Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 275

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Interested in the media muddle over Janet Jackson or The Passion? Read my article on responsible free speech:
http://www.aibi.ph/vote/Freedom_Of_Speech.pdf
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Zephaniah 2:1-7  
Gather yourselves together; yea, gather, O nation not desired;  (2)  before the birth of the decree, the day shall pass like the chaff; yet not before the hot anger of Jehovah comes on you, yet not before the day of Jehovah's anger comes on you.  (3)  Seek Jehovah, all the meek of the earth who have done His justice; seek righteousness; seek meekness. It may be you shall be hidden in the day of Jehovah's anger.  (4)  For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a ruin. They shall drive out Ashdod at the noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.  (5)  Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The Word of Jehovah is against you: Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will destroy you, so that no inhabitant survives.  (6)  And the sea coast will be pastures, meadows of shepherds, and folds for flocks.  (7)  And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed on them. In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down in the evening, for Jehovah their God shall visit them and turn away their captivity.

Zephaniah chapter 2 predicts judgment on the Philistines, Moab, Ethiopia and Assyria. Most of these judgments fell during the conquests of either Nebuchadnezzar or Alexander the Great.

This prophecy in part concerns the Palestinians - who are the remnant of the old Philistines, and who well in the old Philistine cities such as Gaza. (The term Palestine was coined, (by the Romans I think) to insult the Jews by naming the land after their arch enemies the Philistines.) This prophecy predicts that Israel will occupy Gaza - which is news since Ariel Sharon is proposing a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza strip. 

In these judgments a certain type of person will be spared: “Seek Jehovah, all the meek of the earth who have done His justice; seek righteousness; seek meekness. It may be you shall be hidden in the day of Jehovah's anger.”  The word for meekness (awn-aw) means- humility, lowliness, gentleness.  The meek are gently submitted to God, do justice and seek righteousness. These are “dwelling in the center of God’s will” and judgment passes them by.

The whole idea of judgment on cities and nations is foreign to most people. Even God’s judgments on individuals are hard to accept or many. But even Jesus spoke of judgments on cities such as Capernaum -see Matthew 11:20-24.  In fact many of the great classic judgments in Scripture are of cities – Sodom, Gomorrah, Babylon, Nineveh, Tyre, Sidon etc. A city that God judges is a community in rebellion against God. A relatively modern example is Port Royal, the pirate city run by Bluebeard, which slid into the sea in 1629. It was said to the “richest and wickedest city on earth”.

Having numerous churches and powerful religious occurrences does not save a city – unless these lead to conversion and changed behavior. Jerusalem was judged despite having the temple in its midst and even having Jesus doing miracles would not save Bethsaida:
Matthew 11:20-22  Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had taken place, because they didn't repent.  (21)  "How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that happened in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  (22)  Indeed I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you!

Thus cities which once had revivals or produced great preachers (such as London, Geneva or New York) cannot claim that as a defense unless they also accept Christ and do good deeds. A city should care for its poor, accept Christ and do justice in the courts. It should not be  a center of economic oppression or of moral wickedness and lawlessness. 

God plainly requires a changed life. A life that is not proud or God-defying. God has a clear agenda of setting His Kingdom order in place on earth “Thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” When places depart drastically from that Kingdom order they undermine their own existence. Underneath the physical universe is a spiritual and moral order, and when this moral order is violated then the whole substrate of existence turns against the offender and slowly but surely topples it. What will happen to San Francisco as it openly licenses gay marriages? I expect something to occur. Maybe as mild as the sacking of those involved, maybe as violent as a major  earthquake. That is up to the Lord.

Zephaniah tells us that we need to fear God and reckon with His power. He is not forever tolerant of wickedness and unbelief and will set a time called “the day of his anger” when those who do not repent will most certainly be punished. Psalm 90 tells us to respect God’s anger:

Psalms 90:7-12  For we are burned up by Your anger, and by Your wrath we are troubled.  (8)  You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your face.  (9)  For all our days pass away in Your wrath; we finish our years like a murmur.  (10)  The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by strength they are fourscore years, yet their pride is labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.  (11)  Who knows the power of Your anger? And as Your fear is, so is Your wrath.  (12)  So teach us to number our days, so that we may bring a heart of wisdom.

Yet God’s anger is “for a day” – and we as believers dwell in His mercy and he has chosen to save us and to forgive us in Christ Jesus.  “John 5:24  Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My Word and believes on Him who sent Me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death to life.”

God has chosen to save those who believe, who put their trust in Christ and who seek the righteousness that is by faith. Yet we need to remember who we are dealing with and lead reverent and holy lives, awaiting the day of His coming. At the same time we should also call Him ”Abba father” with joy and great freedom in Christ. We are to revere God and have a certain holy fear – but not a cringing fear or obsequiousness rather a joyful understanding that Him who loves us is holy and will bring all evil to an end.

Blessings,

John Edmiston johned@aibi.ph

[Special Project – Translation of Harvestime Church-Planting Courses into Tagalog]

We wish to employ a team of four Filipino translators for one year to translate the 21 Harvestime modules into Tagalog (the language of the Philippines). This will cost about $800 a month and we still have to raise $600 a month of this. We would like 30 people to donate $20 a month to make this happen (starting April). [To see the Harvestime courses go to: http://www.aibi.ph/harvest/ ]

 If this interests you send a cheque to John Edmiston 21744 Grace Ave. Carson CA 90745 and include a note saying “For Tagalog Translation Project”. (The AIBI does not yet have a US bank account but we are working on it.) Or use our online donation process and send an email to me saying “For Tagalog Translation Project” and tell me about the donation so I know how to designate the funds. To donate online go to: http://www.aibi.ph/aibi/donate.htm 

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