Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: In that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem, "Fear thou not," and to Zion, "Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing."

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador foreshadowing the joy of Jesus for His people upon His glorious return. What makes Jesus joyful? When He sees the Jews repentant and believing and following Him during the millennial kingdom, the Lord's going to rejoice over the Jews with joy.

The prophet Zephaniah spoke to a complacent people with a sobering message about the coming day of the Lord, a time of judgment that was near and unavoidable. Yet, in the conclusion of our verse-by-verse study of the book of Zephaniah in Today's Word, Pastor Brett Meador reflects on how, in the end, judgment gives way to restoration as the Lord rejoices over His redeemed people.

Brett Meador: Turn to Zephaniah. This book is a dark and gloomy book to a lot of people, but there's always in every book of the Bible the hint of goodness and glory, and we'll see that in chapter three. Chapters one and two speak of trouble that's coming, even sad and brutal and gloomy days, and chapter three starts to introduce the day of redemption or the day of joy, and we'll see that in chapter three.

Let's dive right into it. Here we start, verse one of chapter two. It says, "Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you." So He says, gather yourselves together before all this stuff happens.

Verse three: "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." Does anybody want to take a stab at when this is going to happen? When the Lord's saying, seek the Lord, and maybe the Lord will hide you in the day of the Lord's anger? Not the Rapture, because we're talking specifically to Israel. That should give you a clue when we're talking about the day of the Lord.

The Antichrist is going to say, worship me, and they'll stand there in the temple in Jerusalem. And then the Lord will say, seek me, seek the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, seek righteousness, seek meekness, and it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. That's exactly what's going to happen when the Jews turn to Christ in the middle of the Tribulation, and they'll flee to what is called Petra.

Jot this down in your notes: Revelation 12, chapter 12, verse 13. Let me just read it to you real quick. This is in the middle of the Tribulation. When the dragon, which is Satan, saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the manchild. Who's the woman who brought forth the manchild? Israel brought forth the Messiah, Jesus. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. What's a time, times, and half a time, anybody? Three and a half years.

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

This is going to ultimately lead to the Battle of Armageddon, where Christ comes and rescues the Jews from Antichrist. It's quite a dramatic story. But the parallel of Revelation 12:13-17 is Zephaniah, this little section we just read about them seeking the Lord and seeking with meekness, and then the Lord hiding them and protecting them. And that's in Petra. Isaiah chapter 16, by the way, talks about this as well. Speaking of the Jews, the abomination of desolation, then they shall be hid, as it were, for a time, times, and half a time. That's that last three and a half years of the Tribulation.

Back to Zephaniah two, it says here, verse four: "For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the Lord is against you; O Canaan, land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down in the evening: for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity."

Interesting, this is talking about that region, the Gaza Strip, and the five Philistine cities. A few friends of mine and I, we went around there several years back and went to all five Philistine cities, the ruins of them. But Ashkelon, that region down there at the northern tip of the Gaza Strip, it's beautiful. It reminds me of San Diego. It's just a beautiful palm tree, beachy, kind of fun town. But the only problem is Hamas is there, and it's where the rockets are constantly flying over the border from Gaza into Israel.

Interesting, that place did become desolate after the Philistines were gone and after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonians, just like Zephaniah says. But I believe this prophecy is going to also pertain to the last days where the Lord's going to leave Gaza a desolation. Isn't it interesting that Gaza is in the news all the time because it's where the Hamas is centered? The Philistines are extinct. This prophecy was fulfilled years before to where the Philistines no longer exist.

Which is an important thing because do you know where the word "Palestine" came from? It came after the name "Philistine." And it was after the Philistines were already extinct. So why did they call it Palestine? Well, they didn't, the Jews, but Rome did. It was Hadrian, the emperor, who hated the Jews and he wanted to spite the Jews, so he renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina and he recalled the name of Israel from Israel to Palaestina, which later people called Palestine.

Now, you can tell a person's worldview about the Arab-Israeli conflict depending on what they call it. Even though it's, we know it's Israel, when a person calls it Palestine today, it's usually because they're very anti-Jew and stuff like that. That's just something you can know for a freebie. But it was called Palestine by the Romans. It officially became Israel again, May 14th, 1948. Be that as it may, I believe that happened both historically and it's also going to happen again. The Gaza Strip's going to be wiped out. It wouldn't be a good place to live during the day of the Lord, according to Zephaniah.

It says here, verse eight: "I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border." Verse nine: "Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts. The Lord will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen."

He gives a harsh word against the Ammonites and the Moabites, and he talks about how they'll be saltpits and reminds me of Lot's wife. Verse 12: "Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword. And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for he shall uncover the cedar work. This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, and said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand." The idea of hissing is whistling in astonishment. They're going to walk by and say, wow, that's amazing that it's so desolate.

Now you say, okay, Brett, what's this all about? Well, we're talking about the enemies of Israel and the way that they're going to be handled during both the time of Zephaniah but also in the end times. And we could even talk about Ethiopia and that what was the biblical region of Ethiopia. It's not really what it is today as much as a lot of that northeastern side of Africa, which is going to be somewhat joined in the Gog-Magog invasion. So some of these you can make correlations. These are places that are going to be desolate during the time of the day of the Lord.

But then we go back to Jerusalem in verse one of chapter three. And it says here, in Zephaniah three, it says, "Woe unto her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!" This is a sad thing to call Jerusalem that because Jerusalem is supposed to be the city of the Lord. "She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God." There's three things here that are good checkpoints for yourself. Are you a person who, number one, does not receive correction? Number two, do you not trust in the Lord? And number three, do you not really care about drawing near to the Lord? These are the three attributes of the people of Jerusalem the Lord says, you're toast.

That first one is really hard. Are you a person that doesn't receive correction? That's something I've noticed in modern days, people are so overly sensitive to receiving correction. It's almost becoming a rare thing to have somebody who actually can take advice from someone. Even someone who loves them dearly, as soon as you start offering advice, you're evil, don't be the boss, you're not the boss of me, and I'm the director of myself, and that's just a horrible way to live. We all need to be people that are receiving correction and good counsel and wisdom.

Hopefully, you have two or three or four people in your life that you will listen to. If they come to you and say, there's something I need to tell you, faithful are the wounds of a friend. If you don't have some friend that wounds you from time to time, then you may not have a real friend. And don't be a person who's so easily offended by someone giving you a word of correction. By the way, that's one of the things that a word of prophecy can be. It's a word of edification, exhortation, and comfort, but that exhortation part is that part that's saying, here's what you need to do, and the question is are you going to listen to it? The Jews didn't want to hear it from anybody. They received not correction, they didn't trust in the Lord, and they were not drawing near to the Lord, and so the Lord says, you're the oppressing, polluted, filthy city. That's what He calls it.

Verse three: "Her princes or politicians within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law." That means they've tweaked the Word, just like some people have done violence to the Word of God in modern days. I'd say the New World Translation of the Jehovah's Witnesses, violence to the Word of God; the Book of Mormon, violence to the Word of God. We've got to keep the Word the Word and guard that.

The just, verse five, "The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame." We're seeing that today where the unjust knoweth no shame. We march in pride of our sinfulness; we're proud of our sin these days. And that's the situation. It's interesting that the just Lord is in the midst thereof, and He will not do iniquity. That's an interesting phrase. One thing that I do love about the Lord is if there's ever mercy to be found, you can find it with the Lord. I'm reminded of that beautiful verse in Second Timothy 2:13, "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." So even in the day of the Lord, there's going to be people who, even though they're faithless, the Lord is still faithful. And I love that about our Lord. But the people that are just all out in rebellion, the Lord's going to judge.

Quickly, verse six: "I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, there is none inhabitant. I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, wilt thou receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings. Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy."

Does anybody know what that time period is called? The Battle of Armageddon. When does the Lord gather all the nations and show His fury? It's there, where the nations will be gathered in the Valley of Megiddo, as it's called there. This is again where Zechariah, you can apply a lot of the stuff that Zechariah says to the first round of prophecy locally, but some of this stuff never happened during the time of Zephaniah, like the gathering of all the nations. This is where his gaze goes past to the day of the Lord at the end. Are you guys with me on that?

And there's another one here that's kind of interesting, verse nine: "For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering." Notice in verse nine, "I will turn the people to a pure language." This is where I was talking about the bringing back of Hebrew. Now, it's interesting because Hebrew was a lost language, and it was, but the revival of the Hebrew language took place in Europe and Palestine, as they called it back before it was Israel, toward the end of the 19th century into the 20th century. So all these Jews were moving to what was then called Palestine, but it was eventually that guy, Ben-Yehuda, I talked about, who brought the language back and they started speaking Hebrew again.

But what's interesting is the Hebrew scholars in Jerusalem say, oh, but we're not speaking the purest form of Hebrew, we're speaking more of a modern Hebrew now. Maybe that's true, and maybe this prophecy is not just the revival of the Hebrew language in the last days, but maybe after the Battle of Armageddon, the millennial kingdom kicks into gear, maybe that's when the purest form of Hebrew will be spoken once again. That's something just to tuck away so you're not a tourist when you're in the millennial kingdom. Oh, this is the language of the pure Hebrew. You'll be able to guide instead of be a tourist when they start speaking the purest form of Hebrew.

So there's a couple things here that we've got to sort of notice here in verse nine and ten. He's basically calling the people to come back from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my daughter of my dispersed. That's the word "diaspora," by the way. Remember when the Jews were scattered all over the world? They were dispersed, diaspora. Well, He says He'll bring together my offering back to Jerusalem. This is the regathering. So I love verses eight and onward here in Zephaniah because this is where we start to see that glimmer of light. It's been pretty doom and gloom thus far, wouldn't you agree?

But this is where the light starts popping through. And number one, if you can jot this down, is the regathering of Israel. After they're judged in Zephaniah's time and scattered all over the world for centuries, the Lord says, I will regather them there in verse ten. That's number one. But then now, in verses 11 through 13, He shows us the repenting. Number two, the repenting of Israel. Let's take a look, verse 11. It says, "In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me." Remember we were talking about abortion and the shame that's associated with that and this guilt? This is the way the Jews are going to feel guilt and shame, but in that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed. That's because the Lord forgives.

And they not only just transgressed in general, it says they've transgressed against me. Verse 11 continues, "for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid." This is something that's going to happen during the millennial kingdom when the Jews will see Christ as the Messiah, they'll be saved, and the Lord will protect them and bless them. That's the repenting of Israel, verses 11 through 13.

Then in verse 14 and 15, we have the rejoicing of Israel. Check this out, verse 14: "Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more." Is this talking about the local application of Zephaniah or the millennial kingdom? You see what I'm saying? This is clearly the millennial kingdom because there's no time in history where this has ever happened, verse 14 and 15. But it will happen when the Lord is on the throne. That's what it says here. So what should the Jews rejoice about? When the King is reigning on the throne in the millennial kingdom, that's verses 14 and 15, the rejoicing of Israel during the millennial reign of Christ.

And then the fourth and final section here is 16 through 20, the Redeemer. We'll talk more about the Redeemer of Israel. Verse 16: "In that day shall it be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." Now pause right there. You could meditate on, think about that for months because this is what's going to happen in the millennial kingdom. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy, and He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.

What makes Jesus joyful? When He sees the Jews repentant and believing and following Him during the millennial kingdom, the Lord's going to rejoice over the Jews with joy, it says here. He will rest in His own love, not in their love for Him. He's going to rest, He's going to have that confident contentment from His own love for His own people. This is a radical description of Christ ruling and reigning in the millennial kingdom.

Anyway, He goes on, verse 18: "I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord."

People in the world that are anti-Semitic and say God is done with the Jews, they have to call Zephaniah a liar, that he didn't know what he was talking about because the last few verses of this is really clear. The Lord's going to rejoice when the Jews repent. And He says, I will regather them and I will regather them in the land. We're seeing this gathering happen in our lifetime. What a profound prophecy to be alive to watch.

Like nobody even thinks it's any big deal. Oh, the Jews, a bunch of Jews are moving to Israel. Like it's no big deal. But you and I should be like, God is real! God exists! If you look at what happened with the Jews, the diaspora, just like the Bible said, scattered all over the world for 2,000 years, only to be regathered in our lifetime and watch Israel become a nation again, and the stage perfectly set for the millennial kingdom right now? Is that just a coincidence? Nope. God has done all these things and He's orchestrating these events.

There's going to be a lot of people who were anti-Semitic, nations that were anti-Semitic, and they will have to answer to God at the judgment of the sheep and the goats. The Bible talks about how you treated Israel; that's what's going to happen at the judgment of the sheep and goats. You'll be rewarded accordingly or punished accordingly. Pretty cool stuff. So you can see why the book of Zephaniah is pretty heavy, but that last part, the King of kings, the Lord of lords is going to bring His people and rule and reign over them in Jerusalem during the millennial kingdom. That's the glorious promise of the book of Zephaniah.

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador drawing a study series from the book of Zephaniah to a close, reflecting on the restoration the Lord offers for all His people as promised in Today's Word. And I trust you'll stay right there as Pastor Brett will join me here in a moment to close our time in the book of Zephaniah.

But first, Today's Word is the radio ministry of Athey Creek Church, just south of Portland, Oregon, where Pastor Brett Meador's the senior pastor. Our vision is to proclaim the hope of salvation and help people know Jesus, their Savior, through careful study of the Bible. If you've missed any portion of this study, you'll find all of Pastor Brett's messages online at todayswordradio.com.

I have Pastor Brett with me now. As we wrap up the book of Zephaniah, this prophet describes some pretty dark things that will happen to Israel because of their sins, and they really are scary parallels to what we see in our world today. Yet we also see in Zephaniah God being gracious to His people, and Brett, that's encouraging to see a God who hates sin, yet He sent His son Jesus to save us.

Brett Meador: That's right, Kurt. It's interesting because as New Testament believers, we're so blessed by the grace of God and the cross of Christ. I think sometimes we forget that Zephaniah in the Old Testament reminds us God takes sin seriously, and we can almost forget that and we all say liberty in Christ and we're saved by grace. Those things are true. But you don't understand the sweetness of God's grace until you understand the bitterness of sin, and Zephaniah shows us the nation that rejects God, that there are consequences.

You can't read those chapters without seeing some striking parallels to our own culture: the moral confusion, the violence, spiritual apathy in our culture. But the beauty of Zephaniah is the final word isn't judgment; it's grace. And that's so encouraging. God says He will gather His people, restore them, even rejoice over them with singing. That's an amazing, astonishing mercy that God shows. So the truth we carry is this: God hates sin because it messes us up, but He loves sinners and longs to redeem them. Ultimately we see that perfected through Jesus. He's the one who did that, but Zephaniah is pointing us to the hope that we find in Christ. I love that.

Kurt: Yes, absolutely super great news for all of us who are sinners. Thank you, Pastor Brett, as we close out the book of Zephaniah here on Today's Word. Well, if you'd like more information about Athey Creek Church, Pastor Brett Meador, or Today's Word, you can just visit our website at todayswordradio.com. Well, next time Pastor Brett will look at the next minor prophet in the Old Testament, and that's Haggai.

Guest (Male): Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.