DCLM DAILY MANNA DEVOTIONAL FOR NOVEMBER 14, 2022 (STRANGE APPAREL)
 

 TOPIC : STRANGE APPAREL

Text: Zephaniah 1:7-18

7. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD; for the day of the LORD is at hand; for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.

8. And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

9. In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

10. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.

11. Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.

12. And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees; that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.

13. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation; they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

14. The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

15. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

16. A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.

17. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

18. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

KEY VERSE: Zephaniah 1:8

“And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.”.

MESSAGE

A preacher said, “The customs and fashion of men change like leaves on the bough, some of which go and others come. Never in the history of fashion has so little material been raised so high to reveal so much that needs to be covered so badly.”

Zephaniah spoke of God’s judgment upon Judah during the early reign of their young king, Josiah. The reign of King Josiah’s father and grandfather had completely drained devotion to the Lord from the people. They had grown accustomed to strange and desperately wicked acts such as child sacrificing, worship of native gods of the land and putting on of scanty apparel. God promised to shut down Judah’s economic activities and allow their adversaries invade the land, killing many of them in the process.

Zephaniah was bold enough to condemn the sins of both great and small in the land. As God’s prophet, he decried the iniquity of a nation that was supposed to be a theocracy. Judah and Israel were fast losing their uniqueness in worship, business and even in dressing and comportment. They copied the culture and religion of their sinful and rebellious nations to the extent that some of them now believed God could neither do good nor evil.

Our present society is equally as bad. The world has permeated the Church. Outlandish dressing has been imbibed, not just by the ordinary members, but by some pastors’ wives and elders. Dresses that expose nakedness and stir up evil passions in the opposite gender attract the judgment of God. No matter how anyone may rationalise it, the story does not change if he or she does not follow God’s standard. He wants us to draw a line between what is scripturally acceptable and what is not.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
We can still be uncompromising in this evil world.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
2 Kings 5-6

Daily Manna is the daily devotional of the Deeper Christian Life Bible Ministry (DCLM). It is an extraction of God’s Word designed to draw the sincere seeker closer to God on a daily basis through an insightful exposition and analysis of God’s Word.