November 3 Sermon Bones (just the skeleton of the message)
·                     Scripture: Zephaniah 1:10-18, 3:9-20
·                     Message/Theme: The glory of the gospel is this, that the one from whom we need to be saved is the very one who saves us. The Lord rejoices over you.
  Introduction: Reversal of Fortune            An Australian dog named Lucky has lived up to his name. As the Bendigo Advertiser reports, a family from Bendigo in Victoria were walking their pet on May 12 (this year) when they literally stumbled upon a hunk of rock resembling gold on the ground. Experts have confirmed that the 20-ounce nugget is indeed gold, and in its intact state it's worth an estimated $24,000.A father and his two daughters—who wish to remain anonymous—were taking their dog Lucky for a morning walk when one of the girls hit something with her foot. She noticed it wasn't an ordinary rock, and asked her Dad if it might be gold. He suspected it was and took their find to a nearby supermarket to weigh it on the deli scale.            Weighing over a pound, the gold nugget could earn the family a small fortune if they wish to sell it. The father says he does plan to find a buyer eventually; he had been struggling financially, and he told the reporter the lucky event "couldn't be better timing."            The family has decided to keep the location of the discovery a secret. They plan to go for more walks in the area in hopes of striking gold twice. Can you imagine that? What a reversal of fortune!  The reversal of fortune  in Zephaniah is way more dramatic, form the Day of the Lord and wrath, to God singing over God's people. I) Zephaniah·                     The book of Zephaniah is just three chapters long and is composed of the collected oracles of the prophet arranged according to subject matter, thereby yielding three major literary units. Zephaniah 1:2-2;4, oracles of divine judgment against Judah and Jerusalem, Zephaniah 2:5-3:8 oracles of divine judgment against the nations, and Zephaniah 3:9-20 oracles of divine promise to the nations and to Judah and Jerusalem.
·                     Except for the very first verse (1:1), the entire book is written in poetic form.  Assonance and repetition are key poetic devices in his work.   The prophet has a penchant for drawing examples from the natural order to illustrate realities within the social order.  For example, corrupt officials are judges are called "roaring lions" and "evening wolves."
·                     Zephaniah's ministry took place during the reign of King Josiah in Judah (640-609 BC). The materials in chapter 1 and2 of the book were probably preached by the prophet shortly after 640 BC. They reflected the terrible reigns of King Manasseh (687-642 BC) and Amon (642-640 BC) who preceded Josiah on the Judean throne and who were totally of subservient to Assyria. These two kings allowed widespread idolatry throughout their realm: the worship of foreign gods; foreign temples; temple prostitution; and child sacrifice.
·                     The people of Judah had long since turned their backs on God, not only in their personal lives but also in their worship. This reflected the depth of their sin and the deep need for God’s people to be purged on their path to restoration. II) Symptoms of their Spiritual RotThresholds·                     "On that day I will punish all who avoid stepping on the threshold, who fill the temple of their gods with violence and deceit" (Zephaniah 1:9). A threshold is that strip of wood, metal, or stone which is at the doorway when you enter a room. It’s also that thing you carry your new bride over when you walk into the door - a type of entry point we generally think of as good and has come to symbolize a new beginning.·                     For homes in Zephaniah’s time, the threshold was made of a single stone that spanned the doorway and was raised slightly above the door. Entryways in ancient culture were considered both sacred and vulnerable. It was thought that many demons would be lurking about around the entry to your home, so people in Zephaniah’s day were leaping over thresholds. They leaped over the threshold so as not to allow evil spirits and evil gods to gain admission. Superstition.·                     A display of the depth of the Israelites idolatry. They went to great trouble to adhere to the most minute detail of superstition and yet they trampled upon God’s law and ignore the most fundamental aspects of it.Complacency·                     Not only were they patronizing God, not only were they neglecting God, but they were trivializing God. Marginalizing God, saying he's not really a factor in the equation of our lives, he really doesn't matter one way or the other.
·                     Think of today's times and people who challenge the very existence of God... "If there is a God may he strike me down with lightning... see - no God."
 A New Testament example of doubting the Lord's action - complacency lulling us into danger·                     2 Peter 3 sounds not unlike Zephaniah
3Dear friends, this is now my second
letter to you. I have written both of themas reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.2I want you to recall the words spoken inthe past by the holy prophets and thecommand given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.3First of all, you must understand that in
the last days scoffers will come, scoffing
and following their own evil desires.4They will say, "Where is this 'coming'
he promised? Ever since our fathersdied, everything goes on as it has sincethe beginning of creation."5But they deliberately forget that longago by God's word the heavens existedand the earth was formed out of waterand by water.6By these waters also the world of thattime was deluged and destroyed.7By the same word the present heavensand earth are reserved for fire, beingkept for the day of judgment anddestruction of ungodly men.8But do not forget this one thing, dearfriends: With the Lord a day is like athousand years, and a thousand yearsare like a day.We should be glad for God's timing... always there is a purpose9The Lord is not slow in keeping his
promise, as some understand slowness.He is patient with you, not wantinganyone to perish, but everyone to cometo repentance.10But the day of the Lord will come like a
thief. The heavens will disappear with aroar; the elements will be destroyed byfire, and the earth and everything in itwill be laid bare.11Since everything will be destroyed inthis way, what kind of people ought youto be? You ought to live holy and godly lives12as you look forward to the day of Godand speed its coming. That day willbring about the destruction of theheavens by fire, and the elements willmelt in the heat.13But in keeping with his promise we arelooking forward to a new heaven and anew earth, the home of righteousness.14So then, dear friends, since you are
looking forward to this, make everyeffort to be found spotless, blamelessand at peace with him.15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience
means salvation, just as our dear
brother Paul also wrote you with thewisdom that God gave him.16He writes the same way in all hisletters, speaking in them of thesematters. His letters contain some thingsthat are hard to understand, whichignorant and unstable people distort, asthey do the other Scriptures, to theirown destruction.17Therefore, dear friends, since youalready know this, be on your guard sothat you may not be carried away by theerror of lawless men and fall from yoursecure position. This Day of the Lord, is carried forward through the New Testament.  A day when all of history and life will come to a final point.
III) The Day of the Lord·                     Forming the background of Zephaniah is preaching is his announcement of the eminent coming of the Day of the Lord, literally - the "Day of Yahweh," of that time when God will pour out his destroying judgment on all his enemies, including those among his own people.
·                     The expression “Day of the Lord” is used by Zephaniah more often than by any other Old testament writer, and is described as a day that is near (1:7), and as a day of wrath, distress, devastation, desolation, thick darkness, and alarm (1:15,16,18). Because of Judah's idolatry and indifference toward God, because of the pride of the foreign nations, the Lord will "utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth" (1:2). Yet even within these oracles of divine wrath, the prophet exhorted the people to seek the Lord, offering a shelter in the midst of judgment (2:3), and proclaiming the promise of eventual salvation for His believing remnant (2:7; 3:9–20).
·                     The origin of the Day of Yahweh goes back to the Holy Wars as God's people took possession of the Promised land - God would fight on their behalf and bring the victory.  It didn't matter how big the enemy was because God was on their side.  The concept grew - whenever Israel was oppressed they anticipated a Day of Lord when God would fight on their behalf, exalting Israel and putting down other nations. In our times the same idea exists for the second coming of Christ, when all opposition is gone and there will only be Christ's Kingdom.
·                     God is holy and in his holiness he will purge sin and bring justice. If there is no turning to God there will only be judgment as he sets things right. All of this judgment is due to one thing. We see it there in the middle of verse 1:17, "because they have saved against the Lord."
·                     Seek the Lord. He alone is your hope. Seek the Lord.
 Israel could understand a day of wrath and darkness against other nations, they even longed for it, but why would they need to be warned or threatened by it? God is ultimately more fair than we want...·                     We want God to automatically fight on our side, but maybe we should automatically be fighting on God's side.  And God is against sin
·                     Matthew 5:45 "He causes his sun to rise on  the righteous and the unrighteous."  And God will not tolerate and purge sin wherever it is found.
 We don't even think God is fair when we are on the receiving end of grace and salvation·                     Read Matthew 20:1-16 The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”·                     Israel is not prepared to be last...
Think about this·                     If two people commit the same wrongful act, but one knows better… Do you treat them the same? Probably the consequences are the same, because 1+2 does equal 3, pretty much every time. But, your level of disappointment or grief is through the roof when you know they should know better.
 Jesus struggled with the same sense of entitlement and Spiritual blindness·                     Matthew 23:37-39
37"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who killthe prophets and stone those sent toyou, how often I have longed to gatheryour children together, as a hen gathersher chicks under her wings, but youwere not willing.38Look, your house is left to you desolate.39For I tell you, you will not see meagain until you say, 'Blessed is he whocomes in the name of the Lord.' " Amos, prior to the fall of the Northern Kingdom talks about that Day of the Lord in this manner·                     Read Amos 5:18-20
18 Woe to you who long    for the day of the Lord!Why do you long for the day of the Lord?    That day will be darkness, not light.19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion    only to meet a bear,as though he entered his house    and rested his hand on the wall    only to have a snake bite him.20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?·                     Dark, not Light - same kind of imagery as Zephaniah
·                     Amos censured Israel more heavily than any of the other surrounding nations around him precisely because Israel alone had been called into special relationship with God.
·                     We are responsible to our maker and Lord, and his question to us is the same question he asked at the beginning when Adam and Eve had committed their sin, God asked them, "what is this that you have done? (Genesis 3:13).: It will do us no good to try to deny our responsibility or try to flee.
 Jeremiah says it this way: Jeremiah 30:12-1512"This is what the Lord says: " 'Yourwound is incurable, your injury beyond healing.13There is no one to plead your cause,no remedy for your sore, no healing for you.14All your allies have forgotten you; theycare nothing for you. I have struck youas an enemy would and punished youas would the cruel, because your guilt isso great and your sins so many.15Why do you cry out over your wound,your pain that has no cure? Because ofyour great guilt and many sins I havedone these things to you. The Message of Doom is not God's last word on the subject...·                     God has repeatedly tried to call his covenant people, Judah, back to himself, but Judah has been unmoved by his instruction to them through the prophet, through scripture, nature, and military defeat of their enemies. Therefore the end is coming upon them and upon all nations. There will however, be left a remnant of faithful in Judah, who will humbly depend on God and fulfillment of the covenant with God. With these faithful few God will rejoice and dwell in their midst as their King -- a total reversal of fortunes.
 IV) Hope and Jeremiah·                     Jeremiah was a contemporary of Zephaniah.  His writings are much more extensive - not a 'minor' prophet in that regard.
·                     Think about this with regard to prophecy - a book like Habakkuk was written all in one particular year.  Amos is short as well.  A prophetic ministry like Jeremiah's and Isaiah's took place over decades and there were scribes (Baruch) who wrote their words down more diligently.  They often spoke God's words to warn God's people, to try and get them to turn back to God.  And those were recorded in their historical context of impending doom.  But because God's ultimate plan is for salvation, not punishment, their words often contain hope and promises - prophetic words for what still to come.  So like Isaiah, the last part of his book was probably recorded and recalled after his ministry and years later.  As they were experiencing the foretold wrath or exile (and thus we use language like 2nd Isaiah, etc). The later recordings often have the hope in them - because in Exile you hold on to those promises and long for God's salvation... presuming you have come to your senses and turned back to God.
·                     In a short book - like a Minor Prophet, you get the warning and condemnation of sin in a big way (there are dire consequences), but then it seems like you get the little smidgen of promise almost in the same breath.  So which is it? Condemnation or hope?  It is both, but made confusing because there is no sense of time lapse and feeling for what the people are experiencing in that moment.  Much slower movement in Jeremiah or Isaiah so ideas feel more developed.
             So hear this famous verse from Jeremiah in context... We have all heard  it, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Zephaniah could have said them... the context is exactly the same as Zephaniah'sRead Jeremiah 29:4-144This is what the Lord Almighty, the Godof Israel, says to all those I carried intoexile from Jerusalem to Babylon:5"Build houses and settle down; plantgardens and eat what they produce.6Marry and have sons and daughters;find wives for your sons and give yourdaughters in marriage, so that they toomay have sons and daughters. Increasein number there; do not decrease.7Also, seek the peace and prosperity ofthe city to which I have carried you intoexile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if itprospers, you too will prosper."8Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, theGod of Israel, says: "Do not let theprophets and diviners among youdeceive you. Do not listen to the dreamsyou encourage them to have.9They are prophesying lies to you in myname. I have not sent them," declares the Lord.Note: This is the promise of a future that is good and contrary to the doom they presently see.10This is what the Lord says: "Whenseventy years are completed forBabylon, I will come to you and fulfill mygracious promise to bring you back tothis place.Here we go now...11For I know the plans I have for you,"
declares the Lord, "plans to prosper youand not to harm you, plans to give youhope and a future.12Then you will call upon me and comeand pray to me, and I will listen to you.13You will seek me and find me whenyou seek me with all your heart.14I will be found by you," declares theLord, "and will bring you back fromcaptivity. I will gather you from all thenations and places where I havebanished you," declares the Lord, "andwill bring you back to the place fromwhich I carried you into exile." ·                     Zephaniah tells us that God has provided salvation, and not just in the escape from God's judgment, but an entrance into God's very joy. Many will want to flee God's wrath, to escape it, but we can't escape it.  Instead we should know and seek God's redemption. The wrath is just, and the redemption is a gift.
 Read Zephaniah 3:9-20 - that third section of the book,: oracles of divine promise to the nations and to Judah and Jerusalem.
(3:20) At that time I will gather you; at thattime I will bring you home. I will give youhonor and praise among all the peoplesof the earth when I restore your fortunesbefore your very eyes," says the Lord . ·                     Charles Spurgeon says it this way, "Believer, you are happy when God blesses you, but not as happy as God is. You are glad when you are pardoned, but he who pardons you is more glad. The prodigal son came back to his home and was very happy to see his father, but not as happy and delighted as his father was to see him. The father's heart was more full of joy, because his heart was larger than his son's."
·                     He rejoices over you with singing....
 Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Sing:  When the Night is Falling - based on this verse Conclusion (Transition to Communion)·                     The glory of the gospel is this, that the one from whom we need to be saved is the very one who saves us.
 Illustrating the point            Leonard Sweet tells a story about a certain Native American tribe who had a unique way of training young braves. On the night of a boy’s 13th birthday, he was led out into the wilderness to spend the night alone. Most young braves, at this time in their lives, had never been away from the security of their elders. Yet on this night, these young teenagers were blindfolded and taken miles away. When each one took off his blindfold, he found himself in the middle of the woods. Alone. Dependent on nothing but the good will of the Great Spirit, and his own survival training.            We can well imagine what a terrifying night that was for these young boys. Imagination magnified every woodland sound, until it seemed like a fearsome monster.But then, finally, each young brave managed to get to sleep. When dawn broke, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around. What he saw was an amazing sight — a tall man, standing just a few feet away, armed with bow and arrow. It was his father. He had been there all night long, weapons at the ready: watching over his son, as he slept.            Into each human life, some fears must intrude. There are indeed times when thick darkness surrounds us, and we may justifiably wonder if we’ll ever see daylight again. Yet even in times of loneliness and despair — especially in times of loneliness and despair — we are not alone. There is one who waits beside us, to watch over us and protect us, to make sure that we make it home. The glory of the gospel is this, that the one from whom we need to be saved is the very one who saves us.   For further thought, correlating 1 Corinthians 11 with today's thoughts...Day of the Lord is still used of a time yet to come.  The Lord's great return...Like Zephaniah, Communion has this very present Word to us, and intended effect, and also a future consummation.·                     1 Corinthians 11:17-
17In the following directives I have nopraise for you, for your meetings domore harm than good.18In the first place, I hear that when youcome together as a church, there aredivisions among you, and to someextent I believe it.19No doubt there have to be differencesamong you to show which of you haveGod's approval.Here is the resent Word and a hoped for response20When you come together, it is not theLord's Supper you eat,21for as you eat, each of you goesahead without waiting for anybody else.One remains hungry, another gets drunk.22Don't you have homes to eat and drinkin? Or do you despise the church of Godand humiliate those who have nothing?What shall I say to you? Shall I praiseyou for this? Certainly not!Our Words of Institution23For I received from the Lord what Ialso passed on to you: The Lord Jesus,on the night he was betrayed, took bread,24and when he had given thanks, hebroke it and said, "This is my body,which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."25In the same way, after supper he tookthe cup, saying, "This cup is the newcovenant in my blood; do this, wheneveryou drink it, in remembrance of me."Listen now to this26For whenever you eat this bread and
drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord'sdeath until he comes.27Therefore, whoever eats the bread ordrinks the cup of the Lord in anunworthy manner will be guilty of sinningagainst the body and blood of the Lord.28A man ought to examine himselfbefore he eats of the bread and drinksof the cup.29For anyone who eats and drinkswithout recognizing the body of the Lordeats and drinks judgment on himself.30That is why many among you areweak and sick, and a number of youhave fallen asleep.31But if we judged ourselves, we wouldnot come under judgment.And this sounds a little like Zephaniah's indictments32When we are judged by the Lord, we
are being disciplined so that we will notbe condemned with the world.33So then, my brothers, when you cometogether to eat, wait for each other.34If anyone is hungry, he should eat athome, so that when you meet together itmay not result in judgment. And when Icome I will give further directions.  ·                     "At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, 'The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad'" (Zephaniah 1:12).
·                     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." Zephaniah 1:15