The Day of the Lord #4

 Read Zephaniah 2

Background: In chapter 1 the prophet announced that the Day of the Lord, the day of judgment, was coming for all the disobedience and idolatry they had been committing.  Chapter 2 begins with a call to repentance, then a list of all those nations surrounding Judah which had been oppressing them, and the judgment they too would face.

Key Verses: Gather together, gather yourselves together,
    you shameful nation,
2 before the decree takes effect
    and that day passes like windblown chaff,
before the Lord’s fierce anger
    comes upon you,
before the day of the Lord’s wrath
    comes upon you.
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
    you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
    perhaps you will be sheltered
    on the day of the Lord’s anger.

Thoughts: God was preparing to blow the people out of their land and have the city and temple burned.  As He often did, He called on a faithful remnant to repent - those who humbly sought God's will and His righteousness.  Perhaps they would be able to find shelter in the storm of God's wrath.  God then moved on to name names and the nations that would be punished because they were "all to willing" to be part of disciplining His people: Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Cush, and especially Assyria, which dealt with a heavy hand for almost two hundred years.  They were not going to escape the Day of the Lord.