Thursday - Zephaniah 3 - God's Determination

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T is fitting and ironic that on the heels of a devotional meditation about the maybes and the unknowns in life, we quickly encounter God's determination (Zephaniah 3:8). It takes no genius to recognize that if God has determined to do something, there certainly isn’t going to be any stopping Him. So, in this context, what do we know about God's determination? Well, if we simply look at a common dictionary, we should quickly conclude that God makes decisions and, with steadfast resolution, He carries out those plans. In this case, His short-term plan was to discipline Jerusalem by delivering her over to the Babylonians. His long-term plan was to destroy Babylon and all of her brothers (vs. 6-8).

Now, we have examined many different reasons for God's punishment upon the Jews. I think we find their chief problem here though.  "She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God" (Zephaniah 3:2).  Read that verse a few times.  You will likely see that their faults are rather common today too. The Jews were guilty of great sins of commission, yes (vs. 1), but they were also guilty of grave sins of omission (vs. 2). Those things that were supposed to be sacred in Judah were greatly polluted (vs. 4).

That is not all that God has determined to do though. He has also determined to revive His nation; His elect people, the Jews, and to bless them abundantly (Zephaniah 3:9-20)! And frankly, we have no idea about just how extravagantly God really is going to bless them in the future. In Zephaniah 3:17 we read these words, "The LORD your God in the midst of you is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over you with singing." To say the least, all that sounds really nice! Can you imagine Jehovah singing a joyful song with His eyes affixed on you? Spectacular! This is what He has said that He will do for Israel someday. And, because this is His determination, there is 100% chance of it coming true. His loving plan is being played out perfectly (Acts 2:23).