Settled On Their Lees Zeph. 1:12

“And it will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit [that are settled on their lees - KJV], Who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good or evil!'” (Zeph. 1:12)

Pictured here is undisturbed wine. The dregs (lees) have precipitated out, and have not been disturbed for a very long time. When bottles of wine are not rotated in their racks or casks of wine that are not turned, the wine becomes thick and it’s flavor is unchanged. So good wine becomes great and bad wine simply becomes worse. Wicked men, too long undisturbed, sink into sin and degradation that it is impossible to recover from. 

Their indifference caused them to think that the Lord cares, rewards or punishes. As the prophet Amos said, they are “at ease in Zion.” (Amos 6:1) It wasn’t they they didn’t know, but that they didn’t care. These are not atheists in profession; yet they are atheists in practice. They don’t take the time or effort to deny God in thought and work out a philosophy of it, they just live like He doesn’t matter, with complete disregard for the Creator who showers them with life and all blessings. So they rest at complete ease in their evil.  

Rather than be complacent, and let your sins stack up, continually have the attitude of David: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” (Ps. 139:23,24) You know that God will examine everything concerning our lives anyway, so invite Him in to cleanse and perfect it, rather than just waiting until He comes and give punishment for the sin that we’ve all committed.

Overtaken By God’s Word Zech. 1:6

Zechariah told those who returned from exile, “The LORD was very angry with your fathers.” (Zech. 1:2)  This was obvious in the ruined city and destroyed Temple. “Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Return to Me," declares the LORD of hosts, "that I may return to you," says the LORD of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’”  But they did not listen or give heed to Me," declares the LORD.” (vs. 3,4) They had been told and told, yet they never did. They received the wrath of God instead of His welcome because they would not repent.  

Men think that there is “time, time enough yet.” But the longer we postpone repentance the more difficult it becomes, and finally we are out of time.  “Your fathers, where are they?  And the prophets, do they live forever?” (vs. 5)  Their fathers were gone, perished by the sword or gone to captivity. Also gone were great men like Jeremiah who had preached to them. 

The father’s time to repent and change was gone.  But God’s word still remained.  “But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers?  Then they repented and said, 'As the LORD of hosts purposed to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.” (vs. 6)  God told them what He would do then did it.  Later, when they repented, they acknowledged that it was just. There aretwo great truths in this verse: 1.) God’s word overtakes all men and 2.) God does as He purposed (and predicted) with sinful men.

Running From God Jer. 52:1-11

The end of the earthly reign of the house of David came when Jerusalem fellto Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. The last descendant of David to rule as a king of a physical nation was Zedekiah. They fell because fellowship with God was lost. “For through the anger of the LORD this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence.” (Jer. 52:3) 

As the Babylonian army closed in, he cut and ran.  “A]l the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king's garden...” (Jer. 52:7)  Ezekiel prophesied their escapee and their capture. “The prince who is among them will load his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig a hole through the wall… I shall also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare." (Ezk. 12:12,13) Jeremiah records, “The Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho…his army was scattered from him…they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon.” (Jer. 52:8,9)  

His sons were killed before his eyes. And so that this calamity would be the last thing he ever saw, Nebuchadnezzar “blinded the eyes of Zedekiah.”  Then he “bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon, and put him in prison until the day of his death.” (Jer. 52:10, 11)

The rebellious life always ends disastrously. You can no more run from God’s punishment than Jonah could run from His presence – yet many try. Men try to sow the wind without reaping the whirlwind.  They try to sow to the flesh and not reap corruption. They keep on trying to live a life of sin without going to hell. None will succeed. Zedekiah couldn’t run that fast. I can’t run that fast. You can’t run that fast.