ZEPHANIAH Sermon.

CHENs Note

And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have
sinned
against Jehovah; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung.
Neither their
silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovahs wrath; but the whole
land
shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he will make an end, yea, a terrible end, of
all them
that dwell in the land (1:17-18).

1. The distress that accompanies the great day of Jehovah is due to mans sin. The
peoples
sin brings grievous deaths to all of Jerusalem (cf. Jer. 16:4). There end will be terrible.
Jeremiah recorded Gods words saying, And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons
and
the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege
and
in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them
(Jer. 19:9).
2. The people of Jerusalem will find no savior in their riches when Gods wrath is poured out
over
Jerusalem.

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Gods anger will be principled focused on:

Idolaters and fertility worshippers: I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place

False Ascetics: and the name of the Chemarim (idolatrous ascetic priests) with the priests;

Astrologers: and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops;

Double-minded - mixing Yahweh worship with pagan worship: and them that worship, that
swear to Jehovah and swear by Malcam;

Apostates: and them that are turned back from following Jehovah

Unbelievers: and those that have not sought Jehovah, nor inquired after him. 4

Everyone will be required to worship the True God Yahweh, the Creator of Heaven and
Earth.
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We can claim this so if you feel you are under some sort of hostile persecution you can ask
God for the power to plunder your enemies just as Moses plundered the Egyptians who
persecuted them and oppressed them. We see this in history Rome persecuted Christians
and was later possessed by Christians. The Communist Party in Russia persecuted the
Church and later was brought down by prayer meetings! If you are facing hostility at work
because of your faith you can ask God to give you victory so that you plunder and possess
(not in a literal violent sense of course!). If God is for us who can be against us? (Romans
8:31)

Not only does God plunder the hostile nations He also punishes the religious systems:
Jehovah will be frightening to them; for He will make all the gods of the earth lean; each
man from his place and all the coastlands of the nations shall bow to Him. They will be
starved of spiritual power and supporters. The old religious systems of Ammon and Moab
are now no more and their temples are in ruins. Thus anti-Christian cults and religions like
Wicca, Communism and fundamentalist Islam will lose their power and supporters over time,
they cannot triumph, they are doomed. God will diminish them. They will end up like the
temples of Moab.

Powerful empires often think they can overthrow the Church and act insolently towards the
Creator. Yahweh rebukes the Assyrian empire based in Nineveh for such proud ideas: And
He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a
desert

and dry like a desert. (14) And flocks shall lie down in her midst, all the beasts of a nation;
both the pelican and the bittern shall roost in the capitals of its pillars; a voice shall sing at
the window, ruin shall be at the doorsill, for he will bare the cedar-work. (15) This is the
rejoicing city, dwelling confidently, who says in her heart, I am, and no other still is. How she
has become a ruin, a resting-place for animals! Everyone who passes by her shall hiss; he
shall wag his hand.

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Not only does God plunder the hostile nations He also punishes the religious systems:
Jehovah will be frightening to them; for He will make all the gods of the earth lean; each
man from his place and all the coastlands of the nations shall bow to Him. They will be
starved of spiritual power and supporters. The old religious systems of Ammon and Moab
are now no more and their temples are in ruins. Thus anti-Christian cults and religions like
Wicca, Communism and fundamentalist Islam will lose their power and supporters over time,
they cannot triumph, they are doomed. God will diminish them. They will end up like the
temples of Moab.
Powerful empires often think they can overthrow the Church and act insolently towards the
Creator. Yahweh rebukes the Assyrian empire based in Nineveh for such proud ideas: And
He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a
desert

and dry like a desert. (14) And flocks shall lie down in her midst, all the beasts of a nation;
both the pelican and the bittern shall roost in the capitals of its pillars; a voice shall sing at
the window, ruin shall be at the doorsill, for he will bare the cedar-work. (15) This is the
rejoicing city, dwelling confidently, who says in her heart, I am, and no other still is. How she
has become a ruin, a resting-place for animals! Everyone who passes by her shall hiss; he
shall wag his hand.

Nineveh felt untouchable and on top. This is the rejoicing city, dwelling confidently, who
says in her heart, I am, and no other still is. This pride, this self-exaltation, brings desolation
and ruin. How she has become a ruin, a resting-place for animals! Everyone who passes by
her shall hiss; he shall wag his hand. This is the Enron syndrome of untouchability. I saw it
first hand when I worked as a 17 year old office boy in a major finance firm in Australia that
went bankrupt in the early-70s. As the office boy sorting through the piles of accounts for the
auditors I was looking at the dreadful figures with astonishment yet all around me were
people saying we are the biggest, we cannot go bankrupt. Pride leads to silly actions and
great blindness that results in desolation.

Not only does it lead to physical desolation it results in spiritual desolation as in being
haunted for that is the import of: And flocks shall lie down in her midst, all the beasts of a
nation; both the pelican and the bittern shall roost in the capitals of its pillars; a voice shall
sing at the window, ruin shall be at the doorsill, for he will bare the cedar-work. This is also
the fate of the final Babylon: Revelation 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice,
saying, Babylon the great has fallen, has fallen! And it has become the dwelling-place of
demons, and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a cage of every unclean bird which has
been hated,

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A culture can come to love sin so much that it cannot depart from it. The leaders care only
for themselves, nothing is held truly sacred, the holy is profaned and the law is violated. It
reaches a point where the society refuses to accept correction, she received not correction;
she trusted not in Jehovah; she drew not near to her God. and the prophets are scoffed at
and the unjust knoweth no shame.

Even in the midst of such a situation God is not completely absent. He is still there for
Jehovah in the midst of her is righteous. Neither is God the source of the evil he will not do
iniquity but in fact is opposed to it every morning doth he bring his justice to light.
Sometimes we say Why does God allow such and so to occur? The plain fact is that God
does not allow wickedness He forbids it utterly. God does not allow murder or rape or theft
or injustice. God forbids them and punishes them and prophesies against them and raises
up governments to arrest and convict those that do them. (Romans 13:1-8)

When Gods instruments for justice (the leadership, priests and government) fail and
become corrupt then God continues to forbid evil and acts in direct divine judgment on sin.
for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour
upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with
the fire of my jealousy.

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According to 1:1, Zephaniah was the great, great grandson of Hezekiah, the outstanding

reformer-king of Judah (715-687 B.C.), and, therefore, of royal blood. Hezekiah and Josiah
were

the two kings of Judah who made the greatest efforts to reform Judah, but they were
separated by

the evil half-century reign of Manasseh (695-642 B.C.) and Ammon (642-640 B.C.).

The judgments (1:23:8) are delivered as woes and denunciations of specific sins,

delivered as if God were speaking directly, using the prophet as his mouthpiece. The

following sins are specifically described by Zephaniah:

Social injustice was widespread (3:1, 3, 7).

Luxury was enjoyed by some through oppression of the poor (1:8-9).

Remnants of Baalism and high places continued (1:4-5).

Duplicity and syncretism were reflected in the recognition of both the Lord

and Molech (1:5).

Princes preyed upon their people like lions (3:3).

Judges were like wolves of the night (3:3).

Prophets committed treachery (3:4).

Priests polluted the temple (3:4)

The message of judgment is tempered in 3:9-20 by the possibility of safety and

deliverance if the humble of the land seek God. They would not only be rescued, but

would experience Gods pleasure and prosperity.

APPLICATION OF THE BOOK

1. The book of Zephaniah is a book of contrasts. It moves from caustic denunciations of

Judah

and her neighbors to a glorious promise of restoration and blessings. Zephaniah is the most

definitive and descriptive of the terrors of judgment among Old Testament prophets, but he

also wrote the sweetest love song in the Old Testament describing the motherhood of God.

He recognized that even Gods judgment is proof of His unchanging love and is purposed to

bring about repentance followed by blessing.

2. Zephaniah pictures and illustrates an interrelated process: (1) Gods passionate anger; (2)

Gods patient purpose; and (3) loves ultimate victory.

3. The fact of Gods wrath and the certainty of judgment upon sin is not recognized nor

declared to any significant degree in todays churches.

4. Josiahs clean-up of Judahs religious abuses and his reorganization of religious life in
Judah

were praiseworthy, but futile. Both Josiah and his great-great-grandfather, Hezekiah, learned

that even a king cannot organize genuine revival. Their efforts resulted in reformation

not regeneration. (See 2 Kings 22:14-20 and Jeremiah 3:6, 10.)

5. Recent God is dead philosophy was foreshadowed in Zephaniahs day by those who
said,

The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil (1:12). To such expressions of unbelief,

Zephaniah responded by delineating the activity of God in human history.

6. From Zephaniah, we learn that God will not tolerate the worship of other gods alongside

Him, nor can He tolerate violence, fraud, complacency, haughtiness, lying, or deceit.

7. We also learn from Zephaniah that God responds to true and sincere repentance. God
loves
people who serve Him humbly.

8. Many people shudder at the whole idea of Gods anger. Even some Christians are guilty,

failing to recognize the essential connection between divine (in contrast to human) anger,

judgment, justice, and discipline. The typical attitude towards Zephaniahs message is seen
in

1:12God will not get involved in our lives. But He didand does.

9. In Zephaniah, there is both promise (2:3; 3:912) and a picture of God rejoicing over his

righteous remnant (3:17). This is followed by promises of restoration (3:1820). I will bring

you home (3:20) has very deep resonance with all believers.

10. The list of sins in Zephaniah shows us that the same sins occur in every generation even
if

they find new variations and expressions. For example, the synthesis of worship of the true

God and idols (money; status; fame; etc.) so prevalent today is seen in Zephaniah 1:5; a bit

of God and a bit of Molech.

11. One often overlooked biblical theme is the happiness of God. Zephaniah noted Gods
coming

pleasure in the full ingathering of His people. Just as these people are urged to sing and

shout to God when they are restored (3:14), so God Himself will rejoice over thee with

joy and joy over thee with singing (3:17). Just as Gods people find bliss in God, so one

source of bliss for God is His people.

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Zephaniah is a book of contrasts; for no other prophet paints a darker picture of Gods

judgment,and no prophetpaints a brighter picture of Israels future glory. Historically, theBook

of Zephaniahwas used in the providence ofGod to prepare Judah for the reforms and revival

under King Josiah. Through the prophecy the nation of the prophets day was faced with its

sin, reminded of coming judgment, and instructed concerning the ultimate glory that will
come

to Israel....Zephaniah goes farther than any other of the minor prophets in emphasizing the
future conversion of the Gentiles to the worship of the true God....Zephaniah has been called

the orator because of the oratorical style evident throughout the prophecy. Zephaniah has

some literary affinities with Isaiah, but more with Jeremiah and Joel. Both he and Joel paint

verydark pictures of the day of the Lord, but in both books beautiful rays of light penetrate
the

darkness.Tworecurring expressions are important: (1) remnant (Zephaniah1:4;2:7,9;3:13),

and (2) the day of the LORD (Zephaniah 1:7-10, 14-16,18; 2:2,3; 3:8,11,16).

The purpose of Zephaniahs prophecy is to set forth whatthe dayof the Lord will meanto

ungodly Judah, to the world powers (Zephaniah 1:2-3:7), and to the godly remnant (Zeph.

3:820). His theme is the dayof the Lord, whichdestroys the false remnant of Baal (Zeph. 1),

destroys the God-rejecting nations (ch. 2), and purifies the true remnant(Zeph.3:820).
(King

James Version Study Bible)

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Zephaniah viewed the political development of Israel (the northern kingdom), Judah (the
southern kingdom), and all the surrounding nations from the perspective that the people
should learn that God was involved in all the affairs of history. Speaking as an oracle of God,
he understands that God uses foreign governments to bring about judgment upon His
rebellious chosen people. Zephaniah is appalled that, after the catastrophe of the northern
tribes, the people of Judah still maintain the preposterous notion that God is helpless to do
good or evil (1:12). As is true in most of the prophets, Zephaniah's writings have three
components: 1) the pronouncement of specific and often universal judgment for sin; 2) an
appeal for repentance because God is righteous and willing to forgive; 3) a promise that the
remnant who have made God their refuge will be saved. Few biblical writers describe the
wrath of God or the joy of God as vividly as does Zephaniah. God is seen searching the
streets of Jerusalem with lamps to find the wicked He will punish (1:12); the prophecy
describing the Day of the Lord in 1:14-18 is a terrible chant of doom. A call to repentance
appropriately follows these passages. The first two and a half chapters prophesy judgment
so complete that even nature will be consumed (1:2, 3) and "all the earth shall be devoured
with the fire of My jealousy" (3:8).