She Has Not ~ Zephaniah 3
“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.” Zephaniah 3:2 NKJV
I’m a rule follower. Most of the time. I guess it’s because of the way I grew up. Different time, different manner of discipline, different familial expectations. If my third-grade teacher gave me an assignment with a set of instructions, I followed them. It just seemed logical to my 8-year old brain that if someone had given said assignment enough thought to think it up, work it out, and then assign it, I should follow those instructions to see what the designer had in mind. And even if I ended up learning something from it, that would still be ok. Well, throughout my life that recipe has not changed much. During college I received a myriad of instructions and if you did not follow them perfectly your grade reflected it. (Hello, Turabian 3 for a research paper anybody?) During my business employment years, it was the same. There were instructions and expectations and if you did not heed them well, you would be looking for new employment elsewhere. But deep down, very deep down in our human DNA, lies an ugly twist of DNA that simply does not like to follow instructions. And it is within this rebellious genetic helix that lies the basis of our study verse in Zephaniah chapter 3.
The Bible has 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament (before Jesus came) and 27 in the New Testament (after Jesus came). Those 66 books can be categorized into 7 different literary genres. Law, history, wisdom, prophecy, gospel, epistles (letters), and apocalyptic. And within the 18 books in the prophecy genre, we find 5 major prophets and 12 minor prophets with the defining difference between the two being only the length of the text. And within those 12 minor books of prophecy that occupy the very last part of the Old Testament, we find 9 pre-exilic (before the Babylon conquest of Jerusalem in 597BC) and 3 post-exilic (after the Babylonian conquest). The book of Zephaniah is the last of the pre-exilic prophets and can be said to sum up the messages of the previous 8. And to sum up the Israelite rebellion of God, we see the prophet Zephaniah personify the Israelite people as a “she” and describe four symptomatic elements of their Godly rebellion. Four elements that echo off the walls of our world even today.
1) She has not obeyed His voice. Regardless of what the world and those in it will tell you today, the voice of the Lord is ever present, easy to find, and easy to hear. That is, if you want to know what it says. If you don’t plan on doing what the Words of God says, then you are obviously not looking for those Words. In these pre-exilic days of Jerusalem, God’s Word was just as prevalent as today. It was available and even taught regularly and frequently in the temple. So if this is true, then why were the Israelites not hearing and doing the Word of God? (James 1:22) Well, the answer back then is the same answer as today…the sheep have the voice of their Shepherd, but they simply refuse to obey His Words. It is simple rebellion to Godly authority.
2) She has not received correction. When I failed to follow my instructions clearly in the third grade, my teacher was quick to correct me. But the power that lies in the act of correction is not in the issuance, but in the reception. When you receive Godly correction in your life, do you see it as from the Lord, or merely bad luck, a tough time, life being mean to you? Or do you see it as a gentle redirection from the Lord to get you back on the perfect path He has created just for you? Here, the prophet Zephaniah states that when the people refused to hear and obey the Words of God, He lovingly offered His correction. And then they refused that too. Ouch, us sheep are stiff necked indeed.
3) She has not trusted in the Lord. God has never given anyone a reason to stop trusting Him. Sure you can assign blame to Him for everything that happens in your life that you don’t like, but in my life experience, I am always more to blame for my life choices than God. Yet here comes that ugly DNA helix called sin that desires to blame God for all the bad things in our life, yet we are ever so quick to take personal credit (or ignore God) concerning all the good things. As a result of refusing to obey God’s Words and then rejecting His correction, the people now found themselves distrusting God’s promises and thus neglecting to recall His countless past miracles of salvation. (ten plagues, parting the Red Sea, pillar of fire and cloud, mana, Horeb water, etc).
4) She has not drawn near to her God. The worst of the offences was saved for last. God created His people, loved them without limit, desired the best for them, and incredibly, desired to have a genuine, lasting relationship with them, even in their sin. But they refused that relationship, and thus, rejected His love. Just as an angry lover recoiling from the loving embrace of their spouse, God’s love was rejected by the very people He created. The people in their desire to go their own way, drew not closer to God, but retreated farther away.
Like Lego blocks of sin, these four elements stack one upon the other. And as they do, they increase in their intensity to reject not just the instructions of God, but God Himself. It starts with rejecting God’s Words of instruction. God did not create a world and fill it with humans to only abandon them without instruction. For that, He left us His very Words. What are you doing with the Word of God today? Are you actively intaking it as what it is, the very Words of your creator to you to aid you in finding salvation and sanctification in Him that leads you to a life of abundance, purpose, and peace? Or are you rejecting those Words as you dismiss them in your mind and heart? And as your loving Creator, Almighty God, corrects your sinful actions today, how are you receiving that Godly correction? As someone that has truly sinned against a Holy God, or as someone that rejects the harsh reality that you made a mistake and need correcting? Are you trusting that every single thing that God orchestrates in your life is for your good and not your harm? (Jeremiah 29:11). Or are you hyper quick to blame God for everything that happens in your life that displeases you? And lastly, as a result of the previous three, are you moving towards God today or away from Him? For you see, you are always moving in relation to God, it just depends on whether it is closer or farther.
Intaking the Word, receiving Godly correction, growing in Godly trust, and movement towards the Lord. Four things that every disciple of Christ can evaluate daily to take the current temperature of their relationship with God. May you be honest in your evaluation efforts today and then be aggressive in your commitment to move closer to the Lord. For no matter how close you are to the Lord…you are not close enough.
Blessings ~ Dan
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4 ESV (intaking the Word)
“He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.” Proverbs 15:32 BSB (receiving Godly correction)
“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10 NIV (growing in trust)
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8a ESV (moving towards the Lord)
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