Repent, O Nation! - Zephaniah 2:1-3

"Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, before the decree is issued, or the day passes like chaff, before the LORD's fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the LORD's anger comes upon you! Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the LORD's anger."

     I don't think it's any sort of secret that America is not the God-fearing land she used to be. Upon our currency we have printed and inscribed, "In God we trust". Our Pledge of Allegience declares that we are "...one nation under God..." But today we see anything but godliness in the majority of our society. We see forms of pornography legalized while the 10 Commandments are banned from public view; we have heard of lawsuits from parents against their children reciting the Pledge of Allegience due to its containing the word "god". All around us we see our once godly nation crumbling into a heep of immorality and injustice.
     The nation of Israel too, was founded upon godly principles-- in fact, founded as a Theocracy, a nation ruled by God Himself. But they, too, began to plunge into wickedness and sin, until the point when God threatened judgement against them. But being the loving, merciful and gracious God that He is, He announced His impending judgement and called the nation of Israel to repent. In repentance, Zechariah 2:3 tells us, we may find ourselves hidden in the day of the Lord's anger.

     There is no hope for a nation which has plunged into perversity and relativistic ideologies; when a people forsakes God, there is nowhere to go but down. However, if that people will turn and repent, seeking righteousness, meekness and humility-- the Lord is gracious and merciful to relent in sending judgement.
     Zechariah 2:1 declares that we ought to gather ourselves together. The Amplified Bible puts it this way: "COLLECT YOUR thoughts, yes, unbend yourselves [in submission and see if there is no sense of shame and no consciousness of sin left in you], O shameless nation [not desirous or desired]!" This is not a casual gathering of a few people, but an earnest pleading for the people of this nation to collect themselves in humility and mourning over their sinful condtion!
     We are then impressed with a sense of urgency for this gathering together. Zechariah 2:2 declares that before the day passes away as chaff we must turn and seek the Lord's mercy. Chaff is defined as "the seed coverings and other debris separated from the seed in threshing grain". Chaff, needless to say, is not a heavy, weighty substance, but easily flies away with the wind. Thus telling us that a day is passing as the chaff would evoke a sense of urgency to the matter.

     Verse 3 intrigues me as it says "Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice." This implies, to me, that it is not those who are commiting the sin in the nation that are to be the ones who seek the Lord, but rather those who are walking with the Lord who do so. The Amplified Bible, of course, amplifies this in saying, "Seek the Lord [inquire for Him, inquire of Him, and require Him as the foremost necessity of your life], all you humble of the land who have acted in compliance with His revealed will and have kept His commandments; seek righteousness, seek humility [inquire for them, require them as vital]. It may be you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger."
     I believe that the Lord would have the Christians of this once godly nation rise up and urgently plead for this country. This is not a lax, carefree, casual praying for our nation, but an urgent, imperative and whole-hearted pleading, begging, or beseaching of the Lord to turn from sending judgement and show mercy to our nation.
     Not only this, but also those who follow the Lord, those born-again Christians of America must seek righteousness and humility. As I noted above, the Amplified Bible shows us that this is not a casual desire for righteousness where we simply turn our heads when we see perverse things or turn our backs on wickedness, but that we require righteousness as vital. This may be acted out in several different manners, depending on how the Lord leads, but I believe it is always going to display itself in an urgent manner and in such a way that what we do to seek righteousness and humility in our nation will come accross as being imperative and necessary.

     In doing this, Zechariah 2:3 states, we may be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. We may avert judgement and wrath by turning and seeking the Lord with all our hearts and all our minds and all our strength. This is what the people of Ninevah did in Jonah's day-- and the Lord, who declared judgement would come upon them in 40 days, relented and had mercy for they believed the word of God and repented, turning from their wickedness and perversity. The only hope for America is those who follow God interceding on her behalf. Otherwise, judgement will come-- for no nation who has plunged into such desperate wickedness has ever avoided the wrath of God.