Zephaniah 1:7 Consecrated and Invited

Zephaniah 1:7 Be silent before the Sovereign LORD,
       for the day of the LORD is near.
       The LORD has prepared a sacrifice;
       he has consecrated those he has invited.

Why are we to be silent before the Sovereign Lord? Is it because He already knows so we don't need to defend or explain ourselves? Perhaps it's because the more we explain, the worse we make it for ourselves. We really don't have any decent excuses for anything we do. But we ALWAYS seem to want to explain. "I'm sorry I did that but...." We often think that the excuse makes it okay regardless of the transgression. The sentence ends with "for the day of the Lord is near". Are we supposed to be silent so that we don't draw attention to ourselves? Maybe God won't notice when he pours out his wrath?

Then the next sentence is hopeful. "The Lord has prepared a sacrifice...." We know now that that sacrifice is Jesus, God's son. Those to whom Zephaniah were speaking didn't know that. They thought of sacrifices in terms of killing the best sheep, or ram, or goat....some even sacrificed their children (Yes, the Hebrew people did some human sacrifices too. - See why God was so mad?) This time, though, God is preparing the sacrifice. He prepares the best sacrifice of all. His son, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah.

from an online Bible Study of Zephaniah

And God has consecrated, or set apart, declared holy those HE has invited. Not everyone is invited. This is one of those verses that I don't understand. How and why does God invite some but not others? Are there some people I am praying for who aren't on the invitation list? I don't know how to take this. I don't know if God selects some, then lets the rest flounder hoping that the invited ones will invite others. That puts pressure on us, doesn't it? We have to invite others to God's house, to God's throne, to the foot of Jesus' cross and salvation.

I found a website for an online Bible study of Zephaniah. A quick reference to the website makes me think that the study looks pretty well thought out, pretty complete, at least for the topics the author has chosen to elaborate. I don't see a clear answer to this question, about being invited or not invited. To be safe, I better try to invite more people to the cross.

Father God, You prepared the only perfect, unblemished sacrifice in Jesus Christ. Thank you. Thank you also for the invitation to Your gathering. May I invite those You would have me invite. Amen.

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