Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Excellence”
Our Bible verse for today: “Gather together – yes, gather together, you shameless nation. Gather before judgment begins, before your time to repent is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the Lord falls and the terrible day of the Lord’s anger begins … perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you – protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.” Zephaniah 2:1-2; 3b (NLT)
Our thought for today: “Don’t give up hope and don’t stop trying.”
In recent days we’ve been considering some lessons from Old Testament prophets regarding how God’s people can live with excellence in the midst of a rebellious and sinful society that is decaying and dying.
Yesterday I told you about Habakkuk and how it was that he preached to a nation that was close to the end of their existence. I also mentioned that during the time of their steady drift away from God and towards destruction, God had repeatedly sent messengers to warn them to change their ways.
One of those messengers was Zephaniah. Like Habakkuk, he also ministered in Judah. However, unlike with the ministry of Habakkuk, the words of Zephaniah did have a positive impact and for a short while, under the reign of good king Josiah, there was a spiritual revival in the land. Consequently, for a while, the hand of God was stayed. The change didn’t last and in time the nation began drifting away from God again, but for a while there was revival and it did make a difference.
That story is not an isolated instance in scripture. We read of the same thing happening to the nation of Nineveh under the ministry of Jonah. The people of Nineveh did repent, they did change their ways, and God did relent by not bringing the promised destruction upon them. Their reprieve lasted for more than 100 years until they fell away from God again, and then the promised destruction did come. But the point is that as evil as that society was, they did listen, they did repent, and God did grant them a reprieve.
The same can be true for the USA. There’s little doubt that our nation today is very much like Old Testament Judah in that we have drifted far from our godly Biblical roots; and as a nation we have become lukewarm to the things of God. In many ways we have even become downright hostile towards Him. In some respects we have also become like the evil pagan nation of Nineveh in that some of our practices (such as abortion) are very pagan and very evil.
But there is still hope. Revival can come. The hand of God can be stayed. It’s up to the people of God to first be faithful to God in their own lives, and then to boldly proclaim the truths of God to this broken and bleeding society we live in.
There was revival in Zephaniah’s day, at least for a while, and it can happen here too. So don’t give up and don’t stop trying. There is historical Biblical precedent for even the worst societies to turn around and come back to God.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 