The judgement of Judah… (3 things)

• 1^st – The total destruciton of Judah… vs. 2-6
  • 1^st – The Lord will consume… vs. 1-3
    • Zephaniah begins with the inflammatory statement…
      • God will consume EVERYTHING from the face of the Land – speaking of Judah…
      • He will go on to elaborate on exactly what that means – but the statement is important…
      • The harshness of it – hints at the hardness of the hearts of the people…
      • It took a dramatic introduction of absolute devastation to get their attention!
      • We live in a country that is living on the coattails of the blessings of previous generations…
      • While in large part they have turned their back on God – consequences have not yet come…
      • So when we talk about the judgment of God – they tend to scoff – life is good!
      • And while I am all for being gentle – encouraging people to repent and turn to Jesus…
      • If subtle does not work – YOU ARE GOING TO HELL – might be a better approach!
      • Sinners are near deaf when it comes to the truth – sometime we just need to be BLUNT!
    • The extent of the destruction…
      • God will consume man / beast / birds of heaven / and the fish of the sea…
      • Speaking of the totality of the destruction – there would be no place to hide…
      • No one – anywhere – would be spared from the coming devastation!
      • Literally fulfilled in the 3 subsequent sieges of Judah by Babylon / Nebuchadnezzar…
      • By the time of the final destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC Judah was a wasteland!
      • The remnant left in the land was left under the governance of Gedeliah – II Kings 25
      • But he was assassinated – and the few Jews that were left – fled to Egypt…
      • Several years later Nebuchadnezzar attacked and defeated Egypt in battle…
      • At which time he wiped out all the Jews who had fled there after the death of Gedeliah!
    • The reason for the destruction…
      • To consume the stumbling blocks / wicked – cutting them off from the Land!
      • The wicked were stumbling others in the land – influencing them to rebel against God…
      • If God did not act quickly – there would be no one left to save!
      • God was performing emergency surgery on Judah – consuming a cancer!
      • We have a name when a part of the body rebels – we call it cancer…
      • Cancer is when part of the body does not to listen to the head – makes its own decisions…
      • It can quickly spread to infect other parts of the body – and is potentially deadly!
      • When we refuse to follow our head – Jesus – when we live a lifestyle guided by sin…
      • We become a cancer within the body of Christ – threatening the health of the church…
      • A little sin in the church – can quickly grow to be a HUGE problem…
      • The longer the sin goes ‘untreated’ – the more dangerous it becomes…
      • The only solution – cut out the cancer – remove the problem!
      • I Corinthians 5:6 – “Do you not know that a little leaven [sin] leavens the whole lump?”
  • 2^nd – The 5 classes of wicked God will stretch His hand against… vs. 4-6
    • Those who worship Baal – the pagan god of Canaanites…
      • The Canaanite religion centered on 3 gods – El / Asherah / and Baal…
      • El was the ‘father’ / Asherah was the ‘mother’ / and Baal was their son (son of god)…
      • Satan is not very creative – he tends to just copy what has worked in the past…
      • Then he tries to convince us that his way is – ‘good enough’ – we do not need the Lord…
      • But everything satan does is only a counterfeit/copy of God – second best!
    • The pagan priests (chemarim) as well as THE priests (kohen)…
      • Suggesting that it was not just the false priests who were the problem…
      • The priests of the Lord – were also wicked and stumbling blocks to the people!
      • The priest were supposed to represent God to the people…
      • Whatever the priests said or did – was a pattern for Israel to follow after…
      • A heavy responsibility – with stern consequences for misrepresenting the Lord!
      • I Samuel 2 – The sons of Eli were evil men – literally sons of the devil…
      • Had affairs with women who came to worship / took the best of the meat of the sacrifice…
      • They were such poor representatives of God – the people of Israel hated coming to God!
      • When Christian leaders act like the world – rather than represent the Lord…
      • Liars – dishonest – and immoral – people watching think that is what God is like…
      • It is no wonder people are not that interested in getting to know Jesus!
      • But God will judge these leaders for their misrepresentation – James 3:1
    • Those who worship the host of heaven – on the housetops…
      • A reference to worshiping the sun / moon / and stars – think astrology…
      • But the greater condemnation was that they did it openly – on their housetops!
      • According to Deuteronomy 17:2-5 – they were supposed to be stoned to death!
      • If you heard about such a person – YOU were to investigate – to see if it was true…
      • YOU were to be the one to throw the first stone – then the rest of the community…
      • People were to take responsibility for upholding righteousness in their community!
      • Too often we ignore what is happening around us – justifying ‘it is not our problem’…
      • What we fail to recognize is that the bad example of others does affect us / our children…
      • And we need to be involved in our community – taking a stand for Jesus!
    • Those who swear oaths by the Lord…
      • The suggestion is that they were men who swore by the Lord – but do not mean it…
      • Their false intention is revealed because they also swear by Milcom…
      • Milcom is another name for Molech – the Ammonites God of pleasure!
      • People who made promised – by whatever god – because they were not true to their word!
      • People who do not know Jesus – do not tend to value their word…
      • They will tell you what you want to hear – or even flat out lie to your face…
      • We know Jesus – we need to be men of our Word – let our Yes be Yes / No be No!
      • James 5:12 – “Above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your ‘Yes,’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No,’ lest you fall into judgment.”
    • Those who turn from the Lord…
      • The ones who no longer seek the Lord – and do not ask Him for help…
      • A lot of people come to Jesus – come to church – looking for a better life…
      • They think maybe if the give God Sunday mornings – He will bless them…
      • But when that does not happen – when in fact life gets harder!
      • They fall away – stop coming to church / stop reading the Bible / give up on Jesus…
      • Because the focus in not on the eternal – they do not understand why life is hard…
      • They doubt and distrust Jesus – the one who gave His life that they might have hope…
      • ‘I tried Jesus, and it did not work’ – they end up walking away from the only answer!

Then we are not going to be living our lives for eternity – telling others about Jesus!

2^nd – The punishment for the people of Judah… vs. 7-13

1^st – Be silent in the presence of the Lord… vs. 7

The Day of the Lord is at hand – He has prepared a sacrifice – and invited His guests…

The Day of the Lord – was the Judgment of Judah – they were the sacrifice…

The guests the Lord invited were the Babylonians – they would enjoy the feast!

But note that Judah would be silent at their judgment – they would not say a word!

In Matthew 22:11-14 Jesus gave the parable of the wedding feast…

One man came in HIS clothes – HIS righteousness – HIS own good works…

The master asked him how he had come without the wedding clothes (white robes)…

The man was speechless – muzzled – and he was cast into outer darkness!

A lot of people think that they will be able to reason with God on Judgment day…

Plead their case – argue their merits – and try to weasel their way into heaven…

But in the presence of the Lord – we are speechless – silent before a Holy God!

2^nd – The 4 classes of people God will punish on that Day… vs. 8-13

The princes and the children of the King…

Who are clothed in foreign apparel – perhaps a reference to the destination of the princes…

Because all of the final kings of Judah would be taken away into captivity…

Jehoahaz only reigned for 3 months – was taken prisoner to Egypt – and died there…

Jehoiakim – brother of Jehoahaz – was bound in bronze chains and carried away to Babylon

His son Jehoiachin only ruled for 3 months – and was taken captive to Babylon…

Zedekiah – the youngest son of Josiah – was taken captive to Babylon – and died there!

In our PC world – people tend to get squeamish when people mention names – offended…

But God got very personal talking about exactly whom He would punish…

The Apostle Paul would actually mention people by name – I Timothy 4:14

There is nothing wrong with calling out a wicked religion / person…

In fact it is something we should be doing – to help warn others to avoid them!

Those who leap over the threshold…

Those who seek to make their master rich through violence and deceit…

The leaping over thresholds – refers to the worship of the god Dagon – I Samuel 5:4

When the Philistines captured the Ark – took it into the temple of Dagon (fish / man)…

The next day Dagon was on his face before the Ark – then had his hands / head chopped off!

From then on the Philistines would not walk on the threshold (were hands / head lay)

Rather than recognize the power of God – they invented empty superstitions!

It is usually the people who are the farthest from God – who are most superstitious…

Because we were created to worship and know God – John 4:23

But when we do not have a relationship with Jesus – we fill that void with superstitions…

Rather than the peace of God – we become ruled by the fear of the unknown!

The merchants will be cut off …

When Babylon attacks – sound the alarm at the fish gate – western gate that faced Joppa…

A wail would rise from the 2^nd quarter – Mishnah – perhaps a new area of Jerusalem…

Wailing will come from Maktesh (mortar) – a likely reference to the central market…

Because all of the merchants would be cut down – all those who had money!

Judah had come to trust / put their faith in their wealth – rather than in God…

As a result God would take away their wealth – showing them the foolishness of their faith!

Those who are complacent…

God would pass through Jerusalem with lamps – look in every dark corner…

To punish those who were complacent – who say the Lord will not do good or evil!

But their goods would be taken / their houses become desolate / never harvest their fields!

There is a great danger in the Christian walk of becoming complacent/comfortable…

We believe in Jesus / we are going to heaven / we go to church / read our Bible…

So we come to a place where to feel like we are safe – we do not need to go any further!

But like a muscle that atrophies when it is not used – faith needs to be exercised…

When the things that were once a step of faith – praying in public – no longer stretch us…

We need to step out again – reaching out further – going beyond our comfort zone!

Part of growing in God – is continuing to step out in faith – doing new things…

The moment we stop stepping out – stretching our faith – we start to drift from the Lord

We run the risk of loosing our excitement – falling into an empty routine of Christianity!

3^rd – The day of the Lord… vs. 14-18

1^st – The great Day of the Lord is near… vs. 14-16

It is coming quickly – a bitter day when even the mighty men will cry…

A day of WRATH / TROUBLE / DISTRESS / DEVESTAION / DESOLATION / DARKNESS…

A day when the trumpet will sound the alarm – because the city is under siege!

It began with the death of Josiah 609 BC – ended with the destruction of Jerusalem 586 BC!

Judah was given plenty of warning – the day was coming – but they did nothing!

The Day of the Lord – is coming quickly for us…

Speaking of the Tribulation – the 21 judgments of the book of Revelation…

But the world around us is oblivious – they live for pleasure / fun…

They go about their daily lives assuming tomorrow will be just like today…

They are ignorant of the fact Jesus is coming soon – judgment is right around the corner…

But WE KNOW – and we can warn them – we can stand up and be an example to them!

Revival does not begin in the world – it begins when WE stand up for the Lord!

Romans 13:11 – “Wake up, for the coming of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”

2^nd – Nothing can save you… vs. 17-18

God would bring distress – and people would walk around like blind men…

Their blood would be spilled on the dust – their bodies tossed out like trash…

Because the people of Judah had sinned against the Lord!

In the day of wrath God would quickly destroy all who dwelt in the Land!

Their money would not save them – the Land would be devoured in the fire of His jealousy!

A lot of people believe that money is the answer to a happy life…

If you have enough money you will not have any problems…

But it turns out that it is a lie – they are blinded and cannot see the danger…

Money cannot buy our way out of hell – our pay our way into heaven!

In Matthew 10:16 – Jesus called us to be wise as serpents…

The serpent is a picture of cunning – shrewdness – often depicting satan…

The idea being we need to be as wise as the one who we are fighting against…

II Corinthians 2:11 – “…lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

We are in a war – and we have a devious enemy who would like to deceive us…

He would love to convince us to strive after money – live for the things of this world!

If he can get us spending all our time working for nicer cars / bigger homes…