Zephaniah - Zeph. 1:4-6 DailyBibleStudy.Org

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Zeph. 1:4-6

Lesson # Zeph. 1:4-6
Study Material - Zeph. 1:4-6

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Zeph. 1:4-6

4 I will also stretch out [natah] mine hand [yad] upon Judah [Yahuwdah] , and upon all the inhabitants [yashab] of Jerusalem [Yaruwshalaim] ; and I will cut off [karath] the remnant [sha'ar] of Baal [Ba`al] from this place [maqowm] , and the name [shem] of the Chemarims [kamar] with the priests [kohen] ;
5 And them that worship [shachah] the host [tsaba] of heaven [shamayim] upon the housetops [gag] ; and them that worship [shachah] and that swear [shaba] by the LORD [Yahovah] , and that swear [shaba] by Malcham [melek] ;
6 And them that are turned back [cuwg] from [achar] the LORD [Yahovah] ; and those that have not sought [baqash] the LORD [Yahovah] , nor enquired [darash] for him. KJV-Interlinear

4 'So I will stretch out My hand against Judah And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, And the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests. 5 'And those who bow down on the housetops to the host of heaven, And those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom, 6 And those who have turned back from following the LORD, And those who have not sought the LORD or inquired of Him.' NASB

The problems that people bring onto themselves are due to their indifference toward, or substitution for, or compromising of, or simply their rejection of truth. What is truth? Truth is where facts meet reality and match up perfectly. It is as simple as that.

When beliefs accept pseudo facts which cannot meet reality then there is a default toward delusion. Reality then is invented by the imagination and since it is not real, then the delusion will inevitably lead to failure, then frustration, then various forms of emotional reaction.

If a person continues to reject truth, then they become lost in the darkness of their false beliefs. If however, they begin to reason that they are somehow on the wrong track, then discovery of truth (through Gods Word) is possible and a recovery back to where their life is supposed to be, is also possible.

Initially Zephaniah spoke of the overwhelming destruction of evil worldwide. Now in this passage he addresses believers only. Even believers in the Savior, Jesus Christ, can drift away from their spiritual life and get caught up in the trap of the worlds philosophies and false beliefs.

Zephaniah addresses four categories of false beliefs and therefore false courses of life style. The first deals with those who pursue Baal, the second category are those who pursue a lifestyle of Milcom, or Molech, and the third category are those who are simply indifferent toward God. All three are apostate which is simply the abandonment of ones principle belief and faith. In our study this is an abandonment of truth, or the abandonment of the study of Gods Word.

Baal was the Canaanite god of fertility who was worshipped by many in Israel in the time of the Judges, Judg. 2:13, and in the time of Ahab, 1 Kings 16:32. Baal worship involved lots of degenerate and terrible sexual acts. Manasseh, the wicked king of Judah, erected Baal altars, 2 Chron. 33:3,7, then his grandson Josiah destroyed them, 2 Chron. 34:4.

Baal appealed to the lascivious lusts and nature of those who followed it. In the early stages of this belief there is just sex, but within that belief, it was a 'god' ordained and authorized activity (convenient of course). Then the sexual activity turned to various deviant types of sex such as homosexuality, bestiality (sex with animals) and various other degenerate sexual acts. Eventually it evolved into human sacrifices while sex was being engaged in. The screams of the victims (usually children) served to excite or stimulate the senses of those who were 'worshipping' (engaged in sex), so to speak.

Then there were those who worshipped the heavenly bodies. Things in the day or night sky which could not be understood, but could obviously be seen - the sun, the moon, the stars, comets and such things. This category of people worship that which is unknown. In our current day we would look to science or technology or our logic of thinking that we can eventually figure out everything in life if given enough time. Of course generation after generation passes away and mankind is still following the same old life styles that he has pursued in the past. The sin nature doesn't change. It just takes on new victims in each succeeding generation.

Third there were those who pursued the beliefs in Molech or Milcom. There were those who attempted to combine the worship of Yahweh (the one true God of the Bible) with the worship of Molech (this is a compromising approach to life), a form of religious syncretism, or an attempt to fuse or combine or redefine the faith of the Bible with the beliefs of the false. Molech was the chief god of the Ammonites, 1 Kings 11:33, a people east of the Dead Sea, Zeph 2:8-9. This was a self righteous approach to god, and led to human sacrifices or a distortion of the animal sacrifices of the Levitical offerings (distorted rituals, or redefined rituals). Today we would look at those people who would approach life in a self righteous way. Those who would try to be good, as it were, and that effort on their part makes them better than the rest of us. This is the view of the elite, the liberal, those who believe that they should be the ones looking out for the rest of us, because we are not capable of looking out for ourselves.

And fourth, there are those who just don't care for all of this Bible or religious stuff. They don't see any benefit in it, nor any value in it. Life is just what you make of it. You are either lucky or not. You either work hard and get somewhere or you don't. If you succeed, then it is due to luck or your own effort. If you fail, then that is just the way things are. Why try harder? This is the attitude of those who are not even luke-warm to God and doctrine.

Zephaniah also identifies two classes of priests - those who would be intermediaries between man and God.

One group was the pagan priests, non-Levitical appointees by the kings of Judah, 2 Kings 23:5, idolatrous priests, Hos 10:5. These are priests who are self appointed to whatever cult they choose to invent and promote. The Hebrew word for 'pagan priests' is kemarim, which means idol-priests, priests who prostrated themselves before idols (objects or ideas of false worship), and in effect pursue the lies of their false and distorted beliefs. Today these would be leadership of false religions, distorted views of false religions or philosophies. Islam would be a good example of this with its mainstream following and then there are the more radical groups who invent their own interpretations to fit their agenda's.

The other group was the idolatrous priests, (legitimate) Levitical priests who had defected from the worship of the true God to a superstitious or distorted pattern of faith. These are legitimate priests, but they just got away from the scriptures and pursued various forms of their own invented writings, regulations, church precepts and such which have no basis in truth. Today these would include many organizations who have been caught up in allowing homosexual priests, in pursuing various church rituals or sacraments more so than in pursuing the study of the Bible. Church doctrine replaces Bible doctrine.

When the teaching of the Word of God is distorted, then learning becomes distorted and the faiths and beliefs take off in all sorts of wild directions. The result? Apostasy, disillusionment, frustration, and eventually problems too big for mankind to deal with. We call this judgment or discipline depending on the degree of the disaster we come face to face with in life.

The long and short of this study is simply, if you disregard God in your life, then you will embrace lies by default. That will lead to problems and that will not be good. Sooner or later your life will be miserable to the point that you will either make the change back to God, or you will go to your death and discover too late, your failure.

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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