“I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.” Zephaniah 3:12-13.
The people referred to here are the Jews and notice, it is “the remnant of Israel”, the reason they will be meek and humble is that they will have gone through the tribulation period.
The tribulation is a seven year period which will encompass the entire earth, the worldwide death and destruction will be unimaginable, destruction from both planet killing natural disasters and from men gone mad in a killing spree.
The Jewish survivors of the tribulation will accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah, whom they blasphemously reject now. When they do realize that He is the Messiah it will be as a changed people.
“I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.” Zephaniah 3:12.
Though we covered verse 12 in the last study here on 8-25-20, let us go back and elaborate on a couple of things.
The words “I will leave in your midst” means that two thirds of the Jewish population will die during the tribulation and one third will remain having come through the fires of persecution.
This one third will accept Christ as their only hope and Savior, “and they shall trust in the name of the Lord”, something that they have never done completely as a nation in Israel’s entire history.
“I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people…” Zephaniah 3:12a.
All of the Jews who survive the tribulation will be a meek and humble people. In all of the 7.8 billion people now on this earth there are only a handful of meek and humble folks.
Right now the world is preparing itself for citizenship in the globalist community. Even now men and women are overly confident, callow, angry, self-centered, and opinionated know-it-alls who are ready to riot and kill for… what?
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
“…always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:7.
At this time the god of this world is indoctrinating men to be arrogant and self-centered to assert their rights. After the rapture of Christians from the earth nearly the entire world will embrace Satan’s teachings bringing on deadly chaos.
I pity the old, the gentle, the handicapped, the poor, and those who revere liberty, truth and justice, who are left behind because they did not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior in time to avoid going through the tribulation. These will be the first victims.
“Seek the Lord [Jesus Christ] while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6-7.
The horrors of the tribulation will indeed change the attitudes of the survivors who accepted Christ in that period, but none quite like the Jews.
“…a meek and humble people”, according to the dictionary the word meek means; humbly patient or submissive, gentle, kind, mild; it is rendered afflicted in the King James, and lowly in the New American Standard Bible.
The dictionary defines the word humble as, not proud or arrogant, modest. The synonyms are, unpretentious, submissive; meek, and polite. The word is rendered poor in the King James Bible. The word poor does not mean poverty; it means poor in attitude.
“Whatever may your virtues be, oh cultivate humility; be unobtrusive, meek, retired; seek to be useful, not admired.” author unknown.
These are important qualities for the Christian life because it will bring peace to your home and your local church, and most importantly this is what the citizens of heaven are going to be like.
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24.
“But outside [in the lake of fire] are dogs [a man of impure mind, impudent] and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie [all those who reject Christ as Savior].” Revelation 22:15.
This meek and humble nation shall also have other characteristics which would naturally come with meekness and humility.
“The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth…” Zephaniah 3:13a.
Israel will be characterized by righteousness, a good definition of righteousness is, doing what is morally right, or more simply, doing what is right.
Now some say, “What is right, who is to make the rules?” Most of these are atheists who believe that we evolved from a blob of goo in a godless universe. If that were true, their question would be valid.
However, evolution, is untrue, it is a theory made up by and supported by godless men using it to numb their consciences as they flaunt the laws of God.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…” Romans 1:18-20.
The hearts of these men are hardened because daily science finds things which refute the theory of evolution. The studies of DNA, astronomy, biology, or botany reveal ever new aspects of creation which glorify God the Creator.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.
“In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:1-3.
God created everything, God set up the laws of gravity, light, chemistry, physics, and of morality. If one defies the law of gravity and jumps off a cliff they will fall and die.
If they defy the laws of morality they may not die, but, like the law of gravity they will pay a price in time, if not, they will pay the price when they stand before the Judge of all the earth.
Righteousness is doing what is right, and the Israelites will habitually do what is right, just as any Christian should do because both we and they will have God’s Holy Spirit in them.
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah – not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Jeremiah 31:31-33.
With Israel’s righteousness will come truthfulness, “…and speak no lies”. Most mature Christians will admit that they were great liars before they accepted Christ as their Savior; now it is very difficult to lie about something.
That will be a very refreshing difference during the millennial reign of Christ, a world filled with truthfulness. The world has become a disgusting place because of all the habitual liars, especially those in politics and the media.
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8.
“…nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth”, meekness, humility, righteousness, truthfulness, and now a complete departure from deceitfulness.
What a tremendous change from the tyrannical city depicted in verses 3 and 4 at the beginning of this chapter.
“Her princes in her midst are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning. Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people; her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.” Zephaniah 3:3-4.
From a treacherous people who devour widows, orphans, and the stranger in their land, to a meek and humble nation that turns away from evil and follows God without wavering throughout the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ their Lord and Messiah.
The children of Israel and their children will go through the entire thousand years without one of them rejecting Christ as their Savior.
The non-Jews, the Gentile believers who enter the millennium however will have children who reject Christ as their Savior and King and quietly move away from Jerusalem as far as possible.
“Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:7-10.
During the millennium the Israelites will no longer be hated and persecuted as they will be throughout the tribulation. They will enjoy peace during the millennium and then on into eternity.
“…for they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.” Zephaniah 3:13b.
The Tyrannical City, Part 9 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 5-3-17, updated on 8-28-20.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.