July in 2 Kings & 2 Chronicles with Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Jeremiah

1. Isaiah 49
2. Isaiah 50
3. Isaiah 51
4. Isaiah 52 & 53
5. Isaiah 54
6. Isaiah 55 & 56
7. Isaiah 57 & 58
8. Isaiah 59
9. Isaiah 60
10. Isaiah 61 & 62
11. Isaiah 63 & 64
12. Isaiah 65
13. Isaiah 66
14. Micah 1
15. Micah 2
16. Micah 3-5
17. Micah 6
18. Micah 7
19. Nahum 1 & 2
20. Nahum 3
21. 2 Kings 22
22. 2 Chronicles 34
23. 2 Kings 23
24. 2 Chronicles 35 & Zephaniah 1
25. Zephaniah 2 & 3
26. Jeremiah 1
27. Jeremiah 2
28. Jeremiah 3
29.  Jeremiah 4
30. Jeremiah 5
31. Jeremiah 6

Put Zephaniah on the Prophets Shelf

Zephaniah 2 & 3 -The Cancer of Complacency and Day of the Lord

LINK: Zephaniah 2 & 3 

BACKGROUND

Zephaniah 2 - The Day of the Lord and the Gentiles

There was still time for Judah before the great day of the Lord. They just needed to "seek righteousness and humility" (2:3, Micah 6:8).

The surrounding Gentile nations were doomed for destruction. They represent the four points of the compass: Assyria (north), Cush (south), Moab and Ammon (east), and Philistia (west). The great day of the Lord would bring down judgment on all of them.

Here are some background references for each of these nations:

• Philistia (2:4-7) - Genesis 20-21, 26; Amos 1:6-8; Ezekiel 25:15-28:26
• Moab and Ammon (2:8-11) - Genesis 19:30-38 (resulted from incest between Lot and his two daughters); Numbers 22; Judges 3, 10; 1 Samuel 11:1-5; 2 Samuel 12:26ff; Amos 1:13-2:3; Ezekiel 25:1-11
• Cush (2:12) - Genesis 2:13; Ezekiel 30:4-6
• Assyria (2:13-15) - Genesis 10:11-12; 2 Kings 15-19; Isaiah 37:38

Zephaniah 3 - A New Day

After dealing with the surrounding nations, Zephaniah returned to Judah's sin which was as bad as the surrounding pagan nations. They had rejected God and were complacent about their sin. They refused to accept correction because of their pride.

The future, worldwide, day of the Lord comes into focus in 3:8. All peoples will be judged (Revelation 20:12). Evildoers will be punished and the meek and humble will return to worship and trust in the Lord (3:12-13; Deuteronomy 30:1-10).

Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!

Shout in triumph, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

The Lord has taken away His judgments against you,

He has cleared away your enemies.

The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; (this is JESUS - the Messiah King!)

You will fear disaster no more. 

The Lord your God is in your midst,

A victorious warrior.

He will exult over you with joy,

He will be quiet in His love,

He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

(Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17)

REFLECTION

complacence: especially self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies. (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary)

Judah had become so sinful; they had become complacent about it. It was no big deal, but it was a big deal to God. God does not like complacency (As He does not like lukewarmness. See Revelation 3:14-16.). Zephaniah's 53 verses were packed with a wallop to shake Judah out of their complacency before it was too late.

What can shake us out of our complacency?

Here are some things that I brainstormed about this morning. It came out as the acrostic T.A.K.E.:

1) Truth Saturation - Keep yourself soaking in the truth so you know the lie

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.  
(Psalm 119:9, 11)

2) Accountability - It is easy to become an isolated island in your walk with God. DO NOT let this happen. Great men, like King David, have fallen when they had no accountability. Who is holding you accountable right now? If you have no one, find someone or a group of people to do so. Get out of relationships with lukewarm friends and find someone who is HOT!

Iron sharpens iron,
So one person sharpens another.
(Proverbs 27:17)

3) Knowledge of God - Chew on this passage for a bit:

Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 

(2 Peter 1:3-4)

I have meditated long and hard on this one for about 20 years now (I remember the exact location and time when it hit me too), and this tells me that we have all we need to live godly lives via a true knowledge of Him. I love the Vine's Greek word for "true knowledge":

EPIGNŌSIS (ἐπίγνωσις, (1922)), . . . denotes exact or full knowledge, discernment, recognition, . . . expressing a fuller or full knowledge, a greater participation by the knower in the object known, thus more powerfully influencing him. (Vine, W., & Bruce, F. (1981; Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words: Vol 2, p. 301)

Take note of the bold. It implies that as we participate in really knowing God more, we can partake of that divine nature and lead godly lives without being sucked into the world's sin as we press in to know Him more! So let us "press on to know the Lord" (Hosea 6:3)!

4) Eradication of distractions - We may not worship gods like Molech these days, but we have so many distractions that pull at us from all sides:

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 
(2 Corinthians 11:3)

Here is an interesting comic strip to ponder about our cultural distractions today: Amusing Ourselves to Death

So, let's TAKE charge of the Cancer of Complacency in our lives, shall we?

APPLICATION

Evaluate where complacency rears its ugly head in your life today. Develop a plan to let God TAKE charge!

Try a Lectio Divina with this one verse (See the detailed post about it in the PRAYER section):

The Lord your God is in your midst,

A victorious warrior.

He will exult over you with joy,

He will be quiet in His love,

He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

(Zephaniah 3:17)

This is often the verse I meditate on before going into an extended time of Centering/Silent Prayer. Here is a post about it:

Silent Prayer: Contemplative Rest in a Busy World

PRAYER

Wow, Lord! I never dreamed that You would speak so powerfully to me this morning about complacency. I want to KNOW you more deeply. I want to saturate my mind with TRUTH so that I may know You more. Please put godly friends in my life to keep me ACCOUNTABLE and help me to know You more deeply, and help me to know what distraction I need to ELIMINATE. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Zephaniah 1 - The Great Day of the Lord

LINK: Zephaniah 1

BACKGROUND

Introduction to Zephaniah

2 Chr. 34-35:  640-609  (2 Kings 21-23)

                       636-623: ZEPHANIAH 1-3

                       627-574: JEREMIAH 1-52

                       574-538: LAMENTATIONS 1-5

                       621-609: HABAKKUK 1-3

Zephaniah was the great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah. He prophesied during the reign of Josiah (640-609 BC). Some commentators believe that Josiah's reforms were a result of Zephaniah's prophecy of coming judgment while others believe it occurred after Josiah's revival that began in 622 B.C. Zephaniah was a contemporary of Jeremiah.

During this time, Josiah was extending his influence as far north as Naphtali, and Judah was prospering politically. Assyria had carried off the northern tribes of Israel in 722 B.C., but this great superpower was declining rapidly. Eventually, a coalition of Medes and Babylonians destroyed Nineveh (the capital of Assyria) in 612 B.C.

The main message of Zephaniah is that a "day" (repeated 15 times) is coming when God will judge the nations severely. Despite half-hearted attempts at renewal, Judah had no sorrow for her sins. This prophecy of fiery judgment was meant to shake Judah out of her complacency so that she might return to God.

Zephaniah 1

In this initial chapter, Zephaniah gives a very stern warning of doom that is filled with terror. He indicated that Judah's wickedness would be destroyed when the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Many prophets refer to the "day of the Lord" (Isaiah 2:12; 13:6, 9; Jeremiah 46:10; Ezekiel 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Amos 5:18, 20; Obadiah 15; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi 4:5). This is a day of universal judgment on the whole world (Isaiah 24).

No REFLECTION and APPLICATION today. Just keep reading!

PRAYER

Lord, open our hearts to hear the message You have for us from Zephaniah. Thank You that a descendant of a king chose to become Your humble servant, carrying Your message to a sinful generation. Help us to be Your humble servants too. We ask this in the name of that humble servant. Amen.

Introduction to the Prophetical Books

INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS

Download the Year Two BBC Overview and Timeline 

The Bible is not written in chronological order but according to the type of book:

Books of Moses (Law or Pentateuch): Genesis - Deuteronomy 
History: Joshua - Esther
Poetry and Wisdom Literature: Job - Song of Solomon
Major Prophets: Isaiah - Daniel
Minor Prophets: Hosea - Malachi

I find it easier to understand prophecy when it is read in the context of the historical period. So, that is why we are interspersing the prophets in the historical context of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. 

I will not be doing a strictly chronological approach because I do not want to jump back and forth once we start a prophetic book. So, when we get to a book like Isaiah, that covers the reign of four kings of Judah spanning six decades, we will read through all of those kings in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles before we study the entire book of Isaiah.

The prophetical books are broken up into two sections: 5 Major Prophets (Isaiah - Daniel) and 12 Minor Prophets (Hosea - Malachi). We will read them in chronological order. That way we will get breaks between the longer major prophets of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel with the shorter Minor Prophets. Here is a brief rundown of the order of the historical dates for each prophet with the Major Prophets highlighted in bold. They are all B.C.:

841-824.....Obadiah (this date is hotly debated!)

825-809....Joel

784-772.....Jonah 

767-755.....Amos 

755-714.....Hosea 

-----722 Assyrian Captivity of Northern Kingdom of Israel

739-681.....Isaiah 

733-701.....Micah 

650-620....Nahum 

636-623....Zephaniah 

627-574.....Jeremiah 

574-538.....Lamentations 

621-609.....Habakkuk 

605-586 Babylonian Captivity of Southern Kingdom of Judah

605-536.....Daniel 

593-559.....Ezekiel 

------538 Cyrus of Persian issues edict allowing Jews to RETURN to land

520-505.....Haggai 

520-489.....Zechariah 

435-415.....Malachi 

Theologically, the prophets concentrate on warnings of impending judgment, teachings about righteous living, encouragement to the faithful and oppressed, and predictions of God's future plans.

                                                                                         

I am approaching the prophets with fear and trembling! :)  I hope that you are game and that breaking up the longer books of the Major Prophets with the shorter books of the Minor Prophets will make it easier! I believe God has so much to teach us through the study of these books.

I LOVE what Eugene Peterson says about the prophets:

Over a period of several hundred years the Hebrew people gave birth to an extraordinary number of prophets – men and women distinguished by the power and skill with which they presented the reality of God. They delivered God’s commands and promises and living presence to communities and nations who had been living on god-fantasies and god-lies. 

Everyone more or less believes in God. But most of us do our best to keep God on the margins of our lives or failing that, refashion God to suit our convenience. Prophets insist that God is the sovereign center [emphasis mine] not off in the wings awaiting our beck and call. And prophets insist that we deal with God as God reveals himself, not as we imagine him to be [Isn't that powerful? Ponder that for a moment].  

These men and women woke people up to the sovereign presence of God in their lives. They yelled, they wept, they rebuked, they soothed, they challenged, they comforted. They used words with power and imagination whether blunt or subtle. . .  

Prophets make it impossible to evade God or make detours around God. Prophets insist on receiving God in ever nook and cranny of life. For a prophet, God is more real than the next-door neighbor.  (The Message Remix, p. 1194, 1197)

With fear and trembling, let us start the prophets in the next post!