Sapate Tisema 24, 2023
Settled on Their Lees
Kakai ‘oku nau nofo fakafiemalie hifo
ZEPHANIAH 1:12
"AT THAT TIME I WILL SEARCH JERUSALEM WITH LAMPS, AND I WILL PUNISH THE MEN WHO ARE COMPLACENT, THOSE WHO SAY IN THEIR HEARTS, 'THE
LORD WILL NOT DO GOOD, NOR WILL HE DO ILL…
SEFANAIA 1:12
Pea ka hoko ‘a e taimi ko ia, te u hakule ‘a Selusalema mo e ngaahi maama: pea te u tautea ‘a e kau tangata ‘oku fatu ‘i he funga totoka, ‘a kinautolu ‘oku lau ‘i honau loto, ‘Ā, ‘e ‘ikai ‘omi ‘e Sihova ha lelei, pea ‘e ‘ikai te ne ‘omi ha kovi.
Bea e hoko i he kuoga koia, teu hakule a Jelusalema aki ae gaahi māma, bea tautea ae kakai oku nau nofo fakafiemalie hifo: aia oku behe i ho nau loto, E ikai fai ha lelei e Jihova, bea e ikai te ne fai ha kovi.(paaki ‘a Uesi)
"Complacent" (ESV), "stagnant in spirit" (NASB), "unworried" (CEV): each of these translations is attempting to make understandable a colorful Hebrew phrase drawn from viticulture: "settled on their lees" (KJV). Shemer means "lees" or "dregs of wine." It's the sediment of dead yeast, seeds, and pulp that settles on the bottom during the winemaking process. People who are "settled on their lees" have sunk down into ease and complacency like those lees. The NT parallel would be the church of Laodicea, which was neither cold nor hot but lukewarm (Rev. 3:15-16). They are a variety of "practical atheists": they don't necessarily deny God's existence but live as if he didn't exist or matter. As Zephaniah says, they claim, "The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill."
How much better, rather than being settled on our lees, to drink deeply and zealously of the wine from Christ's altar-the blood of the grape and the blood of our Savior. To lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord (Ps. 116:13).
Create in our hearts, merciful Savior, a thirst and yearning to drink deeply from your cup of blessing. To be intoxicated by his mercy, merry in his grace, settled on his love.
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