Saturday 27th April
Read Zephaniah 2:10-11
“This is what they will get in return for their pride,
for insulting and mocking
the people of the Lord Almighty.
11 The Lord will be awesome to them
when he destroys all the gods of the earth.
Distant nations will bow down to him,
all of them in their own lands.” (NIVUK)
The real audience for this message is not actually those dwelling in Moab and Ammon (v8-9), or even in distant lands (v11b). It is very unlikely that Zephaniah’s messages from Yahweh would even cause a ripple so far away. The real audience is twofold.
First it is Judah and Jerusalem. They are granted to ‘overhear’ these messages not in order to gloat, or even necessarily to know how much disdain for them will be punished by Yahweh, but in order to grasp the message that if God is warning even those who barely are concerned with Him, how much more should those who know Him heed His warnings?
The second audience may be the spiritual powers deceiving the nations around Judah. Their supposed power and dominion will be as nothing. Whilst God called out Judah and Israel for His special possession, it doesn’t mean that every other nation is beyond His sight or care. He is at work everywhere. Even in Armidale in 2024. There are not many places more distant than here…
