Creator, Father, King #159

I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners to punish those who sit complacent in their sins. They think the LORD will do nothing to them, either good or bad.

HAVE YOU EVER HAD a drink of something—fruit juice, hot chocolate, eggnog, etc.—that tastes great ninety-five percent of the way, but the last five percent is pretty gross because all the sediment settled to the bottom and made it sludgy and distasteful?

Sadly, this is the picture that the prophet Zephaniah painted of the rebellious nation of Judah shortly before God judged it through Babylon. As a book, Zephaniah describes a nation that, overall, believed in God but had become like the syrupy sludge at the bottom of a drink.

Look again at today’s verse. The Hebrew term for our English word complacent tells us much about Judah’s spiritual state in Zephaniah’s day. It literally means “thickening on the dregs.” This is a reference to the wine that was commonly enjoyed during meals in ancient Israel.

What’s It Mean?

Like old wine sitting undisturbed and fermenting at the bottom of a stone jar, the Judeans had grown spiritually complacent. Their sin had led them into a warped theology that God doesn’t care one way or another about how people act.

It seems the people were also resting on a false sense of security due to their privileged Jewish ethnicity as descendants of Abraham—God’s chosen nation.

They had become spiritually motionless, like liquid dregs. They couldn’t fathom that God would judge them through pagan Babylon (Habakkuk 1:12-13).

Today, it’s just as easy to fall into the trap of spiritual complacency. Some people don’t perceive God actively working in their lives, so they wrongly assume he is aloof. They feel safe and secure in his love because of the spiritual heritage of their ancestors:

• My parents are Christians.
• I come from a good, religious family.
• I was raised in church.

Does this describe your mentality? If so, beware! You are becoming complacent in fake religiosity, just like the ancient Judeans. You are placing your eternal hope in things that cannot save you. You are thickening on the dregs.

Second-generation Christians don’t exist. God requires you to repent and believe in the name of his Son for salvation (Mark 1:15).

God is not distant. “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). Don’t drink the dregs of spiritual complacency. Enjoy the Lord in all his goodness!

Now What?

Zephaniah doesn’t get enough love today. Read it!

Did You Know?

Zephaniah was a contemporary of fellow prophets Habakkuk, Nahum, and Jeremiah.