Whereu, many are supposing that there is no judgement impending. This is by no means new or unexpected.
. Many of prophets lived when a judicial intervention from God was impending. For instance, Micah served when the punishment of Samaria at the hands of the Assyrians in 740 B.C.E. was approaching. (See the time line on pages 20 and 21.) Later in the stream of time, but just as certain, was the day of Jehovah against Judah. Since Micah did not know exactly when God would act, did he conclude that he should just sit and do little, hoping that God would act soon? Here are Micah’s words: “As for me, it is for Jehovah that I shall keep on the lookout. I will show a waiting attitude for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.” (Micah 7:7) Yes, confident of what was coming, Micah was like an active sentry on a watchtower.—2 Samuel 18:24-27; Micah 1:3, 4.
Zephaniah and Habakkuk served in a period closer to the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. Still, they could not know whether God’s execution of judgment was right at hand or decades away. (Habakkuk 1:2; Zephaniah 1:7, 14-18) Zephaniah wrote: “‘Keep yourselves in expectation of me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘till the day of my rising up to the booty, for my judicial decision is . . . to pour out upon them my denunciation, all my burning anger.’” (Zephaniah 3:8) And what about Habakkuk, who lived soon after Zephaniah? Habakkuk wrote: “The vision is yet for the appointed time, and it keeps panting on to the end, and it will not tell a lie. Even if it should delay, keep in expectation of it; for it will without fail come true. It will not be late.”—Habakkuk 2:3.
The contexts of the pronouncements at Zephaniah 3:8 and Habakkuk 2:3 are revealing. At a time when certain Jews were saying, “Jehovah will not do good, and he will not do bad,” Zephaniah proclaimed “the day of Jehovah’s anger.” On that day both enemy nations and wayward Jews would feel God’s displeasure. (Zephaniah 1:4, 12; 2:2, 4, 13; 3:3, 4)
What those two prophets expected became historical fact in 607 B.C.E. So their keeping “in expectation” proved to be the course of wisdom. What about today? It was foretold:
(2 Peter 3:3, 4) First of all know this, that in the last days ridiculers will come with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires and saying: “Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as they were from creation’s beginning.”
Rather than being influenced by "ridiculers" we need to be doing what Jesus urged his anointed followers:
(Luke 12:35-37) “Be dressed and ready and have your lamps burning, and you should be like men waiting for their master to return from the marriage, so when he comes and knocks, they may at once open to him. Happy are those slaves whom the master on coming finds watching! Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come alongside and minister to them."
A proper waiting attitude shows confidence that Jehovah’s great day will come not a moment later than he has purposed.
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