SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/11/2016 10:54 PM
My Worship Time Focus: A Godless Leadership
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Zephaniah 3:3-4
Message of the verses: “3 Her princes within her are roaring lions,
Her judges are wolves at evening; They leave nothing for the morning. 4 Her
prophets are reckless, treacherous men; Her priests have profaned the
sanctuary. They have done violence to the law.”
We remind
you that we are talking about the city of Jerusalem and those that were living
in it around the time when Zephaniah was prophesying. In our last SD we spoke of the people who
were sinning, and now we look at the leadership who could be blamed for much of
the sinful things that were being done.
If a nation has good leadership then many of its people will follow them
in acting in ways that will be morally correct, but when the leadership is not
good, then the nation will go downhill at a much faster rate. In the case of Israel, and in this case the
Southern Kingdom of Judah, and for that matter all nations, but especially
Judah God expected the leaders to take His Word seriously and lead the people
in the way of righteousness. However
that was not done in Jerusalem during this time as their leaders were acting
like ravenous beasts as they oppressed the people and took what they wanted
from them. We know from studying books
like Jeremiah and Ezekiel that the prophets during this time period were mostly
false prophets, telling the leaders what they wanted to hear, not telling them
the truth, that God was about to destroy them for their sinfulness.
Dr. Wiersbe
writes “As for the priests, their very ministry was toxic and polluted the
sanctuary! (Matt. 23:25-28 relates what
Jesus said about the Pharisees in His day.)
Instead of serving God for His glory, the priests twisted the Law to
please themselves and gain what they wanted.”
It was not
that God had not sent true prophets to speak to His people, they just would not
listen to them. “23 ’And if by these things you are not turned to
Me, but act with hostility against Me, 24
then I will act with hostility against you; and I, even I, will strike
you seven times for your sins (Lev. 26:23-24).”
Jeremiah gave this message to the people of Jerusalem even when Babylon
was ready to attack them (Jer. 2:30; 5:3; 7:8; 17:23; 32:33).”
3/11/2016 11:10 PM
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