3:1 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, To the oppressing city!
3:2 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.
3:3 Her princes in her midst are roaring lions; Her judges are evening wolves, That leave not a bone till morning.
3:4 Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people; Her priests have [a]polluted the sanctuary, They have done violence to the law.
3:5 The Lord is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. [b]Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, But the unjust knows no shame.
3:6 “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.
3:7 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 [c]they rose early and corrupted all their deeds.
3:8 “Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord “Until the day I rise up [d]for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations To My assembly of kingdoms, To pour on them My indignation, All My fierce anger; All the earth shall be devoured .With the fire of My jealousy.
3:9 “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure [e]language, That they all may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him with one accord.
3:10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, The daughter of My dispersed ones, Shall bring My offering.
3:11 In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds, In which you transgress against Me; For then I will take away from your midst Those who rejoice in your pride, And you shall no longer be haughty
In My holy mountain.
STUDY:
The Lord is provoked when His people suffer under wicked leaders. In the third chapter of Zephaniah, a curse is pronounced on the city of Jerusalem because of the oppressive leaders in it. The princes were referred to as roaring lions and the judges as ravening wolves. This suggests a situation where these two sets of leaders devour and take advantage of the people. Immorality, rebellion, pollution, disobedience, etc., reigned. These leaders were deep in politics of dishonesty and selfish gains, and these are abomination to God. The face of Lord is against evil doers (1 Pet. 3:12b). However, despite being angered by the evil of the leaders, the Lord sent Prophet Zephaniah to offer a way out of the coming judgment and destruction, by calling them to repentance and a new life.
Beloved, regardless of how terrible a sinful situation can be, the Lord always desires that His people repent. This can be seen in God’s attitude towards the ungodliness of the people of Nineveh (Jonah 1-4). The Bible speaks variously of the mercy of God that endures forever. Our society today is filled with all manner of wickedness from leaders and followers alike. Even the church is not free. The Lord is patient but He will not overlook evil forever. The Lord is calling you to repentance from all evil today (Isa. 1:18). He is willing to cleanse you and set you free so you can abound in the good works He created you to accomplish (Eph. 2:10).
Prayer:
Pray for people in authority to lead with honesty and in the fear of God.
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