We continue. our sermon series in Zephaniah,
Hidden Treasures, as we journey with this minor
prophet speaking to the people of Judah, the
people of God, and we continue in chapter 2.
We'll be going verse 4 through 15, and what's
interesting about this section that we're going
to look at is we're going to look at kind of
the reach of God's justice. One of the things
that Zephaniah is really hitting strong on, like
many of the prophets do, both minor or major,
again that's just size of book, and the size
of of message, so to speak, is God's justice,
that God is still making a way for those pagan
Gentile kind of cities around and people and
tribes around to see the way he disciplines and
loves his children. hopefully comes with an opportunity
for them to turn toward Yahweh, turn toward the
God of gods, the Lord of lords, which I always
find interesting and bring it to a kind of parental
place today on Mother's Day, is the way we discipline
our children is a way people can see the Jesus
that we love. Think about that for a minute.
For some of us, that may bind us real tight and
go, oh, pastor, I don't like that you just said
that. Because maybe you're more of a heavy -handed
disciplinarian. Or maybe there is zero discipline
in your house and it's chaos. And we can actually
see the way people have kind of their faith in
Christ in the way that they discipline their
children. That that is actually an example we
can give that our discipline is fair and just,
right? A God that is slow to, and believe me,
I'm looking right in the mirror when I say this
verse, that if our God is slow to anger and abounding
in steadfast love, though there is chiding, as
Hebrews tells us, which is an active discipline
rooted in the love of the gospel. And that is
how we, if we have the honor and opportunity
to be parents, that is how we should be. Same
thing with our Lighthouse teachers and our youth
group leaders and all of those things, which
I do want to just thank Lisa and her entire team
for the year that they have given us in Lighthouses.
They celebrate kind of the end of the season
next Sunday along with our youth ministry leaders.
Let's just give them a hand quick because that's
not easy. A gymism that you guys have heard a
lot, and I'll continue to say, if you've served
in nursery as a Sunday school teacher or in youth
ministry, when you get up to heaven, I believe
that your room will not be by the ice machine.
That that is definitely something you have earned
in that sense. That as we start in a couple weeks
the call for youth ministry leaders and children's
leaders, that is a... Carrot we can dangle. Anyway,
so the reach of God's justice. As Zephaniah is
talking to Judah, as Zephaniah is talking to
everybody looking at the small little Judah right
now, we hear the voice of Zephaniah last week
calling Judah a shameless nation. Now, some of
us, we think, well, it's shameful what they are
doing or not doing. But the shameless part points
to not only the loss of moral grounding. but
to a people that no longer care if they sin.
That one way you can tell your spiritual walk
has issues is if you're sinning and there's no
conviction. Or you're sinning and you go, ah,
you know what? God's going to forgive me anyway
in the end. I don't think you want to take that
chance. I think to have that active relationship
with God, much like we have active relationships
with each other, if we sin against one another,
we want to make it right. We want to bring reconciliation,
whether easy or hard. You don't want to be that
person that doesn't want to extend forgiveness
in grace, because I guarantee you there will
be a time in life when you want that from somebody
or from God himself. They're not even worried
about sin in the sense that they just don't care,
and that is shameless. Unmoved by God's holiness,
unaffected by their spiritual condition, and
now we move into our set of passages for today.
That the shamelessness is not just in Judah,
but it's in the world around. We're going to
talk about specific cities today that represent
and maybe can be recognized in us that maybe
that's where we are. in our walk with God. Pride,
mockery of God, and rebellion. What they did
then can mirror in our hearts today when we feel
we're good. We live under the banner maybe of
once saved, always saved, so I can do whatever
I want. That is not the definition of Christian
liberty. That we understand and recognize God's
sovereign in our lives. We live to serve him,
to love him, and to love others. So this call
to repent of God's powerful declaration of judgment
is not only over Judah. There's a lot of times
we can read the Old Testament and go, wow, he
was just a disciplinary parent to Judah. It wasn't
just about Judah. It was about all these other
towns and nations. Zephaniah reminds us that
God's justice is not bound by borders. His judgment
sweeps across the known world back in this day.
You had Philistia to the west, Moab and Ammon
to the east, Cush to the south, and Assyria to
the north. That is going to be that kind of box
we're going to be in today. That this sermon
is not only a warning, but of scope. That God's
sovereign over all people, not just those that
are believers. And how he cares how the nations
reflect and reject his holiness. So a little
bit of context before we dive in. These nations,
the ones that I mentioned and we're going to
go to kind of town by town, were traditional
enemies of Israel. These were constant enemies.
They were constantly having battles throughout
the Old Testament. And each had mocked and oppressed
God's people. They took an aspect of God's character
or what the Israelites, one of the aspects that
the Israelites worshipped and thanked God about
God, they mocked it. Their downfall would be
a sign of God's covenantal justice. and warning
to Judah. Zephaniah likely preached during the
start of King Josiah's reform, late 7th century
BC, at the time when Judah might have been a
bit proud and insolent that they were kind of
doing good. We're in that good place, so now
we think we're better than everybody. When we
maybe have been done being disciplined or a season
of discipline by God, we may try to go to a spiritual
eliteness and pride cometh before the fall. The
listing of our cities and the directions suggest
the complete surrounding judgment. So you have
Judah and then you have all the towns around
it. I think it's great and deep the way that
this declaration is coming from Zephaniah. So
let's dive in. First, Philistia. Start with verses
4 through 7. So verses 4 through 7, then we're
going to do a little rabbit trail on the word
remnant. For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon
shall become desolate. Well, become a desolation.
Ashdod's people will be driven out at noon, and
Ekron shall be uprooted. Woe to the inhabitants
of the seacoast, you nation of, I don't know
how to say that word. The word of the Lord is
against you. O Canaan, land of the Philistines,
I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
And you, O seacoast, shall be the pastures with
meadows and shepherds and folds for flocks. The
seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant
of the house of Judah, and on which they shall
gaze. And in the house of Ashkelon they shall
lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will
be mindful of them and restore their fortune.
So Philistia, cities like Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod,
and Ekron are named. And what do we see? God
promises total desolation. Wiped out. Gone. Now
again, some of us, we struggle with the God that
does this. Because there are times we think God
should just be this loving God. And not discipline
anyone. And maybe that's because you think that's
what you need in life. And I'm here to tell you
that if that's you, you probably need some discipline.
You probably need not to come in first place.
You probably need to be taken down a peg or two.
And again, I'm looking in the mirror first before
I say that to any of you. But the thing here
we have to recognize is that God promises total
desolation, yet he speaks of a word remnant.
He says this word. It is one, in my mind, one
of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture
is this word remnant. You want to see it done
a lot, read the prophet Isaiah. But there's a
remnant inheriting the land. So allow me a moment
to do a little rabbit trail on the word remnant
in the Old Testament. Whenever you see the word
remnant in the prophets, it's worth pausing.
It's word taking a little bit of a time out.
This is not a throwaway word. It is loaded with
significance, both biblically, both apocalyptically,
meaning end times, and both theologically. In
the Old Testament, especially in the prophetic
books like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and Zephaniah,
the remnant refers to the faithful few who survive
judgment, exile, or destruction. Let me say that
again. The faithful few that survived judgment,
exile, and destruction, not because of their
strength or merit that they were that awesome,
but because of God's covenant faithfulness. The
remnant is based because God is a covenantal
God. It is based in that. Without the covenant,
there would not be a remnant. These are the people
who still cling to God, who walk in humility,
and who look. Towards salvation. Not just for
themselves, not just for their people, but for
the world. In Isaiah 10, the remnant is described
as those who return to the mighty God. Micah
says God will gather his remnant like a shepherd
gathers sheep. And here in Zephaniah, even the
nations are judged. We hear that a remnant shall
inherit the land. So as reformed believers, how
do we engage this? How do we walk through this?
Because this seems to echo themes of election.
Evan read in Romans that God predestined, that
God has this choice, this covenantal choice for
us. And he chooses us, not because we're great,
but because we need God. God's sovereignty preserves
his people, not based on what they've done, but
according to his gracious purpose. If I ever
find out that any of you use this term election
as a place to stand over somebody, please believe
I'm going to call for a conversation. Because
to me, that could be seen as spiritual abuse.
That when we use this term, well, we are elect.
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. No. Please never do
that. Because that is not at all the right understanding
of being part of God's elect. That God's election
shows his sovereign purpose because we need it.
Not because we've earned it. If you think that
you've earned God's election, you and I have
a lot to talk about. The Cairns of Dort, section
7, speaks clearly. Election is the unchangeable
purpose of God whereby he has chosen in Christ.
To salvation, a definite number of particular
people. You go to the end of the Belgic Confession,
which to me is one of the most missional documents
we have in our Reformed Confessions, our three
forms of unity, which are what? The Heidelberg,
the Belgic, the Canons. Oh, that was fun. Thank
you for doing that. The last article on the final
judgment, it says, until the elect is complete.
That is when Christ will come again. The beautiful
thing about that is we don't get to choose that.
We just have a job to do. What is that job? Point
people back to the cross. Point people back to
Jesus. So the remnant is a sign of both judgment
and mercy, much like a prophet would say. Though
judgment falls, God keeps a people for himself,
pointing us forward to Christ and his church.
And today, we who remain faithful amid a world
of compromise are the spiritual remnant hidden
in Christ and preserved by grace. Let's come
out of that rabbit hole of remnant and jump in.
So in Philistia, we've seen the mixture of God's
judgment and restoration. God's wrath is real,
but he wants to preserve his people. You liken
that to if you grew up in a house where there
was more physical discipline, right? Whether
you got spanked, right? Whether you got a belt,
whether you got some other weapon. There's no
other way to say that. Disciplinary tool. Or
if you were like my little kind of 4 '12", no,
that would be 5 feet, 4 '11", grandma, her three
fingers. Just pop you right in the mouth. You'd
come out of nowhere. Like a ninja. Right? I told
you that story before. I was in junior high.
I mouthed off. She whacked me on the mouth. And
I turned to her and said, at that point I could
look down at her, was, Grandma, why would you
do that? And she looked at me cold as ice and
says, because it doesn't leave a mark. You better
believe. I laughed when my cousin, who was a
year younger than me, like next week got the
same thing. And we never talked back again. But
that is, so when we discipline, even as parents,
a lot of us may feel it or even say it. This
hurts me more than it hurts you. That though
you discipline your children, you still love
them. If your disciplinary tool is to maybe physically
or verbally discipline, but then never come back
and show compassion or mercy to your child. then
Colossians is kind of calling you out because
you're discouraging your kid. That a Christ -like
discipline has discipline, but it also has compassion.
Because how would we like it if God just striked
us but never came back to pick us up? We have
to model that, and God is modeling that in Philistia.
But in Moab and Ammon, we got something else
in verse 8. We see. I have heard of the taunts
of Moab and the revelings of the Amorites, how
they have taunted my people and made boast against
their territory. Therefore, as I live, declares
the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall
be like Sodom and the Amorites like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits and
a waste forever. The remnant of my people shall
plunder them and the survivors of my nation shall
possess them. This shall be their lot in return
for their pride because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the Lord and the hosts.
The Lord will be awesome against them for he
will famish all the gods of the earth and to
him shall bow down each in its place all the
lands of the nation. And God will be awesome
against them. I hope and pray that that is never
turned toward me. Because we see the word awesome,
but it doesn't feel that way. That God will be
awesome in his desolation toward them. These
nations insulted and taunted God's people. Pride
and mockery are highlighted. Verse 11 speaks
of God reducing their gods to nothing. A clear
assertion of Yahweh's supremacy. The language
anticipates the universal worship of God. To
him shall bow down each in its place all the
lands of the nations. Where have we heard that
before? The book of Revelation. At every knee
will bow, every tongue will confess. We sing,
holy, holy, holy, that that will be the congregation
of the Lord in the end times. But the insults
and the taunting. Now. We're kind of a sports
family. A lot of you are sports families. Taunting
is one of the worst things we can see in kids'
sports. But it happens all the time. The worst
is when it's adults to kids. That's absolutely
terrible. But as I manage my son's C League team
in Munster, one of the first things that I taught
them is we win with grace and we lose with grace.
So last week, a little bit of a flex, when we
had more of a walk -off win, right, for our first
win, it's okay to cheer, but you get in line
and you shake hands anyway. That we understand
that in life, the boastful will be disciplined.
It says it over 30 times in the scripture that
those puffed up with pride, meaning we think
we are doing all the things, that God will. Discipline
us. Why? Because he says it in the very first
commandment. You will have no other gods but
me. I've said it before. I'll say it again. What
is he speaking to? When we become our own gods.
When we put ourselves so up in high and lawfully
places that our job and our opinion is to look
down and judge people. Be careful. God will humble
the prideful. And that is what's happening in
Moab and Ammon. But an even different and even
more interesting to me kind of judgment happens
in Cush and Assyria. So starting with verse 12.
You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by my sword.
And he will stretch out his hand against the
north and destroy Assyria. And he will make Nineveh
a desolation, a dry waste like a desert. Herds
shall lie down in her midst. All kinds of beasts,
even the owl and the hedgehog, shall lodge in
her capitals. A voice shall hoot in the window.
Devastation will be on the threshold, for her
cedar work will be laid bare. This is the exultant
city that lives securely, that said in her heart,
I am and there is no one else. What a desolation
she has become. A lair for wild beasts. Everyone
who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.
Very different. A lot of animals. These animals,
don't go so deep with it, right? It's what happens
when things become deserted, when things have
crumpled. The animals take over, right? Whether
it's a town, whether it's an abandoned house,
or your garbage can, right? When things are just
left with no signs of life, what happens? The
animals come in. Interesting. Note here. Now,
unless I know some of our squirrels are just
demonic that we have on our street, but they
don't come at it right away. Animals will kind
of check and see to make sure. They're not all
dumb, most of them are, but they have a survival
instinct in them. So what happened? These places
have become desolate for a while. But the interesting
thing is, when things become destroyed, we...
tend to want to build them back up. We see that
with hurricanes. We see that with tornadoes.
When a town gets leveled, and I'm not saying
that that was God's judgment on them. That's
not what I'm saying. But we see a rush, whether
it's the Red Cross or other organizations, to
come and try to rebuild and restore those towns.
That doesn't happen here. We need to clock that
for a minute. That we need to see that not only
are they devastated, not only are they completely
torn down, there is no one there to rebuild and
the animals take over. You see, Cush is mentioned
briefly signaling God's justice even in the distant
places. Cush would be the farthest of these towns.
Showing God's judgment, but God also chooses
to restore what he wants to restore. And it should
go and kind of serve us to tell us of our interpersonal
relationships with one another, that restoration
he always wants. Never does God say to you, it's
okay to say to that person, you're dead to me.
That is not, you are there to rebuild. Even if
those relationships have been hurt and hard for
decades, we are called to rebuild them. We are
called to make them right. Will they ever be
flourishing? Probably not. Will you ever necessarily
trust those individuals? Probably not. But forgiveness
needs to be shared and received for that reconciliation
and that restoration to happen. So isn't it funny,
even the most distant desolation, the most distant
hurt and pain that we may have in our life, God
calls to restore. Assyria, once a dominant empire,
is mocked for her arrogance. I am and there is
no one else. Her end is desolation. Nineveh,
proud and untouchable, shall become a wasteland.
Proof that no empire stands forever. Because
it's all about God at work. God's kingdom. Okay,
that was fun. We nerded out on some of the history.
Thanks, Jim. What do we do today in 2025? Well,
friends, there is a kingdom. That is continuing
at work. There is a kingdom that is bringing
people low if they need to be low or lifted up
if they need to be lifted up. It is the kingdom
of Christ. The Belgian Confession, Article 37,
speaks of the final judgment when Christ will
bring justice to all nations and vindicate his
people. We are living in that time. These sweeping
judgments in Zephaniah previews this great day.
No sin will escape. No rebellion will stand.
Verse 11 hints at a hope beyond judgment, a remnant,
if you will, a time when all the lands of the
nations will worship the Lord. This anticipates
the Great Commission that we talked about before
the baptisms, but it also speaks of Pentecost,
when the church has a job to do and is set on
its ways. Again, we'll get to that Labor Day
weekend. We're going to start a whole journey
in the first eight chapters of Acts. The judgment
that Zephaniah is talking about prepares the
way for the kingdom of Christ. A kingdom of peace
and justice. And that will reign. And friends,
spoiler alert, where does that kingdom come?
From God, through Christ, in us. In the church.
That we are to be people of peace and justice,
of reconciliation and hope. How do we do this?
First and foremost, friends, we do it by trusting.
And I'm going to land the plane here today. My
question, what are you trusting in this morning
before we get to what Zephy's telling us then
and now? Are you tempted to think God doesn't
see what is happening in the world? Have you
just thrown the baby out with the bathwater and
said, God's clearly not at the wheel because
of, insert whatever your observation is. Do you
think God's not in control? He still is. Zephaniah
tells us, even if all of the nations around are
desolated, the remnant of God still remains.
Do we mock or ignore God in our own pride, like
Moab or Ammon? In those little secret spots that
no one really knows, so we don't talk about it.
Do we actually mock God's power? Do we ignore
because we think we have a better way? Third
question, where is your security? Is it in your
culture, your nation, your wealth? Or is it in
the Lord? This is a constant theme in Zephaniah.
Constant theme in the entire Bible. Don't put
your weight in the material things of the world.
That's where we're going to be in August. Jesus
uses the word store up. Don't store up all these
things where they will be destroyed because you
can't take it with you. The call to Judah is
also a call to us. Be faithful, be humble, be
found in God's justice, in God's grace. Are you
seeing those that don't think they're being seen?
Are you lifting up those that remain down? You
have the power to do all of that because the
kingdom of Christ is coming through you. If you
claim Christ as Lord and Savior, the kingdom
of Christ is coming through your hands and your
feet in what you say, in what you do, in what
you post. Be faithful. Be humble. Be found in
God's justice and grace. What is Zephaniah trying
to tell us? What is he saying then and what is
he saying now? Then he was saying God's justice
swept over every direction. No one was exempt.
I repeat, no one was exempt. The nation's pride
led to their fall. Yet God's promises to preserve
a remnant and bring about global worship shine
through. What is he saying now? Our world mirrors
those nations. Arrogant, dismissive, self -centered.
But God's justice is still active. And so is
his call to humility and repentance. Through
Christ, all nations are invited to bow and worship.
We are the remnant. And we are also his ambassadors.
Sent to the family you find yourself in, the
job you find yourself in, the communities you
find yourself in, the churches you find yourself
in. We. are the remnant of God's justice and
grace. So let's be active in that. Let's pray.