DCLM Daily Manna 2025: DCLM Daily Manna 4 May 2025: The Wages of Indifference
Text: Zephaniah 1:10-18 (KJV)
“And there shall be on that day,” says the Lord,
“The sound of a mournful cry from the Fish Gate,
A wailing from the Second Quarter,
And a loud crashing from the hills.
11 Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh!
For all the merchant people are cut down;
All those who handle money are cut off.
12 “And it shall come to pass at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
And punish the men
Who are settled in complacency,
Who say in their heart,
‘The Lord will not do good,
Nor will He do evil.’
13 Therefore their goods shall become booty,
And their houses a desolation;
They shall build houses, but not inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine.”
14 The great day of the Lord is near;
It is near and hastens quickly.
The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter;
There the mighty men shall cry out.
15 That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of devastation and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of trumpet and alarm
Against the fortified cities
And against the high towers.
17 “I will bring distress upon men,
And they shall walk like blind men,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
Their blood shall be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like refuse.”
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 will make speedy riddance
Of all those who dwell in the land.
KEY VERSE: (Zephaniah 1:12) 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.”
It has been said that “Indifferent people cannot build a different world.” If you remain neutral, showing no interest in intervening for the good of your environment, you risk the grave danger of having others make unpleasant decisions for you. If we want societal changes, we must participate in collective efforts to effect the reforms we seek. Otherwise, external forces would impose on us what we do not bargain for.
God frowned at such an indifferent attitude among the inhabitants of Jerusalem during the ministry of Zephaniah some 630 years before the coming of Jesus Christ. They not only charged the Lord with indifference (“The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil,” they said), but they also slid into a life of ease after amassing silver and gold. They built houses and planted vineyards that gave them wine. They worshipped their wealth and became deaf to the call for righteousness. They were neither here nor there in spiritual matters, unaware that divine judgment was around the corner, as prophesied by Zephaniah.
Our generation has not learned from the mistakes of the people of Jerusalem. Men and women in their millions still go about with little or no concern about the warnings given by preachers of the gospel that the end is near when God will fulfill His promise, “And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity, and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible” (Isaiah 13:11).
Man’s apathy cannot in any way alter God’s resolve to punish sin, and should not stop us from our evangelistic mandate. Instead, we are to lovingly warn the middle-of-the-road people that the wages of their indifference is death. They cannot avoid being hit when the mighty hurricane of God’s swift judgment sweeps across the world.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Sitting on the fence makes one an easy pick for the devil.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judges 5-7
Daily Manna 4 May 2025
