Can We Continue Avoiding God’s Ways Without Consequences? – ZEPHANIAH – 3a – [9]

November 13, 2014December 14, 2014buildafoundation Leave a comment

… as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD. – Joshua 24:15b

Chapter 3 begins with frustration and head shaking. (My thoughts in bold.)

1)) What sorrow awaits rebellious,
polluted Jerusalem,
the city of violence and crime!

Jerusalem may think that they can continue down a polluted, immoral, selfish path without consequences. God is clear, however, that they will not escape justice.

2)) No one can tell it anything;
it refuses all correction.
It does not trust in the LORD
or draw near to its God.

Sounds like what you may hear in school, in the workplace, propagated on TV shows. Those who are wise in their own eyes – Isaiah 5:21. They don’t know God, let alone have a relationship with Him.

3)) Its leaders are like roaring lions
hunting for their victims.
Its judges are like ravenous wolves
at evening time, who by dawn have
left no trace of their prey.
4)) Its prophets are arrogant liars
seeking their own gain. Its priests
defile the Temple by disobeying
God’s instructions.

Verses 3-4 describes the misguided leadership of the day. Leaders are supposed to guide, direct, help navigate people to safety and growth. Yet the leaders of the day did anything but that. Who are the leaders of our day? Music and movie/TV personalities, the “popular” kids at school? Who do we look up to? Who are we looking to when as we seek to know Truth? Are we complacent, satisfied with relative truth or do we seek and apply the absolute truth of God’s Word?

What’s a Remnant? – ZEPHANIAH – Chapter 2e – [8]

November 11, 2014December 14, 2014buildafoundation Leave a comment

“Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!” –
1 Kings 19:18

Continuing in Zephaniah, Chapter 2:4-6, we’re told of God’s judgement and destruction of various cities. However, Zephaniah points out that there will be a remnant of people,
The few survivors of the tribe of Judah, a remnant, will pasture there. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The LORD their God will care for them; he will restore their prosperity, fortunes again. – Zephaniah 2:7

God goes on to say in verses 8-11, that Moab and Ammon will be judged and destroyed because they are mocking God-followers. They will receive the wages of their pride, laughing at the people of God. – Zeph. 2:10

God said He would also judge and destroy Ethiopia and Assyria, along with it’s great capital, Nineveh. Again because of their pride. A side note — For Zephaniah to predict the destruction of Nineveh 10 years before it happened would be equivalent to predicting the destruction of Tokyo, Moscow, or New York. Nineveh, like the our current epicenters, were the center for culture, technology, and beauty. Yet the entire city was destroyed so completely that the very existence was questioned until it was discovered, with great difficulty, by 19th-centry archaeologists. – (NLT study Bible notes)

No place, or person, is safe from the wrath of God. But a common tread throughout the Bible is the remnant. A small number, by comparison, of God-followers, who remain faithful to God through the whirlwind of life, and in turn, God promises to remain faithful to them.

Don’t get discouraged if you look around you, and you feel like everyone is “doing there own, selfish, thing”. Instead, trust that God will fulfill His promises. Ask Him to show you other people who desire to follow His ways. He will !! There is always a remnant of God-followers 🙂

Choose God!! – ZEPHANIAH – Introduction – [1]

October 28, 2014December 14, 2014buildafoundation Leave a comment

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua 24:15

The Book of Zephaniah is an Old Testament book written by Zephaniah to the nation of Judah, and all nations, between 640-621 B.C.

You can find the Book of Zephaniah near the end of the Old Testament, in between two other small books, Habakkuk and Haggai.

Zephaniah’s purpose for writing this book was to light a fire under the complacent people of Judah, and all people in the future, urging them to return back to God.

The king of Judah at the time of Zephaniah’s writing was King Josiah. King Josiah was considered a good king compared to the two previous kings of Judah, Manasseh and Amon, who were evil.

Prophets, like Zephaniah, were sent by God to give people a message. God’s way, God’s truth. They also warned people of God’s impending wrath should they choose to continue going their own way.

The Book of Zephaniah is a rather short book, containing only 3 chapters.

Chapter 1 is Zephaniah’s prophecy of terror.
Chapter 2 offers hope to those who will humble themselves before the Lord.
Chapter 3 speaks of God’s salvation and deliverance for those who have been faithful to Him.

As we read through the Book of Zephaniah, note the references to God’s judgement for those who choose their own way. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight – Isaiah 5:21.

God DOES NOT take sin lightly. Sin WILL BE punished. Always remember, God is in charge, and He will rescue and protect His adopted children.

As the people in Zephaniah’s time had to make a choice, we too have a choice to make.

Will I choose God’s ways or culture’s/man’s ways.

My parents can’t choose for me. My friends can’t choose for me. My family’s traditions can’t choose for me. I must make my choice to follow, or not follow God for myself.

Will I choose be a member of God’s family or the World’s family?