Sunday
Morning Bible Study
July
13, 2014
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid to die? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it
build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved? Regular: 2900 words
Communion: 2500 words
Zephaniah’s prophecy was given
somewhere around 622-612 BC.
It was given during a time of
national revival in the reign of King Josiah, but it wasn’t
a full revival.
Though some people had indeed
turned to the Lord, most of the people were still enamored with the wickedness
that King Manasseh had brought into the nation.
The main theme of the book of Zephaniah is the “day of the LORD”
The concept of the “day of the LORD” is a day when God “shows up”.
It involves judgment on wickedness.
It involves salvation for those who turn to God.
We’ve talked before about the nature of prophecy,
and that there can be more than one fulfillment of a prophecy.
Some of Zephaniah’s prophecy will be fulfilled
with the coming Babylonian invasion.
, ultimately wiping out the nation
of Judah in 586 BC.
Other parts look far into the future, when Jesus comes back.
Zephaniah – Tsephanyah –
“Yahweh has treasured”
Whenever God speaks of future
judgment, it’s not just to make us cower and tremble,
it’s to make us do something.
God wants us to turn around.
There is a way out.
2:1-3 Call to Repentance
:1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather
together, O undesirable nation,
:2 Before the decree is issued, Or the day
passes like chaff, Before the Lord’s
fierce anger comes upon you, Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!
:1 O undesirable nation
:1 undesirable – kacaph – to long
for, yearn for, long after; be ashamed {Zep 2:1,
so KB, BDB-, GB, ZOR. }
With lo’, it means be shameless.
A better translation would be “O shameless nation”
Lesson
Hard hearts
A shameless nation is one that has a hard heart – no longer feeling shame
over the things they’ve done wrong.
When we sin, we have two things that work together to help us realize that we’re heading down a dangerous path.
We have a conscience, we have the work of the Holy
Spirit.
Both our conscience and the Spirit will work to bring a sense of guilt.
Some people make us feel guilty for things we shouldn’t,
like these people who are trying to get people to believe there’s something
there when there isn’t…
Video: Invisible
Wall
I remember hearing once that a youth pastor told his kids
that when a boy and girl went out on a date, they shouldn’t
pray together because it would lead to sin.
Not true.
Guilt isn’t a bad thing if we are feeling guilty
over doing something that’s really wrong.
When we ignore our sense of guilt and keep doing that bad thing over and over again, we will begin to develop a “callus” on
our heart so we don’t feel the pain so bad.
Sometimes it’s not good to feel
pain, like at the dentist.
Video: Tim Conway Dentist
But it’s not good when the pain
we are trying to numb is the conviction over our sin.
(Hebrews
3:12–15 NKJV) —12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in
any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort
one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it
is said: “Today, if
you will hear His voice, Do not
harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
One of the ways to keep from developing a callused heart
is to have other believers around you who will encourage you to be doing the
right thing.
:1 Gather yourselves together – qashash – to gather, assemble, gather stubble
or sticks
The verb is found in 7 verses in the OT, and all
of them except this place speak of gathering straw, stubble, or sticks.
God is calling the nation of Judah to gather together
and turn to God, but don’t forget the straw and stick picture.
:2 the day passes like chaff
During the winnowing process, chaff is blown away
with the wind.
:2 fierce anger
fierce – charown – anger, heat, burning
You could translate it as the LORD’s “hot” anger.
:2 the day of the Lord’s anger
Another phrase for the “day of the
Lord”
The picture of gathering, chaff, and fire were used by John
the Baptist in his sermons. He
said,
(Matthew 3:12 NKJV) His winnowing fan is in His hand, and
He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the
barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
The threshing floor is where the wheat kernels were
separated from the chaff after the harvest.
The wheat would be crushed, loosening the chaff
from the wheat kernel. Then it was all tossed up in the air and the wind would blow the
chaff while the wheat kernels would fall straight down.
The picture of cleaning the threshing floor is a picture
of separating the good from the bad, storing the good in a safe place, and
taking all the rest (chaff) and burning it up.
The day of the Lord will be a day when the wheat will be
separated from the chaff. It will
be a day when those who follow God will be separated from those who don’t.
Those who follow God will be “gathered” into the barn.
Those who don’t will experience
the fire.
We call that fire “hell”.
Peter connects the “day of the
Lord” with heat and fire.
(2 Peter 3:10 NKJV) But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens
will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent
heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
:3 Seek the Lord,
all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek
righteousness, seek humility. It may be that
you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger.
:3 hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger
hidden – sathar – (Niphal) to hide oneself; to be hidden, be concealed
Lesson
Rescue
When you make a decision to seek the Lord, you will find yourself rescued
from the day of God’s judgment.
Part of this fulfillment will be God’s protection for the Jews during the
Tribulation.
(Isaiah 26:20–21 NKJV) —20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your
doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the
indignation is past. 21 For behold, the Lord
comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the
earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will
no more cover her slain.
We’ve talked before how we
believe that as the antichrist is trying to destroy the Jews, they will flee to
the nation of Jordan where they will hide at places like Petra.
The Bible seems to indicate that those who believe now in the Lord will be caught up into heaven before the Tribulation, the
time of God’s “wrath”.
(1 Thessalonians
5:9 NKJV) For God did not appoint us to
wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Believers will be kept from this time of God’s wrath known as the
Tribulation. This is one of the many
reasons why we believe we will be taken from this
earth in the rapture before the Tribulation.
Paul gave us a clue as to how we will be kept from the Tribulation:
(1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 NKJV)
—16 For the Lord Himself will descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of
God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with
the Lord.
We call this the
rapture.
When Jesus taught about the day of His return, He said,
(Luke 21:34–36 NKJV) —34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts
be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that
Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of
the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to
escape all these things that will come to pass, and to
stand before the Son of Man.”
2:4-7 Judgment on Philistines
Judgment will come on the nation of Judah for their wickedness, but it will
also come on the nations around them.
:4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, And Ashkelon
desolate; They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, And Ekron
shall be uprooted.
:4 Gaza … Ashkelon … Ashdod … Ekron
Video: Philistine Cities map clip
These are four of the five main cities of the Philistines.
The city of Gath is
not mentioned.
Perhaps its because at this time Gath was under the rule of
Judah since the time of Hezekiah.
(2 Kings 18:8 NKJV) —8 He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its
territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
We are familiar with the city of Gaza.
That’s where all the rockets are being fired at
Israel from.
You might have also seen Ashdod in
the news lately.
:5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, The
nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan,
land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you; So there
shall be no inhabitant.”
:5 Cherethites
This is another name for the Philistines, referring to their origins from
the island of Crete.
It’s interesting to note that a group of men in
David’s men were known as “Cherethites”. It seems
that while David spent time hiding from Saul among the Philistines, he
developed his own following of Philistines.
If you do a
search on “Gittite” (an inhabitant of Gath), you will
find another group of possible Philistines who were friends with David. (2Sam. 6:11; 2Sam. 15:19)
:5 inhabitants of the seacoast
It was along the coastal plain in the land of Canaan (Israel) that the
Philistines had settled.
This area would be conquered when Pharaoh Neco II
of Egypt came through the area in 609-594 BC.
:6 The seacoast shall be pastures, With shelters for shepherds and folds
for flocks.
:7 The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; They shall
feed their flocks there; In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down
at evening. For the Lord their
God will intervene for them, And return their captives.
:7 for the remnant
The Jews would one day dwell on the coastal plain of Israel.
This happened after they returned from Babylon, it’s happened again in the
current nation of Israel (except for Gaza).
2:8-11 Judgment on Moab & Ammon
:8 “I have heard the reproach of Moab, And the insults of the people of
Ammon, With which they have reproached My people, And made arrogant threats
against their borders.
:9 Therefore, as I live,” Says the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel, “Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, And the people
of Ammon like Gomorrah— Overrun with weeds and saltpits,
And a perpetual desolation. The residue of My people shall plunder them, And
the remnant of My people shall possess them.”
:8 Moab … Ammon
Video: Moab and Ammon map clip
These are nations to the east of Judah.
It is interesting that one of the big industries at the Dead Sea is
getting minerals out of the water, including salt.
The people of Moab and Ammon were
the descendants of Lot through his incestuous relations with his two daughters.
Throughout the Scriptures, they are often characterized by their pride and
arrogance (Is. 16:6)
(Isaiah 16:6 NKJV) We have heard of the pride of Moab— He is very proud— Of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath; But his lies shall
not be so.
:9 weeds – charuwl – nettles,
weeds, kind of weed (perhaps chickpea)
:9 saltpits
mikreh – pit, salt pit; meaning uncertain
melach – salt
Like the salt pits at the Dead Sea?
:9 a perpetual desolation
Sodom and Gomorrah were leveled by God in the days of Abraham and they never
came back.
This prophecy has not yet been fulfilled since the land of Moab and Ammon
is currently known as the nation of Jordan, and is not a desolation.
The city of Amman, Jordan has a population of over 1 million.
:10 This they shall have for their pride, Because they have reproached and
made arrogant threats Against the people of the Lord of hosts.
:10 made arrogant threats
I would think any nation would want
to be careful about making threats against the nation of Israel.
:11 The Lord will be
awesome to them, For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; People
shall worship Him, Each one from his place, Indeed all the shores of the
nations.
:11 will be awesome
– yare’ – be feared; to cause
astonishment and awe, be held in awe
; to inspire reverence or godly
fear or awe
:11 will reduce to nothing – razah – to be or
become or grow lean
It’s a dieting word, starving all
the “gods” to death.
:11 People shall worship Him
God’s goal for humanity is not to wipe them out but to save them.
When Jesus returns, everyone will realize that there is only one true God.
(Malachi 1:11 NKJV) For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My
name shall be great among the nations,” Says the
Lord of hosts.
2:12-15 Judgment on Ethiopia & Assyria
Up to this point, Zephaniah has talked about God’s judgment on nations to
the east and the west of Judah. Now God
speaks of what’s north and south.
:12 “You Ethiopians also, You shall be slain by My sword.”
:12 Ethiopia
Ethiopia was south of Judah, and conquered by Babylon in 586 BC.
Ethiopia was the large nation to
the south of Israel and covered the areas of modern Egypt, Sudan, and northern
Ethiopia.– Kuwshiy – Cushi or
Ethiopian, “their blackness”
:13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north, Destroy Assyria,
And make Nineveh a desolation, As dry as the wilderness.
:14 The herds shall lie down in her midst, Every beast of the nation. Both
the pelican and the bittern Shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars;
Their voice shall sing in the windows; Desolation shall be at the
threshold; For He will lay bare the cedar work.
:14 herds shall lie down in her
midst
Nineveh would only be a place
inhabited by animals, not people.
:15 This is the rejoicing city That dwelt securely, That said in her heart,
“I am it, and there is none besides me.” How has she become a
desolation, A place for beasts to lie down! Everyone who passes by her Shall
hiss and shake his fist.
:13 make Nineveh a desolation
Video: Assyria map clip
Assyria was the big nation to the north of Judah. It’s capital had been
Nineveh
In Zephaniah’s day, the Assyrians
were still the undefeated champions of the world.
Nineveh was conquered by the Babylonians in 612 BC, and the rest of the
Assyrian empire was crushed by 609 BC.
When the Greek historian Xenophon
passed the site of Nineveh in 401 BC, there was nothing there, and he was told
that a great city had once stood in that place and had been destroyed because
Zeus had deprived her people of their wits.
:3 Seek the Lord, all you
meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek
humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger.
:3 Seek the Lord …
seek – baqash – (Piel) to seek to find; to seek the face; to ask, request
righteousness – tsedeq – justice,
rightness, righteousness
Do the right thing
humility – ‘anavah – humility, meekness
God tells the nation that if they want to be “hidden”, find safety, or be “saved”
in the day of the Lord, they need to seek three things.
Lesson
Seek the Lord
Paul writes,
(Romans 10:11–13 NKJV) 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes
on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same
Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the
name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Are you someone who has tried to numb yourself from all
the guilt inside? Come to Him and He will forgive. He bore our shame.
If you call on God and truly believe in Him to save you, He
will save you.
Lesson
Seek righteousness
Some people think that repeating the words of the preacher at the end of
the service will magically save them.
Repeating words doesn’t save you.
Asking God with faith saves you.
There is a simple test to find out whether or not you’ve truly asked God
with faith, and that’s with the change of direction your life will take.
You aren’t really seeking the Lord if you aren’t ready to deal with the
mess in your life.
If you continue in your sin but say you are seeking God,
then something is wrong.
John wrote,
(1
John 2:3–4 NKJV) —3 Now by this we know that we
know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a
liar, and the truth is not in him.
This is not saying that we need to be perfect and sinless in order to know
God, but that if we know Him, then God’s true work in us will be seen by how we
are learning to sin less and less and less.
Zephaniah is writing about some pretty scary things.
Matthew Henry wrote that Zephaniah intended “not to frighten them out of their
wits, but to frighten them out of their sins” (Commentary on the Whole Bible in One Volume, p. 1168).
Lesson
Seek humility
(Psalm 147:6 NKJV) The Lord lifts
up the humble; He casts the wicked
down to the ground.
You can’t be seeking the Lord if your life is filled with pride.
If you are boasting to others about your accomplishments, you are filled
with pride.
If you think you’re better than others, you are filled with pride.
Illustration
Nicolas Winton is credited for saving the lives of 669 Jewish children from
Nazi death camps. He accomplished this
in 1938, after Hitler had invaded Czechoslovakia. He kept his accomplishments quiet until his
wife found a detailed scrapbook of his work in 1988. After his secret was discovered, he was asked
to visit a theater …
Video: Nicolas
Winton
I love his humility.
He’s still alive at the age of 109.
Jesus told a story of two men who went to the Temple to pray. One man went away and had been made right
with God, the other man didn’t.
(Luke 18:9–14 NKJV) —9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted
in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men
went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not
like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or
even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the
tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to
heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell
you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other;
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself
will be exalted.”
The Pharisee was trying to remind God that he was so much
better than the tax collector.
He was wrong.
God is looking for humility.