WE CAN BE OUR OWN WORST ENEMY
Zephaniah 1:1, 4-6, 14-16, 2:3
GOD\’S WORD TO US
V:1. \”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: \”
- When the Lord speaks, the best thing to do is to listen.
- When the Lord speaks, the best thing you can do is to take His Word
seriously.
- When the Lord speaks, the best thing is to expect that He will do what He
says He will do.
- The Bible is the Word of the Lord to all believers.
- The best thing we can do is to believe that He is talking directly to us.
- The best thing we can do is to expect that what He did in the past, He will
do in the future.
LEARN FROM OUR HISTORY
- What can we learn from the genealogy of the prophet Zephaniah that the Word presents to us?
- The name Zephaniah means \”Jehovah of darkness\”.
- Zephaniah\’s fathers name is Cushi which means black.
- He was the son of a black man.
- Zephaniah\’s grandfather\’s name was Gedaliah.
- The name means God is great.
- Zephaniah\’s great grandfather\’s name was Amariah.
- His name means \”stand by Jehovah\”
- He was a high priest
- Zephaniah\’s great great grandfather\’s name was Hezekiah.
a, The name means \”strength of Jehovah.\”
b, He was king of Judah.
- In Zephaniah\’s genealogy is a King and a high priest.
- Zephaniah was one of God\’s prophets.
- Jesus our Lord and Savior is Our King, High Priest and Prophet.
- He is our King because He is Lord over us.
- He is our High Priest because He makes intercessions for us
to God the Father.
- He is our Prophet because He knows the end from the beginning.
- Zephaniah\’s message is one of darkness.
- It is a wake up call to Israel to recognize the state that they were in.
- It is a wake up call to recognize the coming judgment of the Lord.
- It is a wake up call to us to recognize that God is Great.
- It is a wake up call to us that we need to stand by our Jehovah God.
- It is a wake up call to us to trust only the Lord Jesus.
THE WILL OF THE FATHER
Zephaniah 1:4-7
V:4. \”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.\”
- Jerusalem is the Holy capital of the world.
- The name Jerusalem means \”City of God\”
- The name also means \”foundation of peace\”
- The name Judah means \”I will praise Jehovah\”.
- Watch This
- The nation of Israel was settle around the City of God to be at peace with God
and to give Him praise.
- The nation of Israel committed spiritual adultery by worshipping idol gods in the
city of God.
- The consequence of their idolatrous behavior was to be cut off from God.
- They broke God\’s commands.
- They were unfaithful to God.
- They rejected the true and living God for gods made with their own hands.
- They rejected eternal life in favor of dead idols.
- They rejected the power of God for powerless idols.
- As a result, God promised to destroy all the altars of baal and their pagan priest.
- The Lord our God is a jealous God.
- He will not share His glory with anyone.
- He will destroy those who oppose Him.
- God will make corrective measures to bring back to Him.
- He chastises those He loves.
- Unforgettably, sometimes He destroys that which we rely on to get us to
rely on Him
FOOLISH TO WORSHIP IDOLS
V:5. \” those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by Molech,\”
- The nation of Israel was commanded by the Law presented to them by Moses
not to worship idol gods.
- God gave the Law to Moses around 1490 BC.
- This Word of the Lord was given to Zephaniah around 630 BC.
- The nation of Israel was a stubborn people who refused to follow God\’s commands.
- They had continuous warnings from God for 830 years of their disobedient behavior.
- God had been tolerant with Israel, but now He would execute His judgment
on Israel.
- Israel\’s sins were numerous.
- I think their worst sin was the worship of idol gods.
- They degraded themselves by swearing by their idols and the Living God in the
same breath.
- They had the evidence of the Living God in their lives on a daily basis,
yet they chose to worship dumb idols.
- They had seen the power of God work in their lives more times than they could count,
yet they chose idol gods.
- God had chastised them over and over again, yet they remained disobedient.
- It is foolish to disobey the Almighty God.
FOOLISH TO TURN AWAY FROM GOD
V:6. \” those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him.\”
- They turn their back on the Living God by worshipping idols.
- They attributed their existence and their progress to the works of something
made with their own hands.
- They held themselves accountable to superstitious beliefs.
- They had the truth in front of them, but they chose the lies of the world.
- As a result of their false beliefs, they did not trust the Living God or seek His
counsel or guidance.
- Their lack of trust in the Living God affected generations after them.
- They degraded themselves to a low standard of living by rejecting the
true and Living God.
- They rejected the righteousness of God for a sinful state.
Zephaniah 1:14-16
THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS SECOND COMING
14 \”The great day of the Lord is near — near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there.
15 That 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,
16 a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.
- To the Israelites the Lord was foretelling the coming the destruction of Jerusalem
and the 70 year captivity of the nation in Babylon.
- The consequences of Israel\’s repeated worship of idols was their destruction and
captivity.
- The destruction of Jerusalem began in 586 BC, 44 years after the Word of The
Lord came to Zephaniah.
- The Israelites did not believe that God would destroy their city or His temple.
- They did not believe the Word of the Lord.
- Unbelief of God\’s Word is the key to your destruction.
- To us, the Church, The great day of the Lord will began with the second coming of
Jesus Christ.
- We must believe that Jesus is coming back and that He will judge the living and
the dead.
- We do not know the exact time when will come back, but it maybe sooner than
you think.
- Jesus will not come back until the Gospel has been preached to the ends of
the earth ( Matthew 28:19).
- That time is now. The Bible has been translated into most languages of the world.
- Our job is to be ready for immediate return.
THE WISE DECISION
Zephaniah 2:3
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord\’s anger.
- The God we serve is a loving and a forgiving God.
- He constantly gives us opportunity to repent and turn to Him.
- He constantly reminds us of His power and His authority.
- The recent wide spread floods in the city of Houston Texas and surrounding
counties is a testimony to the greatness of God.
- Only God can cause the moisture in the air to collect into clouds then drop
billions of gallons of water in area to flood thousands of homes in a few hours.
- Only God can stop the rain and give blue skies and dry weather.
- We could attribute that to nature. But who created nature?
C, God gives us the solution to our sins and a relationship with Him.
- Seek Him.
- Humble yourself before Him.
- Follow His commandments.
- Seek the righteousness of the Lord.
SEEK THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART.
Rev M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church
5510 West Sam Houston Parkway, Houston Texas
