“I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham; And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.” (Zephaniah 1:4-6)
Zephaniah prophesies the coming judgement of Judah and Jerusalem which was the capitol city where the temple was located. The judgement is harsh, but their sin was grievous. The Lord in the previous verses has declared that He will destroy man and beast, the fowls of the heaven and the fishes of the sea and the stumbling blocks with the wicked. The Lord was to destroy everything the wicked used in their idolatry so that they would not be able to perform their idolatrous rituals.
Previously it had been prophesied that the Lord would stretch out His hand “over” them to protect them if they repented and turned to the Lord. But now the prophecy declares God’s hand upon them and as the commentator John Gill expressed, “exerting His power, stirring up His wrath, and executing His vengeance;” and “when His hand is stretched out, it cannot be turned back; and when laid on, can never be removed, till He pleases.”
The Lord declares not only to rid the land of the worshippers of Baal, but the Chemarims. These were idolatrous priests. The word Chemarims means idolatrous priests who performed the idolatrous rituals. And also, the Lord includes the priests of the temple who were performing idolatrous rituals in the temple instead of worshipping and sacrificing to the Lord. This was the temple which had been dedicated to the Lord and in which the presence of the Lord would come to meet with the people.
And the people were worshipping Malcham which was another name for Milchom, or Melchom, the same with Molech, or Mo, the god of the Ammonites. They were mixing the holiness of worship to the Lord with worshipping the god of the Ammonites on their roofs, worshipping God’s creation instead of the Creator. We can imagine how repulsive this must have been to the righteous and to the Lord.
When our world has gone crazy and has left the protection of the Lord, the righteous are like Lot who was vexed about the sin in Sodom. Vex means he was worn down and oppressed. “And (God) delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:” (2Peter 2:7-9). We may be worn down and oppressed by the sin around us, but when judgement comes upon them, the Lord will deliver us. The Lord took Lot out of Sodom before He destroyed it. Many Christians wonder if we will go through the Great Tribulation at the end before Jesus returns. There will be some Christians, but these are Christians who have turned to the Lord after the first resurrection of the saints or the rapture as we know it. They will go through the Great Tribulation. And when their physical bodies die, they will “sleep” until after the thousand-year reign of Christ. “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” (Revelation 20:4-5) Those reigning with Christ in His thousand-year reign are part of the first resurrection. The other Christians who didn’t make the rapture will not live again until the thousand years are finished.
In our upside-down world, we must be emphatic that we cannot tolerate, consent, approve or participate in any way with the wicked works of the sinner. In our culture today, any dissenting comment is seen as hate speech. In the workplace, we have to be careful and tolerant. There is a thin line workers have to walk in today’s workplace because of laws that have been enacted to protect the wicked.
In the world where we have been thrust, we need the Holy Spirit to guide our speech and actions. We cannot deny who we are. And the same laws that protect the wicked can protect the Christian. If our thanks and praise to the Lord offends, they cannot stifle the way we rejoice over a good deal, a good contract or good outcome at work. Would we stifle a Jew from saying, “Mazel tov?” “Bravo” is not forbidden at the opera or theater. The Marine Corp wouldn’t think of banning “semper fidelis.” Neither do we get angry when someone says, “Gesundheit” when we sneeze. So why would someone get riled up when we say, “Hallelujah” or “praise the Lord” to express our joy. “Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8-9)
The reason people get offended is because it’s a spiritual matter. The enemy in them is infuriated that we have given praise to the One and Only God. It hates that we have brought the Lord on the scene. So, if people get angry if you say “hallelujah” or any other Christian expression, do not take it personal. They are not coming against you, but against God. A strange thing happened to me when I was working. I expressed myself in my normal way of thanking God and praising Him at my workplace and someone who I thought was a friend, went up one side and down the other for what I said. I was shocked, but the attack was so demonic, I knew it wasn’t her assaulting me. I went to the restroom and prayed. When I felt the peace of God, I came out. My friend was a different person, like nothing had happened. It was the enemy that had tried to intimidate me. I have never stifled my natural way of giving thanks to the Lord and praising Him for His goodness in my life even at work among the heathen. “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified.” (1Peter 4:14)
As we near the end times, it will not get easier. We cannot cower to the enemy. They are offended because we don’t sin with them. “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:” (1Peter 4:3-4) We must be who we truly are. We must declare God’s goodness and greatness. The sinner has no shame of his sin. He flaunts his sin. “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (1Peter 4:11) We must remember that we are kings and priests of the Lord.
At work we should give 100% of our effort to our work and not preach. But in our free time at work, we should feel free to be who we are, ambassadors of Christ and anointed to reconcile the sinner to his Creator. “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” (2Corinthians 5:18-20) Our job is to plant that seed. Give your testimony of how the power of God transformed your life. And speak the Word of God, John 3:16, 17. Speak about God’s love, not their sin. They know they are sinners in our eyes. The window is small, and the time is short. Use it effectively.
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