July 11, 2021 Prophets – Zephaniah Zephaniah 1

             Most everyone has a price at which they can be bought.  For many that price is indeed money.  Give them enough money and you can get them to do just about anything; regardless of the morality.  But there is more than just money. 

Some people can be leveraged with a promise of fame or power. 

Even highly selfless people can be pushed to twist their principles if told it is “for the greater good”. 

            And of course there is also using pain as coercion.  You can threaten a person with pain - torture.  You can keep increasing a person’s pain until they give in.  Or you can threaten the lives of people they love.  What parent wouldn’t do almost anything if the life of one of their children was threatened?

            What does it take to make someone compromise their principles; their beliefs; their values?

            The prophet Zephaniah rips into the people of his age for many things.  Like the prophets Amos and Micah, Zephaniah sees widespread corruption and exploitation of the poor by the rich.  He speaks against it sharply.  But Zephaniah takes on other things as well.

            It is helpful to set Zephaniah’s prophesy in its context.  Zephaniah is active early in the reign of King Josiah.  Josiah reigned from 640 to 609 B.C.E.  He became king at the age of 8 when his father was assassinated.  He was hardly prepared to rule as a young boy.  Little is recorded about the early years of his reign.  But it was an opportune time for a king of Judah.

            The Assyrian Empire had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel in the year 722 B.C.E.  They did not ever manage to destroy the southern kingdom of Judah.  However they did make it a vassal state.  They required heavy payments of tribute to keep from attacking.  They forced the Judeans to accept many Assyrian ways.  And very importantly for understanding the message of Zephaniah, they forced the Jews to worship their gods: Baal and Milcom.

            What should the Jews have done?  The very existence of their nation was on the line.  Should the people have fought back and been annihilated?  Should the kings have refused to pay tribute?  Should they have not allowed the worship of the other gods?

            According to Zephaniah they should not. 

However, it is good to understand the complexity of their situation.  Sometimes people have the best of intentions but not follow through on them because they feel forced to do something.  Perhaps we won’t outright compromise our core principles but we all know that “right” and “wrong” can become very grey.

            Young King Josiah came to power at an opportune time.  Over a century had passed since the days of the Assyrian Empire’s rapid growth.  By the year 640 its power was seriously waning.  Its vassal states could start to flex their muscles and act with greater independence. 

            Ten years into his reign, at the age of eighteen, King Josiah launched what is perhaps the greatest reform campaign in the history of Judah.  He instituted many economic reforms; stamping out manipulation and exploitation.  He instituted political reforms which reduced corruption.  He raised armies and began expanding the nation’s borders.  He recovered a great deal of territory lost to Assyria in the previous century.  And most significantly, he instituted major religious reforms.  During repairs and renovations to the temple a scroll of the Law of Moses was discovered.  Scholars today think this scroll was most likely the book of Deuteronomy.  Josiah immediately set to work re-establishing that religious order.  He expected citizens to follow the religious laws outlined there.  He executed the priests of other religions, destroyed their worship sites, and burned their idols.

            These days we might look upon King Josiah with shock as we see him forcibly destroying every religion but his own.  But to the Jews of the day it was the overthrow of their long time oppressors.

            Zephaniah’s prophesy appears to have been made before King Josiah’s began reforming things.  Who knows what Zephaniah would have written if he had been during or after the reform? 

Were Josiah’s reforms enough?  Surely things weren’t perfect.  Would Zephaniah have felt called to continue the harsh rebuke? 

            Like the other prophets Zephaniah ends with a promise of God’s everlasting love and forgiveness.  There is always a promise that a remnant will be left.  From that remnant God will rebuild the people.

            Zephaniah’s prophesy gives us a real challenge.  Is there ever a reason to compromise faithfulness?  Zephaniah would probably say no.  He proclaims that the punishment for unfaithfulness will be done by God’s own hand.  We didn’t read the whole book, but similar to other prophets Zephaniah uses the concept of the “Day of the Lord.”  This day will be a judgment day.  It will be a day of justice for the oppressed and wrath for the oppressors.  It will be a day when God sets all things right.

            Life is complex.  We all make compromises and concessions every day.  Zephaniah would probably challenge us on them.  His words show that our trust should be in God and God alone.  That trust should be absolute.  And if that trust is absolute then we shouldn’t fear any threat, for God will protect.  Even if the present falls apart and everything we’ve ever worked for is destroyed – even if we are killed in the process – the ultimate future is still completely in God’s hands.  We should live for that.

            Over the centuries many people have taken themes from prophets like Zephaniah to heart.  The results have been disastrous.  They can lead to religious zealotry – absolutely uncompromising commitment to laws.  These zealots believe that even the slightest compromise on anything risks religious corruption.  Governments run by religious laws begin to act with oppressive rigidity.

            Is that what Zephaniah had in mind?  Probably not.  That was probably not the design of Josiah’s reforms either.

            Deep commitment to religious beliefs can be disastrous.  It has been in many times and places.

The core of Christianity, even when zealously applied, should never lead to such disasters.  While many nations over the years have claimed to be acting according to Christian principles, an examination of their actions shows they were really using Christianity to justify their own self-interests.  While the core of our faith will not allow it, we do well to remember that our faith can be twisted by those who wish to do so.

Uncompromising Christian faith means ultimate trust in God.  St. Paul says the greatest of all things are faith, hope, and love.  And the greatest of those three is love.  Love is God’s ultimate nature and God’s ultimate power.  God’s love can be ferocious and tenacious.  It is not always nice and sweet.  But as we see in the cross of Christ, God’s self-emptying love will stop at nothing.

In the prayers and actions of Jesus in Gethsemane we see uncompromising faithfulness in action.  Jesus would not be deterred no matter what.  He set aside all logic and all instincts of survival.  He stayed faithful.

Our faith is not as perfect as Jesus’.  Our commitment to God probably falls short of what Zephaniah calls for.  The good news for us is that God is indeed loving.  God forgives.  God restores.  The ancient Israelites failed God over and over again.  God stayed with them.  God will stay with us.

We should strive endlessly to meet the ideals people like Zephaniah proclaim.  We do not want to exploit God’s grace or become complacent.  And yet we also live in relief knowing that God’s grace truly is the final word.