Zephaniah - Zeph. 3:1 DailyBibleStudy.Org

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Zeph. 3:1

Lesson # Zeph. 3:1
Study Material - Zeph. 3:1

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. 3:1

1 Woe [howy] to her that is filthy [mara] and polluted [ga'al] , to the oppressing [yanah] city [iyr] ! KJV-Interlinear

1 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, The tyrannical city! NASB

Now we turn to Jerusalem. We have studied the four directions relative to her - the North, the South, East and West. And now Zephaniah turns to the home city of God - Jerusalem.

We recall that Jerusalem has a mountain within its midst - Mt. Zion. Zion stands for the vastness of Gods word. The city around the mountain is the city of peace because of the doctrine within it. This is a picture of your soul with doctrine in it. If you advance to spiritual maturity then you arrive at a state of spiritual peace. This is spiritual maturity. This is what all believers should want to achieve for their individual lives.

The city is surrounded by the nation - Israel, and that is the chosen land and people of God. This is where those who reside within His boundaries of salvation, live their lives. Note that only believers in Christ are true Israel. This is not a genetic salvation. Salvation is not restricted to only one race or culture on this earth. The salvation promise existed since the time of Adam, and from Adam's time through Abraham, there were no Hebrews, no Israelites -none.

Just as the historical Jewish race failed with God, so too believers fail in their spiritual life. And that is the subject of chapter three. Believers fall to delusion just as do unbelievers. And they fall because they do not take in Bible doctrine into their souls on a daily basis, they do not live the Christian life on a daily basis, they do not follow the circle of wisdom, as we have called it in our study, thus failing to advance to spiritual maturity.

'Woe,' is their destiny in this life, because believers ignore their spiritual opportunities, and do not take advantage of that which God gives freely.

Jerusalem is the reference to believers who have been found to be rebellious - they pick and choose that (Bible doctrine) which they want to follow or not follow in life. They have been found to be defiled - they look outside of the fellowship sphere in which doctrine functions in the life, and they look to the sin nature side of life and choose those carnal activities which appeal to the soul for fun, for security, for fulfillment - all of which only make things in life worse for the individual.

Jerusalem becomes tyrannical - rebelling against the laws of God, and looking to the rules of the jungle in which the world operates when outside of Gods direction. You recall that the jungle has its own set of rules and none of them are for the better good of any person. The strong win and the weak get squashed. And in time, the strong become the weak as others grow up in their place and become the new strong. There are no favorites in the long run as the world will destroy everyone eventually if it has its way.

On the other hand there are the establishment principles of God which counter the rules of the jungle - there is freedom, marriage, family, justice (the principles of it), national patriotism, free enterprise, all of these and more serve to preserve the human race giving it some balance for survival.

But even the establishment rules are not salvation nor the spiritual life. They apply to every human being - both believer and unbeliever alike.

When God is ignored in the life, then when trouble comes along, the believer can say only one prayer, Hab. 1:2

Hab. 1:2
2 How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And Thou wilt not hear? I cry out to Thee, 'Violence!' Yet Thou dost not save. NASB

A believer out of fellowship, and consequently a believer who does not grow up consistently in their spiritual life, if at all, will have no spiritual assets with which to call upon God. They will imitate unbelievers and follow the same patterns of an unfaithful life.

'Woe,' is all they can expect.

This applies to you if you do not pursue Bible doctrine with a passion daily, and throughout your entire life. The Song of Solomon is a love story for the young at heart, but the love is not between a man and a woman, it is a love story of passion between the believer and Gods Word. When you were young (or while you are presently young) you recall or perhaps know of the passions that are associated with the young at heart. When all is going well in the life, when there is great prosperity in the life, when the blood burns hot with passion, then that is the attitude that you should have toward your spiritual life.

Not a day should go by that you do not fulfill your passion with Gods Word - not a day. In the carnal life I'm sure that none would pass up the opportunity to be with our love of a life time - repeating these words 'If only these moments could continue on forever.'

In Gods word and in your spiritual life, if you are faithful, then your life will one day realize that statement.

On the other hand, if you think little of this Bible stuff, if you don't really take it all seriously, if you make up excuses as to why you can do this or that (contrary to Gods commands), then what awaits you? Woe!

And that is not good - not good at all. Don't experience it in order to gain an understanding of what it all means. I'm sure you don't have to jump off of a tall building in order to know what awaits you at the bottom. Why do that to your spiritual life?

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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