Zephaniah Part One Dive

IMAGINE CHRISTMAS LUNCH AFTER THIS!

Have you ever felt God that wanted you to tell someone something but you really didn’t want to do it? Maybe it was too awkward, maybe you were scared it was wrong or maybe you were close to the person you needed to prophesy over, and you really didn’t want to say it and then have to hang out with them afterwards. It’s one thing to prophesy over a complete stranger but another to prophesy over family, and in the first verse of Zephaniah, we find out that is what he is about to do.

Z 1:1 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…

Zephaniah was a descendant of the king that is currently reigning, Josiah. This is the ‘King’s prophet’ and the message is strong and offensive. Would you say it if God asked you to?

Now I know they didn’t have Christmas lunch at this stage: so Zephaniah didn’t have to worry about that! But they were strong on family. You can imagine the battle going on within Zephaniah when this word came to him. “Seriously Lord,” he probably thought, “couldn’t we tone it down a little bit? I mean, they are my relatives! Couldn’t we begin with a nice intro, you know, warm them up a bit before we ‘shoot them down’?” But no! As your read Zephaniah, there is no nice intro, just straight into it.

Z 1:2 “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.

And then it gets worse:

Z 1:8 On the day of the LORD’S sacrifice I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes.

Now we are getting personal – did you just say the ‘king’s sons’? I am officially the weirdo of the family now! But wait, there is more.

Z 1:15 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 – a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.

I think Zephaniah would have been relegated to the kids’ table at family gatherings for this!

But he doesn’t stop, the Lord then gets personal, going city by city: Judah, Philistia, Moab and Ammon, Cush, Assyria and Jerusalem. Like I said in the Snapshot video, check out a map online as you read Chapters 2-3 so you can see where he is prophesying to. If you think that’s enough, it doesn’t stop there.

Z 3:3 Her officials within her are roaring lions; her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning.

Actually, I don’t think he will be invited to Christmas at all anymore!

But are these just the words of a man? Should Zephaniah be blamed for these words? The thing to notice about the prophecy of Zephaniah is that it begins with ‘declares the LORD’ in Chapter 1:2 and end with ‘says the LORD’ in Chapter 3:20. Zephaniah was just the mouthpiece, the message was from God. Sometimes you need to be the mouthpiece and say the message that God has given you. This is more about obedience to God than pleasing man and your family, and that is hard! But Zephaniah did it, otherwise this would just be notes in Zephaniah’s journal rather than in our Bible for the world to read.

Let’s go back to the introduction and Zephaniah’s family line and dig a little deeper before we finish. Zephaniah’s direct descendants (Cushi, Gedaliah, Amariah) were all prophets. Hezekiah was the king of Judah. Some scholars say that Zephaniah chose to put the names and long genealogy in (longer than any other prophetic text) to show that not only was he from the lineage of the king, he was from the prophetic lineage, not from the lineage of Manasseh (the bad king). This is more his credentials to prophesy than a humble brag! Josiah would know that Zephaniah came from the prophetic, godly side of the family and from the first sentence it screams, “Take notice, this one is coming from Yahweh Himself”!

This was God’s message to His people, His city and the nations around it. This is God’s sentencing moment, present and future. Let me show you some of the charges against them, so you don’t think that God is just being a fussy, wrathful God.

They are:

Z 1:3 worshipping idols causing the wicked to stumble
Z 1:4 worshipping Baal in Jerusalem with temples and priests
Z 1:5 swearing by the LORD and Molek (just in case God doesn’t come through!)
Z 1:6 turning back from following the LORD and neither seeking the LORD nor inquiring of him.
Z 1:12 complacency – the LORD will do nothing, either good or bad

And that is only in the first chapter, so highlight them as you go. As you highlight, notice that there are some charges in here that are a warning to us; turning back from following God, complacency, not inquiring of Him. Wow, that is convicting and, for me, a challenge to adjust some things in my life as I read this book.

Zephaniah isn’t just about being true to the Word that He gives us no matter what He tells us to say, nor is it about sitting back in our comfortable pews and waiting for the wrath and judgement on those who don’t follow Him (though most of us are comfortable with this position). This book is about looking at our own hearts and using this as a measuring rod. As Zephaniah goes through the sins and charges of each, self-assess and ask yourself if these charges would be against you also. Is there anything in this book that you need to adjust in your life? Even though we are under the grace of Jesus, that doesn’t mean that we can act any way we want to.

So, as you read Zephaniah, imagine having to say these words to your family. Be informed about the ‘Day of the Lord’ and use it as a measuring rod to see if there is anything you need to adjust in your life!

Have a great time in the first couple of chapters in Zephaniah!

Zephaniah Part One Dive

IMAGINE CHRISTMAS LUNCH AFTER THIS!

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