The Lesson of the book of Zephaniah

Hello everybody. It's great to be here. It's great to see the Shavies again and some long-time friends.

We have really appreciated the Smiths over the years and I told him just before this seminar that very confident that he's still going to be our regional pastor in the area. We just love to have the Smiths. So he's still going to fulfill the role of regional pastor for us, which is fantastic. It's been a great regional pastor to serve under. So let's get into the seminar today. What I want to do is take a short amount of time. So I'm probably going to go fast and then take questions if we need to at the end. So the theme of this weekend is Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 12. We don't often go to the minor prophets. So let's dive into this one. I think you're going to find this really neat. Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 12 is our theme. It says, I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people and they will trust in the name of the Lord. What I'm going to do today is give some background or context to that verse. Why is that verse such a key verse in your Bible that it should be a memory verse in your life?

I want to start long before Zephaniah was born and go back to something that King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes. Let's go to Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and verse 14 and let's consider these words carefully. Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and verse 14.

It says in verse 14, in the day of prosperity, be joyful. Okay, we can all get on board with that. But in the day of adversity, consider such an important statement. Then he says, surely God has... now this is awkwardly translated in our New King James. Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, in other words, both prosperity and adversity, so the man can find out nothing that will come after him. That's the awkward statement. Here's an excerpt from John Gill's commentary on that last statement. Quote, Since things are so uncertain, so and so subject to change and nothing permanent and therefore can find nothing to trust and that's the point. You can't trust in this life. So you have to trust in God. That was Solomon's point. In and depending... depend upon nothing that he can be sure of and the things are so wisely managed and disposed that man can find no fault with them nor just reason to get this complain of them. So whether we are in prosperity or we are in adversity, we have no reason to complain. In other words, God is so in charge that you cannot argue with his wisdom in the end no matter what happens in your life. The point I want to focus on most in this scripture is that middle statement. But in the day of adversity, consider. God sends adversity to make us consider, to make us think in other words. God sends adversity to teach mankind. That's what Solomon was saying.

Adversity teaches us a lesson. We're his children. He wants us in his eternal family. So he teaches us and shows us the way and sometimes with great blessings because he's such a loving God and sometimes with adversity. Also showing his loving nature even though it doesn't seem loving at the time.

Now let's switch to Zephaniah. One of the largest examples of adversity that God will send on mankind is his judgment and wrath poured out on the earth just prior to the return of Jesus Christ called in prophecy the great day of the Lord. And this is the theme of the book of Zephaniah. This afternoon I would like to give us some background to Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 12 and show you why it's such an important lesson. Why Zephaniah 3 verse 12 should be one of your memory verses that you lean on in life.

Who and when was Zephaniah? Let's get some background. He prophesied during the days of King Josiah. So when was Josiah? Josiah was after Hezekiah the good king and then came Manasseh Hezekiah's son who was the terrible king and then Manasseh's son Ammon who also only reigned for two years. We barely even know Ammon and then came Josiah. Alright, so Hezekiah and then Manasseh, Ammon and then Josiah. Okay, so there were only three kings after Josiah who reigned for a combined 22 years prior to the destruction of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. So this is just decades before the temple is destroyed and Jerusalem is burned to the ground. The wall is knocked down and all of that. That is the setting of Zephaniah. So Zephaniah could have actually been alive when the temple was destroyed. We're not sure but he could have been. He was contemporary with the prophet Jeremiah.

But it is possible that he prophesied just slightly before Jeremiah came on the scene. Because King Josiah's reforms are not mentioned in Zephaniah. So it seems like King Josiah was still a little boy and didn't quite have the authority and was making the changes that he made. He was a very good king and that is not mentioned ever in Zephaniah. Okay. There's no hint of Josiah's reformation in his writings. So most scholars believe that Zephaniah prophesied when Josiah was a little boy before he actually became an influential king in Judah.

Zephaniah was also quite possibly of David's royal family. Right. It looks like he was part of it, but I'm not going to take time to prove that right now. Just that's an interesting note. Let's notice Zephaniah's language in chapter 1 verses 2 through 6. And notice how this is definitely a story not of prosperity but of adversity. Zephaniah 1 verse 2. I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land, says the Lord. I will consume man and beast. I will consume the birds of heaven, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. Now he's talking about idols. And the whole reason for burning Judah down. Okay, so Zephaniah starts with a warning to the entire world and then just focuses right in on Judah. And then it expands back out to the entire world again. And then it gets to the solution and the reason for this adversity. He says, I will cut off from man from the face of the land, says the Lord. I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place. All the false religion. The names of the idolatrous priests and pagan priests, those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops, and those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord. But also swear by Milcom. Hang on to that name. We're gonna get to that and why that's so relevant to 2024. Who's Milcom? We'll get there. You know, we still worship Milcom today.

Verse 6. Those who have turned back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of him. This is such a relevant prophecy for us in 2024. So in that kind of language that we just read, it seems like he prophesied before Josiah started his reforms right at the beginning. But in Milcom is the same as Molech, by the way. Just want to throw that in there. Who was Molech? The sun god that they sacrificed children to. They would throw children into the fire. It's a Molech. Milcom, just a different name for Molech. Okay, so the theme of Zephaniah is the day of the Lord.

He's not the first prophet to mention the day of the Lord. Isaiah came before him and mentioned it. Joel mentioned it. But it's that is who God will leave out alive and after his judgment is carried out is the emphasis of Zephaniah. So the neat thing about Zephaniah is that Zephaniah gives why God is going to send the day of the Lord. Right? Not just what's going to happen, but why God is doing it and how loving God truly is. And chapter seven sets the theme and it's like if you were in volleyball, chapter seven is the set for the spike in chapter three, verse 12. Here is the setup for the entire theme of Zephaniah in chapter one and verse seven. Be silent before the Lord God for the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has prepared sacrifice and consecrated his guests. His guests are not dinner guests. They're the food. This is the day of the Lord and they are the sacrifice. They are the ones to be punished. The events prophesied in this book did take place when the Babylonians conquered Judah and destroyed the temple, but only in type. Nebuchadnezzar came and brought forth the kind of destruction that's described in Zephaniah almost. But Nebuchadnezzar didn't fulfill everything that Zephaniah prophesied, which is our first clue that Zephaniah is actually an end time prophecy. It wasn't just for the people of Judah back then. So Zephaniah was only lightly fulfilled, leaving a future fulfillment at the great and terrible day of the Lord spoken of in Isaiah and Joel and in the New Testament, including its description in the book of Revelation. That's when this chapter or this book, these three chapters will actually be fulfilled. The prophecies in Zephaniah are also described in 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 1 through 4 and another minor prophet Zechariah chapter 14 verses 1 through 4. And we see the same events described showing that the main fulfillment of Zephaniah was not in Nebuchadnezzar's day, but in our day, the end time. So when we compare all the prophecies and we see how they all match with one main way, we know that the final fulfillment of the day of the Lord is the last year of what we call the Great Tribulation. Starting one year prior to the end of the return of Jesus Christ, where His feet land on the Mount of Olives. So you count from that point backwards one year and you have the day of the Lord. A day of God's wrath, a day of incredible judgment. So we could say Zephaniah has a dual fulfillment. One in his day, which he likely witnessed if he was alive that long, and one fulfilled in the future at the end of the days.

But Zephaniah adds something that is so important to this story, this prophecy of the day of the Lord. Zephaniah gives the why, answers the why question behind the events, helping us to understand that God's great loving plan just a little bit better than if we had the other prophecies alone. Zephaniah is presented in, some people say three parts, some people say four parts. I like the four part myself. Part one is God starts by pronouncing judgment on Judah and we already read that part.

The secondly He explains that the day of the Lord is coming on Judah and then He eludes to the entire world. The whole world then is targeted and none escaped. And that part only happened in a limited way in Zephaniah's time. It didn't really affect the entire world like it affected Judah, but in its final fulfillment it will affect the entire world. And then finally the fourth part is God will have purified the earth. God will have made the earth pure and free from idolatry. God will leave in the world a meek and humble people as it says in chapter 3 and verse 12.

And that is the point in the book where pride and a lack of willingness to listen and turn to God which leads to the mistreatment of other people. That is what is targeted in Zephaniah. There's an enemy in Zephaniah and you would think well, it's idolatry.

It's really what idolatry produces in the human heart. That is the target in Zephaniah and it's called pride. The inability, the unwillingness to learn. And God shows through His punishment, through His wrath, that only those who follow His Word will ultimately survive. And that's where we get to our key verse in Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 12. I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people and they will trust in the name of the Lord.

So it's an end time application and a cry against idolatry. Here's a thought. You're probably wondering how do we have idolatry today? There is a really neat section in our UCG commentary that explains the connection between Zephaniah and what we're going through right now in December of all months in 2024. Let me read from our commentary on Zephaniah. Quote, idolatry then and now, God states that He will utterly consume all things from the face of the land, including the stumbling blocks figurative of idols.

A large reason for God's anger is Baal worship and because they swear by Milcom. Remember that name? An Ammonite God known elsewhere as Molech. The worship of Milcom or Molech was reprehensible to God, including gruesome acts of infant sacrifice. Of course, this did fit the situation in the wake of the evil reigns of Manasseh and Ammon over Judah. Yet Zephaniah's prophecy must be remembered. It's primarily for the end time as it concerns the coming day of the Lord. How then does the prophecy apply to these last days? Notice that God is going to stretch out His hand against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem today is a city of Jews, Muslims and various Christian denominations. Can these groups be labeled idolatrous? Indeed, they can. As surprising as it may seem, many of their doctrines and practices are derived from paganism. Judaism was eventually corrupted by Babylonian and Greek religion. Mainstream Christianity adopted many of the same concepts to gain preeminence over the Roman Empire and braced still more and more from paganism.

Islam arose out of a blend of Jewish and false Christian concepts and era of mythology. Notice that people are guilty of syncretism. That means blending religions together. Worshiping God but with pagan concepts and practices, which is viewed by God as they're worshiping false deities. Now, let me step out of the quote for a second. You'll remember, Mr. Shaby had us read Deuteronomy for the feast. And right before the feast, we all read Deuteronomy. You remember in Deuteronomy, God said, do not add to or take away from anything that I tell you and do not follow the practices of the peoples around you.

It was a law established from the very beginning. Back into the quote. Consider that Molech is probably to be equated with the Roman God of Saturn or Mithra.

Mithra has been identified with Baal, the sun god. His birthday was celebrated in ancient times on December 25th.

The modern holiday of Christmas derives its ancient celebration from the Roman Saturnalia and the honor of Saturn, essentially the same God which immediately preceded it.

And the commentary goes on to list some of the very specific ways how ancient pagan idolatrous practices matched our false religion and our world today. Exactly. Right. So Zephaniah is exactly about what we're doing in our society in 2024. The irony just gets me. You can take some time to read through the commentary. It's actually great, but let's just go drop to the conclusion. Yet for all of this, far too many sit complacently believing the Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil. That's in verse 12. Meaning he won't do anything. The Apostle Peter referred to such people as scoffers in the last day who say, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. And you know, that's so true. You try to explain that Christmas comes from pagan origins. They already know and they couldn't care less. It's not news that Christmas cannot be found in the Bible. That's that's not news to people. They're just complacent. They don't care.

Reading on those sacrificing the false gods participating in false worship will themselves become a sacrifice of God. If they fail to repent, slain for the sake of all mankind. End quote. So let's get back into the book and see where it says or see what it says. Now we've already read the first seven verses where God introduces the idea that judgment is coming. In the following verses, God wars that the day of the Lord is near. Zephaniah one let's drop down to verse 18. Zephaniah one in verse 18. Neither silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath. But the whole land will be devoured by fire of his jealousy. For he will make speedy riddance of those who dwell in the land. I mean, this is massive judgment. This is not, you know, weighing the scales and doing some considering scales have already been weighed. They have already been judged. This is wipe out time. Then in chapter two, before God describes the destruction, he introduces his main point. Those who humbly obey God will be spared. That's what God is looking for. Let's drop in chapter two, verse one. Gather together. Yes, gather all shameless nation before the decree takes effect. Before the day passes away like chaff. Before there come upon you a burning anger of the Lord. Before there comes upon you a day of anger as the Lord. Seek the Lord all the humble of the land. Who do his just commands. Seek righteousness and humility.

Perhaps you may be hidden in the day of the anger of the Lord. So again, that's another set up for the main purpose of the day of the Lord. It's a little foreshadowing of what God is going to leave on the earth. And then God turns his attention away from Judah to the entire world. The day of the Lord is not just a punishment of the people of Israel. It's a judgment that corrects a mistake that was made in the garden of Eden. When mankind took the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the day of the Lord is actually God's opening salvo, if you will, to bring mankind back to the tree of life. And that process begins with the day of the Lord, but it ends at the white throne judgment, which is not a topic for today. We're still on the day of the Lord. So the day of the Lord, very important in the process of the salvation of all of mankind, not just the church, not just us today, but this is the opening salvo for the salvation of all of mankind. Who will be saved? Zephaniah's message is super important in that detail, in that story. Chapter two, all the way to chapter three, verse eight, describes God's judgment and purification of all the wrongdoing in the world. In contrast to humility that God seeks, God in Zephaniah is punishing the proud. Notice chapter two, verse eight.

I have heard taunts of Moab and the reviolings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boast against their territory. Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord host, God of Israel, Moab shall become like Sodom. Remember, Sodom was destroyed with fire. Moab shall be like Sodom and the Ammonites like the Morah, and the land possessed by nettles and salt pits and a waste forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them. Now he introduces the idea that there are going to be survivors. There's going to be a remnant here, and he just throws it in. Oh, oh, so not everybody's going to be destroyed. Okay, we've got some good news. There's a remnant and they're going to plunder everything that's left.

Verse 10, this shall be their lot in the return for their pride, because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts. So pride, the opposite of humility is the enemy of mankind. That's the point God is making through Zephaniah. To put it another way, pride is your enemy.

It is not your friend.

And that's what God through Zephaniah is targeting in this prophecy. Pride doesn't let you learn. Doesn't let you change. Doesn't let you grow.

Pride doesn't let you turn back to God. So chapter two ends with the destruction of Assyria. Now, why is that odd?

It's interesting. This is another thing that makes for sure Zephaniah an end time prophecy. By the time Zephaniah was prophesying, Assyria was already plundered by the Babylonians.

Remember the Assyrian Empire took the northern ten tribes of Israel captive. But then later in history, the Babylonians conquered the Assyrians. And those people who were the northern ten tribes escaped and had already gone away. Some of them actually still visiting the land of Judah.

That was this time. By the time Zephaniah came around, Assyria was no more. They were barely even a people. So why would Zephaniah mention Assyria?

Long before Assyria is mentioned here in Zephaniah, they were gone.

Assyria and Babylon will be connected in the end. The Assyrian people will be part of the Babylonian system and will lead its military forces. They will be part of a two leg of iron and feet that are mentioned with the feet of iron and clay in the book of Daniel. And just like Daniel, a stone which was made by hands will break that image into great dust. And here in Zephaniah, this world-ruling empire will come to a fitting end once again because it has already come to an end in Zephaniah's time. Zephaniah 2, verse 13. And he will stretch out his hand against and destroy Assyria. And make Nineveh a desolation as dry as the wilderness. The herds will lie down in her midst in every beast of the nation, both the Pelican and the Bitter, and the Bitteran shall lodge in the capitals of her pillars, and their voices shall sing in the windows. And we won't read any more of that. I just thought that was an interesting point. Then chapter 3, verses 6 through 8, tie something into Zechariah chapter 14 and Revelation chapter 19, which is one of the ways we know this also is primarily an end time prophecy, not just for Zephaniah's time. And this is a prophecy that matches all the way into the book of Revelation, Zephaniah 3, and verse 6.

Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 6.

I have cut off nations, their battlements are in ruins. I have laid waste their streets and no one walks in them. That didn't happen in Nebuchadnezzar's time to the whole world. That happened in Judah, but it didn't happen to the world. And the subject of chapter 3 is the whole world.

Without an inhabitant, verse 7, I will surely you will fear me, you will accept correction. See, pride is being attacked.

Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you. But all the more, they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt. Therefore, wait for me, declares the Lord, for the day when I rise up and seize the prey. For my decision is to gather, not Judah, the nations, to assemble the kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger, for in the fire of my jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed. That never happened in Zephaniah's day. That's for the future. Revelation chapter 19 and verse 11 shows the same events happening, but with the return of Jesus Christ, with those same events being described in Zephaniah. So I don't want to overdo that point. You get it. It's an end time prophecy. Seeing how it matches Zephaniah and the other scriptures, we get a clear picture of this book. UCG commentary makes a great comment about that last part of the book of Zephaniah. Quote, the chapter then progresses forward into the wonderful, peaceful reign of Christ over all nations. That is over all those who are left after the cataclysmic war of the end time. Verse nine describes God providing a pure language for the people of the earth, much better suited for praising and serving God. Today's languages are filled with pagan references and other ungodly elements. Let me just stop there. Consider every Sunday, the day of the sun, every Thursday to worship Thor, right? And so on and so forth. We have all kinds of pagan references in our languages today. There won't be that in the future. Back into the quote. That won't be so in the language of the future. The tone of the book from this point on is quite positive. As conditions that will exist on the earth under the rule of the kingdom of God are described. Verse 15 prophesies the king of Israel. The Lord is in your midst. Now that never happened in Zephaniah's time and will definitely happen in the end time. Okay. And again, here's the key verse for Zephaniah, the entire prophecy. And this time we're going to read it in the net version. Zephaniah chapter three and verse 12, the theme of our entire weekend. Zephaniah three verse 12 net version. I will leave in your midst a humble and neat people and they will find safety in the Lord's presence.

What does that mean for you and me today?

God is looking for a people who will be humble and willing to learn and obey. Not a people seeking position, station, or any kind of self exaltation.

That is not even to be in our thoughts.

God is so adamant about this in the book of Zephaniah. He shows that only the meek and humble will survive. The proud will be destroyed. God will not tolerate pride. Not then, not now.

He's looking for children who will love him and treat him well. If God sends adversity to make you think, as we heard from King Solomon, and he sends that much adversity on the earth, it stands the reason that the lesson that God wants mankind to learn is really big. If the day of the Lord is the biggest punishment he ever does on the earth, then it would stand to reason the lesson he wants us to learn is the biggest lesson we could learn. And that is the point of Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 12. It's a huge lesson. And that's why I went through all of those pesky little details to show you how big of a deal God is making out of this. Zephaniah 3 and verse 12, I will leave in your midst and meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. Why is this such a big lesson? Why is God's focal point for mankind after bringing so much destruction on the earth to be meek and humble?

Notice something that Jesus said that matches this in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33, which is probably a memory verse for you. And I would suggest that in your margin of Zephaniah 3 and verse 12, you put in Matthew 6 and verse 33, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Our first priority is to become like our loving Father and older brother, Jesus Christ. That is what we are to seek first. That will be, you know, to be in the kingdom forever. How do we do that? How do you seek first the kingdom?

You start with Zephaniah 3 and verse 12.

It gives us the means to fulfill what Christ ordered us to do.

In Matthew 6 and verse 33, seeking the kingdom requires us to change our lives, and we can't change if we ourselves are arrogant.

The arrogant never change. In Proverbs 21 and verse 4, we won't go there. We see a definition of the arrogant, and the proud and haughty person is called a scoffer.

So we get a definition of scoffer from Proverbs 21 and verse 4. The scoffer is equal to the arrogant in all of the book of Proverbs. So whenever you see scoffer, you know this person is unwilling to think. Change.

Notice what is said about the arrogant scoffer in Proverbs chapter 13 and verse 1.

Proverbs 13 and verse 1, English Standard Version, a wise son hears his father's instruction.

A wise son listens to God, bringing it forward into the United Church of God in 2024. We listen to God. We take his instruction. But a scoffer, the arrogant, the proud, the one who will not change, does not listen to rebuke.

Does not listen.

God is not going to leave any of those kind of people around when Jesus Christ returns. Only those who will learn, and what will they learn? The very first priority of mankind, seek first the kingdom. It is our first priority. It requires us to be meek and humble. And to do that, Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 12, is how we achieve our first priority in life. You might say it's the biggest lesson we could learn. And God teaches it with the biggest spanking, the biggest paddling, mankind has ever had or will ever have. Be a meek and humble person. And what does it mean to be meek and humble?

Well, we don't have time for that in this seminar. So I'll leave that for another time. This afternoon, I've just given you the background to the very key verse, a very key verse in the Bible, a key to your journey towards the kingdom of God. In Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and verse 14, just by way of reminder, Solomon said, in a day of prosperity, be joyful. Yeah, that's easy. But Solomon makes this beautiful point.

In the day of adversity, consider, think.

Adversity is sent to teach us a lesson. And as we have seen, the day of the Lord is the biggest adversity mankind will have ever seen. And what follows will be our biggest lesson.

Learn from God, grow in his love. Seek first the kingdom of God and all of his righteousness by being meek and humble. That's the lesson of the book of Zephaniah. Okay, we have plenty of time if there's questions. Otherwise, we can go grab some coffee. Does anybody have questions?

All right, fellowship time.