Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.  Zephaniah 1:18

Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.  Zephaniah 3:8

Zephaniah - The person

• Zephaniah, who prophesied in the days of King Josiah (Zephaniah 1:1)
• He was a great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah (1:1)
• ...which made him a relative of King Josiah (641–609 b.c.).
• Zephaniah was a prime mover of a great reformation (see 2 Chronicles 34),
• He was royalty!
• He was brought about by Josiah, who came to the throne after the 55-year-long wicked reign of Manasseh.
• This prophecy of Zephaniah was  spoken not many years before Judah's day of doom struck:
• ...in 586 b.c. the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and took the people of Judah to Babylonia.

• It will be a day of terror and is about to come upon Judah and the surrounding nations.
• Read all of chapter one
• don't skip any verses!
• II Corinthians 5:11 - Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
• The "day" of judgment is mentioned over and over.
• 1:7-10 - ... for the day of the LORD is at hand: ... the day of the LORD's sacrifice, ...In the same day ... in that day...
• 1:14 - The great day of the LORD is near... even the voice of the day of the LORD
• 1:15 -That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
• 1:16 - ... A day of the trumpet and alarm
• 1:18 - ... the day of the LORD's wrath...
• 2:2,3 - ... the day of the LORD's anger ...
• 3:8 - ... the day that I rise up to the prey...
• Settled on their lees
• 1:12 -  And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
• lee - Literally, a calm or sheltered place, a place defended from the wind;
• Zephaniah is an unmistakable reference to the Babylonian invasion and to Judah's captivity, which followed 20 years after this prophecy.
• Finally, it is also shows the catastrophes that will happen at the time of the end, pictured more fully in the book of Revelation.

• Molech (1:5) is the god especially of the Ammonites.
•  And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;
• To please some of his wives, Solomon introduced Molech worship in Israel.
• I Kings 11:7,8 -  Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
• The worship of Molech involved child sacrifices.
• II Chronicles 33:6a - And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom:
• During and after the time of King Manasseh, the main place for the worship of Molech was the Valley of Ben Hinnom
• II Chronicles 33:6 - And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
• whose Hebrew name (ge-hinnom) later was used as a Greek name for hell (gehenna) because of the evil committed there.
• The English King James word for Hell is "Hell."  Seems to say it all well, eh!

• God provides a 'way out' for his people...
• 2:1-3 - Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD's anger come upon you. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger.
• Then the nations receive God's wrath, etc.
• Zephaniah 2:4-11 - specific details
• Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron (2:4) were cities of the Philistines. “Cherethites” (2:5) is another name for Philistines.
• Cushites (2:12): Cush was south of Egypt and north of Ethiopia; at the time of Zephaniah, a Cushite dynasty ruled Egypt.
• Within 20 years all these lands — Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Cush, and Assyria, the terror of the world, with its proud capital Nineveh — would lay desolate under the heel of Babylon.
• Nineveh's judgment and God's reasoning for His judgment...
• Zephaniah 2:12-3:7
• vs 2:15 - the city that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me...
• vs 3:2 - She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.
• vs 3:3 - Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
• vs 3:4 - Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
• This assembly of the nations and the pouring out of God's wrath on them (3:8) is also a foreshadowing of God's judgment poured out of the seven vials of God's wrath on the earth in Revelation 16:1...
• ...And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
• Even worse than Zephaniah's time!
• Matthew 24:21 - For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

• 3:1-8 - More woe!
• vss 1,2 - Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
• More why!
• vs 2 - She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.
• note:  compare to Paul's dispensation of grace, etc. today
• 3:9-20 - The calm after the storm.
• vs 17 - ... he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy, etc.
• vs 18 - will gather them that are sorrowful for the solomn assembly
• vs 19 - I will undo all that afflict thee...
• vs 20 - ...I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth...
• Three times the prophet speaks of a remnant being saved
• 2:3 - Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger.
• 2:7 - And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.
• 3:12–13 - I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
• and twice he mentions their return from captivity
• 2:7 - And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.
• 3:20 - At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.

This is where we once again see the modern Christian 'thinking' or 'correction' and the foundation of false teachings.

• Zephaniah 3:9 - For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
• False Teachings about this pure language.
• Halley's Handbook says, Then the Lord will “purify the lips of the peoples” so that they may all, near and far, worship God.  Pure lips are lips that speak truth and worship in truth.
• "Lips of the people?"  Where do they get that idea?
• This is the prediction of a complete and perfect revelation of God.
• Nothing written, eh?
• Makes sense for today?
• As a result of this revelation, converts from among all nations will be brought to God, joyful with glad songs of redemption, so that all the earth will resound with the praise of God's people.
• How about the same reasons today?
• If not, we have nothing - Pentecostals & Rick Warren, etc. would be right...
• These passages seem to predict the millennial reign of Christ (Revelation 20:4–6) on earth that will follow the tribulation.

• This is what unity is!
• This is what would bring all doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness to a point where the Lord would be served with one consent.
• Look at the results of what a rightly divided King James Bible could do if it was given and taught to the world correctly!!
• I Corinthians 13:10 - But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
• Psalm 119:89 - For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
• Matthew 24:35 - Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
• Psalms 12:6,7 - The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
• II Corinthians 2:17 - For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
• Even though, we know in those perilous times, there will also be a famine of those same words!
• Amos 8:11-12 - Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.