Zephaniah - Doomed by Disobediance
Notes
Transcript
Worship - Names
Worship - Names
Adonai - Lord; Master
El Shaddai - God Almighty; God of the Mountain; All Sufficient One
Jehovah Rapha - The GOD Who Heals You
Elohim - Creator
Emmanuel - God With Us
Messiah - Anointed One
Alpha & Omega - First & Last; Beginning & End
Abba - Daddy
Jehovah Jireh - The LORD Will Provide
Yahweh - I AM; Self Existent One
Introduction
Introduction
“We Like it When You’re Here!”
Good Morning, Introduction
Bible in 5 Years - 2nd Week in Prophets of Doom series - Minor Prophets
Focus on 2 Characters Today
Focus on 2 Characters Today
Zephaniah - Prophet that predated the Babylonian invasion (along with a slew of others where were trying to get Israel to turn back to the Lord before destruction)
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Nahum
Habbakkuk
Micah
Zephaniah
Josiah - King of Judah
Zephaniah
Zephaniah
Zephaniah 1:1 Great-great grandson of King Hezekiah (one of Judah’s good kings)
He was the only prophet who had a royal heritage
Hebrew: Tsephanyah
Tsephan - to hide, to conceal, to treasure
-yah - Yahweh
Zephaniah - The LORD/Yahweh hides/conceals/treasures
Prayer
Wisdom to understand
Conviction to allow it to take root in our hearts
American people and her leaders
Soldiers fighting in and around Iran
Citizens of Iran
Persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in Africa, the Middle East, Asia
History & Context
History & Context
When?
Prophecy’s to Judah ~630BC during the reign of King Josiah (640-609 BC)
Assyria was in decline / Babylon was on the rise
25-50 years before Babylon conquered the Kingdom of Judah
586BC - Fall of the Temple - Lamentations
What was happening in Israel/Judah?
Israel split in 930BC after the death of King Solomon (son of David and Bathsheba)
Kingdom of Israel in the North (10 Tribes) (Zero Good Kings out of 19)
Kingdom of Judah in the South (2 Tribes) (8 Good Kings out of 20)
Josiah was King of Judah (640-609 BC)
He was the last good king of Judah
His grandfather, Manasseh, super duper evil king.
The worst ever. 55 years of what the Bible calls, horror.
Reinstituted pagan worship. Alters to Baal in the temple.
Divination through the stars (Don’t play with horoscopes)
Practiced Necromancy and communed with the dead.
Worshiped Molech (Milcom)
Practiced Child sacrifice (burned his own son as an offering)
Take moment to describe a sacrifice to Molech
Hebrew work for Molech is a combination of the letters of “king” and the vowels of “shame”
Hollow bronze statue shaped like a human with an ox’s head, into which children were placed before the structure was heated from below, with drums pounded to drown out the children’s cries
The innocent blood spilled was enough to fill the city of Jerusalem from one end to another (2 Kings 21:16)
Now Zephaniah’s parent’s choice of names is starting to make sense....
With a king like this, I would pray that my children would be hidden from that fate.
Have you ever noticed that what the LORD creates, Satan wants to corrupt? Twist?
Yahweh is the God who gives His Son as a sacrifice for His people, not the god who demands his people’s sons as sacrifice.
So, our God being a JUST God...
What does that mean?
It means that our God CANNOT allow crime to go unpunished.
He is Holy and perfect, He cannot allow rebellion into His presence, otherwise He would not be Holy.
So God is JUST, He is the King of all righteousness, that means that....
1. God will bring judgement for sin.
1. God will bring judgement for sin.
And that is what Zephaniah came to warn Judah and her king about.
Judgement was coming, QUICKLY.
Last year, some of you may remember studying the book of Habakkuk together.
In that book, we learn that God is not against using evil people to accomplish His purposes. The Babylonians.
In case a perfect God using evil people makes you stop for a second and question God’s morality, let me remind you of two things:
No one is good, no not even one.
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
If you think you’re somehow BETTER than the Babylonians, stop. That is PRIDE. That is the devil talking in your ear.
Jesus does NOT teach that.
Jesus says that if you hate someone, you’ve committed murder in your heart.
Both sins weigh the same in His eyes.
We are evil, just as the Babylonians we evil, just as Israel was evil.
THAT Is why we need a savior.
THAT is why we have the gospel of Jesus Christ, the GOOD NEWS that there IS someone who is GOOD, and He died for YOU.
Babylon would not escape judgment either, but during Josiah’s reign, Babylon was preparing for war
3 It indeed came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them [people of Judah] from His sight due to the sins of Manasseh, in accordance with everything that he had done,
4 and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord was unwilling to forgive.
God will Bring Judgement for Sin.
Turn with me now to the first chapter of Zephaniah, I am beginning with verse 14.
14 The great day of the Lord is near; It is near and hastens quickly.
...
15 That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess...
16 A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers.
17 “I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the Lord; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse.”
18 Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the Lord’s wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy,...
Josiah’s father, Amon, was just like Manasseh in every way, and was assassinated 2 years into his kingship
And then we get to an incredible character in the line of Kings
King Josiah
King Josiah
8 years old when he took the throne
What would that have been like, I wonder?
Does anybody here have an 8 year old?
Shall we play “what if?”
16 years old when he first sought the Lord
20 years old when he destroyed the idols outside Jerusalem (Topheth - Fireplace)
26 years old when he found The Book.
He brought spiritual revival to Judah after the long and disastrous reign of Manasseh (55 years).
Here is how Scripture remembers King Josiah:
2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.
Josiah’s story reveals something to us about what it takes live in the purpose God has for us
3 Things Made Josiah a “Good” King
3 Things Made Josiah a “Good” King
He sought the Lord (16 yrs)
He knocked down idols (20 yrs)
He read the Word of God. (26 yrs)
This was the time and the king that Zephaniah was called to be a prophet to in the Southern Nation of Judah.
Zephaniah pronounced God’s judgement on corruption and wickedness, but also his plan to restore Judah.
He spoke of the “day of the Lord”, when sin would be punished, justice would prevail, and a “remnant” of the faithful would be saved.
We’ve talked about the Day of the Lord for several weeks now, and we have gone into detail on what those future days will look like, for believers in Christ and non-believers.
But we need to remember that the Bible is full of the same stories, layered on top of each other.
Noah’s Ark, the Exodus from Egypt, the story of Joseph
All are stories that happened as described
but they also contain incredible parallels to the gospel and the story of Jesus.
In the scroll of Zephaniah, we see the same thing
Zephaniah is warning Judah about the coming judgment, this day of the Lord. 19 times it’s mentioned, more than any other book in the OT.
This day comes when the nation of Babylon invades, burns the entire city to the ground, destroys the temple, taking all of the Israelites captive and removing them from the promised land.
but it also acts as a future prediction of the true Day of the Lord, when Jesus Christ enacts His final judgment on sin, casting out all who rejected Him and establishing his Kingdom
Different stories that are paralleled in such a way, as to be the same story. This happens countless times in scripture.
One of the best ways to study the Bible, if you are unsure where to start or afraid of not understanding what you are reading....is to simply read a passage, and try to find how it mirrors Jesus. Every single page in this book points to Jesus Christ.
If you were with us last summer for the Jonah series, you will see that the opposite can accomplish the same thing:
The story of Jonah tells a story where God’s chosen messenger acts in a way that is perfectly OPPOSITE of Jesus, that we can’t help but compare it to Jesus.
So, as we go through Zephaniah, try to catch on to the parallels:
Day of the Lord through Babylon vs. Day of the Lord that we are waiting for
Criticism against Judah/Israel vs criticism against Americans in 2026
Hope for God’s restoration of Israel vs hope for God’s restoration of all believers;
hope for God’s restoration of [insert name]
This exercise is actually one way that we can Seek, the Lord, which is our second point this morning.
2. God asks that we seek Him
2. God asks that we seek Him
Seek the Lord, all who are humble,
and follow his commands.
Seek to do what is right
and to live humbly.
Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you—
protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.
Check screen for NKJV translation
This is how the ESV translation reads:
...perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.
This is a play off Zephaniah’s own name.
Did you know that God can tell if your heart really is not in it?
29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
IF you search after Him with all your heart and soul.
What happens if our “seeking” is more like box checking?
Or worse yet, what happens if our “seeking the LORD” is really a disguise for something selfish?
If we make coming to church about us, about seeing our friends, about catching up with everybody… we are perverting the act of gathering together in fellowship.
If we can stand here, in a communal setting, publically declaring ourselves as followers of Jesus Christ, and NOT engage in worship...we are perverting the act of group worship as the body of Christ.
I am not saying that if you don’t sing and don’t raise your hands, you are doing wrong, or you are in any way unwelcome.
No, please hear me on this.
I am saying that if you are SEEKING the LORD with all your HEART and SOUL, you would be unable NOT to engage in worship.
You may say, “well pastor Blair, you shouldn’t tell me how to worship, that is between me and God.”
My response is, “no way Jose. My Bible says something different.”
First of all, Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come BOLDLY to the throne of our gracious God. THERE we will receive his mercy.
How many of you are in need of mercy this morning?
THERE we will find grace to help us when we need it most, that’s in Hebrews.
How many of you need grace this morning?
More hands go up now than they do during worship...
Ephesians 5:19 says...
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
Your worship is not JUST for you and God. It is also for other believers, and unbelievers as well.
There is something special, something powerful, about being next to someone who is worshiping boldly without fear, and then you jump in the deep end and let go too. There is a connection, you begin to understand that you are one part of this Body of Christ.
But when we forsake our purpose in worship, be it due to fear of embarrassment or humiliation, laziness, being apathetic (just kinda don’t care...)
God does not accept that worship.
“As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the [religious] festivals—
I took them away from you;
they became tribute and were a source of shame to you.
Listen to this description of God’s people, and ask yourself, honestly, can you relate to this?
2 She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord; she does not draw near to her God.
I know I can.
Do you realize this is a reverse of what we learned from Josiah?
Who remembers the 3 things that made Josiah a good King in the eyes of the Lord?
3 Things Made Josiah a “Good” King
3 Things Made Josiah a “Good” King
He sought the Lord
He knocked down idols
He read the Word of God.
Listen again to how Zephaniah describes God’s people:
2 She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction.
[The Word of God acts as His voice, and is good for correction - 2 Timothy 3, are you diligently in your bibles? Daily?]
She does not trust in the Lord;
[We all worship something. If we don’t trust in God, then we are likely trusting in the false promises of this world or in ourselves. What are the idols that you trust?]
she does not draw near to her God.
[Seeking God is something that doesn’t just happen on Sundays. It is a constant activity, and the more I do it, the more I do it around my wife and my kids, around my friends...the more I find Him, and the more His ways change me and my circumstances. For the better.]
Invite Tanner Up
Tell stories about moving into the parsonage
Burying a chicken with Leanna
prayed over it
talked about life and death
noticed the radiant sunset and talked about God’s one-time-only paintings
Leanna (5 yrs) looked up to the sky and thanked God for watching over HIS chicken that he let us borrow for a short time, then remarked on how God was SOOO good and painting bright sunsets and dark starry nights.
This would not have happened, had I not sought the Lord while digging a hole in the ground.
Taking a shower for the first time
About as small as my barracks shower at West Point
Constantly bumping the temperature adjustment
Turning off the shower to lather soap
Then I realized something...
Because the bathroom is so small, it warms up incredibly fast when a shower is running. So turning off the water to lather wasn’t even cold.
I decided to thank God for that.
Then, like a snowball of gratitude, I found more to be thankful for:
Incredibly grateful that I would see my wife and 3 kids instead of a building full of cadets polishing shoes and preparing for 16 different tests or inspections the next day.
I told my wife this, I felt like something clicked between us. She understood and could relate.
I even overheard her telling this same story to her parents and her sister!
No less than 4 souls were exposed to seeds of humility, and a posture of gratitude, that very well may be watered and will sprout later in their lives.
That would not have happened, had I not chosen to knock down my idols of convenience and comfort and lifestyle.
Today I am here to remind you, church, that our God is MIGHTY TO SAVE!! He can do it!
As the rest of the worship team comes up, we are going to close with our final point.
3. God is mighty to save.
3. God is mighty to save.
He can take the things that feel like burdens and, with a dose of thankfulness from you, can turn those burdens into blessings that you cherish.
Let me share with you the story that has inspired many of these small moments of gratitude:
It comes from a book called The Hiding Place and follows
2 sisters, Corrie and Betsy were sent to a concentration camp in Ravensbrook Germany.
They had to live in a room known as Cell Block 28 with 700 other people in a room that was build for 200.
The room was full of fleas and lice.
Betsy said, “Corrie, we must thank God for everything.”
Corrie responds, “I cannot thank God for fleas.”
Betsy didn’t back down, and reminded Corrie that
1 Thessalonians 5 tells us 3 things:
Rejoice always
Pray without ceasing
Give thanks in all circumstances.
As so she said, Corrie, let’s pause right now and give thanks.
Lets give thanks for the guards, and that we are in here with so many women who need to hear about Jesus.
And...and Corrie... let’s give thanks for the fleas.
So they prayed. And gave thanks.
...and people noticed.
Not only did they notice, but they were incredibly interested in the hope that the two young women displayed.
1 Peter 3:15 right there.
Within months, the sisters were leading bible studies/worship services twice a day in the cramped room.
Now, bible was obviously a banned item in a Nazi concentration camp...
So what they were doing was risking immediate torture and execution.
Out in the open, hundreds of witnesses...
And they always wondered...
WHY did a guard never walk in? How was it that they were NEVER busted by a Nazi officer? Not even once.
And the sisters didn’t learn the answer until after the end of WWII, when they connected with a former officer in the Ravensbrook camp.
They asked him why the guards never went in Cell Block 28, and he responded quickly:
Because of the fleas.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
he is mighty to save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will rejoice over you with loud singing.
Did you know that when one lost soul chooses to follow Christ, ALL OF HEAVEN erupts in celebration?
Not only that, but did you know that God has a song that He sings, in heaven, JUST FOR YOU.
I can’t wait to hear my song. It probably sounds like 90s country.
I hope it’s not Friends in Low Places - Garth Brooks
Even scarier would be, Here’s a Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares - Travis Tritt
I’m Not as Good as I Once Was - Toby Keith
Bring in the Gospel, Jesus being Mighty to Save us from the punishment we are owed.
My prayer for this church is that we can emulate the leadership that King Josiah demonstrated:
27 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.
Prayer.
