The Nations Will Be Judged because of Their Pride

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Gal 2:19-20)

Those who have trusted in Christ have traded their lives for His. As a result they no longer have to depend on their own pride, and they can reject the temptation to be self-reliant.

Finally, at the end of verse 15, we read that the judgment of God, in response to the pride and self-sufficiency of Judah’s enemies, will bring them to nothing, making them a laughingstock among those who pass by them. As we said earlier, this follows this pattern of pride, self-sufficiency, and then God’s work to bring humility and compel us to see our dependence. This work, at the end of verse 15, is intended to bring justice and judgment to those who would rebel against God, but it also serves to humble them and allow them to see their need for God. In that sense it is both a work of justice and a work of grace. We see this pattern revealed throughout the rest of Scripture as well. The story of the Rich Young Ruler, from Mark, comes to mind.

Then, looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” But he was stunned at this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions. (Mark 10:21-22)

Jesus confronts the man with his self-reliance and lack of dependence on God by calling him to deny the one thing that he trusts—his wealth. You will note that Jesus does this because “Jesus loved him.” Jesus’ affection for the man compelled Him to confront him and invite him to turn to Christ. Unfortunately, in this man’s case it did not convince him to deny himself and trust in Jesus. In Zephaniah 2 we have no indication that the enemies of God did anything other than oppose God, but that does not negate the good work of God in bringing justice, which also reveals our need and pushes us to trust in Him.

We have now come full circle. As in chapter 1, Zephaniah again turns his prophecy toward the people of Judah. In similar tone and focused on similar targets, Zephaniah levels devastating judgment from God, to His own people, after clearly bringing justice to those who were His enemies. As Zephaniah leveled the charges against Judah’s enemies, I can only imagine that Judah stood by and listened with pleasure, only to find that pleasure withering under the return of God’s scrutiny.

Zephaniah opens this chapter with a prophetic condemnation of the people of Judah because of their rebellion and defilement. These two issues are related to one another. Judah was a rebellious people. They knew God’s word and had been warned against their disobedience. In spite of that, they continue to revel in their pride and self-confidence, functionally rejecting God and serving themselves instead. This was not unique to this generation of God’s chosen people. No, this is a refrain that we hear repeatedly throughout Scripture. “He rescued them many times, but they continued to rebel deliberately and were beaten down by their sin” (Ps 106:43). The psalmist was essentially writing the biography of the people of Israel in that one verse. It applies to more than just the Israelites, however. The truth is that this constant rebellion, met with constant grace, is our story too. Like the people of Judah, we constantly turn away from God, are consistent in our disobedience, and are critically in need of grace. The apostle Paul resonated with this same sentiment: “For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate” (Rom 7:5). As a result of the fall, all of humanity is damaged and in need of rescue. Apart from the grace of God, we are relentlessly bent toward sin. After coming into contact with God’s grace, we are transformed into adopted children of God, but we still retain our sin nature and find ourselves drawn, at times, back into sin. Thankfully, the grace of God makes it possible to be free from sin, but until Jesus returns to make things right, we will probably never be free from the temptation to sin. The people of Judah were susceptible to that same temptation, only they had succumbed to it and were now buried in it. Not only were they rebellious, but God describes their current condition, because of their rebellion, as one of being “defiled.” In fact, the word rebellious in verse 1 could also be translated “filthy,” which would only reinforce their desperate condition as God comes now to mete out justice.

To be rebellious, of course, leads to being defiled. Defilement refers to a loss of status. The people of God had made themselves unfit, unclean, and unholy as a result of their disobedience. God expects holiness, and they were unholy. Of course, this is not a statement that they had previously been holy and this act changed that. No, it is reinforcing that they are an unholy people who, through these actions, had declared themselves to be unholy. Their unholiness, of course, makes them unfit for the kingdom of God, thus justifying God’s wrath that was directed toward them. They were desperately in need of salvation. It sounds a lot like our story, does it not? Hopelessly disobedient, running in our own direction, and living unholy lives, we find ourselves condemned before God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Instead of receiving our just rewards, however, the defilement is turned into righteousness as God trades our unrighteousness for the righteousness of Jesus. “He [God] made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). This change of status, from righteousness to unrighteousness, is readily reversed when we submit, in obedience, to God and follow Him in faith. Our stubborn rebellion is overcome by even more stubborn grace. This is the story of the gospel.

This unfit people have not yet received that kind of grace. They are still in the process of hearing God’s judgment. God is winding down His judgment in this book, but the conclusion is among the hardest hitting of all of His condemnations. They are rebellious and they are unholy. As such, they must face God’s judgment, unless they repent.

Sadly, even though God has extended His discipline, it has not been effective to bring them back into obedience. This is the message that continues in verse 2. In this verse God offers a cascading indictment detailing the specifics of their rebellion. They have been disobedient, they have ignored God’s discipline, they have failed to trust God, and they have not drawn near to God. In general, this sounds like the typical pattern for the one who is walking away from God.

However, what makes this judgment more troubling is not simply that they were rebellious, but that when they were confronted with the Lord’s discipline, they remained hard-hearted toward Him. In a very real sense they had denied the foundational core of the gospel, which is to trust in God. The Scripture is abundantly clear, from front to back, that faith in God begins with trusting Him. This truth is elementary. For as long as I can remember, my wife has repeated Psalm 56:3 to our two daughters over and over and over again, so much so that they have it memorized and recall it regularly when they are anxious: “When I am afraid, I will trust in You.” It is such a simple little truth, and the rest of the truth of Scripture is grounded in this simple little truth. The people of Judah, however, had failed to acknowledge God, let alone trust Him, and as a result they would face His judgment.

Finally, as a result of not trusting God, they did not walk toward Him. Instead they pursued their own desires, leaving Him behind. We see Paul address a similar issue in the New Testament:

For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. (Rom 1:21-24)

This rejection of God and His will would lead to His judgment of them.

Not only would they thoroughly reject Him, but they have become so completely rebellious that their leadership is devoid of spiritual life in any sense. Zephaniah would go on to describe them as “roaring lions” and “wolves in the night,” claiming that they stripped the city bare, leaving nothing behind. In other words, the people were simply following the example of their leadership. The leaders were living for themselves to the degree that they were gladly fleecing their own people, people who had been entrusted to them as a stewardship, and they were now using the people for their own gain. Instead of serving, they were devouring their own people, and their people were then replicating their behavior.

Not only were the political leaders dishonoring God and leading the people to do so, in what was a much greater tragedy, the religious leaders were doing the same. They are described as “reckless” and “treacherous,” not to mention that they “profane the sanctuary” and “they do violence to instruction.” Much like the priests in the book of Malachi, these priests had abandoned their calling for their own pursuit of pleasure. Malachi is replete with examples, but one instance stands out:

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me? says Yahweh of Hosts to you priests, who despise My name.”

Yet you ask: “How have we despised Your name?”

“By presenting defiled food on My altar.”

You ask: “How have we defiled You?”

When you say: “The Lord’s table is contemptible.” (Mal 1:6-7)

In a similar manner to the priests in Zephaniah’s day, the priests were condemned by Malachi because they had despised God’s name. In other words, in an era when one’s name and character were inseparably linked, they had disparaged the character of God. Not only was their behavior a mark on their own character, but as representatives of God among the people, their behavior had practically claimed that God did not exist. They would have agreed with Friedrich Nietzsche: “God is dead” (Zarathustra, 122). While these priests were making a show of serving God, their behavior belied any belief in God. This tragedy may not look quite the same in contemporary culture, but no doubt pastoral malpractice continues to this day. The church may not be led by priests, as it was when Zephaniah wrote, but her leaders are just as susceptible today to burnout, doubt, and even self-serving behavior that teeters on the edge of the ethical—occasionally even falling off the edge.

After extending judgment to everyone, God reaffirms that even in the midst of this mass rebellion, He remains the same. He is still righteous, He is still holy, His justice is faithful, and still they rejected Him. This consistency proves to be yet another condemnation, contrasting His fidelity with their infidelity. The irony is thick.

Zephaniah concludes this section by describing the discipline God provided, which the people of Judah rejected. He has delivered blow after blow of judgment in an effort to rouse them from their spiritual slumber, but they refuse to respond in obedience. Of particular interest is the dialogue found in verse 7: “I thought: You will certainly fear Me and accept correction” and the verse continues, “However, they became more corrupt in all their actions.” These are a radically depraved people. God, in His love and grace, extends discipline to call them back to Him, and yet they reject Him and chase after their own desires.

He follows this up with thundering words that were intended to strike fear in the hearers’ hearts. “Wait for Me,” He says in verse 8. He is coming; and they will answer for what they have done.

Thankfully, this is not the end of the book. After chapters of devastating critique and withering rebuke, grace now leaps onto the stage, and it could not be more refreshing.