Repent or Else

Repent of Else

Series: The Minor Prophets

Text: Zeph 2:1-15

Introduction: (What?)

In chapter 1 Zephaniah warned about “The Great Day of the LORD”. If you missed that message, you can find it on our YouTube Channel. As most of the other prophets had done, Zephaniah, prompted by God, is reminding people that there will be “payday someday” as one preacher put it. To begin chapter 2 he issued a plea for repentance. These are words for today as well as yesterday.

Examination: (Why?)

1. Repent

Zep 2:1-3 “Gather yourselves together; gather together, undesirable nation, before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning of the Lord’s anger overtakes you, before the day of the Lord’s anger overtakes you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who carry out what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the Lord’s anger.”

One fallacy regarding repentance is that is a “one and one” act that leads to salvation. The truth is that repentance is progressive. By that I mean that whenever the Holy Spirit makes you aware of sin, there is the need for repentance. That is why John wrote in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He was writing this to believers. Unfortunately believers still can become idolators. I know of some pastors who idolize their church or their position as pastor. Anything that supplants Christ as the sole object of worship is an idol. It can’t be Christ + anything. Our object of worship must be Christ alone.

In v 1 Zephaniah referred to an “undesirable nation”. One commentary said that meant “shameless”. There are times when we become so comfortable with our sins that we become shameless…which means we have no shame for our sins. Our conscience becomes seared to the degree that we see nothing wrong with what we are doing. The people of Zephaniah’s day had become shameless in mixing their idol worship with worship of the true God. Zephaniah was urging them to repent before it was too late. Before the “burning of the LORD’s anger”. The Hebrew word used here is evRAH which means “enraged, furious, excessive wrath”. Look back in Zep 1:15 “That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and total darkness,”

And in Zep 1:18 “Their silver and their gold will be unable to rescue them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete, yes, a horrifying end of all the inhabitants of the earth.”

It is difficult for us to comprehend the extreme hatred that God has for sin. But, if you look at what Christ endured during His passion, you get a small idea of the evRAH of God.

Zephaniah tells them, and us to “seek the LORD; seek righteousness and seek humility”. That sounds a lot like what God told Solomon in 2 Chron 7:14 “and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

2. The Vengeance of God

Zep 2:4-11 “ For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon will become a ruin. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted. Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast, nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines: I will destroy you until there is no one left. The seacoast will become pasturelands with caves for shepherds and pens for sheep. The coastland will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; they will find pasture there. They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon, for the Lord their God will return to them and restore their fortunes. I have heard the taunting of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted my people and threatened their territory. Therefore, as I live—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel—”

Not only will the vengeance of God be on Judah, but it also will rain down on the surrounding countries. In Psa 94:1 The Psalmist wrote,“Lord, God of vengeance— God of vengeance, shine!”

The Israelites were used to praying for God to take vengeance on their oppressors. They never imagined that God would shed His vengeance on them as well. While God allowed and even used pagan nations to discipline His people, He did not overlook the sinfulness of those nations. He started here with four cities of Philistia (Philistines) covering four points of the compass. In v 5 God pronounced judgment on the “Cherethites” (another name for Philistines). The frightening “woe” is that “the Word of the LORD is against you…I will destroy you until there is no one left.” Can you imagine having God’s Word being against you? Recognize that God doesn’t speak against someone lightly. When He pronounces judgment, you can be sure the judgment is imminent. Only when there is repentance or an intercessor (Moses) is the judgment of God turned aside. In v 6-7 God tells what is about to happen. Zep 2:6-7 “The seacoast will become pasturelands with caves for shepherds and pens for sheep. The coastland will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; they will find pasture there. They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon, for the Lord their God will return to them and restore their fortunes.” He will destroy the thriving seacoast/coastlands, prime property of the Philistines and give it to His people as pasture and pens for their livestock. In Broward County where we used to live there was a beachfront property called “Gualt Ocean Mile”. That one mile long strip of beach was the most expensive real estate in the county. A friend of our who grew up in the area recounted a time when her father, a bean farmer, was offered the property for 50 cents an acre. He turned it down because it was not good for growing beans. People today, seeing the high-rise condos and hotels looming on that beachfront property would cringe at the thought of it being converted to a bean farm. This warning from God to the Philistines would have had the same effect. They couldn’t imagine it actually happening…yet it did.

While we may think that God is not aware of our sins, we can be sure that nothing escapes His attention. In Zep 2:8-9 “I have heard the taunting of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted my people and threatened their territory. Therefore, as I live—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel— Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah: a place overgrown with weeds, a salt pit, and a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of my people will plunder them; the remainder of my nation will dispossess them.”

God is aware of what the nations of the world today are doing regarding Israel. While there is still time for them to repent and change their behavior, God still remembers. Unless those who hate Israel change, they will be judged.

3. No one escapes

Zep 2:12-15 “You Cushites will also be slain by my sword. He will also stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria; he will make Nineveh a desolate ruin, dry as the desert. Herds will lie down in the middle of it, every kind of wild animal. Both eagle owls and herons will roost in the capitals of its pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but devastation will be on the threshold, for he will expose the cedar work. This is the jubilant city that lives in security, that says to herself: I exist, and there is no one else. What a desolation she has become, a place for wild animals to lie down! Everyone who passes by her scoffs and shakes his fist.”

No part of the world is exempt from the judgment of God if the people do not repent. God is an impartial judge. Within a nation or ethnic group there may be righteous people who have surrendered to God. They will be spared though their nation or ethnic group is judged. In Ezek 18:20 “The person who sins is the one who will die. A son won’t suffer punishment for the father’s iniquity, and a father won’t suffer punishment for the son’s iniquity. The righteousness of the righteous person will be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked person will be on him.”

This is why I harp on the need for repentance and surrender to Christ. The only way to be part of the “remnant” which God spares is through repentance and surrender.

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

Recognize my sin and the sins of my nation.

Realize that silence is being complicit. As Daniel did, I must own the sins of my nation.