Joseph Shulam: Zephaniah - Syncretism, Judgment and Joy

Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Joseph Shulam.

Shalom! Zephaniah, like the Prophet Habakkuk, has only three chapters. It's not a very long text that we have inherited from the Prophet Zephaniah, but there are many similarities with Habakkuk and with the other Minor Prophets, but also some very important differences.

First of all, the name Zephaniah appears several times in the other prophets, including Jeremiah and others like Hosea, Amos, Joel, and Habakkuk.

Zephaniah is prophesying during a difficult time. One of the differences that you immediately notice is that Zephaniah—we know who he is. With Habakkuk we know only his name; we don't know which tribe, we don't know much about him at all. But Zephaniah gives us a very detailed address of who he is, what he represents. Starts the word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Kushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, King of Judea. We find out immediately from the beginning that he is a prophet from Judah, not from the ten northern tribes like some of the other Minor Prophets that we mentioned, but he is a Judean prophet.
And his prophecy, as he says in the days of Josiah, is from the 7th century, toward the end of the 7th Century BCE.

Zephaniah is much more emotional than some of the other prophets. He starts his prophecies with:

"I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land," says the Lord.

Now this text itself already brings us to another problem that needs explanation. When we talk about the land, it could be the land of Israel or it could be the whole Earth.

"I will consume everything from the face of the land, from the face of the Earth," says the Lord. "I will consume man and beast. I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land of the earth," says the Lord.

"I will stretch out my hand against Judah, against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut every trace of Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests, those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops, those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom."

(One of the idols of our neighbors.)

"Those who have turned back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him, be silent in the presence of the Lord God."

Let me stop here a minute. Whatever Zephaniah is saying can be substantiated thousands of times by archaeologists in the archaeological digs in Judea, in Jerusalem, even in the houses of some of the richest people. Maybe the house of the high priest, maybe the houses of the priests. Idols were found and we read in Ezekiel that in the temple, the women were worshiping a pagan god, Tammuz, the god of harvest and fertility, during the springtime and early summertime. The god that like Baal died every year and resurrected every year with their agricultural season that he was in charge of as supposed by the pagans.

But don't be surprised, dear brother and sister Christians all over the world, don't be surprised. Religious syncretism is a part of the inheritance, not only of the Jews in the days of the 8th, 7th, 6th Century BC and on and on. But this kind of syncretism exists in the Christian world as well. And not only in the Greek Orthodox and the Catholic Churches. It exists in the Protestant churches as well, in the Evangelical churches as well. Because a lot of things that we do, we never inquired, "What are their roots? Where do they come from?" What's called the Christian holidays, the biblical holidays that Jesus and the apostles celebrated in the New Testament, are ignored. But pagan holidays were anointed with a plastic cover to cover the pagan parts of them and given Christian meaning. Whether it is Halloween, whether it is some of the other holidays like Easter. The same thing was happening in the days of the prophets in the 6th, 7th, 8th Century BC and before. And archaeology proves that, in the texts of the prophets prove it, and the texts of the book of Samuel prove it, and the texts of the book of Kings prove it.

Yes, it's hard to stay in a relationship with the Almighty God who has no picture, no image, no statue, and no physical representation. All the Neighbors, all the world, have physical representations of their gods in their temples. Whether it's a cross with the Jew hanging on it and bleeding from his hands, from his head and from his feet and never taken down, never portrayed as the son of David, the son of Abraham sitting at the right hand of God interceding for his people, he remains on the cross. Yes, there is syncretism in Christianity as well.

But the Prophet Zephaniah is bewailing this, is crying about this. He is begging God for mercy for the sins of his people, for the sins of Israel, of Judah in this case. He says to the people of Judah, to the people:

"You have not sought, you have not looked for the Lord, nor inquired for Him. Be silent in the presence of the Lord God. For the day of the Lord is at hand, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice. He has invited His guests. And it shall be in the day of the Lord's sacrifice that I will punish the princes and the king's children and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel."

All the Israelites that are clothed like gentiles, like idol worshipers, in this case, in the days of Zephaniah, they're going to get punished because they brought a foreign culture, an idolatrous culture into Jerusalem, into the land of Israel.

"But in the same day, I will punish the masters of the houses with violence and deceit, the people who got rich and wealthy by lying, and deceiving, swindling. And on that day, the day of the Lord, the sound of mournful cry from the Fish Gate, a wailing from the Second Quarter, and loud crashing from the hills. Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down, and those who handle money are cut off."

Remember, one of the scenes in the Gospel is Yeshua comes into the Temple on a holiday and He sees that the courtyard of the Temple has become a market, a business place. Money changers— you could be a defense lawyer for the money changers if you want to. People came from far away, they couldn't bring sheep, they couldn't bring bulls, they couldn't bring living sacrifices to the Temple. So, they went and bought Temple coins and gave the coins to the Temple instead of the living animals. And the priest would either do something with the money or buy in the name of the guy who brings the sacrifice a goat or a sheep or two turtle doves and sacrifice them. That's how it should have been done but not always, there were crooks then just like there are priests that are crooks and rabbis who are crooks and pastors who are crooks as well and they used their position in order to make wealth for themselves and the Prophet has this image in verse 12.

"I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men who are settled in complacency who say in their heart, 'The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.'"

In other words, verse 12, the Lord is impotent. You're not going to do bad to us or good to us because He is impotent. He's got no power. Therefore, the Prophet says to these people, the rich of Jerusalem, the ones who swindled the people in the name of religion, in the name of God."

"Therefore, their goods shall become booty to their enemies and their houses desolation. They shall build houses but not inhabit them, they shall plant vineyards but not drink wine from them. Great is the day of the Lord."

We already talked about Amos in chapter 5. He says, 'Don't say the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord.' Don't be so excited about eschatology, the end times coming in your own day because it's going to be darkness and not light.

Zephaniah has the same theme as Amos. Don't be quick to say "the day of the Lord". 'Oh, we're waiting for the day of the Lord. Come quickly.' Listen, if the Lord comes today, most of the Christian world and the world as a whole will go down the tube to hell. Yes, the Jewish world as well, not to talk about the pagan nations and the ungodly nations of the world. The sound of the day that the Lord comes will be a bitter sound. The strong man, the mighty man will be crying like babies. It will be:

"a day of wrath, trouble, disaster, dissolution, day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers."

See, this is a very, very important and sobering prophet to study, especially for all those that deal and argue and split churches over the eschatology, the last days, pre-tribulation, post-tribulation, mid-tribulation. Nobody knows what he's talking about for sure. It's all speculation in my opinion. But they're dividing churches over it. They're fighting over it. Even the Lord Himself in Matthew 24 doesn't know the day and the hour in which God is going to tell Him, 'All right, my son, pack your bag and go. They're waiting for you, your bride is waiting.'"

But even though they don't know what they're talking about, they still split churches over it, over doctrines that they themselves don't know anything about. Yes, the blood of these false prophets, of these false crooks in the leadership of the nation, it says:

"it will flow like dust, and their flesh like refuse. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the days of the Lord's wrath."

I like the last chapter of the letter of James, of Jacob, the brother of Yeshua in the New Testament. He says, The rust from the gold of these rich people is going to stand and witness against them in the day of judgment. Wow, you know, gold is a noble medal. It doesn't have rust, but their gold will have rust. Not real rust, I think spiritual rust, because gold doesn't have rust, but it will be witnessing against them.

And Zephaniah is very clear and he's talking to the people of Israel in the second chapter:

"Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, before the decree is issued, before the day passes like chaff, before the Lord's fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you.
Seek the Lord now, all you meek of the Earth who have upheld His justice, seek righteousness, seek humility."

In other words, through Zephaniah God is saying to the people, to the faithful of the Lord, now is the time to seek the Lord, to seek justice, to seek truth, to seek to be meek and humble so that the Lord will hide you from His anger, from His disaster because the nation, the nations around you, are all going to suffer. The pagans around you, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ecron, the Canaanites, the Philistines, all the inhabitants around us, they will pay the price when God is going to meet His judgment, they will pay the price.

You who are humble, who are faithful, who are the remnant of the house of Judah, you can hide under the wings of the Lord. As Yeshua turned to Jerusalem said, 'Like a bird hides its chicks under the wings to protect them.' So I wanted to do for yourself, but you didn't want to. The house of the Lord will remain for the faithful, for the humble. But the unfaithful that are Jews, Israelites, disciples of God from all the nations, for them there will be a hiding place under the Lord's wing, under His love, under His grace.

But for the paganized and the pagans, there will be no place for hide. And he names here Moab and Amon, our neighbors to the east, and he names Sodom and says Moab across from the Jordan River and the Dead Sea will be like Sodom and Amon, which is the capital of Jordan today, will be like Gomorrah, overrun with weeds and salt pits. Yes, these minor prophets are short, but they're very sharp. They're like a jalapeno ten times over, like a habanero or a malagueta hot pepper that when you put it in your mouth, it's so hot, you can hardly breathe.

When I read this, that's how I feel. And it goes down all the way to Africa and addresses the Ethiopians, "You shall be slain by my sword," says God. And He will stretch out His hand against the north to destroy Assyria, Nineveh, the great city that Jonah went to bring them to repentance and did, they were all filled with the sound of singing widows that lost their families and their husbands.

Yes, the prophets of the Old Testament are not easy to study and easy to digest, but we must study them if we want to know what is waiting for us and for the world around us. Not the Hallelujah Chorus, but the reality of what God is going to do to the world. We see it in the Book of Revelation, but very few people take Revelation seriously. We see it in these prophets, but very few people, both Jews and non-Jews, take these prophets seriously.

But Zephaniah ends with a wonderful message of hope. He's talking to the remnant of the faithful children of God in Israel and in all the nations. Let me read from verse 8 in the last chapter:

"Therefore, wait for me," says the Lord, "until the day I rise up for plunder. My determination is to gather the nations to my assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them my indignation, my fierce anger. And the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy."

But verse 9:

"Then I will restore to the people a pure language, and they all call on the name of the Lord, serve Him with one accord in unity. And beyond the rivers of Euphrates, my worshipers, the daughters of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. In that day, you shall not be ashamed for any of your deeds in which you transgressed against me."

In other words, there will be repentance and rejoicing and restoration to the Holy Mountain of the Lord in Jerusalem.

"And I will leave in your midst a meek and a humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness, and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. They shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid."

And then comes the song of the daughter of Zion:

"Sing o daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away your judgment, and has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, The Lord is dwelling in your midst, and there shall be no disaster anymore."

Hallelujah! Jerusalem will see no fear. Zion shall not be weak in His hands. The Lord your God is dwelling in your midst, a mighty One will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. And that's toward the end of the Prophet Zephaniah.

God bless all of you. Rejoice! There is salvation in Zion, and there will be salvation in Zion when the Lord comes for everybody.