Humility Zephaniah 1:12-15; 2:1-3;
3:11-12 July 01, 2007
Introduction
The prophet Zephaniah grew up, so to speak, with a silver
spoon in his mouth, as his great, great
grandfather Hezekiah reigned as King. We call King Hezekiah, "good King
Hezekiah," and his
goodness, in this case, affected his offspring for several generations.
Zephaniah's preaching
helped to prepare the people for the great revival a few years later
during the time of King Josiah. One commentary says, this book contains
three chapters, and 53 verses, in these verses we find
45 verses of prophecy, and 14 commands. In Zephaniah's preaching he
displayed, and
recommended the quality of humility.
1.
Humility In Trusting The . . Plan Of God. 1:12-15
A. The . . Timing In The Plan Of God.
1:12-13
12 And at that time I
will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men who
settle down comfortably, who say to themselves: The Lord will not do
good or
evil. 13 Their wealth will
become plunder and their houses a ruin. They will build
houses but never live [in them], plant vineyards but never drink their
wine.
B. The . . Trouble In The Plan Of God.
1:14-15
14 The great Day of the
Lord is near, near and rapidly approaching. Listen, the Day of the
Lord there the warrior's cry is bitter. 15 That day is a day of
wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and
desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
The people in this text acted as if God did
nothing, and did not plan to do anything. They
did not humbly submit to the plan of God, but acted as if they were all
wise, and knew exactly
how to judge the actions of God, or His seeming inactivity. Have you
ever wanted God to do
something specific in your life, and it seemed as if nothing happened?
God's timing is not the
same as ours, and we must humbly submit to His timing. God's plans may
include trouble for
our enemies, and some of that trouble may even spill over on us. Many
times God uses trouble
in our lives for His purposes; our attitude needs to demonstrate a
respectful and humble
submissiveness.
2. Humility In Trusting The . . Proclamation
Of God. 2:1-3
A. The Proclamation Urging A . . Flocking
To The Lord. 2:1-2
1 Gather yourselves
together; gather together, undesirable nation, 2 before the
decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning
of the
Lord's
anger overtakes you, before the day of the Lord's anger overtakes you.
B. The Proclamation Urging A . . Following Of The Lord=s
Teachings. 2:3
3 Seek the Lord, all you
humble of the earth, who carry out what He commands. Seek
righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be concealed on the day
of the Lord's anger.
God led Zephaniah to command
the people to gather together. God always desires His
flock to assemble together for worship, instruction, and service. God
planed for judgment to
come upon several nations and any those disobedient children of His
flock. The gathering also
served to instruct the people to seek righteousness, humility, and
follow the teachings of the
Lord. I talked to a man today who said, "I am not presently attending
any church, but I know I
should. On Sunday as I see people making their way to the houses of
worship, I know I should
be among them; but I haven't started back." God desires the preachers
like Zephaniah to warn of
the coming judgment, and give the opportunity for repentance.
3. Humility In Trusting The . . Promise Of God.
3:11-12
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A. The Promise Of . . Forgiveness. 3:11a
11 On that day you will
not be put to shame because of everything you have done in
rebelling against Me.
B. The Promise Of . . Firing. 3:11b
For then I will remove
your boastful braggarts from among you, and you will never again be
haughty on My holy mountain.
C. The Promise Of . . Faithfulness.
3:12
12 I will leave a meek
and humble people among you, and they will trust in the name of
Yahweh.
Don't you like to see God's
people humbly trusting God? He promises forgiveness to
those kinds of people, and at times it flows over to others. At the
same time God promised to
remove of fire the people who boastfully, and haughtily blasphemed His
holy mountain. Who
will be left to serve God? The meek and humble and they will
demonstrate the kind of people
they are by their trust in the Lord. Too few of God's children cause
people to stop and take
notice of the way they follow the Lord. Without question we need to
walk in Humility. Amen? Amen!
