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| Zeph. 1:2-3 |
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Lesson # Zeph. 1:2-3 Study Material - Zeph. 1:2-3 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Zeph. 1:2-3 2 I will utterly [acaph] consume [cuwph] all things from off the land [paniym] [adamah] , saith [na'um] the LORD [Yahovah] . 3 I will consume [cuwph] man [adam] and beast [bahemah] ; I will consume [cuwph] the fowls [owph] of the heaven [shamayim] , and the fishes [dag] of the sea [yam] , and the stumblingblocks [makshelah] with the wicked [rasha] ; and I will cut off [karath] man [adam] from off [paniym] the land [adamah] , saith [na'um] the LORD [Yahovah] . KJV-Interlinear 2 'I will completely remove all things From the face of the earth,' declares the LORD. 3 'I will remove man and beast; I will remove the birds of the sky And the fish of the sea, And the ruins along with the wicked; And I will cut off man from the face of the earth,' declares the LORD. NASB What do we know from life on this earth? Well we know that there is only one God. That should be clear from our recent study in Joel, and from the gospels, which we spent most of last year studying. The last week of Christ's life prior to the Cross, that is. We know that there is only one God, only one Word of God, only one truth. We also have discoveries from archaeology and many discoveries of old bones, that dinosaurs and two types of a human like creatures (Cro-Magnon, and Neanderthal) lived prior to the time of current mankind. We also know that neither of these two human like creatures are genetically related to each other, nor to current mankind. Thus science is always looking for the missing link, which would tie us all together (they won't ever find it of course). Last, we know that all of this life (prior to Adam and Eve) died out on earth. Why did life die out? Isa. 14:17 17 Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?' Satan caused the world to fall into oblivion. In fact Satan is the 'source' cause for all of the chaos in the universe. Anyway, we know the story of Noah and how the world again, came to the brink of decadence and God destroyed it with the flood. The first destruction of all animal life was Satan's doing. The second destruction was from mans conscious choice (even though influenced by the pattern of thinking from Satan) against God, when mankind interbred with angels producing the super humans of Genesis 6. Now there will be two more destructions in mankind's future. The next one will take place at the end of the Tribulation when mankind will turn extremely negative toward God and therefore extremely evil, and then the last destruction will occur at the end of the Millennium when God destroys all of creation and then makes a new universe. This last destruction is not really a judgment, but a total overhaul of the universe in making all things new again. So there is only one more massive judgment for humanity and that is the one which will occur at the end of the Tribulation at the Second advent of Christ. These are extreme examples of Gods use of His divine power and authority for cleaning out the filth caused by evil mankind. This filth comes from mans ignoring Gods Word, and therefore not knowing the truth about life. That leaves man open to all sorts of imagination and invention with respect to what is right and what is wrong. When the standard of God is ignored, then there is no absolute standard with which to measure or compare the norms and standards of mankind's rules for society. At any given time, anything goes. When this happens (mans falling away from God) on a personal scale, on a regional scale, on a national scale, or on a worldwide scale, then God steps in to right the wrong. Often times this isn't pretty. Destruction comes along when the degree of negative volition toward God is at its maximum and there is no possibility that people will change their minds. Their thinking is set and unchangeable. So now we get to our passage. Zephaniah blasts out of the gates with the promise, the certainty of destruction of all evil. God allows people to make up their minds, even when they make the wrong decisions in life, decisions that will ultimately be destructive. God gives us all warning after warning, that our chosen course of indifference toward Him is not a good choice. Then when it is clear that we (negative man) won't change our ways, then the big hammer comes crashing down and nothing survives when it hits. Zephaniah makes this clear that the ultimate authority 'the word of the Lord' comes from God himself. We studied this in yesterdays lesson. This is not an invention of man, not the imagination of doomsdayers, but the promise and certain fact of action which God himself will take when things get too evil on planet earth. As I said. This can be on a personal level between God and an individual person, or on a global level - between God and lots of folks collectively. When man gets negative and stays there, then utter destruction is coming. God provides mankind with lots of blessings - life, volition, time, His words of truth. Enough to have and maintain a good and successful life. But when man takes these things and turns them into abuses, then mankind makes his own trouble by his inappropriate use of that which God has given. The result? God will ultimately come down (figuratively) and utterly destroy everything that man has. How so? Well, God simply turns His back on mankind (who first turned his back on God) and lets the world have its way with man. Destruction is the result. Recall that God controls history, and He does it in three ways - directly by His essence, indirectly by His establishment principles, and permissively by allowing mans volition to function freely regardless of the repercussions of mans thoughts, decisions and actions. This destruction overflows to the animal life of the planet. The birds are not safe, the animals of the field are not safe, even the fish of the sea are not safe. Mans decisions of evil extend to the abuse of all animal life, and animals suffer as a result. People make choices in life. They either choose for God or they choose against Him. Many folks try to have it both ways by choosing compromised positions between God and the various beliefs (attitudes) they might have. Ezek. 14:3 3 'Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by them at all? NASB God cares nothing for mans invented ideas. Man lacks wisdom and knows nothing true unless it is learned from the scriptures. Man can never invent or originate truth. In mans arrogance, there is no distinction between those well to do or those not so well to do in society. Isa. 24:1-2 1 Behold, the LORD lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. 2 And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. NASB Evil does not distinguish between mans social structure. It can penetrate the good and the rich as well as the bad and the poor. The result for all? God will sweep away, remove, cut off, all that man holds near and dear to his heart - which by the way is filled with evil thoughts. Leaving all to mans control would end up in making the world a pile of rubble from what once was a prosperous past (the universe was created perfect). God did not ruin the universe, Satan did that (or started that process), then mankind when he goes negative toward God continues with the destructive pattern on planet earth. Since Zephaniah later writes that a remnant would be delivered, Zeph. 3:9-13, the universal destruction of mankind referred to here is limited to the wicked. Jeremiah makes this clear as well, Jer. 25:31-33. As described here in Zephaniah the destruction is thorough, leaving nothing to the imagination, leaving nothing left. No one should ever think that they can escape Gods wrath. Unfortunately there are many who invent many other religions in the world and by them think they can invent their own future. Not so. There are also those who just don't care and to these, the wake up call will be a big surprise. They will probably whine the most. When life gets the upper hand, and we give the upper hand to life when we turn away from God, then there is no way out. People might think that they can weasel out of this situation or that with their money, or talent, or connections or such, but that is a deception which negative people will never overcome. Zephaniah's warning is very clear. 
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
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