruction upon the people of Judah in verses 1-4, would restore their fortunes.
In verses 8 and 9, we read that "Moab shall be like Sodom and Ammon like Gomorrah." The peoples of Moab and Ammon to the east of Judah were hostile to the Hebrews from the earliest times. Here in verse 9, is God's promise of retribution. (See Genesis 19:12-29)
In verse 11, "the LORD will be awesome to them," may have a double meaning in these words. For the RIGHTEOUS people of Judah and Jerusalem, there would be a response of AWE and WONDER before God, who had responded to the PRAYER of His servant. But for the WICKED there would be quite another response, one of TERROR and DREAD. "People shall worship Him," means that not only would there be a RIGHTEOUS remnant in Judah, there would also be people coming to God from the nations of the earth.
In verses 13-15, we will note that Assyria to the east. But the ancient armies could not march across the desert and entered the land of the Hebrews from the north. "The pelican and the bittern" were birds found in remote areas, Isaiah 34:11. Their presence in the ruins of Nineveh, attest to the severity of the destruction announced on these people. "The rejoicing city," in verse 15, is ironic and is seen as an act of the city's complacency. Soon the JUDGMENT of God would DESCEND suddenly, and the region would be useful only for HERDING ANIMALS.
Click on this link at www.cindi-davis.blogspot.com for Scripture Writing from James 5:11.
Jesus Reigns, and He Is, Has Been, and ALWAYS Will Be In Complete and Total Control!! May God's Peace, Love, Strength, and Grace be with you all. May we as Christians reach out to heaven with hand and with the other reach out to the lost and dying of this world. May we like John at the close of the Book of Revelation say, "Come, Lord Jesus, Come."
Your Sister in Christ,
Cindi
Today's Blog Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 2:1-15
Today's Blog Key Verse: Zephaniah 2:3
In verses 1-3, the people doomed for judgment in the "Day of the Lord" were commanded to "gather together" perhaps in repentance. In verse 3, "Seek the Lord", is the language of true repentance, renewal, and regeneration. What characterizes a person who truly seeks the Lord? The prophet mentions humility, expressed in a willingness to submit to God and "do what He commands." He mentions RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is a COMMITMENT to doing what is RIGHT and also establishing what is right within one's society.
In verses 4 and 5, the focus of Zephaniah moves from the description of God's judgment on Judah and Jerusalem to a description of DIVINE JUDGMENT on the surrounding nations.
The "seacoast shall be pastures" is a reference that the coastal cities of Philistia and the coastal plain that the Philistines dominated for so long would one day become the possession of the Hebrews. The same God who brought destruction upon the people of Judah in verses 1-4, would restore their fortunes.
In verses 8 and 9, we read that "Moab shall be like Sodom and Ammon like Gomorrah." The peoples of Moab and Ammon to the east of Judah were hostile to the Hebrews from the earliest times. Here in verse 9, is God's promise of retribution. (See Genesis 19:12-29)
In verse 11, "the LORD will be awesome to them," may have a double meaning in these words. For the RIGHTEOUS people of Judah and Jerusalem, there would be a response of AWE and WONDER before God, who had responded to the PRAYER of His servant. But for the WICKED there would be quite another response, one of TERROR and DREAD. "People shall worship Him," means that not only would there be a RIGHTEOUS remnant in Judah, there would also be people coming to God from the nations of the earth.
In verses 13-15, we will note that Assyria to the east. But the ancient armies could not march across the desert and entered the land of the Hebrews from the north. "The pelican and the bittern" were birds found in remote areas, Isaiah 34:11. Their presence in the ruins of Nineveh, attest to the severity of the destruction announced on these people. "The rejoicing city," in verse 15, is ironic and is seen as an act of the city's complacency. Soon the JUDGMENT of God would DESCEND suddenly, and the region would be useful only for HERDING ANIMALS.
Click on this link at www.cindi-davis.blogspot.com for Scripture Writing from James 5:11.
Jesus Reigns, and He Is, Has Been, and ALWAYS Will Be In Complete and Total Control!! May God's Peace, Love, Strength, and Grace be with you all. May we as Christians reach out to heaven with hand and with the other reach out to the lost and dying of this world. May we like John at the close of the Book of Revelation say, "Come, Lord Jesus, Come."
Your Sister in Christ,
Cindi
