The cry of the book of Zephaniah is to seek the Lord while He may be found, for judgment is coming. The prophet Zephaniah affirms that God will gather all people for judgment if they do not repent. The striking ferocity and comprehensive judgment of God is illustrated in this book, which takes place on the heels of a revival. The revival produced external changes, but in many of the people, it did not reach their hearts and transform their lives. 

Alrighty, hey let's start, let's start. Lord, thank you for giving us words of life, ways to walk, ways to think rightly after your own thoughts. I thank you for the beauty and the power of your word. And now, oh Lord, that you would impress it upon us. Amen.

Okay, open to Zephaniah. Zephaniah. The big question is, what are you hiding behind? Are you hidden at all? This is a message of judgment and restoration and the day of the Lord that brings both about.

So this message here is very, very clear. You can't miss it. Judgment is coming. While this is the least known of the Minor Prophets, it might be the clearest and the most singular in its message. And you know Zeph and I have broke the silence after Isaiah and Hosea and Amos and Micah.

So some time has passed now since those prophets spoke. Now Zeph and I is speaking. The central message is the day of the Lord. It's focused on two things, the temporal judgments that come upon people who reject the Word of God and the final judgment. All temporal judgments are foretellings of the final judgment.

So when you read your Bible and you come across some example of judgment, Understand that it's a picture of something greater. God gives many interim warnings. He gives many pictures, lots of words, lots of situations from the beginning of time to teach his people that judgment is coming. So no one should be surprised by the coming judgment. Now God will either gather his people for judgment or he'll gather his people for repentance.

And as you read these three chapters of this book, you'll see that. There are two gatherings. Notice the tone. The ferocity of the tone is comprehensive. And you'll see the sort of brutal language that the prophet uses to explain the judgment of God.

And Why is this here? Well, here's why it could be here. To persuade us. To persuade us of the ferocity of the judgment of God. So that we wouldn't have any doubts in our mind about it.

So The question is, are you fully persuaded about the wrath of God? I'm often concerned that we may not have a full and a solid persuasion regarding sin and the destiny of sinners and the severity of the coming judgment. But this book should help us to understand the severity of it. There are many things that probably don't happen in our lives because we're not as aware of the severity of God's judgment as we should. For example, why don't we share the gospel with people who are perishing?

Is it because we don't really believe in hell? We haven't become so fully persuaded that it actually changes the whole way that we relate with unbelievers. So one important question is are we fully persuaded of the wrath of God Or is it just a doctrine? Is it just something that passes over our minds? Or rather, is it something that causes us to spring to action?

And I'll speak a little bit more of this later as we get into the exposition and beyond the introduction, but do we have a full and a solid persuasion of the coming wrath of God? And Zephaniah puts it before us in very dramatic terms. Let's talk about the time of the prophecy and the third point in your outline. Zephaniah was born during the reign of Manasseh, and you can read about that reign in 2 Kings 21 verse 16. That's the historical context.

You know men and women always live in a certain milieu, in a certain way of their culture, and if you want to understand Zephaniah's milieu, go to this chapter of 2 Kings 21. It was a time of idolatrous worship and it was a time of the shedding of innocent blood and child sacrifice. Shocking. When we think about child sacrifice, it often shocks us, but we shouldn't be too shocked, particularly in view of the world that we live in right now, where we do have child sacrifice. We're sacrificing millions and millions of babies.

There's bloodshed of the innocent in our land. And Zeph and I was facing a very similar kind of culture where human life had been downgraded to such a point that even babies were being sacrificed on altars. It's hard to imagine taking a baby and burning it, but that's really what we do. And from various methods of abortion to even the selling of baby's body parts, which is being publicized now. We live in a culture of blood in the same way that Zephaniah did as well.

At the same time, it was a time of revival. One of the greatest revivals in the history of Israel either had taken place or was taking place. I rather think it had taken place. The revival had taken place and there was a growing apostasy after the revival. Manasseh named his son Ammon after the Egyptian god.

Ammon ruled for two years and then Josiah became king at age 8. So this revival produced lots of external changes but in many of the people it didn't reach the heart, it didn't transform their lives. The peak of the revival has been calculated to be around 630 BC and this prophecy was probably delivered between 640 and 609. So we're not sure if it was before, during, or after when this prophecy was actually delivered. Chapter 2 mentions the destruction of Nineveh which took place in 612 BC.

So that gives you something to make a time marker from. Sins are itemized in chapter 1, verses 3 through 13, and these also reflect the sins before the revival under Josiah, possibly meaning that this prophecy was given before the reforms of Josiah. If not, if it was given after, then it seems like the sins have continued through the time. So it was a time of apostasy, for sure. And this is why Zephaniah is coming out so strong.

Now, when we think about how to process this for our own lives, We live in a time of apostasy. Worship has been compromised. Many categories of sound doctrine have been absolutely rejected in really dramatic ways. And here's the question, Who will cry out against the nation? Who will say that the government is accountable to the Word of God?

Well, only the Church is really equipped to do that. It will be for the Church to speak to the things that are happening. It'll be left to us to speak. And how will we speak? Well, there are different ways that we can speak, all the way from the ways that we just live our lives, to the way that we conduct our churches, to the way that we speak to the people on the street, to the things that we say publicly, the things we write, the things we broadcast.

What will we say and what will we do? Who's going to speak to this growing worldliness that we see around us today? Who's going to speak to the syncretism of worship and the direction of our whole culture, and it's really left to the church. This prophet is helpful to sort of slap us into wakefulness, to see what's really going on. Smell the coffee.

That's what Zephaniah is saying. Let's talk about Zephaniah the man a little bit more. His name means Yahweh hides or Yahweh has hidden, and it's true with Zephaniah as it is true with many of the prophets in the Old Testament. Their names actually bear witness to their whole message. This is true with Zephaniah.

Yahweh hides. Yahweh has hidden. This is about being hidden from the wrath of God. That's why I open this session with the question, what are you hiding behind? Are you hidden?

This is the heart of the message. The wrath of God is coming. What are you hiding behind in order to protect yourself from this wrath that's coming? Now Zephaniah's father was named Cush, which is an Ethiopian name, which probably means that he was an Ethiopian and a converted Jew. He's the great-grandson of Hezekiah, and his genealogy is spoken of in the very first verse.

There are four generations that are spoken of in that first verse and he traces his lineage all the way back to Hezekiah. And what is he saying? He's saying, seek the Lord. The judgment of God is coming. He mentioned seek the Lord three times.

His name has to do with being hidden in God. And that's the whole structure of it. Now think about our own times, the current conditions of our society. You know, we're living in a day of idolatry and deception and pseudo-Christianity. The people of God are syncretistic.

You're going to find these exact same things in Zephaniah. And what we should always realize is that the day of the Lord is coming, and we should never forget it. And again, the big question is this. What are you hiding behind? Where are your friends hiding?

You know, the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 11 through 21 said, knowing the terror of the Lord, we preach to men. Recognizing with all clarity that judgment is coming should spring us into action to preach to all men. You know John the Baptist said something very similar to the Pharisees. He said, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Well, they weren't fleeing from the wrath to come before.

They were just living on cruise control. And John sees him, he says, who told you to flee? Because the wrath of God is coming. That was his whole point. The Lord Jesus Christ speaks of the scribes and the Pharisees and the coming judgment against them as well in Matthew chapter 23 verses 29 through 35.

So there it is. There's this whole matter of fleeing from the wrath of God. Let's talk about some key verses. Chapter 1, verses 7 through 13, description of the day of the Lord. We'll drill down on that text as we get a little further into this.

Chapter 2 verse 3 is critical. Seek the Lord, all unique of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger." So two, three is really critical. Chapter three ends up communicating both messages of judgment and restoration.

Okay, so you see the outline here. There are three categories, there are three divisions of the book, and this makes it easy. There are three chapters and three divisions, and the chapter divisions fairly well follow each chapter, but not exactly. As you see, the way I've got it broken up here. The first section I've titled, Look Outward, and this is about the judgment of the whole earth.

This is chapter 1 verses 1 through 3. Then secondly, look inward. This has to do with the judgment against Judah, beginning in chapter 1, verse 4 to chapter 2, verse 3. And then finally, look forward, the restoration of the Jews and the Gentiles. And this occurs in chapter 3.

So, let's open up to chapter 1 and work our way through the book. Thankfully it's a short book and we can talk through it and make certain stops at it. In verses 1 through 3 there's this vision of the judgment of the whole earth. Verse 1 says the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushai, the son of Ged-Eliah, the son of Amoriah, the son of Hezekiah in the days of the son of Ammon, king of Judah. I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land, says the Lord.

I will consume man and beast. I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land, says the Lord. So this is a vision of comprehensive judgment. And it is a direct result of the fierce anger of the Lord.

You know, people want to think about God wrongly often. But here we see God as fierce in all of his anger. He mentions stumbling blocks. He's going to sweep away the stumbling blocks. What are the stumbling blocks?

Idols. The things raised up in people's hearts. He's going to wipe them all out. You know, in Isaiah, God says, you might as well throw away your idols now you're gonna be embarrassed of them you're gonna throw them to the batch you're going to want to get rid of them and here he says he's going to deal with the stumbling blocks and then in verse 4 there's the judgment against Judah and notice the heart of the matter that he states at the beginning and this is very consistent with the prophets. It has to do with worship.

God judges nations and peoples for their worship. We've seen that over and over again in the prophets. This is the singular criteria for the judgment of God, rejecting his worship, and then the natural extension of that, rejecting his laws. Once you've rejected his worship, then you can reject anything. You can make your own life up.

You want to make up your own worship? Then you can make up the rest of your life as you go along. So verse 4 says, I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests and the pagan priests." Now look at verse 5. "'Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops, those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom.

Verse 5 could be confusing when you read it first. What? They're swearing by Milcom and worshiping pagan idols and they're swearing oaths by the Lord? What is that all about? How do you mix the two?

And that's the whole point. People mix them. They try to mix idolatry with holiness. They try to mix the idols with God. This is a disclosure of the problem in any Christianized society, and that is syncretism.

The mixing of true Christianity with paganism. This is always the big problem in the church. In all of history, the church has always struggled with syncretism by bringing in idolatry to the worship of God, to bring in pagan practices into your life, into your church, and into your government. That is the problem with man. Man wants to import things that are impure into every part of his life and that's how you get people swearing O's by the Lord and also swearing by Milcom at the same time.

You know, I was speaking with a Chinese pastor in California who told me that they had a church split recently because one of the pastors of the church started arguing that Confucius was probably saved, and so it caused a terrible church split. People left, but you know he was definitely upholding the truth while this elder of the church was claiming that Confucianism, you know, was from God. He was, you know, ejected from the Church. That was the right thing to do. But this is syncretism.

It's taking the philosophies of the world and bringing them into your life, into your church, and into your government. And, you know, if you want to get the God's view of the world, just ask yourself, what are God's ways for the family and the church and the state? And what is it that the family and the church and the state are doing that contradict the ways of God? And in what ways has syncretism taken place? And the truth is syncretism is always happening in the church.

You know, the great confessions of faith, the Westminster and the Baptist Confession say that every true church contains mixture, both truth and error. And this is the problem with syncretism. We often in our dullness don't understand how far we've drifted from God's ways. But here, when Zephaniah is preaching, people are making oaths to the Lord out of one side of their mouth and oaths to Milcom out of the other side of the mouth. And what were they doing?

They were sacrificing their babies in this idolatrous worship. So while it was a great contradiction, it was somehow acceptable. Now this makes it also very clear that God will punish those who profess to worship God and the idols at the same time. And syncretism is always the great danger of the church. But what we see in Verse 6 is that exclusivity is required.

Those who have turned back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of him. In other words, the prophet Zephaniah is calling out for absolute exclusivity. That God and God alone is worshipped, not God and the idols. You know, you see various times in history where the Lord crushed syncretistic practices. You see it with Aaron and the golden calf after the children of Israel came out of Egypt.

You see it with Nadab and Abihu and their strange fire. There are various places that you can see this and God always comes against it. Verse 7 is helpful to understand the whole thrust of this. Be silent in the presence of the Lord God For the day of the Lord is at hand, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice. He has invited his guests." And then he makes a notation in verse 8 about something that paganism produces.

And it shall be in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, I will punish the princes and the king's children and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel. Foreign apparel, That's interesting. One is either clothed in foreign apparel or in the robes of righteousness. And you know this is the whole impulse of mankind to clothe himself with the popular clothing of the pagans rather than to think through their clothing from the standpoint of God. To look to God and ask, what kind of clothing should I be wearing?

And they were just imitating the nations and had clothed themselves with foreign apparel. And then in verse nine, we read, in the same day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold." What does that mean, leap over the threshold? That has to do with The internal impulse of people who are just eager to serve this world, eager to put on the foreign apparel, eager to serve the idolatrous priests, eager to please men, you know, just jumping over hoops for idols, Just so excited for the acceptance and the collaboration, you know, the community that it brings because you can have community among the pagans. And here those are leaping over the threshold to get to the idols. But there's one thing about this that's telling that really reveals what might be at the ground level of the problem.

Why it is people move in this direction. Verse 12, And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil. This fundamental problem in our thinking is identified here. It's identified by an attitude toward God and what he will and what he will not do. It's an attitude toward God that says he's not going to do anything.

Perhaps it comes from idolatry because the idols don't do anything either. And you start treating God like an idol. You start praying to God as if he's an idol, as if nothing is going to happen. But these people didn't see that the Lord would do good or evil. He was nothing.

And this is perhaps what sits at the bottom of true idolatry. It's an attitude toward the Lord that He is not going to do good or evil, that He doesn't bless those who love him and he doesn't curse those who hate him. That God is not going to come and judge. When you believe that God is not a God of judgment, what do you do? You don't do anything for God.

You are susceptible to all the idols of the day. But here, the people were ignoring the Lord and they were saying in their hearts, God is not going to do anything, either good or evil. You know, the true Christian is completely different. The true Christian thinks of the Lord and thinks of how good he is and how beneficial he is, that the Lord will do good. The true Christian says, Lord you are good.

You have been so good to me. The non-Christian doesn't see any goodness in the Lord. The true Christian says, oh Lord, rescue me from the wrath to come. The non-Christian says, what wrath? There's nothing coming.

It's like in the days of Noah, the people just continued to eat and drink and dance and play and do whatever they wanted and then the flood came. And this is how judgment works. But there's a fundamental kind of thinking that leads you into this oblivion to the judgment of God. And that it's this complacency. You just don't believe that God is real or true.

It just hasn't occurred to them they're in a serious situation. And then you see the speedy and devastating judgment. Now I'm gonna read a section that's very brutal. It's remarkable in its forcefulness about the judgment of God. Verse 14 in chapter 1.

The great day of the Lord is near. It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter. There the mighty men shall cry out. 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, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers.

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." How about that? Very, very strong language. If you look at the imagery that's used here, the clouds and the darkness, this is common imagery for the judgment of God. There are many places in the Bible where the judgment of God is described with brutality like this.

Another place is Revelation chapter 6. In Revelation 6 verse 12 where there's the opening of the sixth seal, we read, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became like blood and the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath has come.

Who is able to stand?" Here is just a terrifying picture. And what do the people say hide us? They're talking to the rocks Asking the rocks to hide them from the wrath to come. There's no help there. And the question is, what are you hiding behind?

Where are you hiding? That is the question. And Matthew chapter 24 speaks of the same kind of scene of terrifying judgment. Matthew 24 28, For where the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven and the power of glory. And he will send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds and from one end of heaven to the other. Here is a picture of this great calamity and then the people of God are gathered together and who are they hiding behind? The righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You either look to the rocks to hide you or to your own strength to hide you from the wrath to come.

Or you look to Jesus Christ and He hides you. So that's chapter one. Terrifying, powerful, forceful vision of judgment. Then we get to chapter 2 verse 1. Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, before the decree is issued or the day passes like chaff before the Lord's a fierce anger comes upon you before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you so people are gathered together here again There are two kinds of gatherings and there are two kinds of hideings You are either gathered together for judgment or you are gathered together for blessing And that's what you find in the whole of scriptures.

In Matthew, you have the regenerate being gathered into one place. They are the sheep and you have the goats gathered in one place. And they're separated. He will separate the sheep from the goats. So verses 1 and 2 in chapter 2 are about this gathering, this temporal historical gathering in the Babylonian captivity is a picture of the great wrath to come later.

Because the judgment that Zephaniah is speaking of is both historical and physical and near-term Babylonian captivity. Nebuchadnezzar destroying the city and taking the captives of Babylon but it's also figurative of the final judgment. So when you find a people gathered together for judgment in a temporal historical context, look at it carefully because it's a picture of something greater. Verse 3 is pivotal to understanding the whole message of Zephaniah. Three words.

Seek the Lord. That's the call. Seek the Lord. Where are you hiding? Get out of your unprofitable place of hiding.

Get out from behind the rocks and seek the Lord. Go and find him and hide behind his righteousness. Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld his justice." So this really forms the great call of Zephaniah, to seek the Lord. Now notice a few things about this. First of all, there's an action to take, seek.

In other words, get up out of the place that you are and head toward the Lord. This is what repentance is. Repentance is that you're going one way and you turn around and you go another way. Repentance happens when a person starts seeking the Lord and going in that direction. When you've turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, you know that you've turned around.

You've quit running toward the world and you start running toward the Lord. That's the very essence of repentance. That's the very essence of verse three in the first three words, seek the Lord. Then who? All unique of the earth.

This has to do with people who humble themselves before God. This has to do with desiring to be a follower. Desiring his will, saying, not my will but thine be done, saying, Lord I want to seek you, Lord I want to put myself under your authority. This is the heart of a true Christian, satisfied with him, not pining away for the things of this world, but glad to seek the Lord and to put themselves under the authority of God and his word. That's what meekness is.

And then the next phrase in this verse 3, seek righteousness, seek humility, and then look at this, it may be that you will be hidden at the day of the Lord's anger. Where are you hiding? That's the question. Are you hidden from the Lord's anger or are you exposed to the Lord's anger? That's the fundamental question.

To be hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3 speaks of that. To be actually hidden in His holiness. To recognize that He has taken the wrath of God in your behalf. And as a result, you have been hidden from the wrath.

The hand that was going to strike you struck His Son. The shepherd shall be stricken, and the repentant sinners go free." It's a matter of what you are hiding behind. When the Lord Jesus Christ suffered on the cross and bore on His whole being the sins of the world, He was hiding sinners from wrath. He was protecting sinners. As the implement of wrath was swinging through the air to hit you, it hits his son and stops there.

It stops right at the cross and the trajectory of that implement of wrath is stilled. And the wrath of God is poured out upon his son. And that's why we read it may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. You know, the apostle Paul spoke of. How wonderful this is.

Romans four, seven. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. This is protection from the wrath of God. And then, after verse 3, we're taken to verse 4.

Now this is a disclosure of the judgment of the surrounding nations. What Zephaniah does is he starts naming the nations around Judah and Israel. He goes carefully. He says, For Gaza shall be forsaken and Ashkelon desolate. They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be uprooted.

Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherithites. The word of the Lord is against you. Oh, Canaan, land of the Philistines, I will destroy you so that there will be no inhabitant. The sea coast shall be pastures with shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks." So he goes through and mentions Moab in verse 8 and Ammon in verse 9. Look at verse 9, and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah, overrun with weeds and salt pits and a perpetual desolation.

So he's speaking of what is going to happen in the future to these nations, and he's using Sodom and Gomorrah and the destruction there to give them an idea of what it's going to be like, and why. Why? Why all this judgment? Verse 10. This they shall have for their pride, because they have reproached and made arrogant threats against the people of the Lord of hosts.

The Lord will be awesome to them." Got that? The Lord will be awesome to them. In other words, not awesome, but awesome. Okay? Not awesome in the positive sense, awesome in the terrifying negative sense.

For he will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth. People shall worship Him, each one from His place, indeed all the shores of the nations. You Ethiopians, you also shall be slain by my sword." Now, verse 11 is very important for us. When we see the world rushing after the idols, when we see the world despising the church, when we see the world hating the Word of God and the commandments of God, the distinctions, the various issues that the Word of God speaks to, it's easy to think that all is lost. It's easy to think that we have no future.

Well, verse 11 really gives us the truth about it, and it should correct our thinking and our emotions. It says this, he will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth. He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth. So don't fear. God is gonna set all these things right.

When you see the wicked advancing and prospering, that's not the end of the story. Verse 11 should be a rock of encouragement to us in the midst of a wicked and a perverse generation. Then in verse 13 there's this prediction of Nineveh's destruction, and he says he's going to make it as dry as the wilderness. And then in chapter 3 there's this judgment against Jerusalem in the first seven verses. Now, I'd like you to notice the charges against the people of God.

This is very important. Understanding the things that God is displeased with is always very, very important. And in chapter 3, in these first few verses, we get an idea of what to turn from. Verse 1, woe to her who is rebellious and polluted. So rebellion is noxious to God.

Pollution is noxious to God. Impurity, drinking in impurity. We live in a time where impurity is thrown in front of us like never before, but recognize God's wrath is against this. Oppression, That's the next phrase. The oppressing city.

Verse 2, she has not obeyed his voice. Obedience. Next, not received correction. Next, not trusted in the Lord. Next, not drawn near to her God.

We're just in the first two verses and already several things have been listed, but he continues on. Look at verse 4. Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people. Her priests have polluted the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law.

So you have false worship on the one hand, and you have twisting the law, misunderstanding the law, rejecting it, making it mean things it doesn't mean at all. Look at verse 5. Look at the last phrase in verse 5. But the unjust knows no shame. You should always expect the wicked to be bold and to show no shame.

Don't worry about it. You know, it was recently revealed that Planned Parenthood has been selling body parts to research companies. To research companies. And if you look at the liberal backlash against this, there are many who they just show no shame at all. They're actually attacking those who brought this to light.

They've shown no shame. And then God says what he'll do. I have cut off nations. Their fortresses are devastated. I have made their streets desolate." So again, don't worry about it.

God is going to judge. God is going to right every wrong. He's going to turn everything around the way He desires it in His own time. And then there's the judgment over the whole earth in the end of verse 8. All the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

So this is absolutely the final judgment, where the whole earth is being judged. Why? Because of God's jealousy. What's that all about? Well, God is jealous for the souls of those He created.

He desires them. He desires to have fellowship. He desires to bless them. He's jealous. And here we learn that this jealousy drives him to destroy those who who hate him.

And then we come across in the last section of chapter 3 is the promise of conversion and restoration. Look at verse 9. Notice the joy, notice the beauty of this time. For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language that they all may call on the name of the Lord to serve him with one accord." Now notice there are various elements in verse 9 and they're very beautiful. How about this, I will restore.

God will remake us. He will heal us. He'll rebuild us. That's the first thing. To what?

To a pure language. In other words, we'll speak a beautiful language that's not mixed with any error. The words will be beautiful. And then, we'll call on the name of the Lord, that they may all call on the name of the Lord. And then finally, to serve him with one accord.

These are marks of the restoration God is going to bring. And then in verse 11 he says, no longer will they be haughty in my holy mountain. Verse 12, I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. God is going to gather his people together and who are they? They're a meek and a humble people.

They have desired to be disciples, learners, followers of Jesus Christ. And so the meek and the humble of the earth are brought together while the proud are thrown out. I love these words, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. In other words, they're satisfied with him. He's enough.

His words are sweet to them, and it's all they need. They need him and his presence. That's all they really care about. A meek and humble people. And then verse 13, the remnant of Israel shall do no one righteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid." Isn't that beautiful?

It's a picture of peace. It's a picture of beautiful conversation where there are no lies, no posturing, no exaggerating anymore, you know, no trying to cover yourself, no trying to hide behind your image, no trying to hide behind anything except God and God alone. Verse 14, sing, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem." And look at verse 18. This bears witness to something that happens to the true church. Verse 18 tells it, the true church is disturbed with idolatry.

The true church, when it sees syncretism, there's a disturbance in the soul. They understand the mixture of error and it bothers them. And you know when you think about people that are scattered through all kinds of churches, true Christians that are actually existing in the midst of apostate churches or unbiblical churches, you almost always find true Christians in there. And a lot of times they don't exactly know what to do about it, but they find themselves responding like we read about in verse 18. I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly, who are among you, to whom its reproach is a burden.

So this is a picture of someone in the midst of false worship, and they sorrow over it. It breaks their heart. They go into these churches, they're involved in this worship, and it disturbs them, but it makes them sad. I don't know if you've ever been in church like that where it looks like they've really set aside God and everything is just, it's nothing but entertainment and show. It makes you sad.

They sorrow over the appointed assembly. They are disturbed by the syncretism that's there. This is what happens to the true Church. And notice this, to whom it's reproach is a burden. So they sorrow over it and it's a burden to them.

It's difficult to bear and they have various reactions to it, but it's a burden. It's a burden on their soul to actually be a part of it And at some point they just may depart from it. But this is what happens to those who are humble before God, who desire to be regulated by God, and they're involved in idolatrous worship. It is a sorrow and a burden to them. And then verse 19 is a wonderful promise.

Behold at that time I will deal with all who afflict you. I will save the lame. And then at the end of verse 19, I will appoint them for praise and fame. And by the way, this word fame isn't just used in verse 19, it's also used in the very last verse of the chapter, verse 20. At that time I will bring you back, even at the time I gather you, for I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I return your captives before your eyes, says the Lord.

Fame comes later. The people of God will probably not have that much fame in this world, but God will see to it that the first will be last and the last shall be first, and God will praise his people. And you know the whole question really hinges upon, you know, who are you hiding behind? Is your pleasure and your identity in the world or is it in the Lord? And that's the reminder that we have here.

And it's all summarized in that remarkable verse 3 in chapter 2, seek the Lord all you make of the earth who have upheld his justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. Let's just talk about some application here. I think the first application is just a consistent repeat of this question, you know, what are you hiding behind?

In Colossians chapter 3 verse 1, the apostle says, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things on the earth. If you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God, When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry, because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them." hidden with Christ and God. You know, another element of application has to do with understanding prophecy.

Now, we don't know the exact timing of everything in prophecy. Lots of books have been written, lots of controversy has taken place, and, but let's recognize something. Prophecy is given for a specific purpose. And my view is that prophecy was not primarily given to give you the exact date of some coming event. I think we should work very hard to understand the timelines and the issues of prophecy.

But for some reason, God seems to have hidden these things. He's veiled them and caused enormous controversy to rise around them. I believe that's because God desires for us to study it and understand it. But prophecy is not first of all given to you in order to have you with a perfect understanding of every date in the future. It's not given for that reason.

And particularly the prophecies of the wrath to come. They're given for a very, very specific purpose. 2 Peter chapter 3 tells us what that purpose is. And when you read prophecies of coming and destruction, recognize why they've been written. And the Bible is really clear as to why they've been written.

And it's not so you can just check off in your theological box that you know when the time is coming. That's not the point of the prophecies of coming destruction. 2 Peter 3 verses 10 through 12 make it very clear why we're given prophecies like the one we have in Zephaniah. 2 Peter 3, 10, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and all the works that are in it will be burned up.

And then look at verse 11, therefore, since these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming day of the Lord, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. The purpose of prophecies of destruction are to spur us on to godliness, holiness, seeking the Lord, throwing off idolatry, loving our neighbors, building the church, evangelizing, being a Christian in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation. This is the purpose of the prophecies. So don't worry too much if you don't know the exact timing of Zephaniah's prophecy. Here's what you do know.

That prophecy of coming destruction of the wicked and the separating of the sheep from the goats should drive you to holy living. That's the purpose of it. And Zephaniah would have us understand what we're hiding behind. Do we hide behind the righteousness of Jesus Christ? Or are we hiding under some rock that will finally be crushed by the one who will crush every vestige of idolatry.

We should ask, what are those things that we are hiding behind? There's the hiding behind material things for your security. Your house, your job, your life, your insurance. This is your security in this world. You know, I was just talking to a man today and he was talking about the Recubites.

The Recubites had a father who said, don't build houses, live in tents. Why? So that they would always be reminded this world was not their home. And then he said to me, you know we spend so much time and effort to try to make this world our home in the houses and all the securities that we bring. And it is true that one of the great matters of security for us is our financial foundation and it's the fault sense of security.

Some look to the government for their security, for laws to protect them, for money to come to them, for even protection of wicked practices. Some trust in their ceremonies, their practices, some trust in their good works, some trust in their philanthropy, Some trust in hopes and dreams for the future. Some trust in their appearance, their look, their status, and they rest everything on it, and when it gets challenged, their whole world falls apart or they get really angry. Some trust in their reputation. Some children trusting in the motions of going to church.

So at Zephaniah you get both a terrifying warning and wonderful encouragement regarding the wrath of God. So there's Zephaniah.