“Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near. The LORD has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated those he has invited.”
Zephaniah 1:7
Time is up for Israel. They have earned exile from their earthly Promised Land. God sends in His prophets to prosecute His case against His people—and to offer them hope. Their idolatry and hunger for things of this world have not gone unnoticed, and they will not go unpunished. “Though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them” (v. 13).
But all is not lost. It is God alone who can feed our famished souls, and it is God alone who can bring us home. While a promised day of judgment is coming for God’s people of old, those who belong to Him will also enjoy what was promised to David in Psalm 23. He not only tells of a feast, but guarantees that He will prepare His people for the feast so that they can enjoy it with Him.
This is a recurring theme from the prophets and will be a recurring theme for us over the next several days. By trading God’s feast for perishing pleasures, the people of old were left with neither. Hunger, like exile, was the natural result of their sin. But God will leave us neither in a state of hunger nor of exile.
But all is not lost. It is God alone who can feed our famished souls, and it is God alone who can bring us home. While a promised day of judgment is coming for God’s people of old, those who belong to Him will also enjoy what was promised to David in Psalm 23. He not only tells of a feast, but guarantees that He will prepare His people for the feast so that they can enjoy it with Him.
This is a recurring theme from the prophets and will be a recurring theme for us over the next several days. By trading God’s feast for perishing pleasures, the people of old were left with neither. Hunger, like exile, was the natural result of their sin. But God will leave us neither in a state of hunger nor of exile.
Scripture Focus
Zephaniah 1
Insight
He has prepared a feast for His people; He will prepare His people for the feast.
Bible In A Year
- Genesis 16-17
- Psalm 8
- Matthew 13