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Friday 29 September 2017

Zephaniah 1:5-7 -Be silent

1:5,6
The priests may have claimed to still be worshipping the Lord, but they would go up to the roofs of their houses and bow down to the stars, and also worship Molek, or Milcom. We should bear in mind that this worship of idols often involved sexual immorality and child sacrifice. They neither sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him. Today there are many in the church who do not seek the Lord, who pay no attention to what He has said.

1:7
“The day of the Lord” is a motif of Zephaniah, it is what all the prophecy is about. For a long time men seem to get on with doing things the way they want to do them. In Judah priests worshipped idols, here were various unjust and corrupt practices. Powerful nations seem to be able to do whatever they want. Yet a time comes when it is “the day of the Lord”, when His purposes come to light. We see this in events in history when there is a partial fulfilment, at the end of time there will be the final and everlasting day of the Lord. So people who are wise, and nations that are wise will stop their boasting and be silent before the Lord.

We can now see a clear reference to the cross, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice that will consecrate His people. Now the Jews would probably take this as referring just to them, as we know that sacrifice would consecrate peoples from all nations. In the immediate context this would refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the people of Judah would themselves be the sacrifice.

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