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DECEMBER 24
righteousness? How could God use the Chaldeans to judge a people more righteous than they
(1:12–2:1)? God’s answer that He would judge the Chaldeans, also (2:2–20), did not fully satisfy the
prophet’s theological quandary;in fact,it only intensified it.In Habakkuk’s mind,the issue crying for
resolution is no longer God’s righteous response toward evil (or lack thereof), but the vindication
of God’s character and covenant with His people (1:13).Like Job,the prophet argued with God;and
through that experience, he achieved a deeper understanding of God’s sovereign character and a
firmer faith in Him (Job 42:5,6; Is.55:8,9).Ultimately,Habakkuk realized that God was not to be wor-
shiped merely because of the temporal blessings He bestowed, but for His own sake (3:17–19).

December 24

1:8 the princes…king’s children. Judgment
Zephaniah 1:1–3:20 began with the royal house. Lacking commit-
ment to God’s covenant,they had adopted the
The word of the LORD which came to Zeph- customs and idolatrous practices of the hea-
1 aniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, then. Since Josiah was only 8 years old when
the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the he assumed rulership (ca. 640 B.C.), the refer-
days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. ence would not be to his children but to the
2 “I will utterly consume everything princes of the royal house or to the children of
From the face of the land,” the king who would be ruling when the
Says the LORD; prophecy was fulfilled (2 Kin. 25:7; Jer. 39:6).
3 “I will consume man and beast;
I will consume the birds of the heavens,
The fish of the sea, And all such as are clothed with
And the stumbling blocks along with 9 foreign apparel.
the wicked. In the same day I will punish
I will cut off man from the face of the All those who leap over the threshold,
land,” Who fill their masters’ houses with
Says the LORD. violence and deceit.
10
4 “I will stretch out My hand against Judah, “And there shall be on that day,”
And against all the inhabitants says the LORD,
of Jerusalem. “The sound of a mournful cry from
the Fish Gate,
I will cut off every trace of Baal from A wailing from the Second Quarter,
this place,
The names of the idolatrous priests 11 And a loud crashing from the hills.
Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh!
with the pagan priests—
5 Those who worship the host of heaven For all the merchant people are cut
down;
on the housetops; All those who handle money are cut off.
Those who worship and swear oaths
by the LORD, 12 “And it shall come to pass at that time
But who also swear by Milcom; That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
6 Those who have turned back from And punish the men
following the LORD, Who are settled in complacency,
And have not sought the LORD, nor Who say in their heart,
inquired of Him.” ‘The LORD will not do good,
Nor will He do evil.’
Be silent in the presence of the Lord 13 Therefore their goods shall become
7
GOD; booty,
For the day of the LORD is at hand, And their houses a desolation;
For the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; They shall build houses, but not
He has invited His guests. inhabit them;
8 “And it shall be, They shall plant vineyards, but not
In the day of the LORD’s sacrifice, drink their wine.”
That I will punish the princes and the 14 The great day of the LORD is near;
king’s children, It is near and hastens quickly.

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