DONE 210718 Zephaniah: Christ is the Savior King of Israel

Let’s begin in prayer

Good morning everyone, as you all know, I love illustrations. I love things that make the text come alive and give us a real perspective on what it was really like.

Gunner, would you please join me up here? Let me tell you a bit about Gunner. SMILE PROUDLY He is my handsome and athletic son. He loves to play with legos, building all kinds of contraptions, he has an amazing gift of prayer and like many children he sees things clearly. He understands the black and whiteness of justice. He sees it in God’s Word. I love him very much and I would also point out that as of today Gunner is 9 years old.

9 years old. SMILE I mention his age not to make us feel old but to highlight another person. A king. A king that had been prophesied of coming three hundred years prior (in 1st Kings 13:2) SLIDE 2 Chron 34.1-2 A king of Judah. The year is 640 BC and this new king has ascended the throne. A king, that is young just like Gunner. Just like Gunner he liked to build. Just like Gunner he saw things in black and white terms. He saw that there were things that are evil and there were things that are good. This king is only 8 years old and his name is Josiah.

2 Chronicles 34:1-2 tells us that he did right in the eyes of the Lord and was fully dedicated to serving the Lord at the young age of 16. In fact when he was just 20 he began to remove the idols that his grandfather, SLIDE wicked King Manasseh had packed the land with - remember, he got hauled off by the King of Assyria with hooks in his nose. At the age of 20 King Josiah began to purge the land of the idols that his grandfather had built up in the land SLIDE

2 Chronicles 34:3 tells us that he started in Jerusalem by removed the Asherim, the carved and molten images, he tore down the altars of the Baals that were in the throne room and he burned them, ground them up and scattered it over the graves of the unfaithful people that had worshipped their idols there. Furthermore he went into the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon and Naphtali, all these ruined tribes that had been disbursed, he tore down their altars. King Josiah knew of their evil and did not sit around saying, “well this is the way things are,” no he set about pursuing righteousness. He was totally sold out for the Lord!

When he came home though, his thoughts turned to the temple. It was in pretty bad shape, not well maintained… The once glorious temple of Solomon, one of the seven wonders of the world... the text says that there was a breach in the side… A big hole. Can you imagine even our church with just a big gaping crater in the side? I can’t! Worship of YHWH had certainly deteriorated… He gave the royal officials orders to begin repairing the temple and the surrounding buildings, to muck it out and rebuild it and as they did, the High Priest found a copy of a book… The discovery of the long forgotten law.

As they read through it, their hearts must have trembled. Hurriedly, they approached the young king and read to him this ancient book - which was probably a copy of the book of Deuteronomy. SLIDE 2 Kings 22:11 tells us that when the young king heard the words of the Law, he ripped up his clothes and mourned because he saw things clearly. He saw that the people of Israel were overdue for judgment, he believed God’s word and acted on it. Map SLIDE

He sent a delegation to Prophetess named Huldah, she lived in what would is now the Christian quarter of Jerusalem… Her home overlooks the Hinnom valley where children were once sacrificed to Molech and she confirmed that judgment was coming SLIDE 2 Kings 22.16 and that the wrath of God would not be quenched.

Now, although the context that I have been sharing was from 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles we are going to be looking at the book of Zephaniah today which took place, I believe, right around the time that they found the copy of the book of Deuteronomy. Please open your Bibles to Zephaniah chapter 3. Introduction SLIDE

Zephaniah’s ministry was an indictment of Judah’s idolatry and seemed to spur King Josiah to greater and greater levels of purification. This book seems to have taken place at the same time as Huldah’s prophecy - I think God wanted to come through loud and clear on all channels. Not only is Josiah hearing from God through Huldah but the people of Jerusalem are hearing from Zephaniah...Because as King Josiah was dealing with implications of what Huldah told him, the prophet Zephaniah seems to have been preaching a message of eventual and inescapable coming judgment to the doomed city of Jerusalem.

The year is approximately 650 BC and this is the message preached by Zephaniah… Zephaniah 3:1 SLIDE Jerusalem’s coming judgment because of her seven sins

I. Jerusalem’s Coming Judgment (3:1–7)

I.a. A warning because of their seven offenses (3:1–5)

3:1 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, The tyrannical city! 2 (1) She heeded no voice, She accepted no instruction. (2) She did not trust in the Lord, She did not draw near to her God. 3 (3) Her princes within her are roaring lions, (4) Her judges are wolves at evening; They leave nothing for the morning. 4 (5) Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men; (6) Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. (7) They have done violence to the law.

Seven offenses are listed against five perpetrators… But something is wrong.... Someone is missing… Who is missing here? Jerusalem is mentioned… her princes are mentioned, we also have judges and prophets and priests - so who is missing? There is no mention of Josiah. King Josiah is not mentioned! Out of all the offices listed here the kingship is left out… Josiah is conspicuously omitted because he is a type, a picture of the coming King which we will get to in a bit but the rest of these have failed in their duties.

Seven offenses are here and they were committed by the people and their leadership. From top to bottom they have only devised evil continually. Jerusalem is faithless, they don’t believe the Lord. SLIDE The executive branch, all the princes are shown to be consumers, devourers, eaters up of the people - just like the judicial branch. There is no justice in the city. Furthermore, the ones supposed to speak on God’s behalf, the prophets and priests, they play fast and loose with the truth. Another prophet from about this time - the prophet Jeremiah - he says in Jeremiah 6 everyone is greedy, everyone is untrustworthy, he says that the priests and prophets tell the people that nothing but good is headed their way, “Peace, peace but there is no peace,” and it is just not so, they are looking down the barrel of the gun. SLIDE

I mentioned earlier that it is likely that the copy of the Law was probably a copy of Deuteronomy, and the reason why is because there is an incredible parallelism between the prophecy of Zephaniah and the text in Deuteronomy. In next couple of verses some of that take place...

I.b. YHWH will do no injustice (3:5–7)

5 The Lord is righteous within her; He will do no injustice. SLIDE Every morning He brings His justice to light; He does not fail. But the unjust knows no shame. 6 “I have cut off nations; Their corner towers are in ruins. I have made their streets desolate, With no one passing by; Their cities are laid waste, Without a man, without an inhabitant. 7 “I said, ‘Surely you will revere Me, Accept instruction.’ So her dwelling will not be cut off According to all that I have appointed concerning her. But they were eager to corrupt all their deeds.

The people of Israel, continuously rebelled against the Lord and He continually and graciously extended warning after warning because His justice is holy and it must be satisfied. Do we believe this to be true? Really? SLIDE

Belief always stimulates action. If we believe something will take place we act upon it. Pastor Taylor has said it more than once that “we always do what we believe.” It’s true. If we believe something is going to happen we act on it. If we think a market correction is in order we pull our cash. If we think that a police officer is going to be checking for speeders on the far side of the overpass we slow down. We always do what we believe will happen… In our heart of hearts we do what we believe and we always do what we want to do...

Do we believe in the holiness of YHWH? That He is enthroned above the Cherubim and that fire consumes and pours out of His throne. Do we believe that sin is an abomination, in all its forms and must face certain judgment… REALLY! REALLY? Do we believe this to be true? Then why does idolatry pervade our hearts as surely as it did the people of Judah.

REASONING Why do we idolize money or material wealth or comfort or food or sleep or safety? Why do we focus on self to the exclusion of others… Why do we idolize entertainment and give it our attention for any part of the day. Why is the Lord abandoned in the morning for a few more minutes of sleep? Idols are not just carvings of wood or stone or statues, folks- they are anything we worship and give heart space to. PAUSE What is in your heart? You can know by what you do. You can understand what is in your heart by what you act on, what you desire, it shows you what you believe because belief always stimulates action.

Do you see idolatry in your heart? I hope so, I hope we see our hearts clearly… What to do about it? Colossians 3 gives us very good council. If we see these things in ourselves we have a course of action. For the believer it starts with setting our eyes on Christ.

Please turn to Colossians 3. We are going to read verses 1-6

Colossians 3:1–6 | 1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,

Belief always stimulates action… Do we see any idols within us… set your eyes on Christ. Kill sin, mortify it, don’t comfort it and don’t play with it. Don’t allow idols to hang out in your life, idols are not neutral… Do we believe that the wrath of God will come against all unrighteousness, our actions prove what we believe...

Let’s continue on with the text… Please flip back to Zephaniah. in verse 8 we see that YHWH is not just interested in justice for Jerusalem but also in administering justice throughout the world… All nations will be assembled for judgment…SLIDE verse 8

I.c. All Nations To Be Assembled for Judgment (3:8)

8 “Therefore wait for Me,” declares the Lord, “For the day when I rise up as a witness. Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them My indignation, All My burning anger; For all the earth will be devoured By the fire of My zeal.

Do we believe this to be true? Will we act on it? Are you sitting in the pew today or on the other side of the screen and realize that your actions definitively prove that you are not safely in the arms of Christ?

PLEADING Oh, please wise up! You don’t have tomorrow, you are not promised the rest of today. You cannot afford to delay. God is graciously extending what may actually be the final warning you ever receive. Today is the day of repentance and for those that repent there is life and hope because Christ died to set us free from the burden of bearing up under the wrath of God. He took it all because we cannot.

Christ is so good so loving so wonderful. Give Him your heart. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. For those that faithfully call upon the Lord, He will surely bring them together to Him. They will not be burdened with the shame of their sin, they will be freed from lying lips and pride and what will be replaced is a mouth full of praise… In verse 9 we see the events that will take place after the completion of tribulation when the Lord returns… SLIDE

II. YHWH's Promise of Restoration (3:9–20)

II.a. The nations will serve YHWH (3:9–12)

9 “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. 10 “From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, Will bring My offerings. 11 “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. 12 “But I will leave among you A humble and lowly people, And they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.

Even though the tribulation will decimate earth’s population and nearly annihilate the Jews there will be a few left that survive and they will give glory to their God. They will rejoice because the New Covenant will be in full effect. They will know the Lord truly. I mentioned the prophet Jeremiah earlier in the message - another one of his prophecies was the coming of the New Covenant… The New Covenant tells us that the Jews will all know the Lord and that He will forgive their sin and that is why they will rejoice SLIDE

II.b. The remnant of Israel to rejoice (3:13-14)

13 “The remnant of Israel will do no wrong And tell no lies, Nor will a deceitful tongue Be found in their mouths; For they will feed and lie down With no one to make them tremble.” 14 Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Why rejoice? They know the Lord, He is with them, He is their מָשִׁ֣יחַ and מֶ֤לֶךְ their Savior and King and He will be with them, never to depart. What He brings with Him is perfect peace. SLIDE

II.c. The Messiah is Immanuel (3:15–17)

15 The Lord has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. 16 In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. 17 “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. DEUT SLIDE.

The Lord is shown in verse 17 in a very unique way… As a victorious war fighter, that has annihilated the nations that stood against Israel. He is also shown as joyful. Some of us have an incorrect picture of God as a glowering, angry God, that is just looking for a chance to wack us with a stick… no, no, no. Even in Deuteronomy, which is the book of the Law that Josiah read from tells us this… The Lord is joyful SLIDE. What is He joyful over? He is joyful over repentance.

Why? Why does repentance make the Lord joyful? Because true repentance stimulates action. Our first application point was, “belief stimulates action” but an outgrowth of real belief is repentance. You tell me that you repented of a sin and then turned around and did it again, willfully then I don’t believe your statement of repentance. You have added to your sin the lies that preceded it. Believer, if we truly believe our sins are as heinous to God as they actually are we will actually, legitimately repent. We'll abandon our idols. We will forsake the things that are hurting us and agree with YHWH that He is right. Furthermore, we actually will reject those things in the future. We will crucify the flesh, mortify it and make no provision for it… What makes the Lord joyful? True, legitimate, real repentance because it means we believe Him.

SPEAK SLOW For those that repent, the lost ones that turn to the Lord and ask that He honor His free offer of salvation for even as lowly a sinner as they… They get it - they get His salvation! With arms spread wide the Savior is offering us the very best thing that can be given. He is welcoming. He is the exact representation of the Father. Don’t mischaracterize God and assume that He is all wrath. No, He is entirely holy and not desiring that any should perish… But some will, some will willfully reject salvation and sprint toward destruction. They are lost, but for those that remain, that survive the tribulation and are gifted a new heart. They will be gathered and restored SLIDE

II.d. The remnant of Israel gathered and restored (3:18–20)

18 “I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts— They came from you, O Zion; The reproach of exile is a burden on them. 19 “Behold, I am going to deal at that time With all your oppressors, I will save the lame And gather the outcast, And I will turn their shame into praise and renown In all the earth. 20 “At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will give you renown and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” Says the Lord.

SLIDE In 2 Kings 22:16, the prophetess Huldah had told Josiah that the Lord was furious over their sin, that YHWH been provoked and His wrath burned against the city and He would honor His promise made in the Law to destroy those that did not honor the covenant. He will destroy Jerusalem… as you recall we are moving slowly along the Biblical timeline and it is only a very short 50 years or so years before Judah will be destroyed, swept away by the Babylonians. The king, king Josiah believed the Law, he believed the promises of God… Just what had God promised to do?

Turn to Deuteronomy 28. We are not going to read it all, not only because it is long but also because the curses listed here are so staggering in quantity but also in their description… This is what Josiah heard that moved him toward reform...

Deuteronomy 28:15–28 | “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. “Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. “The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me. “The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it. “The Lord will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish. “The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. “The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. “The Lord shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. “Your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. “The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. “The Lord will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart;

And it actually goes on from there for another 40 verses. This is what Josiah heard that moved him toward reform… You see Josiah believed the word of the Lord. It stirred him to action, it drove him and the people toward repentance after this King Josiah went ballistic on anything pagan. He got rid of idols and pagan priests, he got rid of high places, he got rid of male cult prostitution which used to be in the temple. He got rid of the Asherah cult. He broke down the high places situated at gates where true justice was supposed to be dispensed.

He destroyed the human sacrificial altar in the valley of Hinnom that the Prophetess Huldah could see every day... And everywhere he did these things he destroyed those peoples that worshipped them there. He slaughtered the pagan priests and defiled the altars by burning their bodies to the bone on them.

King Josiah brought back the Ark of the Lord and reinstituted the feast schedule starting with Passover and man what a Passover! Some 63,400 animals were sacrificed. Remember, the Passover celebrates the passing by of the Lord, shielding and protecting His people and pouring His wrath out on Egypt. That was a party with some meaning! SLIDE 2 Kings 23:22 tells us that it had been approximately 500 years since they had ever celebrated to the same degree.. In their celebrating they seem to be begging the Lord to remember His past faithfulness and forget their unfaithfulness...

This is a terrific model for us. Repentance is based upon the belief that God’s word means what it says. It honors Him with obedience. Obedience from the heart makes the Lord rejoice and His joy is ours too. Isaiah 53 says that the Lord was pleased to crush our Messiah under the weight of our sins. He paid what we never could and made available to us new life in Him.

CONCLUSION SLIDE

If you have never trusted Christ as Savior, the one that suffered all the agony that you deserve so that you can be reunited in relationship with the One who made you, I have to ask “why not?” He never fails His promise and He has promised to bring about perfect justice in the earth… You don’t want perfect justice on your own merit, you have nothing to bargain with God with. You have nothing He wants. He doesn’t want your idols, He doesn’t want a halfhearted obedience out of habit, He doesn’t want your tithes or your good works, He wants you to believe in Him whom He has sent. Abandon all hope in yourself and throw yourself at the feet of Jesus. It is only through Him that You can be saved.