Zephaniah 1 – 3
Verses 1:2 & 3 open with an ominous warning:
2-3 Eternal One: I am going to wipe the face of the earth clean of every living thing.
I will wipe away both people and animals;
Even the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea will be swept away.
Rubble and ruin will be all that is left with the wicked
When I cut off humanity from the face of the earth.
It’s words like this that make me wonder if God is really like US. We are made in His image and we get hot tempered and blow up from time to time. Is that what’s happening here? This prophecy was given 2700 years ago and we are still here and people don’t seem to care “the end is near” while ignoring God. This is where I wonder if this is MAN’s interpretation of a God given vision? Did God speak these words or give them a vision of the future or a possible future. The “IF-THEN-ELSE” statement is in scripture if this is the case.
Verse 2:9 opened my eyes on some “innocent” acts we do:
On that day, I will punish those who jump temple thresholds fearing pagan demons,
those who exchange true religion for silly superstition,
And those who use violence and betrayal to steal from others
in order to make themselves and their king rich.
“Step on a crack, break your mother’s back” comes to mind. This superstition, like many others, is rooted in evil. Horoscopes, fortune tellers and the like are all “mystic” religions from the OT days packaged to seem fun and innocent. Really we do not need to be reading the daily horoscope or jumping over cracks or freaking out when a black cat crosses our path. These are all “innocent” obsessions that draw us away from God. If you dig deep you will find demons and witchcraft embedded in these little distractions.
Verse 3:5 states what may not be obvious to all:
Despite all this, the Eternal One is right there in her midst;
nothing He does is wrong.
Every morning He delivers His judgment;
He illuminates the right way to live.
Though, like the sun, He never fails to appear,
it’s amazing that the lawbreakers aren’t ashamed of their actions.
Art helps us think of God as some individual in the clouds who has unlimited power with a great figure and a long flowing white beard. In reality He is not in our image limited to a meat suit, but rather a vast conscious energy that is everywhere. Our minds can’t grasp something like this even though we have a mini version in our bodies. Think about what drives this meat suit? What fires the neurons to get us to move, think, and cry? That energy IS the image of God!! Think about it and don’t put God in a box!!