The Real Meaning of Life

Yes, the Bible is very confusing. It can be very vague. I don’t have all the answers, I’m often confused myself. I blame it on the writers and compilers of the Bible. Man has had his fingerprints all over the Bible for centuries now, and no one truly knows what the original writings looked like.

Zephaniah was what is called a “minor prophet”. His book is only three chapters long. The major prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah was used by God for long periods of time; Zephaniah, he just delivered a short message. And, I might add, a message that makes very little sense. So, here I go with the controversy.

Verse 1 tells us who Zephaniah was, and even though I read it, I still don’t know who he is. There is no mention of God calling him to duty. We know God called Jonah because Jonah ran from Him. We will, in the future, find how God called Jeremiah. There is scripture that plainly talks about God’s calling; Samuel, Samson, Gideon, but not Zeph. All we know is a short genealogy and the fact that he was a prophet during King Josiah’s reign.

Immediately, Zephaniah, like Nahum, starts talking about God’s wrath and how He is going to wipe out mankind. Doesn’t that sound strange? After the flood, God promised Noah that He would never cause a great flood to kill everyone again, and even gave His rainbow as a sign of His promise. Now, I’m convinced there was a flood, but I’m not convinced God caused it. God is love. God loves us. Would you kill your own child for disobedience? Neither would God. So I know that either the scripture has a totally different meaning behind it’s face value, or God’s character was deeply misconceived.

And if God promised Noah He would never destroy mankind again, why are we reading in Zephaniah that He is threatening to wipe out mankind again? Does God change His mind? No. Is God full of anger? No. So again, there is something amiss here, and when we read the Bible, we have to look at it with common sense, and what Zeph is saying here does not make sense.

The only thing that makes sense is the description of Israel’s sins. Of the many sins they committed, it appears idolatry was at the top of their list. We read the name Milcom, that is just another name for Molech, one of the false gods Israel worships; he is mentioned many times throughout the Bible.

One thing that does make some sense is in Verse 18 were Zephaniah says, “In the day of the Lord’s wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy.” Now, I don’t agree with the word “wrath” as it is now taken to mean in the English language because I don’t believe God is an angry God. I believe He is disappointed that we are sinners, He is frustrated that we are sinners, He is heartbroken that we have turned from Him, but I don’t believe He is angry, at least not to the point as to describe it as “wrath”.

And I do believe the earth will be consumed by what is perceived as fire, but it isn’t because God is jealous. God’s Glory is so perfect, so pure, so rich that it is bright beyond comprehension. Moses never laid eyes on God, but just being in God’s presence made Moses’ face shine so much that the children of Israel couldn’t even stand to look at Moses. If they couldn’t look at Moses, how on earth are they going to look at God? Moses was able too withstand God’s Glory because he was really close to righteousness, not perfect, but he was a faithful servant of God. I believe in the end, when Christ returns, those who are worthy of God’s Glory will be able to withstand it; for those who are not worthy, I believe it will consume them, like fire. But that isn’t because God is angry or jealous, that is simply the nature of God, and we ourselves choose whether we want to be righteous nor not.

At the very least, this message is a warning from God what the consequences, the natural consequences, of turning your back on Him. In God’s perfect design of life, man was able to withstand God’s Glory because God made man to be perfect; we see where God walked in the Garden with Adam and Eve. But then Adam and Eve sinned, and God had to evict them from the Garden, likely to save their lives because had they stayed, they would not have been able to withstand God’s Glory and would have perished. So God’s Glory is natural, it is man (and Satan) who has made it where we are not able to withstand it.

So, I prefer to believe that what Zephaniah is saying isn’t a threat, but rather a warning. God is telling the people what the natural consequences of sin will be. God cannot change, only we can. Now God can sit back silent and let the chips fall where they may, but we know a true parent cannot idly sit by and watch their children make fatal mistakes; we have to warn them of the dangers of life. And that is what God is simply doing, His words and actions highly misconceived.

Why is God warning them? He’s already laid down the law, hasn’t he? Why give them warning? Just punish them, now! Because God doesn’t want to punish…God doesn’t punish. God is love, He loves us, and doesn’t want us to suffer the natural consequences of our actions. And that is what they are, natural consequences. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were told their punishment was death. Did God then immediately kill them? No, what God meant was that because of sin, man would no longer live forever. God knew that sin disrupted His perfect design and that it would lead to problems, hardships, grief, sickness, and eventually death. So when God, through His prophets, is telling the children of Israel what is going to happen to them, scripture makes it sound as if it is a punishment from God, but actually, it’s just the natural consequences of us separating ourselves from Him.