Scripture Union Discovery 5th March 2025 Devotional Message for Wednesday
Scripture Union Discovery 5th March 2025 TOPIC: Righting the Wrongs
Opening Prayer
As I come to your Word today, Loving Father, I seek your heart, your truth, your wisdom, your power. I need you to show me more of who you are, more of how I can live in ways that bring you glory.
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Read ZEPHANIAH 2:4–11
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Philistia
4 Gaza will be abandoned
and Ashkelon left in ruins.
At midday Ashdod will be emptied
and Ekron uprooted.
5 Woe to you who live by the sea,
you Kerethite people;
the word of the Lord is against you,
Canaan, land of the Philistines.
He says, “I will destroy you,
and none will be left.”
6 The land by the sea will become pastures
having wells for shepherds
and pens for flocks.
7 That land will belong
to the remnant of the people of Judah;
there they will find pasture.
In the evening they will lie down
in the houses of Ashkelon.
The Lord their God will care for them;
he will restore their fortunes.[a]
Moab and Ammon
8 “I have heard the insults of Moab
and the taunts of the Ammonites,
who insulted my people
and made threats against their land.
9 Therefore, as surely as I live,”
declares the Lord Almighty,
the God of Israel,
“surely Moab will become like Sodom,
the Ammonites like Gomorrah—
a place of weeds and salt pits,
a wasteland forever.
The remnant of my people will plunder them;
the survivors of my nation will inherit their land.”
10 This is what they will get in return for their pride,
for insulting and mocking
the people of the Lord Almighty.
11 The Lord will be awesome to them
when he destroys all the gods of the earth.
Distant nations will bow down to him,
all of them in their own lands.
Reflect
How do you feel when you are taunted for your faith, when you read a newspaper article or an online comment that mocks Jesus or your faith?
This next section does not mean judgment is only for half a dozen nations. Instead these people symbolize the whole world that rejects God and his people, in the west (vv. 4–7), east (vv. 8–11), south (v. 12), and north (vv. 13–15).
The first prophecy is to Philistia, rich in commerce and sea trade. People had built it up; now God will return it to pasture (vv. 6, 7). The Lord is sovereign over all: his Word pronounces judgment against all nations (v. 5), no matter how far away the nations may be (v. 11).
The second prophecy is to Moab and Ammon (distant cousins of the Israelites via the incest of Lot’s daughters: Genesis 19:30–38), for a look at how they treated God’s people (vv. 8, 10). This time the land won’t be turned over to shepherds but destroyed as Sodom and Gomorrah were while Lot and his daughters fled (v. 9). Yet there is more to God’s judgment than punishment. He will right all wrongs, ensure everyone faces the consequences of their actions, and care for those who have been abused (vv. 7, 9).
Apply
God can take care of himself; we don’t need to scream and shout or become a crusader. Think about how you might respond graciously to someone mocking (your faith in) Jesus, perhaps by inviting them to read what Zephaniah says in verse 3.
Closing prayer
Lord God, help me to represent the truth of who you are with humility, with integrity, and with love—I want to be a part of what your Spirit purposes to do—in my family, my community, in the world.
Scripture Union Discovery 5th March 2025 Devotional © 2025 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved
