On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud.
“Step on a crack, break your mother’s back.” We have all heard this one about stepping on the crack in the sidewalk. Leaping over the threshold may mean the same thing. Many in Judah were observing silly superstitions while neglecting the very real law of God. Zephaniah wrote this during good times. The reforming king Josiah was restoring obedience to God in Judah. Zephaniah’s prophecy was, “Yeah but…” He warned the people that it would not last, that the next king, Manasseh, would reject all these reforms and bring the land to ruin and captivity, what God called the Day of the Lord.
How many Christians in America, pastors included, are obsessed with external ritual while neglecting the importance of God’s law? Jesus had harsh words for those that would strain a gnat and swallow a camel, and clean the outside of the cup while inside was filth and decay. Many pastors preach about Jesus and fill their own pockets. The minor prophets like Zephaniah constantly warned that God wants their heart, not sacrifice. Jesus cared less about the Pharisees adding to the law than he did about love and mercy.
The people of Judah forgot to love their God and their neighbor. The people of America have forgotten this also. Is there something in your life that is more important than the simple act of loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself? Perhaps it is time to leave that something at the threshold for the trash people to collect.
Clean the inside today.