Jerusalem Promotes Godless Leaders
Having underlined the ways in which Jerusalem was rebelling against God, Zephaniah then says this about the city in verse 3-4: “Her officials within her are roaring lions; her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. Her prophets are unprincipled; they are treacherous people. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law.” (Zephaniah 3:3-4 NIV11)
It’s been an important season in South Africa’s history. At our elections a few weeks ago, the ruling party the ANC lost their majority for the first time since the end of Apartheid, and now we have a coalition government which sure is going to be interesting. Many people saw their vote as their way to stand against the evil that the government was committing – in fact, Zephaniah’s description of the rulers being “evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning” sounds familiar to us here.
Raise Godly Leaders
But it was the religious leaders who also were leading the people astray in those days – the treacherous prophets with no principles, and the profane priests disobeying God’s laws. So all in all, Jerusalem was in bad hands. And this led them into some trouble.
What do you do if you’re in a land where the leaders are godless? Well, two things. First, you do all you can to raise up godly leaders in your part of the world. As a society, you train and prepare young people to be responsible, thoughtful, passionate, compassionate leaders. Many of my listeners here are parents, teachers, grandparents. How might you impact the youth of your area, and try to instil in them the type of values that will bring hope for the next generation? Perhaps you can be part of the solution by taking a leadership role of some type in the community. It could even be in your workplace, your school, your church, your neighbourhood – even just your home. You can play your part in shaping the culture in small ways through your leadership in such places.
Secondly, you can pray! We are called by the Word of God to pray for authorities and kings and leaders. Imagine if your president had a radical encounter with Jesus Christ that changed his or her life! Wouldn’t that be something? Shouldn’t we praying for that? Or for our mayors, or ward councillors?
And particularly, we need to pray for our spiritual leaders. The ministers of God around your city need prayer. They need all the help they can get. The role of spiritual leader opens you up to much spiritual attack, and so each pastor should be able to count on their congregation and family’s fervent and passionate prayer.
Faithful Leadership Matters
Jerusalem was in a bad way because of bad leaders. What if the true, worshipful and compassionate people of God took their place in leadership positions around the world? What if the body of Christ consistently rose up to pray for their leaders in all areas of life?
God’s judgement against Jerusalem in Zephaniah’s day was for their lack of obedience and trust, and their rejection of correction, their unwillingness to draw near, and their godless leaders. How would God judge your city, today, based on these criteria?
Let’s be part of the faithful people of God, who live faithful lives in our cities, and make a difference for God wherever we are.
Then we will, without doubt, receive His blessing, rather than His woe.
