230813 Zephaniah: Seeking Yahweh

Answer: Why, How, When, Where, Who, What | PER NAC VS 1:6 HAS MUCH TO DO WITH SEEKING AND THE LORD | What happens when the Lord is not sought 2 Chron 12.14 (evil) |

INTRODUCTION

Psalm 27 | Of David. 1 Yahweh is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strong defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? 2 When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In this I trust. 4 One thing I have asked from Yahweh, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Yahweh And to inquire in His temple. 5 For in the day of calamity He will conceal me in His shelter; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. 6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with loud shouts of joy; I will sing, and I will sing praises to Yahweh. 7 Hear, O Yahweh, when I call with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me. 8 On Your behalf my heart says, “Seek My face,” “Your face, O Yahweh, I shall seek.” “FACE” COMMUNICATES THE WHOLE PERSON - THE FULL PERSONALITY 9 Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your slave away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me and do not forsake me, O God of my salvation! 10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, But Yahweh will take me up. EVEN AFTER FATHER AND MOTHER LEAVE YAHWEH WILL REMAIN 11 Instruct me in Your way, O Yahweh, And lead me in a level path NOT A PRAYER FOR COMFORT BUT MORAL MATURITY Because of my foes. 12 Do not give me over to the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. 13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of Yahweh In the land of the living. 14 Hope in Yahweh; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Hope in Yahweh.

MAINPOINT

ROADMAP

Introduction: Psalm 27 to show what seeking is | hope | safety

Main point:

Zephaniah 2.3a “Seek Yahweh, All you humble of the earth...”

Ps 27.14 Hope in Yahweh; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Hope in Yahweh.

Prayer:

Plead with Yahweh to help us “Seek Him First”

Context:

A few weeks ago we took a look at the Judean King Hezekiah in Isaiah 37 and the attack against Jerusalem that took place in 701BC.

Last week we were in the book of Nahum in the years 650BC and we looked at the prophesied destruction of the Assyrian Capital of Nineveh which took place in 612BC.

This week we are in the book of Zephaniah and the year is approximately 630BC. King Hezekiah died about the year 687BC and his 12 year old son Manasseh took the throne from then until about 643BC.

King Manasseh was a wicked king and his faithlessness drew Judah into his riptide.

2 Kings 21.2 “And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh dispossessed before the sons of Israel.”

2 Kings 21.6 “He even made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying and interpreted omens, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much that was evil in the sight of Yahweh provoking Him to anger.”

2 Kings 21.16 “Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, in doing what is evil in the sight of Yahweh.”

2 Kings 21.7 “Then he put the graven image of Asherah, which he had made, in the house of which Yahweh had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.”

2 Kings 21.9 “But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray in order to do more evil than the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the sons of Israel.”

For this faithlessness 2 Chronicles 33.11 “Therefore Yahweh brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains, and took him to Babylon.” THE ASSYRIANS PUT A LEATHER THONG THROUGH HIS NOSE AND HAULED HIM TO BABYLON

After Manasseh his son reigned for two years and then was so evil that he was assassinated and his son - 8 year old Josiah took the throne at about the year 640BC. Today we are in the book of Zephaniah, again set in the year 630BC. Zephaniah is a distant cousin of Josiah. King Hezekiah was Zephaniah and Josiah’s Great Grandfather so Zephaniah is in some sense a member of the royal family and probably had an impact in Josiah’s life and accomplishments.

Several prophets are operating at this time: Nahum (which we looked at last week) Habakkuk (which we will be in next week) and Jeremiah in the weeks after that, God willing. Zephaniah is ministering after the depravity of Manasseh and Amon during the reign of King Josiah. Zephaniah’s name means “Yahweh hides.” Destruction has been prophesied during the reign of Manasseh and only those who are seeking Yahweh will be saved.

2 Kings 21.12-13 “therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. ‘And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the level of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish—he wipes it and turns it upside down.”

The prophet Zephaniah preached a message of destruction. He preached about the coming day of Yahweh and he used stark and jarring terms that advanced Josiah’s desire for further reformation. Open your Bibles to the book of Zephaniah.

Sermon:

LISTEN UP YOU WHO ARE NOT SEEKING YAHWEH Zephaniah 2.1 “Gather yourselves together, indeed, gather, O nation without shame,”

RESPOND BEFORE THE DAY OF YAHWEH Zephaniah 2.2 “Before the decree takes effect— The day passes like the chaff— Before the burning anger of Yahweh comes upon you, Before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes upon you.”

SEEK YAHWEH - PERHAPS YOU WILL BE HIDDEN Zephaniah 2.3 “Seek Yahweh, All you humble of the earth Who have worked His justice; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of Yahweh’s anger.”

Observation: Symptoms of Someone who is Seeking found in Zephaniah 2.2-3

Understands there is limited time Zeph 2.2

Is Desperate - having a proper understanding of their need

Is Humble -

Does Righteousness - someone who is seeking after Yahweh will do what He clearly commands

Summary of the text - those who are seeking after Yahweh may/WILL be saved - Romans 10.9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, leading to salvation.”

Application: Developing a Desire to Seek Yahweh

Single-Mindedly fixate on obeying Yahweh like Josiah 2 Chron 34.2 “And he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.”

Sanctify self from idols 2 Chron 34.3 “Now in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the graven images, and the molten images.”

Serve God and others 2 Chron 34.8 “Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah an official of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of Yahweh his God.”

Study Scripture and believe it 2 Chronicles 34.14 “When they were taking out the money which had been brought into the house of Yahweh, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of Yahweh given by the hand of Moses.”

Sorrow after sin 2 Chron 34.19 “Now it happened that when the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.”

Search after the will of God 2 Chronicles 34.27 “because your heart was soft and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares Yahweh.”

Share with others - ie disciple 2 Chronicles 34.30 “And the king went up to the house of Yahweh and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the Levites and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of Yahweh.”

TRANSITION TO CLOSE

2 Chronicles 33.12-13 “And when he (MANASSEH) was in distress, he entreated Yahweh his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. Then he prayed to Him, and He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and returned him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh was God.” DID YOU CATCH WHAT CHANGED FOR HIM, HE SOUGHT AFTER THE LORD AND HUMBLED HIMSELF

the reality is that the good Shepherd is the One that seeks after His sheep - will we respond to His call

Conclusion:

Psalm 91 “He who abides in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to Yahweh, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the destructive pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you will take refuge; His truth is a large shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of terror by night, Or arrow that flies by day; Of pestilence that moves in darkness, Or of destruction that devastates at noon. A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made Yahweh—my refuge, The Most High—your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, And no plague will come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, Lest you strike your foot against a ston…”

PRAYER

CONTEXT

Josiah’s Reformation

Zephaniah’s name = Yahweh Hides

The Day of the Lord referenced appx 19 times - immediate expectation of judgment for Judea and a final expectation for the eschaton

Likely a contemporary of Jeremiah and Habakkuk and Nahum

SERMON

V. Judgement’s Deterrent (v1-3)

1 Gather yourselves together, indeed, gather, O nation without shame,

Word by Word

v1 הִֽתְקוֹשְׁשׁ֖וּ hi·ṯeqô·šešûʹ Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame, קשׁשׁ qšš pick up; gather; assemble verb, imperative, second person, masculine, plural, Hiṯpôʿēl, Hitpa’’el, middle Sense: to gather – to assemble or get together, as of objects or persons. The hiṯpaʿʿēl would be illustrated by “Bob flies the plane himself,” | K&D Word used to gather stubble, meaning to collect yourself and self examine - required for conversion |

v1 וָק֑וֹשּׁוּ wā·qôšʹ·šû Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame, וְ קשׁשׁ qšš pick up; gather; assemble verb, Qal, imperative, second person, masculine, plural, active Sense: to assemble – to collect in one place. Seems to be strengthened by the Qal imperative

v1 נִכְסָֽף׃ niḵ·sāp̄ʹ Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame, כסף ksp long for verb, Nifʿal, participle, masculine, singular, absolute, passive Sense: to long – to desire strongly or persistently. An example of a Nifal is “He heard himself” It is a reflexive voice where the verb carries out and receives the action of the verb | Per K&D this is not a participle because of the “LO” before it and the omission of the article “H” - per K&D an acceptable translation would be “O Nation which does not turn pale - or white with shame” (Or my translation - which does not long for | Or “O Nation which does not persistently long for _____” - ie does not seek an unmentioned thing.

Cross reference Gen 31.30 ““So now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?””

K&D the day passes like chaff - ie rapidly

2 Before the decree takes effect— The day passes like the chaff— Before the burning anger of Yahweh comes upon you, Before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes upon you.

Word by Word

v2

3 Seek Yahweh, All you humble of the earth Who have worked His justice; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of Yahweh’s anger.

NAC Observations

Five Admonitions in three verses for the people of God(NAC) Gather yourselves together, Indeed gather, Seek Yahweh, Seek Righteousness, Seek Humility. Chapter 2 is the “To Do” for those who have heard chapter 1 - also includes a change in direction, Chapter 2 includes a “biting tone because it infers that the Israelites are no better than the other countries.” v1 Judah is called הַגּ֖וֹי - or gentile/pagan

Word by Word

v3 בַּקְּשׁ֤וּ bǎq·qešûʹ Seek the Lord, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger. בקשׁ bqš discover, find; attempt to do, possess; demand, require, request, search for, call on, consult verb, Piʿʿēl, imperative, second person, masculine, plural, active Sense: to seek (experience) – to earnestly try to encounter the presence of a deity; often involving requests or petitions to the deity. The Piel in an active voice changes from “he broke” to “he shattered.” The command to seek is intensive - search diligently for Yahweh. Per K&D the humble of the land are those who are diligently seeking to fulfil what Yahweh has prescribed in the Law as right

v3 בַּקְּשׁוּ־צֶ֙דֶק֙ bǎq·qešû-·ṣěʹ·ḏěq Seek the Lord, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger. בקשׁ bqš discover, find; attempt to do, possess; demand, require, request, search for, call on, consult verb, Piʿʿēl, imperative, second person, masculine, plural, active Sense: to try – to make an effort or attempt. Per K&D they are to zealously strive after righteousness and humility then they may be hidden in the day of wrath

v3 בַּקְּשׁ֣וּ bǎq·qešûʹ Seek the Lord, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger. בקשׁ bqš discover, find; attempt to do, possess; demand, require, request, search for, call on, consult verb, Piʿʿēl, imperative, second person, masculine, plural, active Sense: to try – to make an effort or attempt. Piel stem is an intensive action with an active voice see above. The Command to seek humility is a command to diligently search out.

Word Search

To “seek out” here has an Agent and a Goal. The agent is those who are being commanded - ie the righteous remnant of the nation without shame

Cross References

Isaiah 26.20-21 “Come, my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until indignation passes by. For behold, Yahweh is about to come out from His place To visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed And will no longer cover those of hers who were killed.”

What do those who seek do, speak with pure lips, call on the name of Yahweh, serving Him with others, bringing offerings, coming in humility and not pride, they do justice, speak the truth Zephaniah 3:9–13 ““For then I will change them to peoples with purified lips, That all of them may call on the name of Yahweh, To serve Him shoulder to shoulder. “From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My scattered ones, Will bring My offerings. “In that day you will feel no shame Because of all your deeds By which you have transgressed against Me; For then I will remove from your midst Your proud, exulting ones, And you will never again be haughty On My holy mountain. “But I will cause to remain in your midst A lowly and poor people, And they will take refuge in the name of Yahweh. “The remnant of Israel will do no injustice And not speak falsehood, Nor will a deceitful tongue Be found in their mouths; For they will feed and lie down With no one to make them tremble.””

CONTEXT REVISITED

2 Chronicles 33:11–19 | 11 Therefore Yahweh brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains, and took him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in distress, he entreated Yahweh his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 Then he prayed to Him, and He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and returned him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh was God. 14 Afterwards, he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the Fish Gate; and he encircled the Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of Yahweh, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of Yahweh and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. 16 And he set up the altar of Yahweh and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he said for Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. 17 Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to Yahweh their God. 18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, even his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, behold, they are among the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 19 His prayer also and how God was entreated by him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and the sites on which he built high places and erected the Asherim and the graven images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the chronicles of the Hozai.

APPLICATION

Micah 6.8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does Yahweh require of you

But to do justice,

to love lovingkindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?”

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INTRODUCTION

2 Kings 21:1–18 | 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3 Indeed, he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of Yahweh, of which Yahweh had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 Indeed, he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Yahweh. 6 He even made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying and interpreted omens, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much that was evil in the sight of Yahweh provoking Him to anger. 7 Then he put the graven image of Asherah, which he had made, in the house of which Yahweh had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 8 “And I will not make the foot of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray in order to do more evil than the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the sons of Israel. 10 Then Yahweh spoke by the hand of His slaves the prophets, saying, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations—he has done evil more than all the Amorites did who were before him—and has also made Judah sin with his idols, 12 therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 ‘And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the level of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish—he wipes it and turns it upside down. 14 ‘And I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies; 15 because they have done what is evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’” 16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, in doing what is evil in the sight of Yahweh. 17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin which he sinned, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son became king in his place.

Essential Ingredients for Revival: Humility, Fear, Repentance, The Work of the Spirit

Zephaniah 1:1–2:3 |

I. Judgement on the World (v1-3)

1 The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah:

Zephaniah is a royal relative whose name means Yahweh hides - possibly given this name during the reign of wicked King Manasseh

2 “I will completely end all things From the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh. 3 “I will end man and beast; I will end the birds of the sky And the fish of the sea And the ruins along with the wicked; And I will cut off man from the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.

xאָסֹ֨ף ʾā·sōp̄ʹ “I will completely remove all things From the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. אסף ʾsp gather, bring in, receive; retract, destroy, pull back verb, Qal, infinitive, absolute, active, infinitive absolute Sense: to remove – to remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off; also to remove something abstract. אָסֵ֜ף ʾā·sēp̄ʹ “I will completely remove all things From the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.סוף swp come to an end; make an end verb, singular, Hifʿîl, participle, masculine, absolute, Qal, active, prefixed (imperfect), common, first person Sense: to end (make end) – to bring to an end or halt. In the Hifil Stem the direct object “all things” participates in the action that the Lord states - He will completely remove

II. Judgement on Idolaters (v4-6)

4 “So I will stretch out My hand against Judah And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, And the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests, 5 And those who worship on the housetops the host of heaven, And those who worship and swear to Yahweh and yet swear by Milcom, 6 And those who have turned back from following Yahweh, And those who have not sought Yahweh or inquired of Him.”

v5 traitors

v4 Fulfilled in 622BC when Josiah executed the false priests/prophets of the pagan gods

III. Judgement on the Elite (v7-13)

7 Be silent before Lord Yahweh! For the day of Yahweh is near, For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice; He has set apart His guests. 8 “Then it will be on the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice That I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, And all who clothe themselves with foreign garments. 9 “And I will punish on that day all who leap on the temple threshold, Who fill the house of their Lord with violence and deceit. 10 “And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh, “That there will be the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate And a wail from the Second Quarter And a great destruction from the hills. 11 “Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar, For all the people of Canaan will be silenced; All who weigh out silver will be cut off. 12 “And it will be at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, ‘Yahweh will not do good or evil!’ 13 “And it will be that their wealth will become spoil And their houses desolate; Indeed, they will build houses but not inhabit them, And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”

IV. Judgement Described (v14-18)

14 Near is the great day of Yahweh, Near and coming very quickly; O the sound, the day of Yahweh! In it the mighty man cries out bitterly. 15 A day of fury is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of clouds and dense gloom, 16 A day of trumpet and loud shouting Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. 17 I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind Because they have sinned against Yahweh; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the fury of Yahweh; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete destruction, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Symptoms of Seeking

Those who seek Yahweh will praise Yahweh

Psalm 22.26 “The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise Yahweh. May your heart live forever!”

Those who seek Yahweh will not be in want of any good thing

Psalm 34.10 “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who inquire of Yahweh shall not be in want of any good thing.”

Those who seek Yahweh have hearts inclined at all times toward Him

Jeremiah 29.13 “‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Those who seek Yahweh do so persistently and receive what they seek

Luke 11.9-10 ““So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.”

Psalm 37.4 “Delight yourself in Yahweh; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Those who seek Yahweh seek the increase of His kingdom first

Luke 12.31 ““But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”

Those who seek Yahweh seek with every part of their life, heart and soul

Deuteronomy 4.29 ““But from there you will seek Yahweh your God, and you will find Him, for you will search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.”

Those who seek Yahweh come in the way that He requires and not on their own merit

Deuteronomy 12.5 ““But you shall seek Yahweh at the place which Yahweh your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come.”

Those who seek Yahweh hear the voice of Christ and they obey Him

John 10.27 ““My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;”

Those who seek Yahweh humbly understand their own poverty

Zephaniah 3.11-12 ““In that day you will feel no shame Because of all your deeds By which you have transgressed against Me; For then I will remove from your midst Your proud, exulting ones, And you will never again be haughty On My holy mountain. “But I will cause to remain in your midst A lowly and poor people, And they will take refuge in the name of Yahweh.”

CONCLUSION