Zephaniah 1:14-2:3
Paraphrase
The day of the Lord's wrath is near and will come relentlessly when it arrives. It will be a time of unmitigated disaster. Nothing will be able to stop it nor will anyone be spared. Although it is a judgment against Judah and Jerusalem, it is spoken of in terms of a world-wide scope. Judah is called a shameful nation and they are entreated to seek the Lord before the judgment arrives. But even then, the righteous are not guaranteed fo complete avoidance of God's wrath.
What do I Learn about God?
God is always seeking our repentance and trust in Him. Even His wrath has a merciful purpose. This accounts for the heavy descriptiveness of the warnings and the awful reality of the judgement - God is seeking faith & repentance. God wants us to FLEE to Him.
What do I Learn about Me?
The people who know God are especially told to seek Him. They are already said to be obedient to God's commands (2:3), yet they are the ones who are told to seek righteousness and humility. So I am to double-down on seeking God inwardly.
How can I Live according to this Passage?
Inward righteousness and humility that nobody else can see is what God wants from me. Even if the world goes to hell around me, God EXPECTS me to seek Him, seek inward righteousness and humility. Even if I am not sheltered in teh day of God's wrath this is my calling. I can no longer indulge myself. I must keep God as the single goal in my life.
Comments
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Laura Welch November 15, 2011
Hi, I have just have a question for clarification. You wrote, "Even if I am NOT sheltered in the day of God's wrath, this is my calling." I do not understand this statement, especially in accordance with your professed theology. Why would you not be sheltered? Did you mean to say, "Even if I am sheltered in the day of God's wrath, this is my calling," as if to say, even though I am saved from His wrath, I am called to "seek inward righteousness and humility"? Thanks for posting this entry. I agreed with everything else as a whole. In fact, earlier I had a similar thought while reading Psalm 27. God tells his people, "Seek me." Seek is plural. But David replies, "You face do I seek." So it's the same thing. God commands all of us, but I am called to do this even if no one around me is. He is the goal. Not fitting in. Or pleasing others. --Laura W.