Zephaniah - Outline

[Jim Watt]

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

March 31, 2013


 *OCT 9 - ZEPHANIAH: THROUGH JUDGMENT TO BLESSING*


 *1. 1:4 (1:1-6, ESV) ZEPHANIAH: PROPHESIES BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY. “I will
stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem; and I will cut off from its place the remnant of Baal and the
name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests.” *After much clear
warning, with much longsuffering and patience, You let judgment come,
Father. You *are* a God Who sees both good and evil, and punishes the evil!
*Hallowed be your :name.*


 *2. 1:12 (1:7-18) DAY OF JEHOVAH: CLASSES TO BE PUNISHED. “At that time I
will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are
complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor
will he do ill.’” *You will not have Your people like ‘Christian Science’,
Father. You *are* a God Who sees both good and evil, and punishes the evil.
*Your :kingdom come.*


 *3. 2:3 (2:1-3) JUDAH: EXHORTED TO SEEK GOD. “Seek the LORD, all you
humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek
humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD. *King
Manasseh delayed judgment because of repentance. Noah, Daniel and Job could
be hidden because of *their* righteousness. You are a righteous Father: You
do not punish the righteous with the wicked. *Your will be done, As in
heaven, so on earth.*


 *4. 2:7 (2:4-15) JUDGMENT: ON FIVE NATIONS. “The seacoast shall become the
possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the LORD
their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes. *Forgive us
Father, for failing to understand Your nature: A God of Righteousness and
Holiness, Jehovah of Truth and Equity. Purge us from humanistic thinking,
for the bleeding-heart liberal! *Our :daily :bread Give us this day.*


 *5. 3:5 (3:1-7) JUDAH: BAD MORAL STATE. “The LORD within her is righteous;
he does no injustice; every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn
he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame.” *Father, we bless You
that You are in the midst of the city, *our particular city church*. *Burn
it on our hearts*! *Anoint our eyes to see*! We root out *all* of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil! *And forgive us our :debts, As we also
have forgiven our :debtors.*


 *6. 3:13 (3:8-13) ARMAGEDDON: RESTORATION RESULTS. “Those who are left in
Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be
found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down,
and none shall make them afraid.” *We see and understand Your Restoration
power on behalf of Your remnant! We bless You Father, for Your power to
cleanse and keep Your people. *And bring us not into temptation.*


 *7. 3:17 (3:14-20) MESSIAH AND RESTORATION. “The LORD your God is in your
midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud
singing.” *Following
judgment, cleansing, chastisement, and discipline; comes rest, joy,
reconciliation and fellowship with You, Father! Hosanna! And *You* work it
all out! *But deliver us from the evil one!*


 *NOTE**: 3:20 (3:14-20) **RESTORATION PROMISED! “At that time I will bring
you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you
renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore
your fortunes before your eyes,” says the LORD. *O blessed be Your Name for
evermore, Father; for *You* have declared it, and *You* will also do it!


 *Our Psalm for the Day: 99:6-8 (99) THE LORD OUR GOD IS HOLY! “Moses and
Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon
his name. They called to the LORD, and he answered them. 7 In the pillar of
the cloud he spoke to them; they kept his testimonies and the statute that
he gave them. 8 O LORD our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God
to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.” *


 This may be called the Sanctus, or “The Holy, Holy, Holy Psalm,” for the
word “holy” is the conclusion and the refrain of its three main divisions.
Its subject is the holiness of the divine government, the sanctity of the
mediatorial reign.


 99:1. *Let the people tremble.* Saints quiver with devout emotion and
sinners quiver with terror when the rule of Jehovah is fully perceived and
felt. It is not a light or trifling matter; it is a truth which, above all
others, should stir the depths of our nature.


 99:2. *And He is high above all the people; *towering above their highest
thoughts and loftiest conceptions. The highest are not high to Him yet,
blessed be His name, the lowliest are not despised by Him. In such a God we
rejoice. His greatness and loftiness are exceedingly delightful in our
esteem. The more He is honored and exalted in the hearts of men, the more
exultant are His people. The more He is honored and exalted in the hearts
of men, the more exultant are His people. If Israel delighted in Saul
because he was head and shoulders above the people, how much more should we
exult in our God and King, Who is as high above us as the heavens are above
the earth?


 99:3. *Let them praise Your great and terrible name.* Many profess to
admire the milder beams of the sun of righteousness but burn with rebellion
against its more flaming radiance: so it ought not to be: we are bound to
praise a terrible God and worship Him Who casts the wicked down to hell.
Did not Israel praise Him “Who overthrew Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red
Sea, for His mercy endures forever”! The terrible Avenger is to be raised
as well as the loving Redeemer. Against this, the sympathy of man’s evil
heart with sin rebels; it cries out for an effeminate God in whom pity has
strangled Justice


 99:5. *For He is holy*. Holiness is the harmony of all the virtues. The
Lord has not one glorious attribute alone, or in excess, but all glories
are in Him as a whole; this is the crown of His honor and the honor of His
crown. His power is not His choicest jewel, nor His sovereignty, but His
holiness. The gods of the heathen were, according to their own votaries,
lustful, cruel, and brutish; their only claim to reverence lay in their
supposed potency over human destinies; who would not far rather adore
Jehovah, Whose character is unsullied purity, unswerving justice, unbending
truth, unbounded love, in a word, perfect holiness? *For He is holy. *Holiness
is the harmony of all virtues. The Lord a virtue all too rare in these our
days; men run after their own views and opinions and make light of the
truth of God; hence it is that they fail in prayer, and scoffers have even
dared to say that prayer avails not at all. May the good Lord bring back
His people to reverence His Word, and then will He also have respect unto
the voice of their cry. *(From “The Treasury of David” by C.H. Spurgeon,
abridged by D.O. Fuller)*



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