As events seem to be rapidly unfolding in Israel and the Middle East, in America, and
in the rest of the world, this dramatic warning from the prophet Zephaniah describes
the overwhelming destruction that will sweep the earth during the forthcoming
Tribulation-the day of God's wrath- against an unbelieving and wicked world.
The twin themes of this prophet's warning is God's judgment and His mercy.
Unlike the presumptions of the belligerent "kings of the earth" who devise
evil schemes to destroy His chosen people and nation, the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob means what He says and His promises are real.
"At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you, for I
will make you a name and a praise among all the nations of the earth
when I reverse your captivity before your eyes, says the Lord."
(Zephaniah 3:20)
Although in the passage that follows, the prophet is primarily addressing
the nation and people of Israel, I strongly feel his message contains a dire
warning for the people and nation of America today.
God's Warning Through The Book Of Zephaniah
Chapter Two
"Collect your thoughts, yes, unbend yourselves in submission and see
if there is no sense of shame and no consciousness of sin left in you,
O shameless nation not desirous or desired!
The time of repentance is speeding by like chaff whirled before the wind!
Therefore consider, before God's decree brings forth the curse upon you,
before the time to repent is gone like the drifting chaff, before the fierce
anger of the Lord comes upon you-yes, before the day of the wrath of
the Lord comes upon you!
Seek the Lord, inquire for Him, inquire of Him, and require Him as
the foremost necessity of your life, all you humble of the land who have
acted in compliance with His revealed will and have kept His commandments;
seek righteousness, seek humility, inquire of them, require them as vital.
It maybe that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger.
For hear the fate of the Philistines: Gaza shall be forsaken and Ashkelon
shall become a desolation, the people of Ashdod shall be driven out at
noonday and Ekron shall be uprooted.
Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites,
( an ethnic group of the Levant) in Philistia! The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines; I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
And the seacoast shall be pastures, with deserted dwelling places
and caves for shepherds and folds for flocks.
The seacoast shall belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall
pasture their flocks upon it; in the houses of the deserted Philistine, Ashkelon,
shall they of Judah lie down in the evening. For the Lord their God shall visit
them for their relief and restore them from their captivity.
I have heard the taunts of Moab and the reviling of the Ammonites
by which they have reproached My people, and magnified themselves
and made boasts against their territory.
Therefore, as I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall
become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed
by nettles and wild vetches and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation.
The remnant of My people shall make prey of them
and what is left of My nation shall possess them.
This shall they have for their pride, because they have taunted
and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.
The Lord will be terrible to them, for He will make lean and famish all the
gods of the earth; and men shall worship Him, every one from his place,
even all the isles and coastlands of the nations.
You Ethiopians also, you shall be slain by My sword.
And the Lord will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria
and will make Nineveh a desolation, dry as the desert.
Herds shall lie down in the midst of Nineveh, all the wild beasts of the
nations and of every kind; both the pelican and the hedgehog shall lodge
on the upper part of her fallen pillars; the voice of the nesting bird shall
sing in the windows; desolation and drought shall be on the threshold,
for her cedar paneling will He lay bare.
This is the joyous and exultant city that dwelt carelessly, feeling so secure,
that said in her heart, I am and there is none beside me. What a desolation she
has become, a lair for wild beasts! Every one who passes by her will hiss
and wave his hand, indicating his gratification.
"The prophet calls to national repentance as the only way to prevent national ruin.
A nation not desiring, that has not desires toward God, is not desirous of His favor
and grace, has no mind to repent and reform. Or, not desirable, not having any thing
to recommend them to God, to whom God might justly say, "Depart from Me". but
He says, "Gather together to Me that you might seek My face."
We know what God's decree will bring against impenitent sinners, therefore it highly
concerns all to repent in the accepted time. How careful should we all be to seek peace
with God before the Holy Spirit withdraws from us, or ceases to strive with us; before
the day of grace is over, or the day of life; before our everlasting state is determined!
Let the poor, despised, and afflicted seek the Lord, and seek to understand and keep
His commandments better, that they may be more humbled for their sins.
The chief hope of deliverance from national judgments rest upon prayer."
-Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
🙏 Pray for a call to genuine repentance in America.🙏
🙏Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the salvation of Israel.🙏
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