The Bible Series Zephaniah
Notes
Transcript
It was February of this year that we began this journey through the scriptures. We have been looking at the consistency and flow of the scriptures book by book in OVERVIEW. As we look over the Word of God we are seeking to discover several key things:
who God is (revelation)
what God wants from us (relationship)
how God helps us (interventions)
why God had to send His Son (scarlet thread)
where things fit in scripture (structure)
what does this all mean for me today!? (application)
My hope and prayer as we have been doing this study is that you will have in your mind and hearts a more grand image and understanding of our GOD!!!In just the prophets alone we have discovered Him in some powerful ways:
Emphasis of Each Prophet
Emphasis of Each Prophet
Isaiah: YAHWEH IS SALVATION
Jeremiah: IDOLATRY
Lamentations: SORROW
Ezekiel: I AM YAHWEH
Daniel: SOVEREIGNTY
Hosea: LOYAL LOVE
Joel: DAY OF THE LORD
Amos: JUSTICE
Obadiah: DISCORD
Jonah: SATIRE
Micah: INJUSTICE
Nahum: RETRIBUTION
Habakkuk: FAITH
Zephaniah: RESTORATION
I am so glad we serve a God who is a God of RESTORATION!!!
Restoration
Restoration
Bring something back into existence (we were dead) to make useful once more!… To bring something back to its original state!
My wife and I enjoy a show called “Restoration Road” where Clint Harp, a carpenter, finds old… rundown… forgotten… what most would call worthless buildings and creates a PLAN and begins to unveil his new PURPOSE for this forgotten piece of history.
With great care and wisdom they tear down what is useless
He has an uncanny eye for the true beauty
He finds and keeps remnants for his purpose of restoration
In the end he reveals the transformation work:
Useless becomes useful
Worthless is given great worth
What is ugly is made beautiful
What was dead or almost gone is brought back to life
There is a great transformation that is seen as he restore… IN ZEPHANIAH WE SEE A RESTORATIVE GOD!!!
In Zephaniah we see God doing the work… 20 times the phrase “I WILL” is used in these three short chapters!
Babylon may be the tool, God uses to judge Judah and the world around them BUT Babylon is not even mentioned!
God wants His people to know this is HIS DOING!!!
He is the ONE RESTORING...
We NEED a RESTORING GOD:
Restore the broken
Restore marriages
Restore families
Restore churches
Restore nations
Restore relationships
Mankind needed God to restore the relationship man destroyed!
God uses His prophet Zephaniah (an 11th hour prophet) to relay His message to Judah… Look at Zephaniah 1:1
The word of the Lord 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:
He is from the royal line
Well acquainted with the powerful and the corruption going on
Josiah is King… takes throne at 8 by 16 he is sensitive to the Lord
There is no doubt that this message of Zephaniah played a part in the REFORM under Josiah’s leadership
Dangerous when your walk depends on a leader…
It was merely an external and temporal reform
Their hearts were calloused and they quickly turn back to sin
Twenty some years later we saw in Habakkuk & Jeremiah the depth of evil, sin, & idolatry!!!
Lets look at this book, that uses some DARK POETRY using graphic imagery to convey God’s message ...
Zephaniah Overview
Zephaniah Overview
We hear similar verbiage from the prophet Joel as God declares the coming “DAY OF THE LORD” that will be rolling in soon… it’s coming is now imminent…
We see this depicted in chapters 1:1-3:8
God will judge mankind’s sin
God will judge Judah’s sin
God extends in Zephaniah 2:1-3 His appeal once again to REPENT!!!
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame, Before the decree takes effect— The day passes like the chaff— Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you. 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.
Notice it is coming… BUT there is room to repent
God seeks the HUMBLE, those who follow Him!
THESE… will be the REMNANT that which is restored!
THEN… ALL NATIONS ARE JUDGED
Those to the WEST
Those to the EAST
Those to the NORTH
Those to the SOUTH
He uses this poetic speech declaring ALL the nations to demonstrate God will judge the WORLD!!!
THEN… at the very center God calls out the sin of JERUSALEM… YOU TOO WILL BE JUDGED!
Zephaniah 3:2 states that Jerusalem should have known better...
She heeded no voice, She accepted no instruction. She did not trust in the Lord, She did not draw near to her God.
In these chapters there is WARNING & a cry to REPENT!… BUT then we read Chapter 3!!!
In poetic form it is almost as if God burst forth in song of rejoicing! A song of praise by GOD!!! Zephaniah 3:9-11
“For then I will give to the peoples purified lips, That all of them may call on the name of the Lord, To serve Him shoulder to shoulder. “From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, Will bring My offerings. “In that day you will feel no shame Because of all your deeds By which you have rebelled 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.
He sings of a purification by FIRE! He is a God who is consuming! Yet as He declares this of Himself He stresses His desire and His bringing of people of all nations to Himself!
At Calvary the ground was leveled… All could come to Him, repent and follow Him
Jew and Gentile
Man and woman
Free and Slave
Over and over in this chapter we see “I will” and “He will”!!!
It is God who is doing the work of Judgement & Salvation
It is God who is working
So we close this book considering the questions we started this morning looking at...
Who- What- How- Why- Where
Who- What- How- Why- Where
who God is (He has revealed that He is One who restores)
what God wants from us (to see Him for who He is and seek REPENTANCE)
how God helps us (He is the One doing the work… who did the work of Salvation/Calvary)
why God had to send His Son (1st advent to crush once for all sin!!! 2nd Advent to reveal Himself as a consuming fire dealing with all the evil in this world to bring peace, joy, victory)
Zephaniah 3:16-17 is so powerful…
In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. “The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
where things fit in scripture (this is the last prophetic book we will look at before the exile of God’s people before Babylon)
God gives chances, He is patient, but He will act
So what?? does this all mean for me today!? (application)
The ones who heard this message first in Josiah’s day engaged in REFORM… but it was surface level. We come to the scriptures, once again we see God’s view of sin and evil. Repent (180 degree turn…)
Not because your pastor preached on it
Not because you want to go with the flow
Be the remnant that seeks God with a humble heart
Follow Him regardless of who else does or does NOT
AND JOIN GOD IN PRAISE… CHURCH OUR GOD IS WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE!!!!!