Zephaniah 2

Zephaniah’s Warning and Mercy in Chapter 2

Network. Thank you for watching tonight. You're with Dan and myself. I'm Robert and tonight we're going to be talking about and walking through Zephaniah Capital. We need to know what to do now that we got all that out of the way.

Dan, how are you doing? Good. How are you doing? I'm doing good. Doing pretty good. Got my coffee. It's hot. And so I'm thankful for that.

There you go.

You've got some cold weather up where you are.

Yep. It is very chilly right now. We're going to warm up a good bit tomorrow. Supposed to get up to 25.

Nice. Nice. Well, let's get started on Zephaniah. You ready?

Let's do it.

Let's do it. All right. So we we looked at Zephaniah chapter one last time and we discovered that chapter one was pretty much a judgment going towards Jerusalem to Israel. Zephaniah was around the time of King Josiah and Zephaniah wanted to bring about or Josiah wanted to bring about some restorations, bringing back the true worship of God.

And Zephaniah's warnings could have been part of that. Part of that motivation initiation with King Josiah. And then we which was beautiful. We got to we worked through Zephaniah chapter one. And then, as you told us, of course, there were no originally there were no chapters and verses.

So we we look at chapter two verses one through three. And this is this is a beautiful invitation of God's mercy and grace to to the people after the warning. This judgment is coming. This judgment is coming.

But I'm still going to show mercy. I'm still going to show grace. And here here it is. Here's your invitation. And it was just a beautiful door to open up for the gospel and to talk about Jesus. Here's some things that I've thought about as we went from chapter one going into chapter two.

You'll see. Which question do I want to ask first? Let's ask this one first. So a big theme in Zephaniah, we see it in quite a few places. Chapter one, verse 14. Near is the great day of the Lord. So you'll see this this theme, the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord.

It's a pretty common, pretty common theme throughout scripture. If you're a student of God's word, you'll talk about the day of the Lord. Chapter 10. On that day declares the Lord that we, you know, sounds of Christ.

So quite a few verses in Zephaniah speak of the day of the Lord. And then we get to somewhere like here is second Peter, chapter three, verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.

So you have this this wording, this phrase in the New Testament here in second Peter. What would you say as to or how we understand to understand the day of the Lord when it comes to its use here in Zephaniah?

Is it the same thing in second Peter? What have we got here?

The day of the Lord generally talking about some sort of judgment. It really depends on the context where you place that judgment. From my understanding, there would be several days of the Lord. Not all of them as wide ranging as what we would know in New Testament and eschatology think of as the day of the Lord.

Here in Zephaniah, we see a just a direct rebuke of a certain people for a certain sin. And we see a certain punishment that would come upon them. And that would be the day of war. That'd be the wrath that's coming upon them.

The anger of the Lord that's going to be like it says in verse or chapter two, verse two. Before let's see before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you. It's it's his it's his anger being poured out on people for their sin.

But we also see a great hope coming for those same people. I mean, like next verse, seek the Lord. You have upheld his justice that you may be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. So it'll go well for you.

What we see all throughout the Old Testament is the day of the Lord speaking of a time of judgment on a particular people. When we move into the New Testament, God still does deal with nations, but he has expanded the scope of things by introducing his own kingdom into the world.

It's the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, this kingdom that's that's on the earth that's made up of his people. And that means that all other nations that are upon the earth are then on the outside of the good promises that are given to his kingdom, to his church.

So what you see in the New Covenant, in the New Testament. Is a expansion of what you saw in the micro in the Old Testament. So while Israel was being declared as being sinful and they were going to have wrath come upon them, it was a regional judgment, as we'll see in chapter two.

Those going to several other nations were all going to be taken over by either Assyria or Nebuchadnezzar through Babylon. But in the end, the final analysis, there is another great day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, when Christ himself will return to take his kingdom and deliver it to the father.

It's on that day when all evil and wickedness will be taken from his earth and will be cast into outer darkness. It will be judged. And so what you see in the small sense through a nation who has been sinful, they will be judged based on their sin.

You're now saying in the New Testament as the world will be judged because of the world's sin. And only those who are a part of Christ's kingdom proper, who have turned from their sin, who have found a place or faith in Christ, who have been elected by God, will actually see that deliverance in the day when the Lord comes to judge all the living and the dead.

And I don't want to get my pre-meal and my post-meal mixed up here, but that day that you're referring to that's coming in the future, is that what we know as the great white throne judgment? There's two different throne judgments, right?

The great white throne judgment and the Bemis seat judgment?

Yes and no.

Okay.

The dispensational pre-millennialist says that the great white throne judgment is only for the unbeliever. I don't think that's accurate. I believe that that's a general judgment for all people. You'll be judged based upon your works.

Now granted, if you're hidden in Christ, you're hidden in Christ where your works, your evil works have been done away with, paid for, and put aside as far as the East is from the West. They will never be viewed by God in the judgment because Christ has already paid for those things.

Your judgment based upon your works will be the good works that you do because as it says in Ephesians 2 .10, We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that we should walk in them.

We'll be judged upon those good works. At the same time, at the same judgment, those who do not have their evil works covered by the blood of Christ, who since have not been removed from them as far as the East is from the West, they will be judged based on those evil works.

So we'll all be judged based upon our works, with our works either being, our evil works either being covered by Christ or left to us. Depending on if we know or have placed our faith in Christ. So there is a sense in which there are, it's two different styles of judgment, but really it's all the same event.

Sorry about that, Rev. Terrell. It was as you were describing those things, it made me think about that. But originally we were talking about the day of the Lord. And so what I gleaned from that is what they have in common is the fact that judgment is involved.

But the event, the time that it comes, how it's delivered is different. So here in Zephaniah, the day of the Lord is going to be different than 2 Peter 3 and the end great day of the Lord that you're referring to.

So they all mean judgment, but they're all, there could be different times and different means of delivering that judgment. And here, I think we're in agreement that Babylon is those means, is that correct?

Yeah, to these people, it would be Babylon. The Northern Kingdom at this point, I believe has already been taken over by Assyria. So unless some of these people went toe-to-toe with Assyria before they went toe-to-toe with Babylon, yeah, Babylon was going to be the one who struck them down.

Because Zephaniah is in the Southern Kingdom at this point.

Right, right, right.

Israel’s Unique Covenant Role Among the Nations

All right, so my second intro question as we get started kind of looks like this. I was looking over this and things started popping into my mind and thinking about, thinking things through. And I asked myself the question, what, you know, we always understand and know Israel as God's chosen people throughout the whole test.

God's elect, God's chosen people. So here we, well, not just here, but here and all throughout everywhere in the Old Testament, even prophecies in the Old Testament pointing to future events. God judges Jerusalem because He cares, because He cares about His covenant.

First and foremost, He cares about His word. But He judges Israel, but He also grants mercy and grace to Israel. So we see that, but also we see that God cares, if you will, about other nations. You know, He sends Jonah to Nineveh to call them to repent.

We see that those prophecies that I mentioned earlier, that God is going to draw all nations to Himself. They're going to flow to that great mountain. And so He cares about other nations, not just His chosen nation.

And here in Zephaniah, of course, in chapter one, as I stated earlier, it's pointing to a judgment toward Israel, towards Judah, towards Jerusalem. But then in chapter two, as we were talking about before we started, yes, it's warning or it's telling God's people that He's going to destroy their enemies, destroy these other nations.

But then, as you pointed out, there's also the fact that there's going to be a remnant from those nations. So He's going to show mercy to those other nations. So back to my original thought, we know Israel as God's chosen elect people.

But we see God treating them and other nations very similarly with judgment and with mercy. So how is Israel in relationship to God unique, different than all the other nations? From your perspective, what would you say?

Well, actually, I have scripture for this one.

And I never told you the question.

Right, right.

You're on it, man.

Yeah, I don't know how, but well, here we go. Israel is different, not because they were all saved, because they weren't. But they were saved because they were called out by God for a specific purpose.

So if you look at Romans 3, Romans 3 answers the question. He says he's talking back and forth with somebody who's not really there. Paul is. He's basically making up somebody who's going to ask questions.

Hey, what about this, Paul? So he answers and says, what advantage then has the Jew? Or what profit or what is the profit of circumcision? Which is pretty much your question. How are they special if they're getting judged too?

Much in every way, he says, chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God, which would be the scriptures. For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?

Certainly not. Indeed, let God be true in every man a liar. As it is written, that you may be justified in your words. You may overcome when you are judged. So what is a special place that Israel holds?

Israel holds a special place because God covenanted through Abraham that he was going to make all the families of the earth, all the nations of the earth blessed through him. Israel is the nation of Israel.

The physical descendants of Abraham were the people through which God had chosen to bless the rest of the world. So the Messiah was going to come through that bloodline. The nation that he was going to be born into was that bloodline.

They were a special people because God picked out of all the people of the earth. He said, Israel, I'm going to do something great for the entire world through you. And what's sad is that a lot of them turned away.

And that's why Paul writes that. What benefit did they have? They had the oracles of God. They had the covenants. They had this, that, the other thing. Is God faithless because he used these people and then they turned away?

No, because God is true. He kept his promise even though every man's a liar. So Israel was kept and protected, especially for the purpose of bringing salvation to the entire world. He brings up the same point again in Romans 11.

He says, talking about the tree that was, the olive tree. He says that some branches were broken off and thrown to the side so that way wild olive branches could be grafted in. And he says, hey, wait a second, you wild olive branches have been grafted in.

If he tore them off to make place for you, I don't think he won't tear you off and make place for them again. If they're faithful, they'll be grafted back on too. So the purpose of God's covenant and plan was salvation all along.

And he did that through the nation of Israel. So that's why they were important.

That's similar to where I would have went to, because they had the word and they had the word. The oracle and the living word of God.

Yep.

In human flesh, God in flesh. So that's cool. Well, thank you for that, Dana. And you're a good sport for me not giving you the questions beforehand and ready to answer. So I appreciate you doing that.

As we look through, you can tell me if you agree with this assessment, but Dr. Constable's expository notes, he says, as we look through Zephaniah chapter two, these are five things that he saw as he went through the chapter, that the Lord is God of all the earth.

The Lord plans for spiritual needs of the world. The Lord is in charge of the whole historical process. The Lord's people are central to his world purposes. And the Lord is the fierce enemy of pride. And I didn't see any problem with that.

I mean, that spoke to the sovereignty of God and the purposes of God, God using those purposes to glorify himself. I didn't see any problem with those things. And I think we may see all those things in chapter two as well.

So let's start going verse by verse. Let me pull up the screen here.

Here we go.

Zephaniah chapter two.

Oh, my.

Sorry about that.

I want to minimize this.

There we go. Zephaniah chapter two. And we've already looked at verses one through three. That was the great invitation to Judah. And then, you know, as I was looking at this, I was noticing how it was an encouragement.

Well, it was a warning. But then you have this encouragement. If you stay with me, you know, you will be preserved. I will have this remnant if you remain faithful. Jerusalem is going to get judged. But, you know, you can remain.

And not only that, I'm going to take care of your enemies for you, too. So there's this blessing for the remnant. Let's start in chapter two, verse four. And you can comment. I guess I'll read a few verses.

For Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon a desolation. Ashkelon will be driven out at noon and Ekron will be uprooted. That's a mouthful. Do we need to stop there?

Yeah, you had a mouthful when you said the word for. Really, one of the things I learned, and it's been helpful in learning Bible interpretation and hermeneutics and stuff, is whenever you start with for or therefore you need to stop and ask what it's there for.

Why is it there? Why is the word for or therefore present? You can't just start with that. I mean, it presupposes that there's other stuff going on. And the other stuff that's going on isn't just verses one through three.

It's the entirety of the book beforehand where you see Israel being here. Here's a great warning, a judgment coming to Israel. And then there's a great hope. And he's saying, seek the Lord in verse three, seek the Lord.

All you who see all you meet of the earth who have upheld justice, seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you'll be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. So what's in view here is a salvation and for the people of Israel and the day of the Lord's anger, which was promised to the people of Israel who had been unfaithful.

And then it says for Gaza shall be forsaken. So this judgment is not just a judgment that is not just judgment against Israel's enemies. It's a judgment that's coming over the entire region for their faithlessness to God and God's people.

The trueness of God's people being those who have faith and believe who are turning from their sins and trusting in God and at that time, future Messiah that was to come. What you see here is that there's one judgment coming and it's going to land upon Jew and Gentile alike.

But the only people who have a glimmer of hope so far, because we'll get to nine through 11 and stuff in a little bit. The only people who have hope so far are those Jews who were faithful to the covenant that God had laid before them.

So when it says for, it gives you the idea that there is a judgment coming and there's a special people who are going to be preserved through this judgment. And this is those who care about justice and righteousness, true justice and true righteousness, not whatever we think of in the 21st century, but those things are going to be.

That's what's in view here. So when it says Gaza will be abandoned, Ashkelon, a desolation Ashdod will be driven out at noon and Ekron will be uprooted. He's naming a specific people that are right next door.

They're basically occupying some of the same land as Israel. And saying, it's not just you. These folks are going to get it too. And the reason why they're going to get it is because of their idolatry.

They were wretched people. So because of their idolatry, they're turning away from God. They were uncircumcised and they fought against the Israelites and they tried to take away the land that was promised to a people who was going to bring of the Messiah.

They turned their back against those promises of God. It was given to the, to the, that they would have benefited from. They were given to Abraham. They turned away from those promises and they, they went hard towards sin.

They will, they're going to be judged.

Let me ask you this question. I don't know if we can make an umbrella statement or not over this. Maybe, you know, right off the hand, it's based on something you were mentioning to me earlier. We know a lot of the reason for the troubles that, that Israel has is because when they were wandering in the desert, being led to the promised land and, and on that, on the way there and when they got there, you know, they were given orders to take out all these people and to not leave any thing behind and not to take any of the treasures or the, the bounty back with them.

They disobeyed on all fronts on all those commands. So are these, are these some of the nations or are all of these nations or peoples that were left behind that, that Israel originally should have taken out because we know that's at least some of these nations and they mixed with them and they started worshiping their idols.

So what do you think?

These here, these cities of the Philistine, absolutely. They should have been wiped out.

Okay.

Now the, the Ammonites and the Moabites that we see over in verses eight and nine or 10 and 11, they were cousins. Lot was Abraham's nephew. They were relatives kind of like Edom, Edom, Moab, Ammon were all people that were supposed to be family.

You know, they're not, they weren't circumcised. They weren't marked off as having the covenant given to them, but they were still considered family, which is why when, who was it?

Moses.

When Moses was taken to people through the land, they were going to go real easy, like up into Canaan, but they couldn't because they were going to, they were going to pass through Edom and they weren't going to buy anything.

They were going to just pass through. They're going to buy their food, buy their water. They weren't going to take anything from them. They were going to treat them with respect. But Edom said, no, I don't want you coming through.

And God was like, well, don't attack them. They're your family.

Go around.

So they went, this thing's mirrored, so it's throwing me off. So they went around and ended up coming in the other direction, which they kind of passed through two kingdoms to do that. But it's another story.

So some of, not all of these listed were those people, but the Philistines definitely were. The Philistines were a descendant from the people of Crete. So they'd come over beforehand, taken land that was then promised to Israel.

They were being judged previously, but that judgment didn't come because Israelites were unfaithful. We even see in Titus where they still have a reputation to be in terrible folks because he leaves Titus on Crete and then says to him,.

What is it?

It's in here somewhere.

Yeah.

Titus 1 .12, one of their own prophets said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true. Talking about the people of Crete who had sent folks to the southern lands of Israel to be close to Egypt so that way they could have a trade route from Egypt up through the coast lands of Israel and then back over to Crete.

So they were there. The land that they were living on was promised to the Israelites by God and they were never destroyed. So at this point, I guess that the sins of the Philistines were filled up just like the sins of the Amorites were not yet filled up.

So when the children of Israel went into Egypt, they went in because the sins of the Amorites had not yet been filled. And so when they came out, it was filled and they took over that land. But the Philistines were absolutely supposed to be taken out at that point.

Gotcha.

And that leads us to verse five. Woe to the inhabitants of the Seekers, to the nation of the Cherithites. The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines. I will destroy you so that there will be no inhabitants.

Right.

Yeah, that's a, I kind of was talking about that, I guess.

So the Seekers will be pastures with caves for shepherds and folds for flocks.

Right.

It was going to be, it was going to turn into its original purpose. Pasture lands for the people of Israel.

Verse seven. And the coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will pasture on it in the houses of Ashkelon. They will lie down at evening for the Lord, their God will care for them and restore their fortune.

Right.

There's that promise again. You're not going to do it, so I'm going to do it. And I'm going to, not only am I going to do it, take care of these people that you were supposed to take care of, but I'm going to restore your fortune.

Right.

And this, it's interesting. This happened. But it's funky the way that history goes. It happened, but then at some point, Israel again lost their claim to the land and people, probably a small remnant of those same folks who had lived there their whole lives came back and then they fought over it for, well, until today.

But the issue is, were those people who were Jews back then, and the people who claim to be Jews now, are they the same people? Do they have the same claim? And I don't believe the answer is yes. I believe the answer is no, because it wasn't left for just the people of Judah who left.

It was there for the remnant. That remnant is those people who we find in verses one through three, who were those who repented of their sin, who looked to God, who sought justice and righteousness and humility, and they were hidden from the Lord's anger.

It's talking about faithful believers. Those faithful believers are today Christians because they saw the Messiah come, pay for sins, rise up, go into heaven, establish his kingdom on the earth. So eventually this land again will be the possession of the true Israelites, the true Jews or Christians.

We see this actually in Romans four. Romans four says that those who have faith like Abraham are the inheritors of the promises of Abraham and will inherit the entire earth.

That's a mind blower. And that's a bomb in, I guess, this end times eschatology. It's, oh my goodness, what we've held on to for so long, what we've been taught in our churches for so long, not that I want us to turn anti anything.

We still should be allies and help and be that way for everyone. But on one hand, we're pro-America. We're America first. But then if you're any kind of Christian at all, at least for the past however many years, you are also pro-Israel.

And the prophecy was, according to what we followed, was that Israel was going to become a nation again, and there they did in 1948. But if I heard you correctly, what you were saying was it's not necessarily the case that those that are occupying now that reclaimed the nation in 1948 is who God promised would ultimately occupy.

That's not who we are looking for to occupy. The true people of God that are promised to occupy are the remnant who are believers.

Right, because there's a thing in Scripture that it's been described as a scarlet thread. Scarlet thread of redemption. Have you ever looked at a piece of fabric that has a weird colored thread running through it?

You don't always see it, but every once in a while it'll pop up and you can see the color for a while and then it'll go on the backside and then it pops up and then you can see it again. The idea of covenant or salvation through covenant, it's that scarlet thread that runs throughout all of Scripture.

You see it from the very beginning. God promised to Adam that he would crush the head of the serpent. You see that promise carried on to Noah through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, all the way through.

What you're seeing here is not a new prophecy that's making a new promise. What you're seeing here is an old promise made to Abraham that there was a piece of land that would be his. What you do is you see that piece of land and it gives them dimensions of what the land would be in Genesis.

This is a part of that land. Then you move on into the New Testament and it pops up again in Romans 4 where Paul is talking about this very same idea of the inhabitants of a certain place and the heirs of Abraham's promise being heirs of the entire earth.

It's not just a promise of a physical piece of land to a physical nation. It's a promise of salvation through covenant throughout all of Scripture. Why are these people going to be brought back? Because all of the earth is going to be the Lord's.

The earth shall be covered with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord like the waters cover the seas. You're going to see a remnant, the faithful people of Judah, sitting in this land. Why? Because they're going to inherit the entire earth.

It's what God had promised from the very beginning.

1948 is not the prophecy. It has nothing to do with it.

Probably.

Here's the thing.

I think some people put a lot more on that date than they should. Here's why I say possibly. If, and judging by what we've seen, huge if, if the people who populated that area called themselves Jews, Tel Aviv, all of it, if those folks were believers who trusted in Christ, then we would have to look at it a little bit differently.

There may be something to that. But from what we've seen, that's basically a secular nation that has taken a Jewish heritage, and it doesn't look a lot like the people of the Old Testament.

The remnant aren't in charge there.

Right. Now, there are some Christian Hebrews there, but they are generally not the ones who are in charge.

Right.

It's not their land yet.

Right. Plus, you actually have the Israeli government giving away the portions that were promised to the remnant. You see Gaza, Ashkelon, all those places are the places that they marked off and gave to the Palestinians.

Wow.

So I don't believe we're looking for a land promise in the small sense. I really think what this is pointing to is a land promise in the big sense that those who are the heirs of Abraham are those who have faith, and they will inherit the entire earth, which is those who have faith from this area will inherit the land that.

They're in.

We see this coming up in verse 11, when it starts talking about Moab and Ammon. It says, then the distant coasts and islands of the nations will bow and worship to him each in its own place. What place are they going to have and what place are they going to worship from the place where they are?

Why? Because that place is going to be the Lord's.

What's going to be interesting as post-millennialist, we believe that the earth is going to be filled with believers, with the remnant, with the sentence of Abraham spiritually and physically. Those who believe in the Messiah, all nations are going to flow and stream to the big mountains.

So, you know, we believe that eventually we're going to head to that goal or that end game. As you were talking, as we've been talking about this, what struck me is going to be interesting is you've got Israel, this whole time,.

You know,.

They're still looking for their Messiah to come. And then you have the Muslim community, they're looking for their final Imam or what did they call it?

Something like that.

I think there's a number associated with it, like the 12th or some sort of Imam.

Yeah.

So something similar to their Messiah to come,.

I guess.

So they've got very firm beliefs in those two systems. And of course, when we believe that those systems, those spiritual systems, those religions and then the political spheres, all those things are going to be knocked down by Christ.

What's going to be interesting to me is, is which one falls first? Is it going to be the Israel's hold to their future Messiah to come and they submit to Christ? Or is the Muslim community going to submit to Christ first?

That will be fun to be there to see that, to see which one falls first and submits to Christ.

Yeah. I don't know.

It'll be good.

It'll be good. It'll be great. Let's see. I think we're on verse eight.

Yeah.

I have heard the taunting of Moab and the revilings of the sons of Ammon, with which they have taunted my people and become arrogant against their territory.

Therefore,.

As I live declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be like Sodom and the sons of Ammon, like Gomorrah, a place possessed by nettles and salt pits and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them and the remainder of my nation will inherit them.

Harsh.

Yeah.

You were speaking to that earlier.

Yeah.

You were talking about Lot's descendants. Yeah,.

Their family. Lot was Abraham's nephew. They separated and Lot went off into the Valley of Jordan, which had Sodom and Gomorrah in it before they were destroyed. And he actually ended up in Sodom after a while.

We see that they were not good people. They lacked hospitality. They were into sexual sin and they were just wretched. Just horrible people. Actually remind me a lot of ourselves today, but they were destroyed and they were destroyed.

But because of Lot's proximity to Abraham, he said,.

Hey,.

Will you spare my nephew? And he did. He spared his nephew and his two daughters and his wife for a period of.

Time.

His wife ended up looking back and turned into a pillar of salt.

Actually,.

You want to talk about somebody being a savage. Look at what fills that land. It's nettles and salt pits. Like of all the things they could fill there. It's a testimony to turning back to your wicked ways after seeing a deliverance provided for you by God.