Zephaniah 1:1-6
Notes
Transcript
Zephaniah 1:1-6
Zephaniah 1:1-6
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Zephaniah is a much more traditional style of prophetic book
In Habakkuk, we saw that Habakkuk complains to the Lord and the Lord responds
And we noted that in the prophets, that is an irregular pattern
In Zephaniah, we see the normal pattern
verse 1 says that the Word of the Lord came to Zephaniah
The Lord has a message for His people, and he gives that message through the messenger, in this case Zephaniah.
And as is typical of the prophets, we get a picture of who Zephaniah is and when in Judah’s history this message falls
Josiah is the King of Judah
Hezekiah-Manasseh-Amon-Josiah
Hezekiah-Amariah-Gedaliah-Cushi-Zephaniah
So that means that the prophet and the King are related, which explains why we have this extended lineage of the Prophet
So before we dive into the prophecy, we need to remind ourselves a little bit about what is going on in the days before Josiah, and Josiah’s term as King
Hezekiah
He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses.
Manasseh
Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that 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. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
Amon
And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them. He abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.
Josiah
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 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.
Josiah is known for bringing reform to Judah, and for restoring the temple
During that restoration of the Temple, the book of the law is found
As far as it relates to the prophecy of Zephaniah, we arent exactly sure where in Josiah’s reign this is given
But there are many, and I would count myself among them
That believe this prophecy comes before the reforms of Josiah, and the finding of the book of the Law
Even though we know that despite these reforms, Idolatry is still rampant within Judah
As Jeremiah addresses it, and Jeremiah’s prophecy comes after Zephaniah’s
So with the background of idolatry in Judah, we look to the Word of the Lord
The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
“I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
“I will sweep away man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
and the fish of the sea,
and the rubble with the wicked.
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
those who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
and yet swear by Milcom,
those who have turned back from following the Lord,
who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”
One of the defining aspects to biblical prophecy is the already but not yet aspect
There is mention of final judgement, but also imminent judgement
And we see that here in this passage
The Lord begins with an all encompassing statement
“I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth”
That sounds familiar doesn’t it?
So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
Now we know that after the flood, God gives us a sign of the covenant with Noah, the rainbow, and says that He will never again destroy the earth…with water
Ladies and Gentlemen, God’s judgement is sure
It will happen, and when it does, the medium will be different, but the result will be the same
Look at verse 3
What we see here is an undoing of creation
Look at the order that God lists these
Man is listed first, then beast (Or land animals)
Then the birds and the fish
This is the reverse order of how they were created
Birds and fish were created on the 5th day
Land animals on the 6th
And man was the last and crowning creation
So why does God say it like this
So that we get the picture
My judgement will be so thorough it will undo all of creation
God’s judgement is total, there is nothing that will escape it
Then God says he will sweep away
“the rubble with the wicked”
Word for rubble in ESV refers to stumbling blocks by idols
“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?
Again, we see here the totality of the Judgement of God
Not only will he wipe away the idolaters, but he will wipe away the very things that they stumble over
What we have in these two verses cannot be something that is mundane to us
Please, this morning see the totality and severity of the judgement of God
There is nothing that escapes His eye, nothing that will escape His wrath
Then, the prophecy shifts from the total judgement at the end of history, to the specific judgement of Judah
God says he will stretch out his hand against Judah, against Jerusalem
And in this judgement, we are going to see three idols specifically mentioned
All three are involved in the passage we read about the reign of Manasseh
Worship of
Baal: Caananite God of Fertility
Sphere of influence included agriculture, animal husbandry and fertility
The stars
The ability to predict future events
Milcom/Molech: Sacrificing Children
All three found in 2 Kings 21:3-6
For he rebuilt the high places that 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. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
We already saw that the reigns of Manasseh and Amon both were rife with these idols
And look at God’s Judgement on them
The Lord declares that he will not only cut off the remnant of Baal
but that His priests and their names would be cut off
The Lord says, I am going to wipe you from the earth and no one will remember you
As we have already seen, God’s destruction of wickedness is complete
It is all-encompassing
And look at verse 6
In the midst of all these idols, God says
I will cut off those who have turned back from following the Lord
Who do not seek the Lord or inquire of Him
We don’t worship Baal. We don’t Worship the Stars. Or Molech
But we, as we saw last week at the park, are ALL prone to wander
As we look at this text this morning, we need to see that Idolatry fundamentally has not changed.
It may have changed names and packaging, but it hasn’t changed
We are surrounded by a culture that worships prosperity
Just as those in Judah sought prosperity of lands, cattle and children
We seek more stuff, bigger and more expensive lifestyles, power and notoriety.
The desire hasn’t changed. The Idolatry hasn’t changed. We just repackaged it
There are still many today, including many who sit in a church this morning
That look to the stars, to horoscopes to tell them the future
In all of human history, this hasn’t changed
It’s not even repackaged
And we flirt with it, as if it won’t ruin us
Today, let us see that the Lord doesn’t treat star worship as a game
or trivial
or harmless
It is Idolatry. It seeks to gain something from the stars that only God can give
And unfortunately, we still have child sacrifice
Although today it is repackaged
It’s called healthcare by those who promote it
Its called convenience, or pragmatic
But make no mistake, God calls Abortion Idolatrous and Demonic
We haven’t changed Idols, we just repackaged them to be more palatable
But there is no palatable idolatry to the Lord
Good news for believers
Already/Not Yet
God’s Judgement of you was satisfied on the Cross
You ransomed your bride
Return in your Glory
