Now, the last time we were looking at this chapter, we looked at the first three verses, and we were focusing in on the call to repentance for the nation of Judah, if you remember that. Let's read that again, verses one to three. Let's focus in on what God's telling them to do. Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired, before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord. all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. It may be he shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. Amen. Now we know in the New Testament in 2 Peter 3 9, the Lord is not willing that any would perish. but that all would come to repentance. So when God is warning this nation, He's warning them because He wants them to seek Him, to repent of their sins, to seek righteousness, and then it says that you might be hid, amen, in the day of the Lord's anger. We don't want to face God's wrath. If you're saved, you're not gonna face the wrath of God, amen? Go to Romans chapter nine, or sorry, five, nine, I believe it is. Chapter five. Well, verses eight, nine, you know, verse eight very well, but God commended his love toward us and that while we're yet sinners, Christ died for us. Amen. Says much more than. Did you ever read that word much more, much more, much more. Think about all that you have in salvation. And just go through this chapter and read much more. It says much more than being now justified by his blood. Look what it says. We shall be saved from wrath through him. So aren't you thankful that we are saved from wrath through Jesus Christ? That's the only hope of not going through the Lord's anger and the fierce anger of the Lord and the day of God's wrath. You need to be saved. And the Lord patiently waits, but remember what he does when he's waiting, he's calling everyone to seek him and to repent. Go to Isaiah 55. That's a wonderful exhortation to all people of all times. Isaiah 55. Verse six and seven, seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Amen. So we see very clearly here there's a call to seek the Lord. And to repent, forsake the wicked ways. the wicked thoughts to return unto the Lord. And when we return and repent and return unto God, it says that he will have mercy and he will abundantly. Aren't you thankful for those wonderful adverbs, amen, or adjectives and adverbs? Abundantly pardoned, not just pardoned, but abundantly pardoned. That's how God is. Amen. So this is the call, the call to Judah. Now we're going to go on. It may be on page two of your outline. We're going to read down a few more verses in Zephaniah about The number two of the outline is the call of the nations to repent. Let's not forget that God wanted Israel to be a light. You know, a lot of times we forget about the calling of God on Israel was to be a peculiar nation, to be a holy people. and that they would show forth the gospel, the light of salvation to all the nations around them. When Jesus came, the Bible says they were so religious and so hypocritical and they lost the light that God gave them that they were shutting up. They couldn't find the kingdom and they were shutting up the kingdom of God to everyone else. To me, that's a description of many false churches today. Is it not? They can't find their own way. And then those who come in, they can't lead them to salvation either. That's sad. That's the condition of God's people back in Jesus day. But even we know there was only a small remnant here and they were about to be destroyed because of their sin and be judged. Now God's going to speak to everyone around them. Some of these nations We're very close, some a little further away in distance. So God is going to speak to these nations. Now, what we're going to see is they deserve judgment. Who in here doesn't deserve judgment? If you got what you deserved, what would you get? Where would you be right now? And so these nations, Now, remember, God gives everyone an opportunity to be saved, even in the Old Testament. So don't think they didn't have an opportunity. They had an opportunity, but just like Judah, just like Israel, the northern tribes, the southern tribes, they rejected the light. Now, if you remember, and I always like to get the full context of the Bible, Genesis chapter 10. is 70 nations, the table of nations. This is after the flood. Remember Tower of Babel is chapter 11. Those nations were dispersed. They were separated by their languages. They all had the knowledge of God. They all understood salvation. And then As Romans 1 says, their foolish heart was darkened. They began to worship the creature instead of the creator. They've rejected the knowledge of God, and God turned them over to their reprobate minds. And then you see, why would, and I don't have time, but if you ever read, you have read the Old Testament, if you're reading your Bible then, You know that when God commanded them to Israel to go in and cast out these nations and completely annihilate them, it was because they were reprobate. They were demon worshipers. There was no way of turning back. It was like the flood time when God said, I have to wipe out the face of the earth and start all over. Everyone's wicked. Their imaginations are continually evil. That's what these nations became. And as a result, they were enemies of God. They were enemies of the people of God. Now they're going to get their just rewards. But remember, God is merciful. And even as we looked at all these books, we're coming to the conclusion, I'm I'm excited. Look at that. That's all that's left here in the Old Testament. Just a few pages here, all the way that we're almost done with the minor prophets. But you remember in every message, what was it? Judgment. But with judgment, there was always a call to salvation. There was always a call to repentance. There was always a message of hope in the midst of judgment. God was willing to send revival and to send salvation. That's the same hope we have today, man, because we sure need it. Now let's go to our text. With that in mind, these are the nations. Now the first group is going to be some cities. Some major cities here. Of letter A, Philistia. The Philistines, Philistia. Philistia is P-H-I-L-I-S-T-I-A. Philistia. And he's speaking of these main cities. Look at what it says in verse 4. For Gaza shall be forsaken, Ashkelon a desolation. They shall drive out Ashdod, that's the false god, at the noonday. And Ekron shall be rooted up, Woe unto the inhabitants of the Seacoast, that's Philistines. The nations of the Charithites, that's another name for them. The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines. Can someone turn that off? Is that my phone or is that someone else's phone? All you gotta do is hit your red button so it doesn't make that noise. That's my phone, isn't it? And I just did it. Follow my example. Silence your phone. That's how bad my hearing is. I'm like, where is that coming from? It's like my back pocket. That's my excuse. If there is one, there is none. Anyway. So it says here. verse six and the seacoast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds and folds for the flock for flocks and the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They shall feed thereupon in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening for the Lord their God shall visit them and turn away their captivity. See that that's speaking of really the kingdom of God, the future kingdom. But remember, God gave them that hope that they're going to be restored after going into captivity. So even in we're going to see in chapter three. About the kingdom of God, the glory of the kingdom, the hope that God gives them. But what's going to happen to the Philistines? Let's remember some of the things that the Philistines did. They're first on the list here. Remember they always were at war with King Saul and King David. Remember those wars. Goliath and how how that there was wars, but afterward there was relative peace with Israel. However, the prophet Amos, we've already studied that book, noted that the Philistines were guilty of selling captured Israelites as slaves to Edom. Because they also, he pronounced these judgments in Amos chapter one, will not go there for the sake of time. So God, remember now, God doesn't forget anything. It could be hundreds of years, thousands of years. And you think, well, I guess God forgot. He's not going to judge. No, he's going to judge. And then this nation occupied part of the promised land in Amos' day. a part they occupied in Zephaniah's day, and that's found in Joshua and Judges. And then also the major prophet, Ezekiel, prophesied against Philistia. We will not go there, but look at that long passage of scripture. You can take some time if you're interested. to learn more about the Philistines and God's judgment awaiting them. So God is judging them for the crimes they committed against his people. This has been fulfilled, by the way. Gaza These major cities, there's four major cities, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron. All of these cities were destroyed. Gath was not mentioned because that was destroyed during Uzziah's time, King Uzziah, 2 Chronicles 26. That was a major city gaffe as well. So the entire nation of people along the coastline in Canaan would also be destroyed. No Philistine would be left. And remember what it says here. It's going to be cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks. So everything is going to become pasture land. And it would belong to the Jewish nation who truly follow the Lord. They will be living in the Ashkelon. They will be restored for and cared by God. That's what it says in verse 7. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They shall feed thereupon. In the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening. For the Lord their God shall visit them and turn away their captivity. So do you see the judgment and how that God gives that land to his people, amen? What's going to happen when he comes back? What's going to happen to this earth? What's going to happen to all these territories and all these nations that are in opposition to God? They're going to be destroyed and the people of God are going to inherit the whole earth again. Amen. We're going to be the ones occupying all these different nations. Then we have verses 8 to 11, Moab and Ammon. Well, we know something about them, do we not? Let's read the text, Moab and Ammon. I have heard the reproach of Moab and the revelings or the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people. and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation The residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts. The Lord will be terrible unto them, for he will famish all the gods of the earth. And man shall worship Him, everyone from his place, even all the isles of the heathen. Amen. Again, fulfillment in the kingdom of God. Everyone's going to have the knowledge of God. Everyone's going to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Now, where do we find Moab and Ammon? We know they are the children of Lot. Genesis 19. They are related, are they not? To the people of God. Isn't that sad? When They are, they should have been friends. They should have been best friends. They should have, you know, learned about their history and their relationship and Abraham and Lot and the relationship they had. Yeah, they had to part ways, but Abraham still loved Lot and rescued him and, and all of the history there. But no, what's it say? They had to have pride. The pride of man. They couldn't be satisfied with what they had, right? They had to magnify their borders. Does that sound like anything going on in our modern history? The modern news cycle that people aren't satisfied with their borders and they gotta keep expanding and conquering and you know, oppressing people and destroying lives. I think that throws out the theory of evolution, that we're always getting better. And, you know, Darwinism and all this false teaching and false theories. They are theories, but they're false. This is the truth right here of history and of man. One thing we know about the Bible was very honest with the condition of men. Even the greatest of men had sin and failure. There's very few in the Bible that their sins are mentioned in some of them. One is Joseph because he was a type of Christ and and God Didn't want to break that type so we don't read of Joseph's sin. There's no sin that you can He's a sinner no not he was a sinner But because he's a type of Christ and it wanted to show that fulfillment You can see the parallels and you know, it's amazing but that's why but David King David even a man after God's own heart sinned and had to go through that chastisement and returning unto the Lord, repenting, getting right, suffering for it, but he did serve God until he died, amen? And so, Brethren, we see the pride here. And that's why God's judging them. They persecuted God's people. They invaded their borders. They reviled. They reproached the people of God. You know, they were mocking the people of God. But they themselves were more guilty of vicious crimes than the people of God. And one of them, if you remember, remember the Moabite king, Balak? Balak, and he hired Balaam Balaam the false prophet who cursed the people of God and tried to get them to commit adultery and mingle their seed and destroy the line, the holy line of the people of God. All of that's recorded in God's Word. You can even turn to the New Testament and you still read of the doctrine of Balaam and the, you know, the lust of Balaam and the sins of Balaam are all in the New Testament warning us. God doesn't forget. Amen. So here they are facing the judgment of God because of all their wicked deeds against the people of God. Now God gave Israel victories over the Moabites and the Ammonites. And God said, here's what's going to happen to you. You're going to end up like Sodom and Gomorrah. And that's the judgment that God was going to bring upon them. And they were going to be wasteland and desert. Wasteland and desert. You see that? Verse 10. Zephaniah chapter 2 verse 10 this shall they have for their pride because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of foes verse 11 the Lord will be terrible unto them For he will famish all the gods of the earth and men shall worship him So what is the purpose of God's judgment brethren we find it here in And I believe again, we always have to see the millennial kingdom, the coming of Christ, the coming of the Messiah. Because God's purpose of judgment is that he might show himself, he says here, the Lord will be terrible unto them and men shall worship him. He wants to show himself mighty. He wants people to turn to Him to worship Him. Judgment is for the purpose of salvation, amen? So that people will turn to Him. Of course, all of this, the coming Millennial Kingdom has to do with Israel and their coming back to Christ. and realizing who the Messiah truly is. But I think when we read all of these nations being judged, we have to take it as a warning for every nation that's on the earth today. And believers and unbelievers alike, we need to be ready for judgment. Amen. So there's two valuable lessons. Number one is this, just being a descendant of a godly family is no guarantee of salvation. Just because you were born In a family who faithfully attended church doesn't mean you're automatically saved. You need to repent of your sin and turn to Christ. You need a personal relationship with the Lord. That's what we're seeing here. Lot certainly was a righteous man, but what about his children? That's what we're reading about here. and insulting or mocking one of God's followers will not be tolerated. You see, we live in a day and age where it's pretty common to curse the name of God, to curse the name of Jesus, to scorn the people of God, to laugh at them, to physically persecute them. for their belief in God and their belief in Jesus Christ, even for no reason at all. You see, blasphemy may not only be allowed, it is encouraged. It is encouraged, the blaspheme, the holy name of God. But we have to be assured of one thing. As you read this chapter, as you read the minor prophets, everyone who's a blasphemer, everyone who oppresses the people of God and persecutes the people of God will be judged. That's the message. Verse 12. Now we go to Cush or Ethiopia. Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword. And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations, both the Cormorant and the bitter shall lodge in the upper lintels of it, their voice shall sing in the windows, desolation shall be in the thresholds, for he shall uncover the cedar work. This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me. How has she become a desolation? a place for beasts to lie down in. Everyone that passeth by shall, passeth by her, shall hiss, and was, and wag his hand. Shall hiss and wag his hand. There's a very brief verse here about Ethiopia. Cush, or Ethiopia, There's no details here given in this verse. However, the Ethiopians were descendants from Cush, the son of Ham, Noah's second son, hence their name Cushites. Do you see? That's why I'm trying to tell you about the table of nations. You can trace every nation down from Genesis chapter 10. You can trace every nation from the three sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. So we have the Ethiopians. They occupy the region of the upper Nile. It does include today northern Ethiopia, Sudan, and parts of southern Egypt. They were an advanced civilization with a strong army. And for a time, they were even more powerful than Egypt. So we have an account during King Asa's time when they tried to come. and with a large army and destroy Judah. But Asa, King Asa, remember he was a good king. He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. Amen. First Kings 15. He called upon God and God answered. Amen. And Judah's army prevailed against the Kushites. However, that would not be the last time that the Lord would defeat the Kushites or the Ethiopians. It says right here, the Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain. Who's speaking? God, by my sword. God does the slaying. Amen? God He's the Lord of hosts. He's the Lord of His army. Amen. So God is going to slay the Ethiopians again with His sword. And the Babylonians, remember the Babylonians? They were God's agents of justice against Judah. That's what we're God's warning Judah here. And they came in in 586 BC. But then they would destroy Ethiopia, not just Judah. So the Babylonians, that's over in Ezekiel 30. We will not go there. So God's judgment of Ethiopia, strong and distant nation, sent a clear and powerful message to Judah. No nation, regardless of size or location, would be spared from God's wrath. Amen? All people, all nations would be brought to justice. And the last nation here is Assyria. Right after verse 12, jumps right in. to Nineveh and Assyria, and he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria. And he will make Nineveh a desolation and dry like a wilderness. So we have four nations here, brethren. The Lord's gonna stretch out his mighty hand and punish this nation. I think Assyria, as we've been learning, would be one of the most powerful and feared nations in the history of mankind. It dominated most of the world for more than a century. It destroyed Egypt, Babylon, the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC. We know that they were a very cruel nation. It seemed like they had no conscience. They enslaved the people they conquered. They plundered their wealth. They murdered recklessly. They had no regard for human life. And that's why God is going to condemn them harshly and judge them for their fierceness. they would face the sure and dreadful judgment of God. Listen, any nation today that's doing the same will face the same judgment. It will be harsh. So he describes vividly their punishment. He's going to destroy their capital, Nineveh. It existed for centuries. Remember Genesis 10? mentions Nineveh. It had a wall 50 feet thick, 100 feet high. But the Babylonians and the Medes destroyed that great city in 612 BC. Those who escaped, forming an alliance with Egypt, put to no avail. So by 609 BC, the Assyrian Empire completely had fallen. Similar to the fate of Philistia, Ammon, Moab, Assyria's cities were ruined, and her land was made desolate. Only animals remained. There were flocks and wild beasts, desert birds, screech owls. Though we only see one nation fighting another and new empires replacing the old, guess who's behind it? The Lord. Don't forget that today. It's the Lord's hand. Do you know everything's prophesied? Is it not concerning the nations? Gog and Magog. the armies of the North. Listen, it's going to happen. I'm not saying we just lie down and say, well, they're going to be the predominant nation, so let's just not fight for justice or fight for God or preach the gospel. Let's just let them take power, and let's just let things happen. No, we are to continue doing right, standing for right. but you're not gonna change the plan of God. You're not gonna change what's written in God's word about the nations. You know, that's some of the greatest things that presidents can do, and some have, is have serious preachers around them teaching them the word of God on a daily basis. so that they can really understand God's ways and God's plan and really try to factor in the wisdom of God in running a nation. I'm sure there's been many presidents who had true knowledge of God's word and had the fear of God in their hearts and they truly weighed all these things out and tried to do what's best. Considering God I'm not saying there were many but I know there had to be some righteous presidents Some saved a man So God's behind it What does it say here what did he say is gonna happen to each of these nations right here it is spelled out God says it's for their aggression. It's for their brutality. They had a complacent, carefree attitude. They were full of pride. They had a self-sufficient spirit. They have grown rich from plundering other nations. They thought they were invincible, nothing, and no one could bring them down. They were rejoicing over their conquest. They celebrated one victory after another, never considering defeat. And what happens to nations like that? They begin to trust in their own strength and in their own wealth to protect them. Oh, let's just print more money. How's that working out? We need more military defense. And I'm not saying we shouldn't have a strong military. How's that working out? We are self-sufficient. We have a lot of money. We have a lot of power. We have a great economy. How's that working out? See, it may be true, but because we don't have God and the fear of God, we are destined for the same judgment. The same judgments. And I will say it again, God will judge a nation while it's standing. He's not gonna let it just cease. He's gonna judge it. So what should we do, brethren? Like we always pray, turn to the Lord. pray for revival, pray for a change in our country, a change in our leadership, godly leaders, a godly nation, pray that the gospel flourishes. Thankfully, I hope you get some of these here. From time to time, this is a new, cancel culture backfires, I like that. Trans men are being pushed out of female sports, I like that. You know, from time to time, a lot of good things happen, and righteousness is still prevailing, though we don't, it's not on the headlines of every newspaper, but you gotta kinda read deep into the columns to find it, but it's there, amen? God's still at work. So let's keep praying for that. But let us be forewarned of what's coming. This message, you know, God's given this message, you know why? Because he wanted the people of God to fear. He wanted the people of God to react. So brethren, what are we going to do with this? What are you going to do with this? I know it's written thousands of years ago. But what are you going to do with it today? It's written for our admonition, the Bible says, for our learning. So what are we going to do? Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word today. Thank you for the message of Zephaniah. Again, Lord, thank you for the courage and boldness of the prophet.