On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:  “Do not fear; Zion, do not let your hands grow weak. Yahweh your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring you quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy.”  Zephaniah 3:16-17 HCSB

Our scripture passage today comes from Zephaniah 3. Judgment is the central theme of Zephaniah’s message. But it ends with the promise of a glorious future.

In the book of Zephaniah, he begins by telling of such a time when God will just remove everything man and beast from the earth in judgment.  Now the thing to remember here is that by the time we get to the book of Zephaniah, we have seen God do this before. In Genesis 6, God found so much evil and corruption on the earth that he instructed the one righteous man, Noah, to build an ark and gather only his family and the animals on board so that they might be saved when God destroyed the earth by flood. In Exodus chapter 14, God parted the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to walk through on dry ground. Yet when as the Egyptian army pursued them, He filled the Red Sea back up and destroyed the entire army. In 2 Chronicles 20, when the vast armies came against Jehoshaphat and his kingdom, God caused the armies to turn on each other and destroy each other.

God always takes care of His people. Even in the midst calamity and disaster, God takes care of His people. When Babylon captured Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, God took care of those who obeyed Him. He put them in positions of authority, even as captives. When Joseph (Genesis 37-45) was sold into slavery by his brothers, he remained obedient to God and God worked all of this out not only for his good but for the good of his family.

Our God is a god of justice. He will discipline us, he may have to put us in time out to get our attention. But, He will save us. He will take good care of us. He will reward us for our obedience. In the book of Zephaniah, Zephaniah describes the judgment and the punishment that is about to befall on the Israelites because of their sin. But the book doesn’t end there. He also goes on to describe their return to their land and their restoration.

In chapter 3, Zephaniah prophesies that God will remove the proud and the haughty. He says that He will leave the humble and lowly people and they will take refuge in the name of the LORD. They will do no wrong and they will tell no lies and they will be at peace with no need to fear (v.11-13). Then in verses 14 and 15, he tells them that God will remove His judgment against them and take away their enemies.

Throughout the Bible it is made clear that God is a god of justice, wrath, and vengeance. We will not escape punishment. The question is how far will that punishment have to go.

We have seen floods and wildfires and earthquakes and storms and disasters strike an area, but never in my life have I seen disaster strike the whole world. God must be so angry. We are told to quarantine, which is a lot like time out. But how will we use this time out?

As we quarantine, we can fill our minds with junk by staying on social media, watching television, or scrolling through the internet or we can use this time out wisely. We can humble ourselves, confess our sins and repent, and ask God to have mercy on our nation.

One thing I have learned is that God has a reason for all things that take place. Maybe the reason for this time out is discipline, but maybe it is also to slow us down. To allow us to truly be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). Maybe it’s to humble us so that we will bow down and cry out to Him and He can heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14). Maybe it’s to give us an opportunity to watch many good, Bible teaching churches online services as well as our own. We have the time and the opportunity to grow in a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

I pray that we will use this time out wisely.

Have a great day!