{"id":9346,"date":"2020-05-21T20:00:12","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T03:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=9346"},"modified":"2020-05-17T18:26:17","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T01:26:17","slug":"zephaniah1_1-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/zephaniah1_1-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Appearances, God Looks at the Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zephaniah 1:1-18 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today we begin the book of Zephaniah, a short book with a powerful message and part of what is sometimes known as the “Minor Prophets” section of the Old Testament.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Zephaniah 1:1-19.\u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Zephaniah 1:1 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0 \u00a0Who was Zephaniah?\u00a0 According to some scholars, the fact that Zephaniah traces his ancestry back four generations in verse 1 suggests that Zephaniah was a man of high social standing and quite possibly the great grandson of King Hezekiah.\u00a0 \u00a0Zephaniah received this word from the Lord and wrote this book during the reign of Josiah, who reigned from 640 and 609 B.C.<\/p>\n

Zephaniah 1:2-3 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the\u00a0LORD.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of the earth,” declares the\u00a0LORD.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 2-3:\u00a0 Why is the Lord talking about destroying the whole earth in these verses?\u00a0 These verses are referring to \u201cthe day of the Lord\u201d (see verse 7)?\u00a0 The \u201cday of the Lord\u201d is a term found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.\u00a0 It refers to the end times, or more specifically as we see in the New Testament, the time when Jesus will return to earth, gather His people, establish His kingdom and issue His final judgment on those who have rejected Him.\u00a0 Verses 2-3 and other passages also tell us that the day of the Lord will be accompanied by the catastrophic destruction of the earth, after which God will create a new heaven and a new earth.\u00a0 What can we learn from this?\u00a0Jesus is coming back, and His return will change life on this planet as we know it.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zephaniah 1:4-6 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests–
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and who also swear by Molech,
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0those who turn back from following the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and neither seek the\u00a0LORD\u00a0nor inquire of him.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 4-6:\u00a0 Here the prophet Zephaniah pronounces judgment on the people of Judah and in particular identifies groups of people that the Lord will cut off.\u00a0 Those groups of people can be summarized as follows:
\n– those who worshiped the idol Baal (v4);
\n– those who worshiped idols in addition to worshiping the Lord (v5);
\n– those who turned back from following the Lord and no longer sought Him or inquired of Him (v6).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0 Here Zephaniah describes\u00a03 spiritual conditions that veer away from the life God calls us to live<\/strong>.\u00a0 The first \u2013 those who worship the idol Baal \u2013 represents those who have never worshiped the Lord but worship false gods instead (v4).\u00a0 The second \u2013 those who worship idols in addition to the worshiping the Lord \u2013 represents those who place the Lord on the same level as other god (v5).\u00a0 The third represents those who once followed the Lord but who no longer seek or inquire of Him (v6). \u00a0\u00a0In each case there is a false form of worship taking place that will result in judgment.\u00a0 Since all of us were in one of these categories before and can be tempted to fall into them again,we must be vigilant to guard our heart and our relationship with the Lord.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zephaniah 1:7-18 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Be silent before the Sovereign\u00a0LORD, for the day of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0is near. The\u00a0LORD\u00a0has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated those he has invited.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On the day of the\u00a0LORD’s sacrifice I will punish the princes and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On that day I will punish all who avoid stepping on the threshold, who fill the temple of their gods with violence and deceit.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“On that day,” declares the\u00a0LORD, “a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, wailing from the New Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Wail, you who live in the market district; all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will be ruined.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The\u00a0LORD\u00a0will do nothing, either good or bad.’
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. They will build houses but not live in them; they will plant vineyards but not drink the wine.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“The great day of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0is near– near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the\u00a0LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the\u00a0LORD’s wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 7-18:\u00a0 Zephaniah refers to \u201cthe day of the Lord\u201d more than any other book in the Old Testament.\u00a0 Zephaniah\u2019s message is one of hard-hitting destruction from the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0 What prompted this message?\u00a0 It helps to understand the context in which Zephaniah lived and ministered.\u00a0 Zephaniah lived during a time when King Josiah had purified the land of Judah of idols that the kings who preceded him had introduced (see 2 Kings 22).\u00a0 He also had the people of Judah renew a covenant before the Lord (see 2 Kings 23).\u00a0 Despite Josiah\u2019s valiant efforts, the spiritual revival that Josiah tried to introduced had mostly only superficial effects, as the hearts of the people remained mostly unchanged.\u00a0 Josiah\u2019s sons did not share their father\u2019s passion for the Lord but were in love with other nations and their customs (v8).\u00a0 Idol worship, violent crimes and robbery were still commonplace in Judah (v9).\u00a0 Merchants still did business dishonestly and with usury (v11).\u00a0 The rich were largely complacent, thinking that the warnings of God\u2019s Word would never come to pass (v12-13).\u00a0 For these reasons the Lord uses Zephaniah to warn the people about the day of the Lord, a day of \u201cwrath\u2026distress\u2026anguish\u2026trouble\u2026ruin\u2026darkness and gloom\u201d (v15), a day of battle cries and military attacks (v16), all coming as judgment for the people\u2019s sin.<\/p>\n

As it would turn out, Zephaniah\u2019s reference to\u00a0the \u201cday of the Lord\u201d has both a short-term and a long-term application<\/strong>.\u00a0 The long-term application of \u201cthe day of the Lord\u201d is the day when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom – thus explaining the references in verses 2, 3 and 18 to the destruction of the whole world.\u00a0 The short-term application of \u201cthe day of the Lord\u201d is the day shortly after Zephaniah\u2019s prophecy when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon would invade Judah, destroy Jerusalem and take the Jews into exile \u2013 thus the references in verses 4 through 13 to the destruction of Judah.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from all this? Here are a few lessons I learn from this:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. No matter what things might look like on the outside, God focuses on the condition of your heart.<\/strong>\u00a0 You may be part of a group (e.g. a church, a family, a school, a business, a city) where the leaders are very passionate about God and do their best to lead the people closer to Him.\u00a0 On the outside things may seem very spiritual and God-pleasing.\u00a0 However, in the end what matters to the Lord is your own personal response to Him.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Our God is a holy God.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0From Him emanates a holy wrath against sin.\u00a0 Our God is a jealous God.\u00a0 He is not interested in sharing His glory with another.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Zephaniah 1:10 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
      \n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“On that day,” declares the\u00a0LORD, “a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, wailing from the New Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills.
      \n<\/em>
      \nOn verse 10:\u00a0 When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Jerusalem in approximately 605 B.C., he apparently entered through the Fish Gate (known as such because it was located near the fish market) and proceeded to destroy all of Jerusalem.\u00a0 Amazingly, Zephaniah received a revelation about this years before it took place.<\/p>\n

      Heavenly Father, thank You for showing me today that You look past appearances and focus on the heart.\u00a0 Please help me to guard my heart, that I would stay true to You, put You first, and be ready for the day Jesus returns.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

      Today we begin the book of Zephaniah, a short book with a powerful message and part of what is sometimes known as the “Minor Prophets” section of the Old Testament. <\/p>\n

      Today\u2019s passage is Zephaniah 1:1-19. Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

      Zephaniah 1:1 (NIV)
      \n1 The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:<\/p>\n

      On verse 1: Who was Zephaniah? According to some scholars, the fact that Zephaniah traces his ancestry back four generations in verse 1 suggests that Zephaniah was a man of high social standing and quite possibly the great grandson of King Hezekiah. Zephaniah received this word from the Lord and wrote this book during the reign of Josiah, who reigned from 640 and 609 B.C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9347,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9346"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9349,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9346\/revisions\/9349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}