ZEPHANIAH FOR TODAY
Chapters 1 - 3
Zephaniah was active during the reign of Josiah. He may have been
contemporary with Nuhum, Habakkuk, and Jeremiah. If Hizkiah,
noted in 1:1 is King Hezekiah, then Zephaniah is of royal blood.
By warning his people that the day of the Lord is near, Zephaniah
may have stimulated the great reformation during Josiah's reign.
(From my old KJV Study Bible).
From The New Living Translation
CHAPTER 1
The LORD gave these messages to Zephaniah when Josiah son of Amon
was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, son of
Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah.
Coming judgment against Judah
2 "I will sweep away everything in all your land," says the LORD.
3 "I will sweep away both people and animals alike. Even the
birds of the air and the fish in the sea will die. I will reduce
the wicked to heaps of rubble, along with the rest of humanity,"
says the LORD.
......
Immediately, as like no other prophet, we are given the
clear fact that this is a prophecy for the very end time, the
very last year or there-abouts of the "day of God's wrath" (in
the OT "the day of the Lord"); the main part of the book of
Revelation. To sweep away not only animals, as well as mankind,
but the birds of the air and the fish in the sea; they will also
die. Logically, no one is going to try and figure the death of
birds and fish in the sea, with past physical battles that
mankind has brought on each other.
THIS IS CERTAINLY A PROPHECY OF THE DAY OF THE LORD, THE DAY
OF GOD'S WRATH (Revelation 6:17)!!
......
4 "I will crush Judah and Jerusalem with my fist and destroy
every last trace of their Baal worship. I will put an end to all
the idolatrous priests, so that even the memory of them will
disappear. 5 For they go up to their roofs and bow to the sun,
moon, and stars. They claim to follow the LORD, but then they
worship Molech, too. So now I will destroy them!
......
I have said it before and I will say it again. The Jewish
people of the State of Israel in the Holy Land, are A SECULAR,
NONE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY, ONLY A SMALL PART OF THEM PRACTICE
RELIGION, WHICH IS EITHER NOT CONTAINING THE MESSIAH CHRIST, OR
IS PAGAN BABYLON MYSTERY RELIGION, GOING UNDER THE NAME OF
"CHRISTIAN."
The time comes when Judah and Jerusalem will come under the
heel and the foot of the king of the North, the Babylon Beast of
Europe. We have seen it told to us time and time again in the
prophets and certainly in the book of Daniel 11:40-45, and on
into the Great Tribulation, such as never before seen on the
earth.
......
6 And I will destroy those who used to worship me but now no
longer do. They no longer ask for the LORD'S guidance or seek my
blessings."
......
Sadly many have KNOWN and CLAIMED the Bible as their guide,
but have TURNED AWAY FROM IT! Sadly many of the nations of the
Western world, once held the Bible as their STANDARD to live by
in many ways in their society and laws of the land, and in
personal lives. Today the Bible and the Eternal God have been
CAST ASIDE, thrown away, done away, and our nations are turning
more and more each year to SECULARISM; evolution is now taught
and believed as fact in our school systems and TV news programs.
We shall one day pay for our turning away from our God.
......
7 Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign LORD, for the
awesome day of the LORD'S judgment has come. The LORD has
prepared his people for a great slaughter and has chosen their
executioners. 8 "On that day of judgment," says the LORD, "I will
punish the leaders and princes of Judah and all those following
pagan customs. 9 Yes, I will punish those who participate in
pagan worship ceremonies, and those who steal and kill to fill
their masters' homes with loot.
......
The DAY OF GOD'S JUDGMENT on Judah, Israel, and all nations,
WILL COME! It will surely be the time when FALSE PAGAN BABYLON
MYSTERY religion will not only be exposed but will be punished
and will also COME TO AN END, for Christ, with power and judgment
will come to earth to destroy all that is false, and to bring in
the restoration of all things that is good, holy, and righteous.
......
10 "On that day," says the LORD, "a cry of alarm will come from
the Fish Gate and echo throughout the newer Mishneh section* (Or
the Second Quarter: a newer section of Jerusalem) of the city.
And a great crashing sound will come from the surrounding hills.
11 Wail in sorrow, all you who live in the market area, for all
who buy and sell there will die.
12 "I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem's darkest corners to
find and punish those who sit contented in their sins, indiff-
erent to the LORD, thinking he will do nothing at all to them. 13
They are the very ones whose property will be plundered by the
enemy, whose homes will be ransacked. They will never have a
chance to live in the new homes they have built. They will never
drink wine from the vineyards they have planted.
......
The king of the North, will have come down from the Beast
Empire of Europe, it will have come against the king of the South
(Egypt and her Arab partners) and destroyed them (Daniel 11:40-
43); then it will enter the Holy Land, surround Jerusalem, make
it desolate; it will be the abomination that makes desolate (as
I've shown you in many other studies on prophecy on this
Website). It will be the time for Judah and the Jews to be
punished for their sins and their ungodliness and secularism.
This will be the start of the Greatest Tribulation to ever be
experienced on earth; there will be no time like it, either
before or ever after. It will indeed be "Jacob's Trouble" as
Jeremiah called it (Jer.30:7). All the nations of Israel and the
nation of Judah will enter captivity and slavery, for the time
appointed.
......
14 "That terrible day of the LORD is near. Swiftly it comes - a
day when strong men will cry bitterly. 15 It is a day when the
LORD's anger will be poured out. It is a day of terrible distress
and anguish, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and
gloom, of clouds, blackness, 16 trumpet calls, and battle cries.
Down go the walled cities and strongest battlements!
......
The "day of the Lord" now comes; the "great day of His
wrath" is has come. The TRUMPETS will indeed sound! It will be a
time of gloom, blackness, battle cries. It will be the time when
all that is written in the book of Revelation form chapter 6:17,
will come to pass.
......
17 "Because you have sinned against the LORD, I will make you as
helpless as a blind man searching for a path. Your blood will be
poured out into the dust, and your bodies will lie there rotting
on the ground."
18 Your silver and gold will be of no use to you on that day of
the Lord's anger. For the whole land will be devoured by the fire
of his jealousy. He will make a terrifying end of all the people
on earth.* (Or "people living in the land")
......
We know from all the prophecies of the Bible and the end
times, that SOME people will live through all this great "day of
the Lord." Those in the Holy Land, the "beast" man and the false
prophet with their armies, the kings of the East, the mighty
nations to the east and north of the Euphrates river, will have
armies in the Middle East. They all will unite together to fight
Christ and the saints and angels, as the Kin g of Kings returns
to earth. The battle is described in Revelation 16 and 14; also
in Zechariah 14. It will be the final battle of battles to end
the might of the Beast power and kings of the East. It will be NO
CONTEST! Jesus will sound the war trumpet and He will melt the
flesh right off the bones of those who come against Him.
......
CHAPTER 2
A Call to Repentance
1 Gather together and pray, you shameless nation. 2 Gather while
there is still time, before judgment begins and your opportunity
is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the
LORD falls and the terrible day of the LORD'S anger begins. 3 Beg
the LORD to save you - all you who are humble, all you who uphold
justice. Walk humbly and do what is right. Perhaps even yet the
LORD will protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.
......
It is not too late for YOU dear reader, to listen to the
words of the Lord. He calls you to REPENT! He calls you to
acknowledge what SIN IS! To admit YOU are a sinner in need of His
mercy and grace and salvation. To those living when all these
things come on the earth, the Lord calls to you to REPENT! Seek
what is right and good and holy. HUMBLE yourself and it may be
that you will be spared the physical destruction to come on the
nations during the terrible anger of the Lord. Even if you will
not be spared but must die, you will be in the FIRST resurrection
at the sound of the 7th TRUMPET, and rise to meet the Lord in the
air, in the clouds, and to rule with Him for evermore.
......
Judgment against Philistia
4 Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron - these Philistine cities, too,
will be rooted out and left in desolation. 5 And how terrible it
will be for you Philistines who live along the coast and in the
land of Canaan, for this judgment is against you, too! The LORD
will destroy you until not one of you is left. 6 The coastal area
will become a pasture, a place of shepherd camps and enclosures
for sheep.
7 The few survivors of the tribe of Judah will pasture there.
They will lie down to rest in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon.
For the LORD their God will visit his people in kindness and
restore their prosperity again.
......
We have seen in other of the prophet books that the land of
the Palestinians (the Philistines) shall not escape destruction.
they will be punished for their hostility and violence upon the
children of Judah. That land area will become the Promised Land
to the Israelites as it was given and promised to Abraham and his
seed.
......
Judgment against Moab and Ammon
8 "I have heard the taunts of the people of Moab and Ammon,
mocking my people and invading their borders. 9 Now, as surely as
I live," says the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, "Moab and
Ammon will be destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah.
Their land will become a place of stinging nettles, salt pits,
and eternal desolation. Those of my people who are left will
plunder them and take their land."
10 They will receive the wages of their pride, for they have
scoffed at the people of the LORD Almighty. 11 The LORD will
terrify them as he destroys all the gods in the land. Then people
from nations around the world will worship the LORD, each in
their own land.
......
Yes, we have also seen that Moab and Ammon - the people of
Jordan - will be punished for their sins and iniquities, and the
evil they have done against the Jews of Judah. They will first be
given to the men of the East (Ezekiel 25) and at the very end
time and the last great battle time of Armageddon, and the
redemption of the Jews and Jerusalem (as well as all Israelites
of all tribes), the people of Judah will take and plunder the
people and land of Jordan. The land of Jordan will now be indeed
part of the Promised Land for all the tribes of Israel to possess
and rebuild. All false gods of all false religions will be
abolished and the Lord will be King and Priest. All nations will
come under the rulership of Christ, and all nations will WORSHIP
only Him!
......
Judgment against Ethiopia and Assyria
12 "You Ethiopians (Heb."Cushites") will also be slaughtered by
my sword," says the LORD. 13 And the LORD will strike the lands
of the north with his fist. He will destroy Assyria and make its
great capital, Nineveh, a desolate wasteland, parched like a
desert. 14 The city that once was so proud will become a pasture
for sheep and cattle. All sorts of wild animals will settle
there. Owls of many kinds will live among the ruins of its
palaces, hooting from the gaping windows. Rubble will block all
the doorways, and the cedar panelling will he open to the wind
and weather.
15 This is the fate of that boisterous city, once so secure. "In
all the world there is no city as great as I," it boasted. But
now, look how it has become an utter ruin, a place where animals
live! Everyone passing that way will laugh in derision or shake a
defiant fist.
......
The king of the South will be punished and meet with
destruction and desolation, at the hands of the king of the North
or the Babylon Beast of Europe (Daniel 11:40-45). Then the GERMAN
(Assyria) BEAST BABYLON of Europe will be punished. That last -
7th - resurrected Holy Roman Empire in Europe, will come crashing
down, as all the prophets tell us. The once GREAT and PROUD
German nation and its capital city will lay in ruins. We have
seen that during the day of the Lord, the mighty kings of the
East, the nations prepared for a day and an hour, will sweep
across the land of Europe with destruction that will kill ONE
THIRD of mankind left on the earth, up to the "day of the Lord"
(Revelation 9 and the 6th angel sounding).
The city of BERLIN will not be built again as it was after
the great SECOND WORLD WAR! It will lay in rubble for a long
time, to teach and stand as an example of PRIDE and SIN!
......
CHAPTER 3
Jerusalem's Rebellion and Redemption
1 How terrible it will be for rebellious, polluted Jerusalem, the
city of vioLence and crime. 2 It proudly refuses to listen even
to the voice of the LORD. No one can tell it anything; it refuses
all correction. It does not trust in the LORD or draw near to its
God.
3 Its leaders are like roaring lions hunting for their victims -
out for everything they can get. 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 laws. 5 But the
LORD is still there in the city, and he does no wrong. Day by day
his justice is more evident, but no one takes notice - the wicked
know no shame.
......
There is no word lost on the state of Jerusalem today and
into the very last 42 months of this age. It is NOT a Godly city!
The Lord pulls on punches; the words are clear; the condemnation
is blinding. Its leaders in secular and religious society are
sinners who defile the laws of God. Truth is still there for the
seeking. This Website goes to all nations of the earth. And for
sure in the last 42 months of this age, God will have His TWO
WITNESSES in Jerusalem, PROCLAIMING the very WORD and LAWS of
Eternal! (Revelation 11).
......
6 "I have wiped out many nations, devastating their fortress
walls and towers. Their cities are now deserted; their streets
are in silent ruin. There are no survivors to even tell what
happened. 7 I thought, 'Surely they will have reverence for me
now! Surely they will listen to my warnings, so I won't need to
strike again.' But no; however much I punish them, they continue
their evil practices from dawn till dusk and dusk till dawn."
......
Oh indeed it will be so. They will, even after God STRIKES
WITH MIGHTY BLOWS with His arms of war; they will STILL ***NOT***
REPENT! It is AMAZING but it will be so, see Revelation 9:20,21).
......
8 So now the LORD says: "Be patient; the time is coming soon when
I will stand up and accuse these evil nations. For it is my
decision to gather together the kingdoms of the earth and pour
out my fiercest anger and fury on them. All the earth will be
devoured by the fire of my jealousy.
......
The AMPLIFICATION is given to us in the 16th chapter of
Revelation!
......
9 "On that day I will purify the lips of all people, so that
everyone will be able to worship the LORD together. My scattered
people who live beyond the rivers of Ethiopia* (Heb."Cush") will
come to present their offerings. 11 And then you will no longer
need to be ashamed of yourselves, for you will no longer be
rebels against me. I will remove all the proud and arrogant
people from among you. There will be no pride on my holy
mountain. 12 Those who are left will be the lowly and the humble,
for it is they who trust in the name of the LORD. 13 The people
of Israel who survive will do no wrong to each other, never
telling lies or deceiving one another. They will live peaceful
lives, lying down to sleep in safety; there will be no one to
make them afraid."
......
Can the last words, the last few sentences, be said to have
EVER been fulfilled on ANY PEOPLE? NOT AT ALL! This is a prophecy
for the FUTURE! There will come a pure language, a language for
all people, a universal language. The "English" language is today
the universal language. There will be a worldwide language (I'm
not saying it will be English - we are not told the language) in
the age to come. All peoples, everywhere, will be able to worship
God in the same language. This also is not to say that different
languages will be wiped away. We are not told exactly how it will
be; we shall wait to find out; we shall know in that day.
All pride and arrogant people will not be in that day and
age. Those left alive will be LOWLY and HUMBLE! Surely this is
NOT so today. The MAJORITY of Israel and Judah (and all nations
in fact) are NOT "humble" as the Word of the Lord defines
"humble"; this is a prophecy for the FUTURE!
......
14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and
rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 For the
LORD will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the
armies of your enemy. And the LORD himself, the King of Israel,
will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you
will fear disaster no more.
......
Oh, can you see it? Can you grasp the days of this prophecy?
THE LORD WILL CAST AWAY THE ENEMIES OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL! THE LORD
WILL REMOVE HIS HAND OF JUDGMENT. THE LORD WILL ***LIVE AMONG THE
PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AND IN JERUSALEM*** AS ALL THE PROPHETS
PROCLAIM! THE PROPHECIES OF THE FIRST COMING OF THE MESSIAH WERE
FULFILLED LITERALLY. SO SHALL THE PROPHECIES OF HIS SECOND
GLORIOUS COMING BE FULFILLED LITERALLY!!
......
16 On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, "Cheer up,
Zion! Don't be afraid! For the LORD your God has arrived to live
among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will rejoice over you with
great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He
will exult over you by singing a happy song."
......
THERE IT IS AGAIN FRIENDS! JERUSALEM WILL SING! THE LORD GOD
HAS ARRIVED, HE LIVES IN THE CITY OF JERUSALEM. HE HAS COME TO
BRING SALVATION TO ALL NATIONS! HE WILL SHOW LOVE AND MERCY! HE
WILL CALM ALL FEARS! HE WILL SING A HAPPY SONG!
THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME TO EARTH!
......
8 "I will gather you who mourn for the appointed festivals; you
will be disgraced no more. 19 And I will deal severely with all
who have oppressed you. I will save the weak and helpless ones; I
will bring together those who were chased away. I will give glory
and renown to my former exiles, who have been mocked and shamed.
20 On that day I will gather you together and bring you home
again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction among
all the nations of the earth. They will praise you as I restore
your fortunes before their very eyes. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
......
DO THESE WORDS BRING TEARS TO YOUR EYES? DO THEY MAKE YOU
WANT TO GET UP AND DANCE AND SING PRAISES OF THE LORD? IS THIS
NOT WHAT ALL GOD'S CHILDREN YEARN FOR?
ISRAEL AND JUDAH, YOU WHO HAVE BEEN BLESSED SO MUCH WITH NOT
ONLY THE PHYSICAL RICHES OF THE WORLD, BUT ALSO WITH THE
SPIRITUAL RICHES OF HAVING HIS WORD, GIVING HIS WORD OUT TO THE
REST OF THE WORLD FOR MANY CENTURIES; YOU HAVE DEPARTED FROM YOUR
GOD; YOU WILL NEED TO BE CORRECTED AND PUNISHED; BUT YOU WILL BE
RESTORED; YOU WILL BE REGATHERED; YOU WILL BE BROUGHT HOME TO THE
LAND OF PROMISE; YOU WILL HAVE AGAIN A GOOD NAME AMONG ALL
NATIONS; THEY WILL SEE YOU BLESSED AND MULTIPLIED; THE LORD WILL
LIVE AMONG YOU; JERUSALEM WILL BE THE THRONE OF HIS KINGDOM AND
THE WORLD WILL WORSHIP HIM AND HIM ONLY.
SO THE LORD HAS WRITTEN; SO THE LORD HAS SPOKEN; AND SO
SHALL IT COME TO PASS!!
AMEN AND AMEN!
....................
Entered on this Website September 2008
