Zephaniah 2 & 3 -The Cancer of Complacency and Day of the Lord

LINK: Zephaniah 2 & 3 

BACKGROUND

Zephaniah 2 - The Day of the Lord and the Gentiles

There was still time for Judah before the great day of the Lord. They just needed to "seek righteousness and humility" (2:3, Micah 6:8).

The surrounding Gentile nations were doomed for destruction. They represent the four points of the compass: Assyria (north), Cush (south), Moab and Ammon (east), and Philistia (west). The great day of the Lord would bring down judgment on all of them.

Here are some background references for each of these nations:

• Philistia (2:4-7) - Genesis 20-21, 26; Amos 1:6-8; Ezekiel 25:15-28:26
• Moab and Ammon (2:8-11) - Genesis 19:30-38 (resulted from incest between Lot and his two daughters); Numbers 22; Judges 3, 10; 1 Samuel 11:1-5; 2 Samuel 12:26ff; Amos 1:13-2:3; Ezekiel 25:1-11
• Cush (2:12) - Genesis 2:13; Ezekiel 30:4-6
• Assyria (2:13-15) - Genesis 10:11-12; 2 Kings 15-19; Isaiah 37:38

Zephaniah 3 - A New Day

After dealing with the surrounding nations, Zephaniah returned to Judah's sin which was as bad as the surrounding pagan nations. They had rejected God and were complacent about their sin. They refused to accept correction because of their pride.

The future, worldwide, day of the Lord comes into focus in 3:8. All peoples will be judged (Revelation 20:12). Evildoers will be punished and the meek and humble will return to worship and trust in the Lord (3:12-13; Deuteronomy 30:1-10).

Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!

Shout in triumph, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

The Lord has taken away His judgments against you,

He has cleared away your enemies.

The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; (this is JESUS - the Messiah King!)

You will fear disaster no more. 

The Lord your God is in your midst,

A victorious warrior.

He will exult over you with joy,

He will be quiet in His love,

He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

(Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17)

REFLECTION

complacence: especially self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies. (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary)

Judah had become so sinful; they had become complacent about it. It was no big deal, but it was a big deal to God. God does not like complacency (As He does not like lukewarmness. See Revelation 3:14-16.). Zephaniah's 53 verses were packed with a wallop to shake Judah out of their complacency before it was too late.

What can shake us out of our complacency?

Here are some things that I brainstormed about this morning. It came out as the acrostic T.A.K.E.:

1) Truth Saturation - Keep yourself soaking in the truth so you know the lie

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.  
(Psalm 119:9, 11)

2) Accountability - It is easy to become an isolated island in your walk with God. DO NOT let this happen. Great men, like King David, have fallen when they had no accountability. Who is holding you accountable right now? If you have no one, find someone or a group of people to do so. Get out of relationships with lukewarm friends and find someone who is HOT!

Iron sharpens iron,
So one person sharpens another.
(Proverbs 27:17)

3) Knowledge of God - Chew on this passage for a bit:

Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 

(2 Peter 1:3-4)

I have meditated long and hard on this one for about 20 years now (I remember the exact location and time when it hit me too), and this tells me that we have all we need to live godly lives via a true knowledge of Him. I love the Vine's Greek word for "true knowledge":

EPIGNŌSIS (ἐπίγνωσις, (1922)), . . . denotes exact or full knowledge, discernment, recognition, . . . expressing a fuller or full knowledge, a greater participation by the knower in the object known, thus more powerfully influencing him. (Vine, W., & Bruce, F. (1981; Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words: Vol 2, p. 301)

Take note of the bold. It implies that as we participate in really knowing God more, we can partake of that divine nature and lead godly lives without being sucked into the world's sin as we press in to know Him more! So let us "press on to know the Lord" (Hosea 6:3)!

4) Eradication of distractions - We may not worship gods like Molech these days, but we have so many distractions that pull at us from all sides:

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 
(2 Corinthians 11:3)

Here is an interesting comic strip to ponder about our cultural distractions today: Amusing Ourselves to Death

So, let's TAKE charge of the Cancer of Complacency in our lives, shall we?

APPLICATION

Evaluate where complacency rears its ugly head in your life today. Develop a plan to let God TAKE charge!

Try a Lectio Divina with this one verse (See the detailed post about it in the PRAYER section):

The Lord your God is in your midst,

A victorious warrior.

He will exult over you with joy,

He will be quiet in His love,

He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

(Zephaniah 3:17)

This is often the verse I meditate on before going into an extended time of Centering/Silent Prayer. Here is a post about it:

Silent Prayer: Contemplative Rest in a Busy World

PRAYER

Wow, Lord! I never dreamed that You would speak so powerfully to me this morning about complacency. I want to KNOW you more deeply. I want to saturate my mind with TRUTH so that I may know You more. Please put godly friends in my life to keep me ACCOUNTABLE and help me to know You more deeply, and help me to know what distraction I need to ELIMINATE. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.