Harsh or Loving?

Zephaniah, I find, is a pretty tough book to write about. With lots of verses about God’s judgement, it can seem pretty bleak and harsh.  Let’s see if we can dig a little and uncover some insight.

The overall theme I see, is God’s desperate want for His people to come back to Him. Chapter 3 begins with a description of where His people are. “…The city that wouldn’t take advice, wouldn’t accept correction, wouldn’t trust God, wouldn’t even get close to her own god! Her very own leaders are rapacious lions, her judges are rapacious timber wolves out every morning prowling for a fresh kill. Her prophets are out for what they can get. They’re opportunists—you can’t trust them. Her priests desecrate the Sanctuary. They use God’s law as a weapon to maim and kill souls. Yet God remains righteous in her midst, untouched by the evil. He stays at it, day after day, meting out justice. At evening he’s still at it, strong as ever. But evil men and women, without conscience and without shame, persist in evil.” 3:1-5 MSG

In spite of the state of things, God is still there, hoping….hoping they will come back. Can’t you just see the heart of a parent towards a child? Oh how our hearts hurt when our kids make decisions that will hurt them. We so desperately want them to see and choose a different path. We are still there with them but our hearts ache in the midst of it.

Verses 6-7 are, I think, God’s actions in hopes of turning His kids back to Him. “So I cut off the godless nations. I knocked down their defense posts, filled her roads with rubble

so no one could get through. Her cities were bombed-out ruins, unlivable and unlived in.

I thought, ‘Surely she’ll honor me now,  accept my discipline and correction, find a way of escape from the trouble she’s in, find relief from the punishment I’m bringing.’ But it didn’t faze her. Bright and early she was up at it again, doing the same old things.”

Can you hear His heart saying, “Please! Please come back to Me. I don’t want you to suffer and I’m showing you the way out if you only will.

Verse 8 is basically a “well, if that’s what you want, so be it” verse.

In my thinking, God is passionately committed to our healing. This sounds to me like the voice of sorrow. ‘’I didn’t want this for you but you leave me no choice. These are the consequences of your choices.”

Verses 9-13 “In the end I will turn things around for the people…You’ll no longer have to be ashamed of all those acts of rebellion….I’ll leave a core of people among you who are poor in spirit… Content with who they are and where they are,  unanxious, they’ll live at peace.”

I don’t know about you, but I liked…”content with who they are and where they are, unanxious, they’ll live at peace.” Oh I can’t wait for that day! As my kids would say, “I want that.” 😃

18-20 “…You’ve carried those burdens long enough…I’ll get rid of all those who’ve made your life miserable. I’ll heal the maimed…On Judgment Day I’ll bring you back home—a great family gathering!…all those painful partings turned into reunions!”

Do you feel like there are oh so heavy burdens you’ve carried too long? Me too. Some of it is legitimate suffering. There are burdens we carry and will until we get to the other side. I’m thinking of Romans 5:3-4 NIV “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” And how about those reunions?!

My take away is God’s tender heart towards us. He so longs to be in relationship with us and some of the choices we make so grieve His heart. I’d like us to look beyond what seems to be harshness and see how much He loves us. His love is passionate, committed, complete, and unfathomable.