i can see us dying... are we?

Over the past couple months, I've been meditating on the minor prophets. Aside from Hosea (which I've studied enough to feel as if I married Homer myself), I had never given the books more than a passing thought, only then in completing the "task" of the Old Testament.

I'm thankful that God has returned me to these living words now that I'm viewing them with the Spirit's revelation. Being a big picture guy, I'm going to see His call to the remnant wherever I read, but throughout the minor prophets, it's not a stretch. While the historical context may have spoken to a nation of exiles, He has adopted His Church as "His people," same as He did with Israel. We shouldn't be surprised if the same rebukes, corrections, and calls to obedience apply.

One such gem was found in Zephaniah. Through the first and second chapters, God proclaims his judgment over Judah for adopting their neighbors' idolatry and raises his hand against these surrounding nations. I was broken for my earthling church by Zephaniah 3:

Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,
The tyrannical city!
She heeded no voice,
She accepted no instruction.
She did not trust in the LORD,
She did not draw near to her God.
Her princes within her are roaring lions,
Her judges are wolves at evening;
They leave nothing for the morning.
Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men;
Her priests have profaned the sanctuary.
They have done violence to the law.
The LORD is righteous within her;
He will do no injustice.
Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He does not fail.
But the unjust knows no shame.
“I have cut off nations;
Their corner towers are in ruins.
I have made their streets desolate,
With no one passing by;
Their cities are laid waste,
Without a man, without an inhabitant.
“I said, ‘Surely you will revere Me,
Accept instruction.’
So her dwelling will not be cut off
According to all that I have appointed concerning her.
But they were eager to corrupt all their deeds.

“Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD,
“For the day when I rise up as a witness.
Indeed, My decision is to gather nations,
To assemble kingdoms,
To pour out on them My indignation,
All My burning anger;
For all the earth will be devoured
By the fire of My zeal.” (v. 1-8)

Awesome, right? I've noticed how God typically does not pour out His justified wrath unless one of two principles apply:

1. The spiritual leadership is corrupt.
2. The people are unrepentant.

On this occasion, His people rolled the wrath-inducing Yahtzee. Even then, God offered every opportunity to repent without punishment.

It reminds me of a passage my manager Paul was excited about last week. Many of us know that Methuselah was the oldest man that ever lived. We also know that his daddy Enoch never died, but that God "took him" because he was freaking awesome in God's eyes (paraphrased). Those have been answers to Bible Flash Cards since I was in elementary school. We always wondered why Methuselah died just short of 1000. But my Sunday School teacher never integrated math into our studies. As a result, I missed the point:

Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. (Genesis 7:6)

So what?

• Methuselah was 187 when he became the father of Lamech. (6:25)
• Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died. (6:27)
• Lamech was 182 when he became the father of Noah. (6:28)

187 + 182 + 600 = 969!

Some of you may already be aware of this information. For me, the amazing part is not that the flood began when Methuselah died. It's what Methuselah represents: God gave His people every opportunity to repent of their wickedness... during the longest life ever! Methuselah's life represented just how expansive God's grace is!

The people drowned by the flood didn't see it or appreciate it. Neither did Zephaniah's contemporaries. The king during Zephaniah's prophecy was Josiah, who happened to be the most righteous king ever (2 Kings 23:25). He demolished the standing idols and slaughtered the priests of their shrines. Josiah died defending the nation against Egypt -- within months they had set up a puppet government and were overcome by the Babylonians. One man's righteousness was God's grace upon a nation.

We are living in another such day of grace. Do not confuse God's deliberation with corporate righteousness. He loves us for sure, and wants nothing more than to refrain from judgment. But sure as anything, He desires a righteous people that proclaim His glory with their lives. And if it cannot be found within the current establishment...

“For then I will give to the peoples purified lips,
That all of them may call on the name of the LORD,
To serve Him shoulder to shoulder.
“From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers, My dispersed ones,
Will bring My offerings.
“In that day you will feel no shame
Because of all your deeds
By which you have rebelled against Me;
For then I will remove from your midst
Your proud, exulting ones,
And you will never again be haughty
On My holy mountain.

“But I will leave among you
A humble and lowly people,
And they will take refuge in the name of the LORD.
“The remnant of Israel will do no wrong
And tell no lies,
Nor will a deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouths;
For they will feed and lie down
With no one to make them tremble.” (Zechariah 3:9-13, emphasis added)

When God has removed the proud and blessed the meek, His people are restored. I love the visual picture of serving and worshiping "shoulder to shoulder." Not one is exalted upon a hill or receiving the honor of the people. They humbly serve alongside one another, facing forward with parallel shoulders towards the King of Kings.