Don’t make Him angry, believe me, you wouldn’t like Him, when He’s angry.
Zephaniah’s task was an unenviable one. He had the mission to tell the city of David – the capital of the southern Kingdom of Judah – that God was not happy with their idolatry. His timing was fascinating as he spoke during the reign of one of the better kings Judah. Josiah had gone to great extents to look to bring the people back to God. Zephaniah makes it clear, though that those efforts were insufficient.
So God now has to deal with their idolatry and their blatant hypocrisy with it. Giving God the impression that they feared him in one breathe, before going back to worship other gods with the next. That just would not be tolerated anymore and God was going to get serious about dealing with them.
There’s sometimes a question asked about how God will deal with those who don’t know Him or have a relationship with Him. Zephaniah offers something of a glimpse of that with God calling on curses to a number of nations in the region and beyond. It’s God on the rampage and it’s not just His people who will be feeling the brunt of His anger.
I will crush Judah and Jerusalem with my fist
and destroy every last trace of their Baal worship.
I will put an end to all the idolatrous priests,
so that even the memory of them will disappear. (Zephaniah 1:4 NLT)
Yet the anger to His people is displayed specifically in the context of jealousy. He has every right to be enraged, because His love – the one He did so much for – has jilted Him in the worst way by going with other gods and carrying on the practices that made their neighbours obnoxious in His eyes.
What do you expect God to do? The rush to appeal to the loving and kind nature of God can clearly be seen to be taking advantage of that nature. It also significantly ignores the fact that He is a jealous God and His jealousy is not the type that is often observed by unstable and unjust humans. This is a righteous and justified jealousy. It’s because it is righteous and it is just that God can enact what needs to happen to those who betray His extension of love.
His patience is long and His anger is slow, but it’s not something to take lightly, especially when you witness what happens when the patience runs out.
(Photo by Gabriel Matula on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 