Major Messages from the Minor Prophets: Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me — Zephaniah
Major Messages from the Minor Prophets • Sermon • Submitted
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Text: Zephaniah 1:1-3:18
Theme: The Day of the Lord.
Date: 12/11/14 File name: MinorProphets_14.wpd ID Number: 231
Zephaniah is one of the Minor Prophets we don’t hear much preaching from. His message is dark and stark. He doesn’t mince words, but gets right to his point — God’s judgment is coming. “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD. 3 “I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.” (Zephaniah 1:2–3, NIV84). Don’t you know Zephaniah was the life of any party.
His name means Jehovah Treasures, and he spoke for God towards the latter end of Judah’s existence. He traces his heritage back four generations. “The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:” (Zephaniah 1:1, NIV84). The Hezekiah of vs. 1 is King Hezekiah who was his great grandfather, which make him of royal lineage.
The political climate affecting Judah was undergoing sweeping changes. For the last one-hundred years Judah had been a vassal-state of Assyria, the superpower of the Mideast. Assurbanipal, Assyria’s last great king, died around 633 BC. From this point, the empire began to decline.Nabopolasser, the king of the Babylonians, declared their independence from the Assyrians which led to war, the defeat of Assyria, and the destruction of Nineveh, just as the Prophet Nahum had predicted. That made Babylon the undisputed master of the near east. During this time Judah gained a quasi-independence in the power vacuum. But Zephaniah sees trouble on the horizon in Babylon’s ascent to power, and westward expansion. He warns that they will be the instrument of God’s judgment upon Judah.
From a religious perspective, although Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of good king Josiah, the spiritual life of Israel was at low-ebb due to the 55-year reign of Josiah’s father, Manasseh. Se read of his reign in 2 Chronicles.
“Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” 5 In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 7 He took the carved image he had made and put it in God’s temple, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. 8 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites leave the land I assigned to your forefathers, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them concerning all the laws, decrees and ordinances given through Moses.” 9 But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.” (2 Chronicles 33:1–9, NIV84)
He was, without question, the most wicked king ever to rule from a Jewish throne. Idolatry reigned. The people remained cruel and corrupt. They worship God, but they worship Him as if He were just another heathen deity. The people were indifferent, and unteachable, the rulers violent and oppressive, the judges merciless, and corrupt, and the priests were profane.
This was the world Zephaniah lived and prophesied in.
In his prophecy, he outlines what can best be described as a Zombie Apocalypse, but without the Zombies. He describes a society that has broken down and disintegrated, not because of brain-dead, flesh-eating humans, but because of a holy God who has wrought judgment upon a wicked, and rebellious people. There are three judgments referred to by the prophet:
The Day of Judgement Upon Judah
The Day of Judgement Upon Judah’s Neighbors
The Day of the Lord upon the World
I. THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT UPON JUDAH
I. THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT UPON JUDAH
1. the prophet begins by announcing a day of judgment against Judah
A. GOD CONDEMNS ISRAEL FOR HER SINS (1:4-2:3; 3:1-5)
A. GOD CONDEMNS ISRAEL FOR HER SINS (1:4-2:3; 3:1-5)
1. Idolatry (1:4–6)
2. Greed (1:11)
3. Utter indifference to God (1:12; 3:2)
4. Rebellion, violence, and crime (3:1)
5. Leaders who follow pagan customs (1:8–9)
6. Judges who are like ravenous wolves that leave no trace of their prey (3:3)
7. Godless prophets and priests (3:4–5)
B. GOD’S SENTENCE IS HARSH (1:1–3, 7, 10, 13)
B. GOD’S SENTENCE IS HARSH (1:1–3, 7, 10, 13)
1. Cries of anguish will be heard throughout the land (1:10)
“On that day,” declares the LORD, “a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, wailing from the New Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills.” (Zephaniah 1:10, NIV84)
2. The land will be reduced to rubble (1:1–3, 7)
“The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah: 2 “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD. 3 “I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.” (Zephaniah 1:1–3, NIV84)
3. The people’s wealth will be plundered and their homes demolished (1:13)
“Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. They will build houses but not live in them; they will plant vineyards but not drink the wine.” (Zephaniah 1:13, NIV84)
4. these verses are essentially describing a military siege, and the carnage that results
a. the siege is described in 2 Kings, chapter 25
"So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 2 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. 4 Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, 5 but the Babylonian army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 6 and he was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him. 7 They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. 8 On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He set fire to the temple of the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 10 The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon. 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields." (2 Kings 25:1–12, NIV84)
b. this took place in 589 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II laid siege to Jerusalem, culminating in the destruction of the city and its temple two years later in the summer of 587 BC
1) during this siege, every worst woe befell the city, which drank the cup of God's fury to the dregs
2) the Prophet Jeremiah, who was a contemporary of Zephaniah, and who witnessed the siege, writes about it in the Book of Lamentations, (Lam. 4:4-18)
5. but before all this takes place ...
C. GOD OFFERS MERCY TO THOSE WHO WILL REPENT
C. GOD OFFERS MERCY TO THOSE WHO WILL REPENT
1. as we’ve seen in so many of the prophet messages of the minor prophets, when God reveals impending judgement, He also reveals mercy
2. He tells Judah to repent and escape God’s wrath
“Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation, 2 before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the day of the LORD’s wrath comes upon you. 3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.” (Zephaniah 2:1–3, NIV84)
II. THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT UPON JUDAH’S NEIGHBORS
II. THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT UPON JUDAH’S NEIGHBORS
1. Zephaniah also has a word for the gentile nations around Judah
Zephaniah 2:4-15
2. God will not only use Babylon to judge the wickedness of His own people, but he will use Babylon to judge the wickedness of the Gentile nations unless they turn to Him
a. it will be an all-encompassing judgment north to south and east to west
1) it will include the Philistine cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron (2:4–7) — Israel’s western enemies
2) it will include Moab and Ammon (2:8-11) — Israel’s eastern enemies
3) it will include Ethiopia (2:12) — Israel’s southern enemy, and ...
4) it will include Assyria and its capital, Nineveh (2:13-15) — Israel’s northern enemy
III. THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT UPON JERUSALEM
III. THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT UPON JERUSALEM
“Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! 2 She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God. 3 Her officials are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning. 4 Her prophets are arrogant; they are treacherous men. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law. 5 The LORD within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame. 6 “I have cut off nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are destroyed; no one will be left—no one at all. 7 I said to the city, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept correction!’ Then her dwelling would not be cut off, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did.” (Zephaniah 3:1–7, NIV84)
IV. THE DAY OF THE LORD UPON THE WORLD
IV. THE DAY OF THE LORD UPON THE WORLD
1. but Zephaniah speaks of another day of judgment that will make the judgment of Judah and the surrounding nations pale by comparison
2. the Prophet refers to it as The Great Day of the Lord — and it is near
“The great day of the LORD is near— near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there. 15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, 16 a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. 17 I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD’s wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth.” (Zephaniah 1:14–18, NIV84)
A. AT THE END OF HISTORY GOD WILL JUDGE THE WORLD
A. AT THE END OF HISTORY GOD WILL JUDGE THE WORLD
1. The phrase “day of the Lord” usually identifies events that take place at the end of history, and is often closely associated with the phrase “that day”
a. it’s a phrase used 19 times in the Old Testament by Major and Minor Prophet alike
b. it’s use five times in the New Testament
1) Luke uses it in Acts 2:20
2) Paul uses it in 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:2
3) Peter uses it in 2 Peter 3:10, and
4) John uses it in Revelation 6:17; 16:14
2. one key to understanding these phrases is to note that they always identify a span of time during which God personally intervenes in history, to accomplish some specific aspect of His plan
a. the Day of the Lord is not just a specific day, but a period of time when Christ will reign throughout the world before He cleanses heaven and earth in preparation for the New Heaven, and New Earth, and the New Jerusalem
3. the New Testament calls it a day of “wrath,” a day of “visitation,” and the “great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14)
a. the New Testament refers to it as a still future fulfillment when God’s wrath is poured out on unbelieving Israel (Isaiah 22; Jeremiah 30:1-17; Joel 1-2; Amos 5; Zephaniah 1) and on the unbelieving world (Ezekiel 38–39; Zechariah 14)
b. the final outcome of the day of the Lord will be that “the arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:17).
4. it’s a day that Christians ought to be watchful for
V. LESSONS FROM ZEPHANIAH
V. LESSONS FROM ZEPHANIAH
1. God Is a Jealous God Who Demands That We Worship Him Alone
a. when asked which was the greatest commandment, Jesus responded by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 — the Shema
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5, NIV84)
b. if this is the greatest commandment, it seems reasonable that to disobey it would be the greatest sin
c. our Creator made us for Himself and demands that we give to Him our undivided love and devotion
1) He is jealous of our worship, and yet we live in a culture surrounded by idols, that if we are not careful, will compete for our attention and our love
2. God Is a Holy God Who Demands That We Be Holy
a. every true Christian instinctively knows their lives are to be lived differently from before they knew Christ
1) after all, we are a new creation being conformed, day by day, into the image of Christ with every increasing glory
b. the Holy Spirit, who indwells us, is the one who works in us to conform us, and urges us to cooperate with His sanctifying work in our lives — this is The Pursuit of Holiness
"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." (2 Corinthians 7:1, NIV)
3. God Is Merciful to Those Who Turn to Him, but His Judgement Is Fierce Against Those Who Do Not
a. Zephaniah’s description of God’s wrath on Judah, and ultimately all the earth, is overwhelming
b. yet Zeph. 2:1-3 we see God’s loving heart
1) the prophet called on the people to seek the Lord, because he knew that God is merciful and will forgive
“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” (Micah 7:18, NIV84)
2) God is willing to show mercy to all who repent and believe — this has not changed throughout the ages