AUGUST 21, 2026 – SWEARING BY THE LORD AND BY MALCAM

READ: Zeph. 1:4–11.
“…who worship and swear oaths by the LORD. But also swear by Milcom …”

The prophet Zephaniah sees that the hearts of God’s people are drawn to idols. After Hezekiah’s reign, the worship of Baal  returns. Many within the covenant community join the world.

However, they also continue to speak the Name of the LORD. They “swear by the LORD and by Malcam” (v.5). Milcom, or Malcam, was the god of the Ammonites (1 Kin. 11:5,33). They seek to compromise by combining the service of the LORD with the worship of idols. Their hearts belong to the latter, while outwardly they maintain the appearance of serving the LORD.

This is not love for the LORD as the one true God (Deut. 6), but spiritual adultery, involving the misuse of God’s Name. The LORD will not leave this unpunished.

In reality they seek not the LORD but themselves under a cloak of religion. Merely belonging to the church and mentioning God’s Name does not guarantee His favour. The Lord seeks a sincere and living faith, a faith that expects everything from Him, seeks Him, and inquires after Him. Such faith cannot coexist with remnants of idolatry. The LORD does not tolerate this.

Hypocrisy is even worse when God’s Name is invoked to support it. Church membership and outward profession will not result in deliverance from God’s wrath.

Alongside the hypocrites stand those who openly abandon the LORD. They have chosen idols and openly bid farewell to the God of the covenant. In essence they are ungodly people dwelling among God’s own people.

Both hypocrisy and open apostasy move the LORD to stretch out His hand against the church and Jerusalem itself. Yet at the same time, the LORD continues to preserve and purify His church, even through His judgments.

What is meant by the expression, “Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda”?

Sing: Ps. 50:4,10