Reason For Woes

Have you ever considered the reason why the woes were placed upon God’s chosen people?  Notice Zephaniah 3:1-5 and what the LORD conveys about His people. “Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city! She has not obeyed His voice, She has not received correction; She has not trusted in the LORD, She has not drawn near to her God. Her princes in her midst are roaring lions; Her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning. Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people; Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, They have done violence to the law. The LORD is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, But the unjust knows no shame”( NKJV).  Notice the charges of wickedness against His people who were well acquainted with how great, how mighty, how holy their God was. One- they were rebellious and polluted. Second- they were oppressive to the poor. Thirdly – they were disobedient to His voice and received not His correction. Fourthly- they had a dis-trust in their LORD. Fifth- they did not draw near to their LORD. Sixth- the rulers along with the judges were unjust in their actions. Seventh- the prophets were insolent and treacherous in their dealings with the people. Eighth- the priests profaned the sanctuary and did violence to the law. And lastly the unjust, those who were committing these atrocities, knew no shame. But we see the LORD shining through in that He was still righteous in their midst and would never do no unrighteousness and He would never fail in exposing and bringing their unrighteousness to light with His justice. Our comfort in a world of oppression, of violence, of lawlessness, of dishonesty and un-justice is our trust in the LORD who will bring everything to light in His day of justice.                  

- Larry Bumgardner