by Rev. Thomas Scarborough

15 February 2004.

We are taking a brief look at the prophet Zephaniah at the moment. It is a brief book, in fact, because it covers just three pages in our Bible.

Now this is the Word of God, and every part of it is precious, and every part of it is powerful – every part is God’s revelation of Himself to humankind. We said that right at the very beginning of Zephaniah – in Zephaniah 1 verse 1 – we read that this book is – the word of the Lord, that came to Zephaniah.

We said also that the reason why this prophecy got into God’s Word – the Bible – is that it came true. It stunningly and astonishingly came true. These prophecies came true in every detail, and therefore, God’s people knew that the words of the prophet Zephaniah truly were of God – and from that time on they treated this book with awe and respect.

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I am going to do a whirlwind tour of the book this morning – but first of all, a brief recap on what we learnt last time.

One of the key features of this book is its definition of sin – in chapter 1. Often we view sin as active evil. If you are actively doing evil, you are committing sin – but if not, you are in a better category somehow.

That is not the view of this book. In the words of the old King James version of the Bible – right at the beginning of the book of Zephaniah, God says, “I will consume the stumblingblocks with the wicked.” “I will consume the stumblingblocks with the wicked.” In other words, if you are a stumblingblock, then you are on the very same level as the wicked. If you are a block that anyone stumbles over, you are on just the same level as the wicked. We see this throughout the book of Zephaniah.

This world is full of stumblingblocks – people who don’t actively do evil, but others stumble over them as they try to find justice, or try to get ahead in life. I gave several examples last Sunday.

We also saw last Sunday that God puts complacency on this list of serious sin. God doesn’t want people to be complacent towards Him, He wants their personal surrender. He wants their worship, and their love. One of the greatest sins of our civilisation today is complacency – people who simply don’t care about God in their day to day lives. And so often we think, “Well so long as people feel they have everything they need, does it matter?” God’s Word through Zephaniah says that it matters very much.

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Now a further thing that we find in Zephaniah, that we didn’t really focus on much last Sunday, is that God is a sovereign God of power and control.

Zephaniah begins as soon as verse 2 to remind us of the Almighty power of God. In 2 and 3 he already lists – or God lists through him – several of the things that God did on the day of creation. Then in verse 7, God says, “Be silent before the sovereign Lord.” Stop all your vain activity and striving, and realise that the Lord is sovereign.

Now as we go through this book of Zephaniah – still speaking of God’s sovereignty – it gets more and more personal. The Lord is sovereign not only over creation. He is sovereign not only over nations, or cities. But He is sovereign over the lives of individuals – over every turn that an individual life takes.

In verse 12 here, we read about some individuals who sin, and they say to themselves, “The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.” That is a view that many people take today. “God doesn’t have that kind of power.”

Another thing that people were saying in the book of Zephaniah – and we find this again and again in the Bible – is “The Lord won’t reach me where I am. I am secure. I am beyond anything that might happen to me.” Again and again, we find people saying, “The Lord won’t touch me.” Or in this book, we find the Jerusalemites saying, “The Lord won’t touch us.” And sometimes you find whole nations saying, “We are secure. It’s absurd to think that anything could happen to us.” But the Lord says in the book of Obadiah – another Old Testament prophet – “Though you make your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there.” (Obadiah 1:4).

The destiny of nations, and the destiny of individuals doesn’t depend on how things look to human beings. It doesn’t depend on how things look from the point of view of common sense. It depends on God’s sovereign dealing – both with nations and with individuals – and with cities, and with economic sectors, and with sections of society – as we see in this book of Zephaniah. In other words, everything happens in direct relationship with God.

That is what a lot of people completely forget when they do evil. When they think of cause and effect – what is going to cause me to be caught? – what is going to cause me to be stopped? – they don’t think of the Lord God as a cause – and the Bible shows us that He is the cause of everything.

The converse is also true. If God has complete control over the wicked – and over the stumblingblocks, and the complcent – He also has complete control over the righteous – or the humble as this book calls them. Notice that this book calls the good people the humble – that means that we are not just talking about outward deeds, we are talking about the heart. It is those who have come into a certain attitude of heart before the Lord who are treated differently by His sovereign power.

So if God is going to seek out and destroy the wicked person even if they have made their nest in the stars, then think what God does for the humble person – He seeks them out as well. He personally and individually seeks them out, and He deals with them differently. And after we read about all God’s warnings in this book of Zephaniah, in Zephaniah 3 verse 12, God says, “But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the Name of the Lord.” “I will leave them.” And in verse 15 we read that “the Lord has taken away their punishment.”

Zephaniah prophesies the destruction of Philistia – abd he says that when this happens, the meek and the humble whom God has spared will inhabit that land. In chapter 2 verse 7 – “It will belong to the remnant … The Lord their God will care for them.”

This is a theme that we find throughout the Bible. When troubled times come, the humble are not just swept away with everybody else, but the Lord has them personally in His care. You might have troubles – we read here in Zephaniah, about the meek and humble, that God will restore their fortunes. That doesn’t mean that they had no trouble – but it does mean that God cared for them through the trouble, and finally restored them and took them out of it.

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Now we are going to look at just a little more history this morning as well.

God gave the people of Israel a very long and powerful warning. He gave them a historical warning, which happened through slowly unfolding events of history as these prophecies of Zephaniah came true. It didn’t all come true at once. And God continually reminded Israel that if they would return to Him, then all this could be reversed – none of it would come upon them.

In chapter 3 verse 7, God says that if Israel will accept correction, then her dwelling will not be cut off, nor will His punishments come upon her.

Returning to history – Zephaniah prophesies that even before the judgement of God comes upon the people of Judah, a number of major events will happen first – and we see this in the headlines of chapter 2 – Philistia, and Moab, and Ammon, and Cush, and Assyria. One by one, God will bring His punishments upon these nations – and this will happen before God turns His anger upon Judah – the people of Israel.

We read that the rich cities of Philistia will become sheep pastures – and that is the land that the meek and humble will take over – then the nations of Moab and Ammon will be so devastated that they will not even be useful for sheep. Then the land of Cush will be destroyed, by war. And finally Assyria will be so utterly destroyed, it will be like a desert. And when that has happened, says the Lord God, He will turn His wrath on Judah.

Now we know from the history books that this came true. Some of the detail has been lost through time, but we know for instance that in 612 B.C., Assyria was destroyed, which happend just as God had said through the prophet Zephaniah – just before His judgement finally fell on Judah. It was about three years before the end came for Judah.

And so the people of Israel had a most powerful illustration as Zephaniah’s prophecy came true piece by piece around them. One by one – just as Zephaniah had said – the nations were completely devastated on every side – and in fact davastated in a way that no one would have thought possible, except if God had done it.

So why didn’t the people of Israel respond? Why didn’t they repent? Why didn’t they humble themselves when they saw this happen? Why do we read in chapter 3 verse 7 that they were still eager to act corruptly in all that they did?

The same in fact applies to people’s lives – God gives everyone a chance to respond – sometimes He seems to give them a spectacular chance, and still they don’t respond. Many times of course people do respond – and thank God that most of us here this morning are examples of that – I read just recently of a man whose parachute didn’t open, and he survived. And he is a minister today. That’s just one example of a gracious warning from God.

Why didn’t the people respond?

I’m not sure that I can say – but there is in chapter 3 verse 7 that word “eager”. They were eager to carry on their own way, and not to respond. They were ruled by their heart, and they let their heart rule them, and that is how they wanted to carry on. That is not a very deep explanation, but it does agree with what the whole Bible says – that we have a fallen human nature that has an eagerness in completely the wrong directions, and blinds us to spiritual truth, and blinds us to where things stand with us spiritually.

Now once again, we said last time that the purpose of this prophecy of Zephaniah is for people to find a solution to their sin. He wants them to return to Him, and to know Him, and to worship Him. The purpose of Zephaniah was not to drive people to despair, but to drive them to God. And those who found God, found Him through repentance and humility.

We said last time that if you want to find out if you are dealing with spiritual truth or falsehood, ask yourself the question, “Is the teaching of repentance at the centre? Or is it good enough to improve yourself, or does God understand you just as you are?” If repentance clearly is missing from – a spiritual book, or from the preaching of a Church, then you know that one of the core requirements for truth has been lost.

Now happily, some people did hear what Zephaniah was saying – or again, what God was saying through Zephaniah – and some people did respond to his warnings, and they humbled themselves and entered into a new relationship with God. And God says about them in chapter 3 verse 15, “The Lord has taken away your punishment.” That applies just as much today, when we enter into a new relationship with the Lord through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Our punishment is taken away, both in this life and the next – and for all eternity.

Have you humbled yourself before God, and said, “Lord, I have sinned against You – please take over my whole life from now on? Please wash away all my past sins through the blood of Jesus Christ”?

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Now this prophecy of Zephaniah gives us a beautiful illustration of what happens when we come into a new relationship with God. Let’s run through some of the things we discover in this book of Zephaniah. And I’m going to focus very briefly on six things in particular, although there is a lot more to this book than that.

First of all, in chapter 3 at the beginning of verse 11, we read that those who turn to the Lord are not put to shame. Our shame is removed from us. Our guilt is removed from us. Shame is not a feeling that is in abundant supply these days, but many people do feel it, and this shame will be taken away. Also, any fear that you might be shamed, and any possibility that you will be shamed on the Last Day is taken away by the grace – the forgiveness – of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, your pride is taken away. At the end of verse 11, God says to the remnant – to those who have come to repentance – “Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill.” One of the most beautiful characteristics of a Christian believer – something that comes into their lives when they are saved – is that they are not proud – they are not haughty – and there is the beauty of humility in their lives. That is also one of the characteristics that is most precious to God – even above virtue and righteousness and morality.

Thirdly, in verse 14, when they come into a new relationship with the Lord, this will bring joy. The reasons for that joy follow on. Punishment is taken away – fear is taken away – and God starts to do things in your life. God begins to show you His might, in verse 17, and His delight – also in verse 17. And let us notice that the source of joy is the living Lord God. If you are tired and worn out, and life has lost its hope and pleasure, you can find that again in the Lord God. You might not be able to find it anywhere else, but you can find it again in God. That is a spiritual truth and a spiritual reality.

There is another possible meaning here, and that is for those who have in the past served God out of duty or legalism – there comes a new joy into the way that they relate to God.

Fourthly, in verse 16, for those who know God, their hands do not hang limp. No longer are they discouraged, or overawed by the events of life, but now they have a God who is on their side – a God who is in every situation of their lives in power. What reason is there then to be discouraged? If you have any discouragements or if you feel overawed by any situation, then take it to God in prayer, and say, “Lord, this is in your power. I’m giving it into Your power. And I have hope in the way that You are going to deal with this.” If you do that, there is no more reason for your hands to hang limp.

Related to this, in verse 17, we read that God is mighty to save. He is a God Who saves, and He is able to do it. He will protect you and prosper you through life, even where the odds from a human point of view seem to be against you. If you are His, He has it under control.

And sixthly and lastly, let us notice the words in verse 17 – God will quiet you with His love. There is a lot of unquietness in this world. A lot of people are upset, and hurried, and frustrated, and unsettled, and stressed, and I could find a hundred words to describe it. We are not always quiet as Christians, but we know the secret of quietness, and we do develop a quietness that others can’t dream of having.

Notice what it is that quiets you, in verse 17 – it is His love. And the way I read that, it is because you know that His love is around you – because you know that You can trust in Him – you can be quiet. You can relax – it’s all – all right. You don’t need to worry about not generating enough business – you don’t need to worry about mother-in-law. You don’t need to be anxious about people who are wronging you, or perhaps even threatening you. God will quiet you with His love. He will say to you, “Remember that an all-powerful and loving God is in charge here.” That is the only secret to peace.

Well that brings us to the end of Zephaniah chapter 3 – and a simple and powerful reminder of some basic Bible truths.

AMEN.