(REFLECTIONS ON Zephaniah 1:1-18)

2 “I will completely remove all things
From the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will remove man and beast;
I will remove the birds of the sky
And the fish of the sea,
And the ruins along with the wicked;
And I will cut off man from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

This is a message of total and utter destruction, and a reversal of God’s creation. God’s creation has been desecrated and all will be cut off from the earth.

As we continue our journey through the minor prophets, are we not yet clear that life without grace, mercy, and salvation through Christ leads to utter destruction? Christ is not a good to have, no, He is our only hope.

7 Be silent before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is near,
For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice,
He has consecrated His guests.

The Lord is preparing Israel as a sacrifice. A sacrifice for the foreign nations He has gathered to destroy His people. These nations are the consecrated guests, consecrated by the Lord through the sacrifice of Israel.

Yet, that is what is so amazing about grace. That is why Jesus is not just a way, but the Way, the truth and life. Because although it was Israel that was to be the sacrifice, in the end through the Lord’s unconceivable, unfathomable mercy, the sacrifice was not Israel, but His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Yes, today’s Scripture leads us to face a reality of the sacrifice of Israel, and the love, mercy, and grace of the sacrifice of Christ. Do we not know that there is only a future of destruction without Christ?

If we are headed towards a path of destruction where God will completely remove all things from the face of the earth, then are we complaining and angry that Christ is the only way, or are we completely and utterly moved by the compassion of God upon His creation that moves the path from the sacrifice of Israel to the sacrifice of Christ?

Can we look at the sacrifice of Christ in any other way but undeserved, unearned, and unmerited favor? If we still can, then perhaps we will also ask ourselves why we need to believe in Christ, and will continue to resist in His call to us to receive salvation in Him and through Him.

Let us no longer block out the gravity of the Holy Spirit in our hearts pulling us towards the truth, and realize that the sacrifice of Christ is not just one way, but the only way.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Zephaniah 1