Zephaniah 1:2,3

UNIVERSAL JUDGEMENT PROCLAIMED. Zephaniah 1:2-3

RV. I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah.
LXX. Let there be an utter cutting off from the face of the land, saith the Lord, Let man and cattle be cut off; let the birds of the air and the fishes of the sea be cut off; and the ungodly shall fail, and I will take away the transgressors from the face of the land, saith the. Lord.

COMMENTS

I WILL UTTERLY CONSUME. Zephaniah 1:2

The apostle Paul reminds us that the ... whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22) as a result of man's sin, Peter informs us ... the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10) John adds, ... I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more. (Revelation 21:1) Whatever the chronological relationship of Zephaniah's Day of Jehovah to the final summing up of all history by God, it certainly prefigures the ultimate destruction of all the sinful works of man in preparation for the establishment of the universal reign of God.

THE STUMBLING BLOCK. Zephaniah 1:3

Along with the wicked, God will wipe out those things which have caused man to sin. This is, no doubt, an allusion to the idolatrous worship of the beasts, fishes and birds mentioned here. (cp. Romans 1:18 -ff) Ezekiel uses similar language in condemning idol worship, (Ezekiel 14:3-7)

SAITH JEHOVAH. Zephaniah 1:2-3

Zephaniah will allow none of the nonsense current in our time regarding his prophetic insight. Those who today would tell us that this insight came from an informed political prognosticator, do so only by ignoring the prophet's claim, (thus) saith Jehovah. Here is the watchword of all Old Testament prophecy. The message is from God.

Chapter XXQuestions

Judgement of God

1.

Discuss Zephaniah's claim to inspiration.

2.

Trace the idea of judgement by fire.

3.

What are the stumbling blocks which cause man to sin? (Zephaniah 1:3)

4.

Who are the hosts of heaven on the housetops?

5.

Discuss the religious syncretism of Zephaniah's day as seen in Judah's compromise with strange gods as it typlifies modern religious syncretism.

6.

Who will likely be most surprised by God's judgement? (Zephaniah 1:6)

7.

Discuss Zephaniah's pronouncement of judgement against Judah in light of the principle set down in 1 Peter 4:17.

8.

Who are those clothed in foreign apparel? (Zephaniah 1:8)

9.

Who are those that leap over the threshold? (Zephaniah 1:9)

10.

When the invading Babylonians came against Jerusalem they came from the ___________________.

11.

Discuss I will search with lamps. (Zephaniah 1:12)

12.

Were the apostles and the prophets mistaken as to the soon coming of the final Day of the Lord? Explain,

13.

How do you reconcile the wrath of God and the love of God?

14.

God's threatenings are always a call to ___________________.

15.

Who are the meek?

16.

Meekness is _______________ ___________________.