I Corinthians 2: 1-16
When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,
and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
Paul came to Corinth to plant Christ's church there, so people would be saved. He didn't want to make followers of himself, or present himself as anything except a servant of God for their benefit.
He wanted their faith to rest on God's Truth, supported by God's power, not anything worldly. So that their faith would be genuine.
Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;
but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;
the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory;
The wisdom Paul used in preaching the Gospel to these believers was not from the world at all, but God's wisdom in having planned out His whole program for this Earth before He created it. Those who are mature in their faith are the ones who would be able to accept this wisdom, because they have God's Holy Spirit in them to give them understanding of God's things.
The rulers of this age Paul is talking about were the religious leaders, who demanded Jesus' death, because they didn't understand spiritual things like they thought they did.
But just as it is written:
Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of Man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him (Isaiah 64:4).
But God revealed them to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the World, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,
which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
I am the only one who knows what I'm thinking. You are the only one who knows what you're thinking. The only way we can share what we're thinking with each other is if we can put our thoughts into words.
God's Spirit knows God's thoughts. Because He lives in each of God's children, He is able to make known to us God's thoughts. He is Spirit, so He uses spiritual words.
It's like God wrote His written Word in a code that needs His Spirit to be the key to understanding it.
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.
For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? (Isaiah 40:13; Jeremiah 23:18).
But we have the mind of Christ.
People who don't have the key cannot unlock the understanding of God's Word, so they dismiss it as gobbledygook, foolishness, they can't make sense of it.
But we who have the key, God's Holy Spirit, can understand how it all fits together, so we can be wise in our choices and decisions to live our lives God's way. We can look back to see how people succeeded or failed, and learn the lessons God had them go through for our benefit. We don't have to re-invent the wheel, we can stand on the shoulders of the giants of the faith who went before us, and continue walking with God on the path on which He has placed our feet.
O my Father, You are so wise! Thank You for giving us the unimaginable gift of Your own Holy Spirit to live in our spirits. Thank you that He teaches us Your things: Your ideas, how You planned it all out ahead of Time, how You designed it all to work together. You have even told us what to expect to happen before it comes to pass, so we can be prepared to face it and respond appropriately.
Thank you for Paul, and for Moses, and for David, and for Abraham. Thank You for Adam and Eve, and for Noah, and for Jonah, too. All these histories were recorded so that we would be able to discern how doing well will turn out well, and making mistakes can cause problems that will multiply over generations of time.
Help us, Father, to learn all the lessons of those who have gone before us to show us the right way to go, and teach us how to use Your wisdom to maneuver all the twists and turns that the World throws at us, so we can take each step confidently on that straight and narrow.
My Father, teach me how to enlarge my narrow boundaries in my neighborhood, to get to know my neighbors and be Your blessing to them in their lives.
Teach me how to do what is needed of me in all the areas of my living; at home, in my neighborhood, in my family, in my church family, in the society You have placed me, in all the realms of my existence.
Let me plant Your good seed everywhere I go, that my presence would be a positive force in others' lives so that they would seek You, Father.
And let all the lost sheep be found, and all the wandering lambs be brought back, that there will be One Fold and One Shepherd.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
I Corinthians 1: 18-31
For the word of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Those who have no use for God in their lives don't even think they need a Savior, so they consider it foolish that Jesus even came to die.
But we who have been called of God in faith realize that it is His power and strength that defeated Satan at the Cross.
For it is written:
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside (Isaiah 29:14).
People who think that they're so smart that they can accumulate much material goods, and are so sly to outwit others in the game of getting ahead will discover that all their stuff is worth nothing in the long run.
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the World?
All these "successful" people never take the time to consider their emotional or spiritual condition, because they don't want to admit that all these material things have not filled the "God-sized hole" He put into our souls, so that we would seek Him. Instead they write and argue the fine points of their smart ideas, and puff up themselves.
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
Look at your own congregation of believers: there aren't very many intelligentsia or successful military or political higher-ups in your number, are there? Most of these have kept themselves too busy to consider their need for God.
but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise
It's considered foolish for a wealthy person to not take advantage of his wealth to live a lavish lifestyle, but to give away most of it and live a modest lifestyle, instead.
and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
How many stories have you heard about some extremely old person or chronically ill person who has shown up other, younger and healthy people in their sterling character?
and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen,
Ordinary simplicity of life, and what the World disdains, God uses to bless and benefit His children.
the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,
Things that don't exist in physical form; like love, honor, compassion, faith and trust, generosity, patience, ideas, intrinsic beauty--God uses these kind of things to overpower the wicked and their things.
so that no man may boast before God,
No one will be able to vaunt himself over God's wisdom and ways.
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus,
It was God the Father who drew us into relationship with Himself through the sacrificial death of His Son, the Lamb of God, whose Blood has washed us white as snow.
who became to us wisdom from God,
Jesus is the Word, the Wisdom of God for us.
and righteousness
And the value of His perfect life was put on our account, when our sinfulness was put onto His account, so that God's books balance.
and sanctification,
God makes us holy, who were unholy, by His cleansing and placing His Holy Spirit into our human spirits, making them Alive.
and redemption,
We have been purchased by Jesus out of the slave-market of sin and given freedom by the Son, to have the ability to do what is right.
so that, just as it is written,
Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. (Psalm 44:8.)
Everything we can say that would be positive or congratulatory or complimentary should acknowledge that it is God who made it possible. He planned it out, and He is using us and all of our choices, to carry out His program for this World we have built on His Earth.
He is the Creator, and He made nothing without purpose. So His purposes are being carried out in every part of what He has made. His wisdom and cleverness and power and strength are doing everything He wants to do with His things.
We are all His imagination, and if He weren't thinking about us, we wouldn't exist!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
I Corinthians 1: 10-17
Now I exhort you, brethren, by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul now begins to address some of the problems and issues these Corinthians needed to deal with, urging them strongly for Christ's sake.
that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Jesus prayed to the Father that we would have unity of mind and purpose, as He has with the Father. These believers needed to work on this.
For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you.
These are more than differences of opinion, these were contentious divisions into mutually opposed parties, causing heated arguments.
Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I am of Cephas, and I am of Christ.
Different believers were putting their confidence into different teachers, as though they were teaching different doctrines, rather than displaying their own personalities in the Truth they were teaching. So they were fighting among themselves over nothing.
Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Paul was appalled that some would be lifting him up this way. The Truth is all one story, Christ cannot be divided up. Paul and Apollos and Peter all were teaching the same Truth, and none were better than any other. Christ is our Savior, and their focus was to be on Him.
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
so that no one would say you were baptized in my name.
(Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanus; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.)
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the Cross of Christ would not be made void.
Paul never wanted to draw attention to himself, so he didn't even do the baptizing while he was planting churches all over the known World. And he was disappointed that these believers would lift him up, or Apollos or Peter, instead of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are many teachers today who are making their own disciples, drawing people away from unity in Christ. Unity is not uniformity. It is all believing in Jesus as our Savior, and learning to love Him and one another. It's believing the same fundamental Truth and having the same overarching purpose to promote God's righteousness in the World today.
Some churches today teach that they are the only real church, or that the church can save you. Or they take the focus off of what Jesus accomplished and teach instead that we need to earn our own salvation. Or that Jesus died so we can be rich in this world to enjoy for ourselves.
God gave us all His Truth, and each of us our own personalities. We are to have unity in our doctrinal foundation, and the high morality of our characters while helping one another with our varied gifts and abilities.
We need unity in our foundational beliefs and purpose, but have diversity in our working out how to share what God has given us. Where you are strong, you can help me where I am weak, and where I am strong, I am to help you in your weakness. God made us all different, so that everything would get done. We're always better when we work together.
Let's not let our varying personalities get us into arguments, or even disagreements. We are united on the fundamentals, and have freedom on the peripherals.
O my Father, thank You for giving us the Pauls and the Peters today in our societies to present Your wonderful Truth with our different approaches and personalities. Help us all to hold one another up in the compassionate affection of family love, and to always remember that You are leading each of us in the path You have put our feet on. Where our paths meet, let there be sweet fellowship, granting each other grace on the incidentals that come and go.
And strengthen us to broadcast the seed of Your Gospel across all the fertile fields of the World, to reach and draw in all the lost sheep into the safety of the Fold.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
I Corinthians 1: 1-9
Paul, called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsis, knew that it was God's decision to give him the gift of faith, not his own. And he appreciated the position God gave him to be an Apostle, a founder who would lay the foundation for God's church.
Paul wrote this letter from Ephesis. Sosthenes was the "chief ruler of the synogogue" in Corinth, who was beaten in the court of Gallio when the deputy of Achaia wouldn't listen to their case against Paul (Acts 18:12-17). Apparently he traveled with Paul to Ephesis.
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling,
Paul wrote to the church, who were called by God to be separate from the World (sanctified).
with all who are in every place call on the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
As every person in the whole world who God calls to faith in our Lord. He is Lord (Boss) of every Christian, no matter where they live or what their genealogy is.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God's grace is His goodness upon us that we could never earn. Only Jesus is worthy, and it is only through Him that we have access to God. Now that we are cleansed by His Blood, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to live in our spirit, we have the peace of Christ that surpasses what we can even understand, in the middle of all the chaos of our lives.
I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,
Paul is so grateful to God that He poured out His grace upon all these people who live in this wicked city.
that in everything you were enriched in Him,
God makes us rich and wealthy in so many ways.
in all speech and all knowledge,
Wealthy in knowing how to speak in positive ways, to build up and encourage; and wealthy in knowing all that God teaches us about Himself and how much He loves us and done so much for us.
even as a testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you,
Just as it was proven that Christ changed their lives and their thinking and their relationships with one another.
so that you are not lacking in any gift,
They have everything they need, they are wealthy and rich, in all the gifts God has for His church.
awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
They know Jesus will return to set up His Kingdom here, and they are looking forward to His coming.
who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God will keep them in His hand, and will finish what He started in them, not letting them go, to keep working in them all the way to the Day of the Lord.
God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
God will always do what He says He will do. He is trustworthy, fully worthy of our total trust. Father God is the One who called us into having friendship with Himself and His Son, through what Jesus has done for us. Nothing we can do could ever accomplish this. That's why Jesus left Heaven to die for us. He not only Loves us, but He likes us and wants us to live with Him where He is.
This is incredible. Our God, the Father and the Son and the Spirit, made us to be the pinnacle of all He has made, and we will even have a position above His holy Angels, to be His kings and queens to assist Him in ruling and governing all He has created or will create.
So He has placed us in this World for now as His little children, learning how to be sons and daughters in His family; how to think and speak and live with His character through all of our own personalities.
This World is our school. We need to learn all the lessons and pass all the tests He puts us through while we're here, learning more and more of who He is, how He sees us, and how we are to respond to Him, in living our lives according to His ways.
Then He will give us all the things He put in this World for us to use to promote His Kingdom. So when He gives us financial wealth, it is a tool to use for helping others and spreading the Gospel, not to keep for ourselves.
When He gives us spiritual gifts, like to be able to pastor or teach or whatever, it is to minister to others, to help them; not to just use for our own benefit.
If He gives us natural abilities, they are also to use to benefit other people in helping them, not just ourselves.
Nothing He gives us is for ourselves. Yes, we can enjoy all He gives us, but we will enjoy all of it more together, when we share and give it away.
The rest of this letter Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth will show us how to do this.
O my Father, You are so good to us, in creating all You made just so You could make us and we could live here for a while as we prepare to live with You and enjoy You forever, doing all the things You planned and prepared ahead of Time for us to be and do. You are Great and You are Good and You are Generous. You didn't need us, but You wanted us, so You could share Yourself with us.
Help us now to learn what we need to know, to do what we are made to do, and to love You back and love others as You have Loved us!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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!
Zephaniah 2: 1-15
The first chapter told us about God's final destruction of this Earth, and it focused on Jerusalem and Judah.
Chapter two now tells God's people that He will judge her enemies, too.
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame,
Before the decree takes effect--The Day passes like the chaff--Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, Before the Day of the Lord's anger comes upon you.
Zephaniah is telling his hearers to get right before all this comes about. We can all listen to him.
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the Earth who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the Day of the Lord's anger.
Maybe if we of all the Earth, humble ourselves and seek the Lord, God will hide us from the devastation He will bring on all the wicked of the Earth.
Then he names all the pagan nations surrounding Israel: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, the Cherethites (Philistines) on the seacoast; all of Canaan, calling down desolations on them, so that their territories will become the property of Israel, the House of Judah, because the Lord their God will care for them and restore their fortune.
This can be when King Jesus sets up His Kingdom, and portions out the territories for His peoples.
Then God says that He will make Moab and Ammon like Sodom and Gomorrah, just nettles and salt pits, a perpetual desolation.
And, The remnant of My people will plunder them and the remainder of My Nation will inherit them.
Because God has heard all the insults with which they insulted them. God had told Abraham that he would curse those who cursed him and his descendants, and He will carry out this destruction at this time.
This they will have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of Hosts. The Lord will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the Earth; and all the coastlands of the Nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.
And every knee will bow.
Then He says how He will stretch out His hand toward the North to destroy Assyria and Nineveh; and describes how desolate that whole area will be.
This is the exultant city which dwells securely, who says in her heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me." How she has become a desolation, a resting place for beasts! Everyone who passes by her will hiss and wave his hand in contempt.
This description can be not only Assyria of Zephaniah's day, but can also be an arrogant super-power today who can be like this. So if the shoe fits ... !
Zephaniah was preaching to the people of his day, so he named all the peoples as they were then, and the situations that were extant at that time.
We can also apply these same consequences to peoples and Nations today who are doing the same things those ancient peoples did. God does not change, and His Word is for us today just as it was for those people then.
And after Josiah's reign as the king over Judah, his successors turned back to the idols and false gods of the peoples around them, even more violently than their predecessors. So Judah was carried off into exile, as the Northern Kingdom of Israel had, years before.
God gave Josiah to Judah for a few years, to forestall the judgment He would bring upon them; but after Josiah, they effectively called down judgment upon themselves.
I believe God has given us also a reprieve, an opportunity to turn back to Him and His righteous ways. We as God's children need to be working to promote His righteousness in our neighborhoods and societies and our culture, to tear down the temples of infant sacrifice as Josiah did, by removing public funding, and changing the thinking processes of our Nation.
I think that after this reprieve, our society will go right back to it's demon sacrifices and evil and wicked lifestyles, even worse than they have been in the past, like Judah did. We are all still human.
That's why God sent His Son to be born as a human being, to die our human death for each of us, shedding God's own Blood to wash us clean, and to cause us to be re-born spiritually with His own Holy Spirit living in us.
We have Divine Life living inside us, not to make us gods, but to give us Divine power to overcome temptation and gain the victory over our enemy, the devil.
O my Father, thank You for Your written Word. Thank You that we can trust You to have protected and preserved what You have told us, as the most ancient parchments say what our modern translations still say, with no conflicts or changes in any meanings.
Please help us to take to heart the seriousness of Your warnings. Your prophets spoke to the peoples of their day, but Your warnings are just as terrifying to us today, as our Nations are no better than those ancient ones were, and are calling down upon themselves the same judgments.
Help us be Your Light in this dark World. As the darkness deepens and swirls around us, let our Light shine ever brighter, as the Lighthouse that warns the boats away from the deadly reefs and shoals.
Strengthen us, Father, against the attacks from the enemy and his minions. Use our lives and our testimonies to draw all Your lost lambs into the relationship with You that You desire with all of us. Increase our territories to reach out to those who have yet to hear Your Name.
And let this Good News be preached to every living being to give them an informed choice, whether they will choose You and Your Love, or to rebel against Your gracious and generous offer.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Zephaniah 1: 1-18
This whole 3-chapter book is about the Day of the Lord. But that Day will go from the time Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom, through the whole 1000 years of Earth's Golden Age, to the final End.
My meager efforts here are humbly offered. Comments are welcome.
The Word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah son of Ammon, king of Judah.
Josiah was only eight years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years. He is considered a good king, because when he was about 25 years old he found the Book of the Law while doing repairs on the Temple, and got rid of all the idols and stuff because he whole-heartedly followed the Lord. But his reign was between really evil kings, before and after him.
Zephaniah was prophesying during this time. It is such a scary prophesy, because the kings before and after Josiah were really exceedingly wicked, and he was trying to scare the people into doing right.
I will completely remove all things from the face of the Earth, declares the Lord.
I will remove man and beast; I will remove the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked; And I will cut off Man from the face of the Earth, declares the Lord. ...
This looks like the final day of the Day of the Lord, when the Earth explodes. Everything and everyone will burn up and be destroyed at the end of God's timeline for this Earth.
Be silent before the Lord God! For the Day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, He has invited His guests ...
The Battle of Armageddon will destroy the evil armies, and the birds of prey will feast on their carcasses (like "guests" at a "feast"), but then people who are still alive will enter into the Kingdom. Mankind won't be totally eradicated from the face of the Earth until after the 1000 years. If this is at the final End, then the "guests" could be Angels?
On That Day, declares the Lord, ...
It will come about at that Time ...
A Day of Wrath is That Day, a Day of trouble and distress, a Day of destruction and desolation, a Day of darkness and gloom, a Day of clouds and thick darkness,
A Day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and the high corner towers.
This looks to me to be when Satan is released at the end of the 1000 years and gathers the armies to attack King Jesus' capital city.
I will bring distress on men so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.
This looks like a liquefaction of the enemies attacking, right before the Earth explodes. A very terrifying picture.
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the Lord's wrath;
None of this Earth's wealth can ever buy anything spiritual, including life, which is spirit.
And all the Earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the Earth.
This is what what will happen at the very end of this timeline we are living in. The Earth will explode, and the Universe will implode, and God will create a New Heaven and a New Earth-like planet. We get a bit of a glimpse of this New Earth in Revelation 21-22.
God is constantly urging people to do right, to turn to Him and learn His ways, so they can cooperate with how He designed this Creation to work, and experience the benefits He put into this Earth for us.
But we are vulnerable to the lies of our enemy who only wants to steal, kill, and destroy everything good God made.
Satan is so jealous of Mankind for God to kick him out of Heaven and put us in his position of being God's worship leaders! So he wants to get back at God by hurting the ones God loves--us!
Let's not let this depraved enemy have the upper hand--choose your pastors and teachers carefully, to not be sidetracked from the narrow path God has placed our feet on.
Yes, God wants us to enjoy the prosperity He put into the Earth for us, but He blesses us so we can bless others, not to just hold onto it for ourselves, whether that means finances, or gifts and abilities, or whatever else God gives us. We are to share and be generous in our sharing.
And we need to be strong in the Lord, wearing all of our Armor of God, to withstand the persecution that is coming, and has already come in many areas of the World. We will all be put through the refining process, as God's gold; the pressures that produce His diamonds out of the dust He made us of.
O my Father, please help us to pay attention to Your warnings. You are very serious, and You never exaggerate. What You have said is what You mean to say, just as You said it. We can trust You to always be truthful and forthcoming in telling us everything we need to know.
Now strengthen us, to withstand all the enemies attacks, Father. And thank you for telling us that when You pour out Your wrath on Your enemies, that it will not touch Your children, even though a thousand fall at our side, ten thousand at our right hand. It will be marvelous to watch! Hollywood can't out-dramatize You, Father!
And every knee will bow, and every created being will acknowledge that You alone are God; that King Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come,Lord Jesus!
