Zephaniah

Zephaniah 1, 2

Who'd want to be a judge today! Imagine having to be the presiding judge over the South Sydney Rugby League Club's appeal to be in next year's National Rugby League competition. Having to make a decision in the face of thousands of emotional supporters - who see themselves as ordinary battlers - pitted against the like of Ruphert Murdoch and his influence upon sport!!! We all now know the outcome - and of the judges decision - was it right or wrong - well it's almost anyone's guess.

Who'd be a judge - whatever your decision - someone's going to say you got it wrong. Or someone is going to appeal. Someone's going to say: "BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS & THAT?" Who'd be a judge - an almost unenviable position!

And what of the case of Terry Irving. Terry Irving is a Cairns man, who spent 4 1/2 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. He was convicted of a armed robbery and sentenced to eight years jail. Terry Irving is now in the process of suing the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions, five lawyers, two policeman, the State Attorney-General, and the Criminal Justice Commission for withholding information pertinent to his appeal. Who'd be a judge? Judging is one of the things that Zephaniah speaks of in his prophecy, and more about that in a minute. At the centre of Zephaniah's prophecy is the concept of "...the Day of the Lord". This is not a day as we experience it. Not a 24 hour day. Not just any one day. It is probably best understood as, .....at a certain time. You know - a time for this or for that - a time when this or that will happen.

We will see as we go through the book, ...it is a time especially relevant to God and His people; yet it is a time of significance for others, in fact, for the whole of mankind. This concept of 'the Day of the Lord', ....is a bit like a two-sided coin. Two different sides - yet related.

Let me explain.

On one side of the coin you have 'judgment' - a time for judgment. On the other side of the coin you have 'blessing' - a time for 'blessing'. .....and these two sides are part of one very important structure - the Kingdom of God. So we can refer to them as Kingdom Structures. JUDGMENT - BLESSING ....Kingdom structures. And let us be reminded. Zephaniah may have been a prophet six hundred years before Jesus, ...but the Kingdom structures of Judgment and Blessing go way back to the beginning of creation and are particularly incorporated into the covenant that God made with Abraham. These structures then continued right on through history. When God's people obeyed God, when they followed his commands - they experienced God's blessing. When they disobeyed God, when they ignored his commands - they experienced God's judgment.

And God in his judgments makes no mistakes. God's judgment is perfect. God doesn't make a judgment ...and then some time later goes ..whoops, sorry, ...I made a mistake. And God's judgment applies to all. No-one escapes it. No-one is exempt from it.

This can be seen in Zephaniah's prophecy. In fact the judgment recorded in Zephaniah's prophecy applies to everyone and everything in creation. It is even more complete than at the time of Noah. For even the fish of the sea will experience the judgment of God.

We can see that in verse 3 of the first chapter. Reading from verse 2: "I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth, declares the Lord. I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and even the fish of the sea."

And God's judgment is not lost on his own people. For Judah and even Jerusalem, the one city that God established to signify his presence, his dwelling place, ....too, would come under his judgment. And it's no wonder. They had incorporated into their worship of God, the worship of foreign gods, idols and pagan practices. Have a look at verse 4. 'I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem" ...[and by the way, note that the place he is referring to is the TEMPLE, the Jews place of worship,] ..."I will cut off from this place [from this temple] every remnant of Baal, the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests - those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who have a bet each way and swear by the Lord and by Molech, those who give up on God, those who turn back from following the Lord, ...and neither seek Him or inquire of Him.'

Judah and Jerusalem had people who have given up on God; people who had chucked in their faith; people who didn't give a hoot about God. Their faithlessness, ....their apathy, ....their indifference - are all going to come under God's judgment. There'll be no escaping it.

And if Jerusalem didn't get the message the first time, Zephaniah rams it home again. He doesn't mince his words. They're straight from God. Check-out what he says in chapter 3, beginning at verse 1. "Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled."

You can imagine in can't you! "Whatt-ya mean? You mean us? We're your people!" But Jerusalem was not innocent. Jerusalem had snubbed God. Jerusalem had rebelled against God and no longer followed His ways.

Verse 2. "She [Jerusalem] obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God." Quickly follow the list down. "Her officials are corrupt. Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous. Her priests are profane. And although God's justice is plain for all to see, they show no shame in their unrighteousness."

And they won't get away with it. They won't be able to hide from God. Look at verse 12 of chapter 1. "At that time [that is, on the Day of the Lord] I will search Jerusalem with lamps ......". They may try to hide. They might think that God won't find them. But God will find them. They won't escape God's judgment!

And just in case those surrounding nations who are neighbours of Judah think that they can draw comfort from their relationship with Judah, .....they will soon be disappointed.

It's certainly clear when you read from chapter 2 verse 4. "Gaza will be abandoned Ashkelon will be left in ruins Ashdod will be emptied Ekron will be uprooted. Verse 5. The Kerethites will be swamped by the sea, and nothing will be found of the Philistines - as big and powerful as they were - they too would succumb to God's judgment! And as for the insults of the Moabites and the taunts of the Ammonites who have continually insulted God's people and made threats against their land as mentioned in Verse 8 - they too will be judged. Verse 9. God declares: "As surely as I live ...Moab will become like Sodom and the Ammonites will become like Gomorrah, ....and to top it off, "God's remnant people will plunder anything that's left!"

When God judges, nothing is overlooked. Look at verses 10 & 11 of chapter 2. As a consequence of their pride - their insults - their mocking will come under God's awesome judgment - their false gods will be destroyed, and ultimately, the surrounding nations will worship the One True God! And in verse 13, we see that this includes the most powerful nation of Zephaniah's day - ASSYRIA. AND the most influential city of his time - NINEVEH. A city that considered itself the 'beez neez'. The place to be. The city of all cities. As it says in verse 15: "This is a carefree city" - that boasted: "I am - there is none besides me." So full of pride - that by taking the name of God for itself - "I am" - it considers it can usurp God - that it's citizens can remove the King of the Universe from his rightful place as Ruler and King over their lives, and replace Him with their own sense of self-importance!

Before I became a Christian - while I was travelling the world - I used to carry a little notebook [similar to this one]. Full of names and addresses of people I met in various places. They'd often come in handy. I might be travelling through a country and need a place to sleep or hang out for a while. My little notebook was very important to me. It would often rescue me from a problem. Interestingly enough, there was something else I had written in my notebook. Something that I never put a lot of thought into until I became a Christian. In the front, I had written these words: I AM, WHAT I AM, FOR WHO I AM. I considered myself the ruler of my small universe. The only king that I was ever going to subject myself to, was myself. What arrogance. And yet, if during that time I had died, and later stood before God - I would have loudly declared my ignorance and innocence.

People are always quick to proclaim their innocence. A man once said, "I have spent the best years of my life giving people their lighter pleasures, and all I get is abuse." The speaker was Al Capone, one of Chicago's most vicious gangsters of the gangland era.

And how many times have you heard it said, "Yeah, but what about those who haven't heard about God or Jesus? Won't God just let them in to His Kingdom?" God's word makes it clear in Paul's letter to the church at Rome. A city, hundreds of years after Zephaniah's Nineveh - but characteristically the same. Full of its own self-importance. Sticking its nose up at any suggestion that God was Rome's rightful Ruler and King.

We read in Romans chapter 1 verses 18 - 20. "The wrath of God [God's judgment] is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men [and listen to this carefully] who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, BECAUSE God has made it plain to them. [And he goes on to say how it was made plain to them] For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - [those being] his eternal power and divine nature - have been made clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, [the creation] so that men [and hear this] so that men are without excuse."

Don't get caught up in arguments about innocence. No matter how difficult the whole matter of God's judgment may be for you.

And in any case, the solution to the 'human' dilemma is right here in front of us. It can be found right here in Zephaniah. God doesn't leave us in limbo. God in his mercy has through all time provided a way to be saved from the punishment that all deserve for being rebellious against Him. Take a look. Check out chapter 2. "Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation, before the appointed time arrives, and THAT DAY sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord comes upon you, before THE DAY of the Lord's wrath comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you HUMBLE of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on THE DAY OF THE LORD'S anger." There it is. The way out of the maze of rebellion and ignorance. Before 'THAT DAY' ARRIVES - SEEK GOD - HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE HIM. SEEK RIGHTEOUSNESS. And you may be sheltered from God's anger.

For those in Zephaniah's time, their first experience of 'THAT DAY' was when the Babylonians came along some 50 years later - over-ran Judah - destroyed Jerusalem - and took the survivors captive back to Babylon.

Zephaniah reminds us that in 'seeking after God' - we will experience His blessing. Take a quick look at chapter 2 verses 6 & 7. "The land by the sea, [where the Kerethites once lived] will be a place where shepherds will establish their pens, shepherds who are from the remnant of God's people - those who faithfully sought God".

But 'Seeking God' is not all that is required of people to be a part of His Kingdom. Seeking righteousness and humility will bring blessing, yes. But SEEKING alone is no guarantee against God's judgment. As we see in v.3 of chapter 2. "Seek the Lord, all you HUMBLE of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on THE DAY OF THE LORD'S anger."

SEEK, YES! AND YES, THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD SEEK IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD. [Matt. 6:33] This is the first step.

The second is to trust in God's perfect sacrifice, that of the death of His Son. Because no effort on our part can save us from God's anger, or give us access to His Kingdom. Finally, we are to respond to God's grace, by living as Kingdom dwellers. Obedient and faithful subjects, ....in His Kingdom, ....under His Rule.

This was the message of Zephaniah for his time. This is also the message of Zephaniah for our time.

On 'THAT DAY' - that day when Jesus returns to judge the world and all who are in it, both the living and the dead, don't be caught out, declaring your innocence like Al Capone.

And the challenge is for us all, ....not to waste a moment in acknowledging to others ...the Kingship of JESUS over our lives, ...so that on 'THAT DAY' - we will not witness our loved ones, ....family, ....friends, or neighbour, ....standing before Jesus and declaring their presumed innocence and ignorance.