The prophet Zephania wrote as if he were living today and answering many of my questions. His little book of three chapters relates to people who got caught in the Satan's web of lies. It amazes me how appropriate and relevant to today the Bible is.The prophet Zephaniah was of noble birth and helped prepare Judah for the revival that took place under King Josiah in 621 B.C. For more than half a century times had been evil under kings Manasseh and Amon, and Zephaniah called his people to repentance.
Reform came, but, after Josiah, the leaders and many of the people reverted to their old ways. Immediate judgment came but the ultimate fulfillment will yet occur in the Day of the Lord, during the coming Tribulation years. Keep that in mind. Zephaniah predicted the doom of heathen nations and closes with a glorious description of the future Millennium.
(1)" The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah... (2) I will utterly consume all [things] from off the land, saith the LORD. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD. I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnantof Baal from this place, [and] the name of the Chemarims with the priests; And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship [and] that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham; And them that are turned back from the LORD; and [those] that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
"Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD [is] at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice {Jesus Christ}, he hath bid his guests. And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold {which was forbidden}, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, [that there shall be] the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.
"Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off. And it shall come to pass at that time, [that] I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
"The great day of the LORD [is] near, [it is] near, and hasteth greatly, [even] the
voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the
trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung."Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. (Zephania 1:1-18)
Baalworship refers to Baal, a Hebrew word for lord referring to numerous local gods. Hosea 2:13 interprets this worship: "And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD." Them that worship the "host of heaven", refers to Astrologers common among the idolaters of Judah as explained in Jeremiah 19:13 "..because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have
burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.Molech, an Ammonite god worshipped with human sacrifice, see Jeremiah 32:35 "And they built the high places of Baal, which [are] in the valley of the son of
Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through [the fire] unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."Solomon built a sanctuary for Molech, [Ammonite god] see (1Kings 11:7) "Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that [is] before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon." [Solomon also built God's Temple], Solomon was serving more than one God. Israel's was a syncretistic worship, for they swore by the Lord and Molech.
All cults and much of today to this day could be considered: not searching for the Lord nor inquire of Him and many are clothed with strange apparel, in examples Mormons, Masons, Catholics etc. Foreign or strange apparel is a sign of apostasy for Jew's clothing with its blue ribbon , which noone else wears, had spiritual significance, see a description in Numbers 15:38-39, "Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart
and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring."
The day of the Lord as Joel's prophecy was this same major theme. It involves God's special intervention in the affairs of Israel and the heathen {Gentile} nations which includes the time of the Great Tribulation, the second coming of Christ and the
Millennium. The soon-coming captivity, in which Judah would be the sacrifice and the nations guests in Babylon, was but a preview of what's to come. See the reason in Matthew 6:24 "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot
serve God and mammon."
An Exhortation to Repent "Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, [before] the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger. (Zephaniah 2:1-3)
Judgments on Gentile Nations
"I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified [themselves] against their border. Therefore [as] I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, [even]
the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified [themselves]
against the people of the LORD of hosts. The LORD [will be] terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and [men] shall worship him, every one from his place, [even] all the isles of the heathen. (Zephaniah 2:8-11)There was a judgment in each direction: west, east, south and north. "And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, [and] dry like a wilderness. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; [their] voice shall sing in the windows; desolation [shall be] in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work. This [is] the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I [am], and [there is] none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth
by her shall hiss, [and] wag his hand. (Zephaniah 2:13-15)
Judgment on Jerusalem,
"Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! How defiled was Jerusalem: Jeremiah 5:1: "Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be
[any] that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it." Jeremiah 19:5 "They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire [for] burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake [it], neither came [it] into my mind." Jeremiah 23:13-14, "And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah."
"She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. Her princes within her [are] roaring lions; her judges [are] evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Her prophets [are] light [and] treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. The just LORD [is] in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame. I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there
is none inhabitant. I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, [and] corrupted all their doings. (Zephaniah 3:1-7)
Judgment on the Nations,
"Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: 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." (Zephaniah 3:8) This verse will be fulfilled in the Tribulation period, climaxing at Armageddon, see Revelation 16:14 "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." The judgment on the nations will be after that, see Joel 3:2, "I will also gather all nations, and
will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and [for] my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land."
Matthew 25:31-32, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth [his] sheep from the goats. Goats are heathens. Sheep are those written in the Lamb's Book [believers]. Note He is also called a "Lamb" (a young sheep) and refers to those of us who were made acceptable before God through Christ's death as is expressed in such doctrines as redemption { Romans 3:24, "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"},"reconciliation {2Corinthians. 5:19-21, To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.},
"forgiveness {Romans 3:25, Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God}, deliverance {Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son},
"acceptance in the Beloved {Ephesians 1:6, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved}, assured future glorification {Romans 8:30, Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified}, and justification {Romans 3:24, Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus}.
To justify is to declare righteous. It is a judicial term indicating that a verdict of acquittal has been announced, excluding all possibility of condemnation. Indeed, in Scripture, justification is invariably set over against condemnation. The claims of God's law against the sinner have been fully satisfied. Justification is not because of any overlooking, suspending, or altering of God's righteous demands, but because in Christ all of His demands have been fulfilled.
Christ's perfect life of obedience to the law and His atoning death that paid its penalty are the bases for our justification. Justification could never be based on our good works, for God requires perfect obedience, which is impossible for man.The means of justification is faith. Faith is never the ground of justification; it is the means or channel through which God's grace can impute to the believing sinner righteousness of Christ.
When we believe, all that Christ is, God puts to our account; thus we stand acquitted. Then God can justly announce that acquittal, and that pronouncement is justification.
THE PROPHECIES OF BLESSING
The Future Blessing for Gentiles
"For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, [even] the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering." (Zephaniah 3:9-10)
Future Blessings for Jews,
"In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain."I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid. Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughterof Jerusalem.
"The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, [even] the LORD, [is]in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
"In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: [and to] Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee [is] mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. I will gather [them that are] sorrowful for the solemn assembly, [who] are of thee, [to whom] the reproach of it [was] a burden.
"Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you [again], even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD. (Zephaniah 3:11-20)