Custom Search
|
To receive notice of each days Bible Study,
please go to my Twitter and Facebook pages and sign up.
Facebook -
| Daily Bible Study | ||
 You can help people worldwide. Please make a small donation. Make a difference in someone elses life. |
Subscribe Daily Bible Study Mailing List 
Receive Daily Bible Studies directly into your email inbox. |
Express your comments, opinions, questions, etc. |
| Zeph. 1:11-13 |
|
Lesson # Zeph. 1:11-13 Study Material - Zeph. 1:11-13 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. 1:11-13 11 Howl [yalal] , ye inhabitants [yashab] of Maktesh [Maktesh] , for all the merchant [Kana`an] people [am] are cut down [damah] ; all they that bear [natiyl] silver [keceph] are cut off [karath] . 12 And it shall come to pass at that time [eth] , that I will search [chaphas] Jerusalem [Yaruwshalaim] with candles [niyr] , and punish [paqad] the men [enowsh] that are settled [qapha] on their lees [shemer] : that say [amar] in their heart [lebab] , The LORD [Yahovah] will not do good [yatab] , neither will he do evil [ra`a] . 13 Therefore their goods [chayil] shall become a booty [machiccah] , and their houses [bayith] a desolation [shamamah] : they shall also build [banah] houses [bayith] , but not inhabit [yashab] them; and they shall plant [nata] vineyards [kerem] , but not drink [shathah] the wine [yayin] thereof. KJV-Interlinear 11 'Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar, For all the people of Canaan will be silenced; All who weigh out silver will be cut off. 12 'And it will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good or evil!' 13 'Moreover, their wealth will become plunder, And their houses desolate; Yes, they will build houses but not inhabit them, And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.' NASB There are but two opinions in this universe. There is Gods opinion which is truth, and then there is the pattern of thought which comes from Satan. Satan is the father of all lies. You will either follow that which God expresses or you will follow that which Satan expresses. There is no third choice. Gods opinion is contained within the Bible. Satan's opinion is a web of intricately woven lies which span the spectrum of human philosophy, politics, beliefs which come in many forms. The only way to get Gods opinion, or know it, is to study His Word on a daily basis, or from whatever public influence which Gods word has had on societies norms and standards for day to day life. There are by far many more ways to take in Satan's pattern of thought. One just has to ignore Gods Word, and Satan's influence on your thoughts will take over your inner most beliefs. When we were studying in Revelation, we have seen the state of opinion in heaven, like a huge never ending sea of glass with perfect thought, perfect serenity, perfect clarity, perfect balance of truth. But here on earth, we have a huge contrast. Just read any newspaper, watch any TV show or movie, listen to any talk show and you'll see and hear endless opinions. Some will have tidbits of truth within them, most will be driven by human bias, ego, or selfish motivations. All the false opinions are anti-truth and filled with subtle or obvious deceptions or ambiguous or misleading interpretations of facts. The long and short of it all? God is ignored and mankind is on his own path, mapping his own destiny. This, Zephaniah describes in these verses. The inhabitants of Mortar (Maktesh - 'a mortar,' 'a trough,' or 'a hollow') describes those merchants and consumers of the shopping district, Neh. 3:32. It is more than a location however, and is also a description of their activities and their status. The 'mortar' is a hollow place where grain is ground up into flour. The trough is also a description of a rut which people can fall into when they pursue the same things day after day in their lives. This then is a description of people who have pursued their business activities day after day, making their daily activities their religion, or the main function of their life. This excludes God in their lives. They see more value in their daily business or shopping or hobbies, or whatever their daily activities happen to be, than they see in the value of Gods Word. Therefore, in the previous study, we heard (studied it) wailing coming from the merchant district, because that is one of the first places that will be sacked by an invading army. An army will seek the wealth and goods of a thriving society. Those who lose their goods will be the ones who will be crying and wailing. But not just with tears of sorrow, but with terror of torture, and brutality and pain beyond belief. Deut. 28:30-32 30 You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall violate her; you shall build a house, but you shall not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not use its fruit. 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be torn away from you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes shall look on and yearn for them continually; but there shall be nothing you can do. NASB They will be living the life in their hollow, but when judgment overtakes them, then they will be crushed and ground up like the grain they ground into flour. Their life will be of less value than the flour which falls to the ground and is kicked away. Many will be hunted down even into the sewers where they try to hide, but will not escape their judgment. Such is the life and the expectations of anyone who ignores God in their life. Gods judgment is thorough. He searches out the city (anywhere people live or function in life), every nook and cranny, with sufficient light, to find all the guilty. Now what we are studying is not limited to those folks who lived nearly 2800 years ago, but applies to each one of us who live even today. Everyone in history will get their chance to meet Jesus face to face. The real question is, will He be smiling on you when you meet, or will He have his angry face on? The basic problem? People do not place much credibility in Gods Word, in His promises, in His ability to do that which He says He will do for each one of us. People become indifferent, they don't care, they ignore God altogether and they replace God in their life with their daily activities, whatever they may be. Their status of soul is a stagnant spiritual life. They are broken. They pursue and confirm their hardened attitude and habits. If life gives them something good, then they assume it is due to their hard work or luck. If life dishes out something bad against them, then it is just God getting even with them for no reason. The result? Verse thirteen. They will eventually lose everything they have and they will lose it in a very miserable and violent way. Negative people look to the things they have in life and they advance the worth of those things to elevations even higher than their own family members or family welfare. Their things become their security and their strength. God will allow the world to take it all away, even your life if need be. Why? Because you fail to look to God for all that you have. You turn your back on God, you do not pursue the source (God) of all that you have with a passion as you pursue (with emotional passion) the 'things' that you want in life. People passionately and regularly, and with great meticulousness watch their daily or weekly TV shows, read their usual magazines or papers or books, or do whatever it is they do from day to day. And this gets them nowhere in life. If they placed just a small percentage of this effort in a daily Bible study, then their life would be infinitely better. And, they would benefit from it forever. Pursue 'God' and things will come to you with ease. Pursue 'things' and you'll end up with nothing. 
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. |
|
Subscribe Daily Bible Study Mailing List 
Receive Daily Bible Studies directly into your inbox. |
|
|
|
|