Zephaniah chapter 2
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Chapter 2......
Chapter 2......
So as we looked last week, God brought his charges against the nation and what He was getting ready to do.. Judah and Benjamin are judged because they have listened to their wicked kings and they have bowed down to the idols off Ashteroth, Baal, Milcon, and the like.... they have chased after these false gods....
The Chaldeans would come and they would leave no stones un-turned, they would find each of them and carry them off…
They missed the true fountain and instead made for themselves broken cisterns
So lets move and begin to look at our text for today…
Lets look at verses 1-2
1 Gather together, yes, gather,
O shameless nation,
2 before the decree takes effect
—before the day passes away like chaff—
before there comes upon you
the burning anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the anger of the Lord.
Zeph
Verse 1.
The call for verse one is the the nation to assemble, to gather together as the nation would at any time they stood before the temple of God to worship.
Gather together and pray is the call, pray that you might avert this disaster. The Lord calls them a shameless nation, in the fact that they do not know what shame is, they are content to do wrong with no accountability.
Gather together before you are scattered...
Listen to
15 Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”
says the Lord.
Gather before the decree is announced, before the Lord send me to tell you. the analogy is like a child being born, you know it is coming, and at a certain time the child will come forth and will be known by all.
Gather before the wind comes and blows you away like chaff is carried away by the wind and scattered all over the place.
gather before the day passes as the chaff that is blown away every quickly like the chaff.....
before the day pass as the chaff—that is, before the day for repentance pass, and with it you, the ungodly, pass away as the chaff (Job 21:18; Ps 1:4).
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
You see the righteous will have the opportunity to repent… but most definitely
not the chaff
if the nation would repent their is still time to be sheltered from calamity.
Now lets move on..... Verses 3-4
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
who do his just commands;
seek righteousness; seek humility;
perhaps you may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the Lord.
4 For Gaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
Verse 3 begins with a call to seek the Lord, the call is reminiscent of
6 Seek the Lord and live,
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
The Lord had warned the hardened among the people to humble themselves, so now the Lord is calling upon the meek, the righteous to pursue the right course unless they fall into calamity.
Perhaps if they seek Him they might escape the visitation of His anger upon the city and its people.
So verse 4 tells us how bad it will be… all the places around them will be left desolate. If ever they needed a reason to repent here it is.. whip the child next to you type of idea....
And if the people repent, then disaster might be avoided.....
Now lets look at verses 5-6
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,
with meadows for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
Does anyone know who the Lord is speaking about here, when He calls for the woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast?
The Philistines...
The Philistines live on the coast of the “Med” and these people have had many, many disagreements with God’s people. They harasses and hurt the people of Israel and of course their idol worship is a problem as well.
The phrase the Cherethites is a name applied to them as people who sprung from Crete,
Listen to Amos 9:7
7 “Are you not like the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?
And those Canaanites and the Philistines both will be punished in the end, they have suffered and hurt God’s people.
Verse 6 implies that the destruction will come that there will be nothing well populated, but instead wider sections of land will more and unpopulated, it will become pasture land for everyone else.
nomadic shepherd will enjoy this land, no inhabitants of the cities...
Now, lets follow all this up with verse 7 here in chapter 2
7 The seacoast shall become the possession
of the remnant of the house of Judah,
on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will be mindful of them
and restore their fortunes.
Listen to what is being said here, they will loose much, in fact they will loose their land and it will become the possession of the people of Judah, well to be entirely correct it will be the remnant of Judah that will enjoy it in the days to come....
They will graze on their fields and live and lay down in their houses...
Listen to
31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
The meaning of mindful of them is that the Lord will remember and restore their lives, wealth and make them successful again… He will give back to them.
and now verse 8
8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab
and the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts against their territory.
Beautiful thought here… I have heard.
That is an important phrase my friends, it is important because it tells us that Lord is keenly aware our situation and plight. He knew what the countries of Moab and Ammonitites had treated them poorly. And just because he has heard doesn’t mean he has forgot to punish… his timming is not worked out just all yet.
They have acted haughtily and now they are brought to thier knees. Listen to
29 We have heard of the pride of Moab—
he is very proud—
of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
Jer 28:29
Moving on............................
Now lets look at verses 9-11
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become like Sodom,
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome against them;
for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all the lands of the nations.
Verse 9 begins with the word of transition my friends, “Therefore”
Because of all we have just talked about, because of all the Lord has already said.. punishment is coming to these surrounding nations..
Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonities like the Gomorrah, the Lord promises this… he says..... “as surely as He himself lives…”
And then the last part of verse 9---
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.” v9b
Now nettles is a plant, or small bush with jagged leaves and needle like hairs on it, so it makes the lad very difficult to settle and hard to manage. to have it flourish would make the land worthless in a way…
Salt pits is a barren land, a land that is desolate for the salt burns all the vegetation up and thus leaves it barren.
This truth will become the plight of the people, and it will no longer belong to them...
Instead… one day the survivors, the remnant of the nation, of God’s people will enjoy the land.
That is a smack in the face… it will destroy you, make your land worthless to any that remain and finally give it away… it is reinforcing the message that they are lost and hopeless because of the word of the Lord for the way they treated his people.
Now back to verse 10.... this is the punishment due them for their actions.
Verse 11. The Lord will be great against them… He will famish all the gods of the earth… He will bring them all low by taking their former fame. In truth he will break them down … As the beast s are famished by food being withheld, in this day they will receive no worship.. He will receive it all.
The Lord also destroys kingdoms under the influence of idols, like Moab and Ammon...
The gods of the earth refer to the fact that their existence is only on earth…not in heaven… yes!
4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
1 Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and livestock;
these things you carry are borne
as burdens on weary beasts.
Now lets look at verse 12-15
12 You also, O Cushites,
shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,
and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts;
even the owl and the hedgehog
shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city
that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!
Everyone who passes by her
hisses and shakes his fist.
Zeph 2:12-15
Verse 12 is simple, the Cushities will be put to death by the sword. This was actually fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar came through and conquered Egypt, he was God’s sword of punishment at that day..
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
1 Gather together, yes, gather,
O shameless nation,
2 before the decree takes effect
—before the day passes away like chaff—
before there comes upon you
the burning anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
who do his just commands;
seek righteousness; seek humility;
perhaps you may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the Lord.
4 For Gaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,
with meadows for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 The seacoast shall become the possession
of the remnant of the house of Judah,
on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will be mindful of them
and restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab
and the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become like Sodom,
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome against them;
for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all the lands of the nations.
12 You also, O Cushites,
shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,
and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts;
even the owl and the hedgehog
shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city
that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!
Everyone who passes by her
hisses and shakes his fist.
5 Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, and the people of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.
6 “Thus says the Lord:
Those who support Egypt shall fall,
and her proud might shall come down;
from Migdol to Syene
they shall fall within her by the sword,
declares the Lord God.
7 And they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries,
and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
8 Then they will know that I am the Lord,
when I have set fire to Egypt,
and all her helpers are broken.
9 “On that day messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting people of Cush, and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom; for, behold, it comes!
Now verse 13
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,
and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
He has forgiven Nineveh once, but this time it is not possible… he will destroy them fully. And we know they call in 625 bc by Cyaxares and Nabpolassar
Verse 14
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts;
even the owl and the hedgehog
shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city
that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!
Everyone who passes by her
hisses and shakes his fist.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts;
even the owl and the hedgehog
shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for her cedar work will be laid bare.
Again the natural result of punishment, their capitals, their cities, and homes what once was full of people are not home to shepherding animals. All will be laid waste, their fancy homes tore apart...
And finally verse 15
15 This is the exultant city
that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!
Everyone who passes by her
hisses and shakes his fist.
Zeph 2:16
People in these cities felt secure, safe but they were not..
Nothing then seemed more improbable than that the capital of so vast an empire, a city sixty miles in compass, with walls one hundred feet high, and so thick that three chariots could go abreast on them, and with fifteen hundred towers, should be so totally destroyed that its site is with difficulty discovered. Yet so it is, as the prophet foretold.
People boast in their own power and strength, but they fail.
Nothing then seemed more improbable than that the capital of so vast an empire, a city sixty miles in compass, with walls one hundred feet high, and so thick that three chariots could go abreast on them, and with fifteen hundred towers, should be so totally destroyed that its site is with difficulty discovered. Yet so it is, as the prophet foretold.