Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture Zephaniah, Ps 33, 66-67, 100
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: It's great to see you today and ready to get back into our journey through Scripture. My name is Philip Thomas, pastor of Journey here in Elgin, and we're going chronologically through the Bible. We're getting close to the end of kind of the ⁓ original Kingdom of Israel, right? Remember you had Kingdom of Israel under David and Solomon, King Saul, then David, then Solomon, then the Kingdom splits and you have the Northern Kingdom that's the... called Israel, the southern kingdom called Judah. The northern kingdom has now been destroyed by Assyria. The southern kingdom has been plagued by Assyria and Egypt as well and had all kinds of issues. But last Thursday, we talked about King Josiah and how he was a wonderful king that really was faithful and brought the people back to God and did all he could to get rid of many of the pagan idols and things that the people had been worshiping. However, I guess the scales had already been tipped to where the nation had turned its back on God long enough and that they were going to experience the ramifications of that. So today we're going to read ⁓ Zephaniah and then Psalms 33, 36, No, excuse me, Psalm 33, 66 and 67, and Psalm 100. Okay, so the reason we're doing this is Zephaniah is in the timeframe of Josiah. And so as we read Zephaniah, it's important to know that two things are happening at once. One is very good, that Josiah is encouraging the people to turn back to God. The other is that many of the people aren't responding. ⁓ that they have already given themselves over ⁓ to ⁓ other gods and to have incorporated other gods. So the previous ⁓ horrible kings ⁓ have already caused so much damage that Josiah is not going to be able to fully overcome that. However, he does make things better for that timeframe. so Zephaniah kind of is acknowledging that and then Zephaniah also points to the future. of recognition of what is going to become to Jerusalem, to the Southern Kingdom, and then also, you know, that ultimately God will restore and make things the way that He intended. So we're going to see both of those things going on, and then the Psalms that we will read are definitely, you know, connected kind of with the attitude. of celebration and thankfulness that is going on during the time of King Josiah because of how faithful he is. So Zephaniah, if you read that, it starts off right there in chapter 1. It says that he is the word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, and it gives him who is the son in the days of Josiah. the son of Amnon, king of Judah. So we know he was in the ⁓ time of King Josiah. Says, the great day of the Lord is kind of the headline, ⁓ if you will, of those next few ⁓ verses. And it starts off with a bang. Says, I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land, says the Lord. I will consume man and beast, birds of the heaven, fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. The stumbling blocks are probably talking about the idols and things like that. But isn't that interesting that the tools that the wicked use are the idols? That God will not only will he get rid of the idols, but he will also get rid of those who are using those idols as stumbling blocks. That all of that will be wiped out. says, will stretch out my hand against Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal. from this place, again, Baal, foreign god, the names of the idolatrous priest with the pagan priest, those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops. Now this is interesting. What he's referring to there is that, you you were supposed, it's not that you can't worship God in your home, but what was, the way that it was designed was that you went and you worship God in the temple. That's where you worship the one true God. It doesn't mean that you can't read the Torah and worship God at your home, but the central place of worship was ⁓ the temple. What he's referring to here is how people would worship pagan gods, kind of looking at the starry host in their own home and worshiping how they wanted, worshiping whatever God they wanted. So that is what is being referred to here. And again, you see this throughout the Old Testament whenever it appears that ⁓ God is, you know, this mean God and the God of the Old Testament that we kind of see as today, that we see as this angry God. No, what it is is the people have turned their back on Him. God is a God who requires us to be obedient to Him and to Him alone. ⁓ And ⁓ the people, when they get in the most trouble, is whenever they have started worshiping other gods. says, those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord. but who also swear by ⁓ Milcham or that's Molech, that is the God that children have been sacrificed to and that the people have sacrificed their own children to the God Molech. Those who have turned their back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him. ⁓ So these are intentionally turning your back on the Lord. It continues to go on, this is very, very harsh. the reason that the judgment is coming. thought it was interesting in verse 12, and it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil. Therefore their goods become ⁓ bounty and their houses a desolation. They shall build houses but not inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards, but do not drink their own wine. So basically people that have become complacent think that God is checked out, that God doesn't care anymore, that he's not going to do good or he's going to do evil. That means we just take care of it ourselves and become complacent with what's going on around them. I think that's a danger for us today. We need to be careful of becoming complacent, of not paying attention to what is going on around us. There's major cultural shifts going on in society right now. I think we need to be aware of those. We need to make sure that we do not get sucked into those, you know, societal norms that go against what God reveals to us through Scripture. It continues on, talks about the Great Day, talks about how Jerusalem, how Judah is going to be destroyed. But then in chapter two, there is ⁓ a call to repentance. It says, yourselves together. Yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, before the decree is issued or the day passes like chaff, before the Lord's fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld his justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. This is interesting. Again, this is not saying that you're going to avoid the collapse. You're not going to avoid that day. But we should seek repentance before that day comes, right? Not be surprised by it. And getting to the point where we put our trust in God beforehand so when that day comes, we are better prepared for it. And I think maybe that's what it says that you will be... it may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger." So it's saying the day of the Lord's anger is coming, but maybe you will be hidden. I don't think that means that God is intentionally, you know, completely separating us from the ramifications of His anger. But if we have already repented, if we have already started to seek Him, to seek justice, to be faithful to Him, it will not surprise us whenever that day comes. We will be ready for that day and we will be prepared to handle the ramifications of it. Verse 4, starting in there, chapter 2 goes to the judgment of the different nations, starts naming some of the different nations. You get to verse 12 that talks about the Ethiopians. That would have been Egypt. Ethiopia had conquered Egypt at this time. area. It also talks about destroying Assyria and make Nineveh a desolation, which that's a huge thing because at this time, Nineveh is still an extremely powerful city. It's an amazing city. so for Zephaniah to be saying that it's going to be destroyed is quite incredible. And that will come to pass. Both of these things come to pass. Nineveh is destroyed. Assyria is destroyed by Babylon. And then Babylon then also overtakes Jerusalem. Then chapter 3 talks about the wickedness of Jerusalem. You know, it talks about kind of some of the general themes of how they are being wicked. I think, again, we can learn from this. We can see some of these problems in our own societies. Verse 3 says, princes in her midst are roaring lions, her judges are evening wolves. that leave not a bone till morning. Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people. Her priests have polluted the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law. The Lord is righteous in her midst. He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning he brings his justice to light. He never fails, but the unjust knows no shame. ⁓ As you continue to read ⁓ chapter three, again, you'll see, I believe we see some connections here. It also talks about a remnant. Verse 12, it says, I will leave ⁓ in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they shall feed their flocks and lie down and no one... shall make them afraid." Then there's ⁓ a joyful response of how God is going to continue to be faithful even as the people are overwhelmed by the enemy. God is going to be faithful to that, the remnant of people who choose to be faithful to Him. It says, "'Sing, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, be glad and rejoice with all your heart.'" The Lord has taken away your judgments, has cast out your enemy, the King of Israel, the Lord is in your midst, he shall see disaster no more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, do not fear Zion, let not your hands be weak, the Lord your God is in your midst, the mighty one will save, he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." So again, even though the tone of Zephaniah is pretty pretty tough and pretty disheartening. There's also the constant reminder of God's faithfulness and that we can still choose to be faithful to Him even when society around us seems to be going in the complete opposite direction. Now that brings us to the different Psalms. They are not very long, so I encourage you to read them. Psalm 33. ⁓ is just a rejoicing in the Lord. Verse four says, for the word of the Lord is right and his work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. One thing that I've noticed and you're gonna see it a couple more times is there's ⁓ consistently throughout the Old Testament, we hear that the Lord is true, that his words are true, that he represents truth. And we live in an age right now where truth is offensive. know, even the idea of truth is offensive to many because that means that there's only one right way to live or there's only one, you know, there is an absolute truth that cannot be denied. Well, that's offensive. And I recognize that sometimes we struggle to find what that truth is. But we know that it is based in who God is and we have to strive to find truth through God. And we can struggle with that. I know that that is a reality that we're all going to struggle to find ⁓ truth, but it's a struggle that we should engage in, not one that we should just say, well, you know what? It's just too hard. There is no truth. You just determine what your truth is. That is... extremely dangerous and we're seeing that in our society right now. So it's not about finding our own truth, it's about finding God's truth. As we continue there in Psalm 33, says, the counsel of the Lord stands forever in verse 11, the plans of his heart to all generations, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen as his own inheritance. That nations who choose God ⁓ can experience the blessings of God. But then if you choose not to follow God, there will be ramifications. There are just natural consequences of doing that. ⁓ Verse 18, And behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy to deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive and famine. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield, for our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us just as we hope in you. Ken, this is so important to remind ourselves of these types of Psalms because we can sing these Psalms even in the midst of kind of society falling apart around us. Psalm 66 is just a praise to God for his awesome works. The word awesome is used over and over. Verse eight. ⁓ bless our God, you peoples, and make the voice his praise to be heard, who keeps our soul among the living and does not allow our feet to be moved. For you, O God, have tested us. You have refined us as silver is refined. You have brought us into the net. You laid our affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but you brought us out to rich fulfillment. I will go to your house with burnt offerings. I will pay you with my vows. ⁓ It says, Come and hear all you who fear God and I will declare what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth and He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear, but certainly God has heard me. He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God who has not turned away my prayer nor His mercy from me. Again, the recognition of our own simpleness, giving that over to God. and God will hear us. He will listen to our prayers. Psalm 67 is very short. says, talking about His salvation being known on all the earth, let the peoples of the earth praise you. Let all the people of the earth. God desires for all to know Him, to praise Him. Let the nations be glad and sing, ⁓ and that you shall judge the people righteously and govern the nations of the earth. looking forward to that day when He is the one to govern. Psalm 100 is a very familiar song. It's just such a great song. says, Make a joyful shout to the Lord all you lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God. It is He who made us and not we ourselves. He made us. We did not. make ourselves, He gives us our identity, He gives us our purpose, right? We do not create that ourselves. We find that in Him and in Him alone. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name, for the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and what? His truth endures to all generations. No matter how much we want to disregard His truth, the truth of God, the truth that flows from Him, no matter how much we want to disregard that or that it makes us uncomfortable or that it just causes us to struggle, His truth will endure to all generations. It will be here no matter what we do, no matter how much we pretend it does not exist. His truth will endure forever. All right, well, I hope that you enjoyed today's ⁓ episode. We're going to start again and start reading in Jeremiah, probably Jeremiah ⁓ one through six is what we're gonna hope to get through. So Jeremiah one through six, we'll see you then.