punishment – Judy in the Sky

Read Zephaniah 1 and any introduction your bible includes – Zephaniah gets right to the point. He says (he prophesies, or speaks God’s own words for the people), “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth.” :2 Then he goes on to broaden the listeners’ understanding of what God sees and is about to do.

I found verse :6 oddly beautiful and comforting. It shows God’s heart and expectation: “And I will destroy those who used to worship me but now no longer do. They no longer ask for the LORD’s guidance or seek my blessings.”

Beloved, drifting breaks God’s heart. The LORD actually wants his children to seek his guidance and blessings. It is for our good and his glory that we remain close. The people Zephaniah is addressing have wandered into the dangerous territory of abandoning God. When love letters, then warnings do not get heard, punishment is necessary. Good parents always discipline their children to bring them back to right behavior.

Next we read, “Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign Lord….” :7a, and my own heart longed for silence. It takes effort in our busy world to get silent time before the LORD, to turn off the distractions of life, to quiet our mouth and mind enough to bask in his presence, but again, this is a protection for us. As Pastor John Piper puts it, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”

Beloved, as you read, think about how you are hearing the words. We know that God is good all the time and all the time God is good… are you able to hold on to that here in this passage? No one likes punishment, but at times it is all that can save us. Will you take this passage as a cue to inventory your heart and make every correction the Holy Spirit leads you to?

Read Deuteronomy 25 – Crime and punishment – It was a big deal and punishment was carried out immediately. If the crime merited a beating, a limit of 40 lashes was imposed as more than that would humiliate the neighbor. (:3) In the New Testament, the Jews restricted such beatings to 39 lashes to be seen as merciful. Paul was the recipient of such beatings 5 times according to 2 Corinthians 11:24.

There was an interesting law on marriage and a brother’s duty to impregnate his sister-in-law, in the event of his brother’s death. (:5-10) There is a very colorful account of this law in action in Genesis 38, if you are curious about it.

The law for a wife jumping in on her husband’s fight with another man seems harsh, but I am certain there were very few one-armed ladies as a result. (:11-12) It specifically applied to her grabbing the other man’s private parts and commentators suppose this may have been in protection of reproduction.

Weights and measures must be equal. This is about integrity before God and he gives a promise and a warning for it. The promise for the man who trades with honesty is a long life, and the dishonest man is detestable to the LORD.

Beloved, hold on to that idea to be “detestable to the LORD”. When you sin, be it cheating, lying, drunkenness, anger, using the LORD’s name in vain, or any number of things, know that this is detestable to the LORD. God’s Word says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7 and “Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.” Proverbs 9:10 I hope each of us would take this to heart, knowing that our sin is detestable to God and fear Him so much that we would not sin, but if we do, that we are quick to confess and repent (which simply means stop doing it, turn away from it).

Please, Beloved, do not take your sin lightly. Love and fear the LORD your God so much that it rules over your conduct. As my pastor puts it: Obedience motivated by love brings joy. Disobedience brings pain. Choose love.