Zephaniah 3: 1-20
Woe to her that is rebellious and defiled, the tyrannical city!
This is written to Jerusalem, but it can also be addressed to any Nation who fits the description.
Rebellious is the Hebrew word, mara', which means, "to rebel by whipping or lashing oneself with wings, as a running ostrich, or to lift up self; or filthy, gluttonous."
And defiled is ga'al, meaning, "to desecrate, pollute, stain."
So the people of this society have lifted themselves up by beating themselves up as a running ostrich flaps her wings violently. They do it to themselves. They are gluttonous in their eating, not taking care of their bodies with healthy foods, and have elevated their own ideas above the natural, reasonable ways God made this Earth to work.
She heeded no voice, she accepted no instruction. She did not trust in the Lord, she did not draw near to her God.
These people think they know better, and will not listen to anyone else, or acknowledge that God has any authority over them. They are their own gods.
Her princes within her are roaring lions,
Those in government to rule over the people are only in it for their own gain, taken from the people they rule over.
her judges are evening wolves, they leave nothing for the morning.
Those who are to dispense justice are promoting their own ideas rather than looking at what the laws actually say, and their opinions are considered law.
Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men;
Those who purport to speak for God are only out for their own gain, perverting God's Word to seduce the people into salacious and greedy ways.
her priests have profaned the sanctuary.
Those who are to teach God's ways have contempt for Him instead, and have profaned ("running sores") the place that should be a haven.
They have done violence to the Law.
They have turned the laws upside down, making legal what is evil, and declaring that what is right is not acceptable, wrong.
The Lord is righteous within her; He will do no injustice. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He does not fail. But the unjust knows no shame.
This is a people in whom God is present. They have invited Him into their national life, and based their political existence on His ways. Even though they have not followed Him, He is still showing them the right ways, if they would only look. But those who reject Him are too proud to even blush.
I have cut off Nations; their corner towers are in ruins, I have made their streets desolate, with no one passing by; their cities are laid waste, without a man, without an inhabitant.
God has already shown Himself righteous and powerful, with the authority to punish other Nations who have done evil violence by wiping them out, as an illustration of the consequences of turning away from the good God is.
I said, "Surely you will revere Me, accept instruction." So her dwelling will not be cut off according to all [the discipline] I have appointed concerning her, but they were eager to corrupt all their deeds.
God wants us to see and understand history of how things work out. How when peoples destroy themselves for the profit of the few, then the whole society collapses. God shows us these things, so that we will learn to do right. But doing right is not easy, it can be painful in the short run, so we run instead toward what is easy or has short-term gains, but we are only shooting ourselves in the foot in doing so.
Therefore wait for Me, declares the Lord, for the Day that I rise up as a Witness.
Just wait for the Lord to let the hammer drop. He will, you can bet on it.
Indeed, my decision is to gather Nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them My indignation, all My burning anger; for all the Earth will be devoured by the fire of My zeal.
Here we are, what God is planning to do, which He will carry out without fail. We can count on it. All the Nations who reject God will burn up. The whole Earth will erupt and burn and, in the final end, totally explode.
The Old Testament prophets were shown a lot of what God's plan is for Mankind and our Earth, but they didn't distinguish between Jesus' first and second comings, or the details of the timeline of the second time He comes.
When Jesus returns, He will come as the King over all the Earth. He will destroy all the armies who are surrounding Jerusalem, cutting them to ribbons with His Word. Everyone alive will see Him descending to the Mount of Olives, and all those who have kept themselves from being seduced by the antichrist will realize Who He Is, and come into His Kingdom in their present bodies. All the others will burn up.
For then I will give the peoples purified lips, that all of them may call on the Name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent.
This is all the peoples of the World, who are entering into Jesus' Kingdom. They will know that He is Jesus of Nazareth who was executed in their place to cleanse them, and was Resurrected and is now the King of the World.
They will all be saved, and will all want to serve Him together as their King.
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, will bring My offerings.
All the Hebrew people who have been scattered all over the World who come into His Kingdom will also worship Him.
In that Day you will feel no shame because of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against Me; for then I will remove from your midst your proud, exulting ones, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain.
When Jesus cleanses us with the Blood He shed on Calvary, then all the shame and regret for all the wrong we have done in the past is all wiped away. Everyone who had been proud or haughty will be removed, and no one will ever exalt themselves over our King again in all His World-wide government.
But I will leave among you a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the Name of the Lord.
All the people who are in His Kingdom will humble themselves under the authority of the King, taking refuge in His righteousness.
The remnant of Israel will do no wrong and tell no lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths; for they will feed and lie down with no one to make them tremble.
They won't see any need to defend themselves or cut corners or take advantage of one another, because the King will provide everything they need, with no worry.
Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
God's people will have a spirit of rejoicing and celebrating and dancing and feasting and singing and shouting for joy for all that our Lord and King has done!
The Lord has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you will fear disaster no more.
The Lord Jesus Christ has paid the debt we owe, taking the wrath of God upon Himself in our place, so we are debt-free spiritually. He will be right here with us now, so we'll have no reason to be afraid of anything disastrous happening any more.
In that Day it will be said to Jerusalem: Do not be afraid, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp.
The Lord God will protect His people. No more reason to give up, there is no one left to bother you.
The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
This verse applies to all of us who have come to Jesus as Savior and Lord. He is our Bridegroom and we are the Bride. He Loves us passionately, as a newlywed groom is enamored with his new bride. He has won the victory over all of our enemies, and rejoices in winning His bride. He celebrates her publicly with shouts of joy, but His Love-making will be private and personal with each one of us. And the honeymoon will last forever!
I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts--they came from you, O Zion; the reproach of exile is a burden on them.
Those Hebrews who were sent far away were heavy-laden with the burden of not being able to worship the way they wanted to, that they felt was right.
Behold, I am going to deal at that time with all your oppressors, I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will turn their shame into praise and renown in all the Earth.
When King Jesus sets up His government, He will take care of all the details in each person's life that needs to be set right. He will take away everyone who put down His people, and comfort them, lifting them up into positions of honor; making them famous and respected in all the nations that had oppressed them.
At that time I will bring you in, even at the time when I gather you together; indeed, I will give you renown and praise among all the peoples of the Earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord.
All the prophesies that tell of Israel being made the head instead of the tail will be fulfilled. Those Jewish people who "see Him who they have pierced" as His feet come down to the Mount of Olives, and "all Israel will be saved in a day," will be the favored Nation who repopulate the World. Along with the others of the rest of the Nations who have not followed the antichrist. They will all live in the Kingdom in peace and prosperity. For a thousand years.
After that 1000 years, Satan will be released from his imprisonment, and will again roam the Earth, gathering all the armies of people who have been born during this time and have never known any other government, deceiving and convincing them that King Jesus is not right. So they will surround the Capital city, and fire will come down from Heaven to destroy them.
That is when the whole Earth will be burned up and destroyed, and totally explode. The Universe will implode back into that tiny, super-heavy dot, and explode again (the Big Bang Theory), into a New Heaven (Universe) and a New Earth-like planet.
So Zephaniah was shown the very end of our existence, but he didn't understand the progression of the time-line that would unfold it all. We now have other Scriptures to combine with these, which gives us a little bit clearer understanding of the Big Picture; but we haven't lived through it yet, so we still don't have all the details.
What we do know, we can fully trust to happen just as God told us it will happen. He told us why it will happen that way, so that we will be encouraged to turn to Him and follow His ways, and not be in the majority who will be destroyed, but come into His own family to rule with Jesus in His Kingdom.
We who are saved today will be "called away" in the "Rapture of the saints" sometime in this process. There are different ideas among Bible scholars as to the timing of this event, but the Old Testament prophets did not see it at all. They were focused only on Israel.
But, as God's own family, His sons and daughters by the New Birth, we are His princes and princesses who are being trained to learn how to help King Jesus rule on His Throne, as He rules on the Father's Throne, as His kings and queens in His Kingdom on the Earth.
We will be in our resurrected bodies at that time, and will be His bride, and no longer have any other husband or wife to produce children. Those who enter the Kingdom in their mortal bodies will repopulate the World.
O my Father, You are so good! Your ways are so reasonable and right! Please help Your children to have a clear understanding of what You have told us so far. Show us that we don't need to have all our questions answered right now, but that we can be content with what we know, as we continue to study and You reveal more connections for a continually more complete picture.
And as we work our way through this line of Time, we will seek Your face, looking for the things You have told us to happen, to recognize that You are doing just what You said You would do, before our very eyes!
You are trustworthy, Father, and worthy of our full trust. Keep us in Your secure hand, as You lead us in the paths of righteousness, for Your Name's sake.
And every eye shall see, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty and Sovereign King, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
