Zephaniah

Zephaniah – the dark side of love

(a balance)

Zephaniah is the last of the prophets before the Captivity. He lived during the time of Jeremiah and probably Micah.

However, this book gives way to “the dark side of love.” Read JVM p. 860, 861 “the dark side of love.”

Were you afraid at the beginning of the story?

When did you realize what was happening was a good thing?

Have you ever felt this frightened about things happening beyond your control?

When it was all over and you knew you were safe and would be alright, did you see any good from the scary experience?

KEY VERSE:

2.3 “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, see meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.”

C1 is all about judgment of Judah and Jerusalem, “I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord.” (1.2)

C2 is about judgment of the earth and of all nations.

C3 balances all the judgment of the earth and nations by noting the establishment of “the Kingdom.”
“For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one (unified) consent.” (3.9)

• God is love it's true but He is also holy and just with the likes of you.

Zephaniah – a balance...

Z is for the Zeal of what the prophet tells

E is for the Eternal weight of heaven or hell

P is for the Preacher who tells the truth

H is for the many sheep that stand aloof

A is for the Almighty who judges sin

N is for the New life of salvation within

I is for the Ignorant child who continously rebels

A is for forgiveness when Asked without telling tales

H is for the sweetness of Heaven which cannot be described

Zephaniah points us to the Lord Jesus and how He had to die.

• So much judgment in this little book; how can love be it's theme?
• “Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth...” (Heb 12.6)
• (Jn 15.1-2) Jesus said, “...every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth (prunes) it, that I may bring forth more fruit.”
• Like the surgeon's knife, it is a healing act that cuts away the bad to make way for the good.

On Whiteboard

You balance the word with it's opposite or counterpart: 3 students, 3 columns....ready, set, go!!!!

up/down, in/out, left/right, black/white, good/bad, salt/pepper, open/closed, happy/sad, big/small, fast/slow, hot/cold, near/far, old/young, loud/quiet, straight/crooked, fat/thin, tall/short, light/dark, heaven/hell, righteousness/unrighteousness, good/bad

You get the idea. God gave us opposites/contrasts to teach us.

If not for the counterpart or opposite of something, how would you understand the meaning?

So it is with the “dark side of God's love.” But the only part of His character that people prefer to quote or think about is “God is love,” and He is. The problem is that is all that is quoted about Him. Either He is love or He is full of wrath. He is both but He is so much more...

Scripture tells us that to “spare the rod is to hate the child.” (Prov 13.24) In other words to let a child get away with mischief or unknowingly doing the wrong thing is indication of actually “hating” him/her. We are also instructed as adults/parents, that “the rod of correction will drive folly far from the heart of a child.” (Prov 22.15).

So, when your grown up says, as they punish you, “this is going to hurt me more than it does you,” believe them!!!

Think about the following to demonstrate the balanced love of God toward HIS children.

If He let's us walk on in error, even when you don't realize you are doing something wrong, He would not be just. For example; the mother who tells a child that if he/she does not turn off the TV/video game...at the appointed hour, even if it is Friday night and there is no school the next day, a child discovers, by faith, mom knew what she was talking about.

Habakkuk

Habakkuk – one who embraces another

C1.5 miracles “Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe...”

C2.4 “...the just shall live by faith.”

• Habakkuk asked, “Why?” - (1.2) – dangerous territory when faith is discarded for human reasoning...
• Although his questioning of those seemingly “getting by with sin” was valid – that isn't the whole picture.
• Hard to maintain faith when it looks as if it's the wicked folks who are prospering in one way or another.

Does that change the fact that sin is till wrong in the sight of God and that He is going to judge EVERY sin? No, of course not. He has not changed His standards or procedures. Even if sin is not judged right away, be assured judgment will come.

Satan's tool of mass destruction:

You do not believe that a God of love would permit evil in the world, do you?

Do you think a loving God, kind in heart, would permit suffering in the world?

Same lie the devil has had since the beginning in Gen 3; he told Eve. “Do you mean to tell me that God doesn not want you to eath of that tree? Why?...I can't believe that a good God would forbid it...”

He enjoys destroying your confidence in the goodness of God.

God's answer to sin in Habakkuk's day: “Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe...” (1.5)

The Lord “is not slack concerning His promise...” If He said it, you can depend on it. In this passage, God is reassuring Habakkuk that He will “take care of business.”

But first, one must have “faith.”

Read again, 2.4 “the just shall live by faith.” - quoted 3X in NT, (Rom 1.17, Gal 3.11, Heb 10.38)

Back to the meaning of Habakkuk's name – one who embraces another.

Faith is one way the Lord “embraces” His children – He gives faith to trust Him, no matter the circumstance. Remember Job, “though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13.15) and (Job 1.21); “the Lord giveth and taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” Always, (Rom 8.28) “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”

Next, a sticky situation – what would you do?

The Nelson family at church have been through some incredibly difficult times. Mrs. Nelson is still recovering from a serious car accident. The older daughter recently diagnosed with lupus. A year ago, Mr. Nelson lost his job, and he still has not found full-time employment. The younger son, who is in Stuart's grade, recently was suspended from school for pulling the fire alarm. He is continually in trouble at school. Stuart honestly doesn't know how the mother and father cope with him.

Yet, what Stuart doesn't understand is that despite all these difficulties, the family is in church every Sunday. The mom and dad, particularly, really seem to be worshiping and praising God. Stuart doesn't understand why. He's not so sure that he could praise God if his dad lost his job or if his mom was in a serious car accident.

• How do you think Stuart needs to respond to his doubts about God?
  • If you are unsure, read Habakkuk 3:17-19 to find out how to answer.
  • ANSWER: It's good to talk with your parents or pastor when you have doubts about God. The best response to accepting bad times, is to cling to the fact that God is in control. Like Habakkuk, despirte the circumstances, one should “rejoice in the Lord...(and)joy in the God of (your) salvation.” 3.18
• Why does God allow such awful things to happen in one family?
• Where is He anyway?
• When have you wondered why God allows awful things to happen to people?
• Why do you think God allows suffering?
• How do you handle your doubts about God?
• How can watching a family going through difficult times yet still praising God strengthen your faith?

Nahum - Consolation

Nahum – Consolation

Nahum means “Consolation”

key verse: (1.3) “The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.”

“Will not at all acquit the wicked...”

Does anyone get away with anything?

“The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knowth them that trust in Him” (1.7)

When someone comes against you, where do you turn?

The Lord gave Nahum words to comfort Israel because the enemy was bent on destroying them.

The enemy at this time was the city of Nineveh.

Do you remember who went to Nineveh to preach repentance? Jonah – and 120,000 repented and turned to God – quite literally, the whole city!

Have you ever repented and turned to the Lord Jesus as Saviour?

Now, about 150 years later, the revival has worn off and the city has turned away from God and is once again an enemy of Israel.

So, it is this prophet, Nahum who sounds the death knell on Nineveh, the capital of the great Assyrian Empire.

• The way one knows one has repented and trusted Christ is there is a desire to do right all the time.
• Do you have that desire?

Nineveh had been given light but rejected it.

Jesus said (Mt 6.23) “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.”

Nineveh deteriorated, morally and spiritually when they rejected God and His Word.

Like so many other nations: for example England.

Remember the story of the Pilgrims and the Mayflower?

Do you know why the Pilgrims risked death to come across the ocean?

Liberty and freedom from religious oppression. They desired to worship God as they believed right. So, they came.

Even after the Pilgrims left, and the land was mostly in spiritual darkness, God in mercy blessed England with great men such as JohnWesley, George Whitfield, CH Spurgeon and others. But the people rejected the true Word of God in favor of ritual and tradition.

Thus, “the light went out.”

Now, we send missionaries to England to once again give her the light of God's Word.

We know that in 1Jn 4.8 “God IS love.” What folks tend to forget is that He is also just and holy.

So in judging Nineveh, He was just. (Gen 18.24).

When He judges He is not petulant (of sour temper) or vindictive (I'll get you back) or because He is reacting in anger in a sudden emotional outburst. He judges BECAUSE He is just. BECAUSE He is love. And love/justice must deal with sin.

What is your attitude when you know you are right and the other person is wrong?

Back to Nineveh. The day of grace was gone, “no healing.” (Nah 3.19)

I believe America is fast approaching the same end. The life of a nation, historically is about 200 years. We have been here, as a nation, 241.

• We were in bondage but God gave faith thru the Word of God brought over by Pilgrims.
• Faith gives way to courage, courage to liberty (this is where things break down).
• Liberty to abundance then selfishness then complacency then apathy back to bondage (again).

How do you feel about things of God?

Do you want to love Him and keep His commandments?

Do you wish grown ups would quit telling you what to do, where you can go and for goodness sake, what you should wear?

Be careful, be very careful – this is the attitude that lead to Nineveh's destruction by and Almighty God.

If this is the way you feel, you had better check up. Maybe you didn't ask Jesus to forgive you and come into your heart. Maybe you just did it because you felt forced or pushed into it.

If Nahum's name means consolation, then what is good about judging Nineveh?

Well, God is going to judge Nineveh, again, for her wickedness and because she is bent on destroying the Hebrews, God's chosen people. Nahum is prophecying this destruction and it leads to “consolation” for Israel to know they will be avenged (satisfied by the destruction of their enemy).

Do you trust God to “avenge” you of those who treat you bad on purpose?

Do you believe He loves you enough to do just that?

Would Nahum's prophecy find you an Israelite (you belong to God and are comforted) or a Ninevite (you belong to the ruler of darkness and there is no comfort)?