Steve Webb 0:00 Come on over. Steve Webb 0:02 It's the Lifespring! One Year Bible coming to you almost live from Riverside, California, podcasting since 2004. My name is Steve Webb and I am your OG Godcaster is prophecy Friday and we'll read the book of Zephaniah, three chapters. The website is Lifespringmedia.com. and I'll have contact information at the end of the show. Before we read, let's pray. Our heavenly Father, Lord, we thank You for Your Word. and we thank you for our time together. We pray, Lord, that You would bless this time, teach us Lord, touch our hearts. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen. All right, are you ready? Let's begin. Steve Webb 0:43 Zephaniah, chapter one. This is the message that the Lord gave to Zephaniah. He received this message during the time that Josiah son of Amman was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of que Shai, who was the son of get Elia. Get Elia was the son of Amariah, who was the son of Hezekiah. The Lord says, I will destroy everything on Earth, I will destroy all the people in all the animals, I will destroy the birds in the air and the fish in the sea. I will destroy the evil people and everything that makes them sin, I will remove all people from the earth. This is what the Lord said, I will punish Judah and the people living in Jerusalem. I will remove from this place any signs of Baal worship, no one will remember the priests who serve the idols there. and those who go up on their roofs to worship the stars will be forgotten. They worship me the Lord, but they also use the name of the false god Milcom to make promises. They have turned away from me, says the Lord, they have stopped following me. They no longer asked me the Lord for help. Be silent before the Lord God, because the Lord's day for judging the people is coming soon. The Lord has prepared his sacrifice and he has told his invited guests to get ready. The Lord said, on the Lord's Day of sacrifice, I will punish the king's sons and other leaders. I will punish all the people wearing clothes from other countries. At that time, I will punish all the people who jumped over the threshold and those who fill their Masters House with lies and violence. The Lord also said at that time, people will be calling for help at the fish gate in Jerusalem, and morning in the new part of town, they will hear the sound of destruction in the hills around their city. You people living in the lower part of town will cry because all the traders and rich merchants will be destroyed. At that time I will take a lap and search through Jerusalem, I will find all those who are satisfied to live their own way. They say the Lord does nothing he does not help and he does not hurt. I will find them and I will punish them. Then others will take their wealth and destroy their houses. Those who built houses will not live in them. and those who planted vineyards will not drink the wine from the grapes. The Lord’s special day for judging is coming soon. It is near and coming fast. People will hear very sad sounds on the Lord's special day of judgment. Even strong soldiers will cry. The Lord will show his anger at that time. It will be a time of terrible troubles and a time of destruction. It will be a time of darkness, a black, cloudy and stormy day, it will be like a time of war when people hear horns and trumpets in the defense towers in protected cities. The Lord said, I will make life very hard on the people. They will walk around like the blind who don't know where they're going. That will happen because they sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be spilled on the ground. their dead bodies will be like dung on the ground. Their gold and silver will not help them. At that time the Lord will become very upset and angry. The Lord will destroy the whole world. He will completely destroy everyone on Earth. Steve Webb 3:58 Zephaniah Chapter Two shameless people change your lives before you become like a dry and dying flower. In the heat of the day a flower will wilt and die. You will be like that when the Lord shows his terrible anger. So change your lives before the Lord shows his anger against you. All you humble people come to the Lord, obey His laws. Learn to do good things. Learn and be humble. Maybe then you will be safe when the Lord shows his anger. No one will be left in Gaza. Ashkelon will be destroyed. By noon the people will be forced to leave Ashdod background will be empty. You cretins living by the sea, this message from the Lord is about you. Canaan land of the Philistines you will be destroyed. No one will live there. Your land by the sea will become empty fields for shepherds and their sheep. Then the land will belong to their survivors from Judah. The LORD their God will remember the people from Judah and restore their fortunes. Then they will let their sheep eat the grass in those fields. In the evenings, they will lie down in the empty houses of Ashkelon. The Lord says, I know what the people of Moab and Ammon did. They embarrassed my people. They took their land to make their own countries larger. So as surely as I'm alive, Moab and the people of Amman will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah, I am the Lord all powerful, the God of Israel, and I promised those countries will be completely destroyed forever. Their land will be overgrown with weeds, it will be like the land covered with assault by the Dead Sea. The survivors of My people will take that land and everything left in it. This will happen to the people of Moab and Ammon because they were so proud and cruel and humiliated, the people of the Lord all powerful, they will be afraid of the Lord because He will destroy their gods, then everyone in all the faraway lands will worship the Lord. People of Ethiopia. This even means you, the Lord Sword will kill your people. Then the Lord will turn north and punish a Syria. He will destroy Nineveh. That city will be like an empty dry desert. Only sheep and wild animals will live in those ruins. owls and crows will sit on the columns that are left standing, their calls will be heard coming through the windows crows will sit on the doorsteps, blackbirds will make their homes in those empty houses. Nineveh is so proud now, it is such a happy city, that people think they're safe. They think Nineveh is the greatest place in the world, but it will be destroyed. It will be an empty place where only wild animals go to rest. People who pass by will whistle and shake their heads when they see how badly the city was destroyed. Steve Webb 6:37 Zephaniah chapter three, Jerusalem, your people fought against God, they heard other people and you have been stained with sin. They didn't listen to me or accept my teachings. Jerusalem didn't trust the Lord. Jerusalem didn't go to her God. Jerusalem's leaders are like roaring lions, or judges or like hungry wolves that come in the evening to attack the sheep. and in the morning, nothing is left. Her prophets are always making secret plans to get more and more. Her priests have treated holy things as if they were not holy. They have done bad things to God's teachings. But the Lord is still in that city. and he continues to be good. He does not do anything wrong. He continues to help his people. morning after morning he makes good decisions for them. Not a day passes without his justice. He never gives a decision that is crooked, or is something to be ashamed of. The Lord says I have destroyed whole nations in their defense towers. I destroyed their streets. and now no one goes there anymore. Their cities are empty. No one lives there anymore. I tell you this so that you will learn a lesson, I want you to fear and respect me. If you do this, your home will not be destroyed. and I will not have to punish you the way I planned. But those evil people only wanted to do more of the same evil things they'd already done. The Lord said, so just wait, wait for me to stand and judge you. I have the right to bring people from many nations and use them to punish you. I will use them to show my anger against you. I will use them to show how upset I am and the whole country will be destroyed. Then I will change people from other nations so that they can speak the language clearly and call out the name of the Lord. They will all worship me together shoulder to shoulder as one people, people will come all the way from the other side of the river in Ethiopia. My scattered people will come to me. My worshipers will come and bring their gifts to me, then Jerusalem, you will no longer be ashamed of the wrong things your people do against me. That is because I will remove all the bad people from Jerusalem. I will take away all the proud people, there will not be any of them on my holy mountain. I will let only meek and humble people stay in my city and they will trust the Lord's name. The survivors of Israel will not do bad things or tell lies. They will not try to trick people with lies. They will be like sheep that eat and lie down in peace and no one will bother them. Jerusalem sing and be happy. Israel shout for joy. Jerusalem, be happy and have fun. The Lord stop your punishment. He destroyed your enemy's strong towers. King of Israel, the Lord is with you. You don't need to worry about anything bad happening. At that time Jerusalem will be told be strong. Don't be afraid the Lord your God is with you. He is like a powerful soldier he will save you he will show how much he loves you and how happy he is with you. He will laugh and be happy about you like people at a party. I will take away your shame. I will make them stop hurting you. At that time I will punish those who hurt you. I will save my hurt people and bring back those who were forced to leave. I will give them praise and honor everywhere even in places where they suffered shame. At that time I will lead you back home. I will bring your people back together. I will cause people everywhere to honor him Praise You, you will see me bring back all the blessings you once had. That is what the Lord said. Steve Webb 10:08 Beloved, you probably remember that Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. It's first mentioned all the way back in Genesis chapter 10. and then it's not mentioned again until the book of Jonah. Nineveh was large, both in area and population. and because of its geographic location on the Tigris River, it was a bustling city of trade and commerce, one of the largest and most successful of all ancient cities. But as we know, God was not a part of their daily life. and as the capital of the Assyrian Empire, they were guilty of great sins against God and His chosen people. As we heard in today's readings, Zephaniah prophesied the destruction of Nineveh but if you'll remember, so did Nahum in several verses. Well, around 633 BCE, the Assyrian Empire began to decay, as have all empires, right. and then in 612 BCE, they were attacked by the Medes and the Babylonians. At its defeat, it was burned to the ground. and by 605 BCE, there was nothing left of the once great empire, the Medes, and the Babylonians divided the spoils between them. Well, none of it is not mentioned again, in the Old Testament at all. We don't hear of it again until the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Now, it was thought at one time that Nineveh did not really exist, but archaeologists have found the remains. Among other things, they found a wall surrounding the city with a circumference of about eight miles. Today, all the ruins are covered by dirt. Beloved, it is good to remember that even a great and powerful nation can be reduced to dust, if it fails to honor the one true God. and if that's true of a nation, it's even more true of an individual, no matter your wealth, no matter your power or your talent. If you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, if he is not your Lord and Savior, you have no hope. Jesus came to set you free from the things that separates you from God is the only way to God. He said, I am the Way the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, but through Me. Jesus isn't a way he is the way to God. There's only one way, you may have heard that all roads lead to God. But really, could that be true? I mean, it sounds nice. But no, it isn't true. and really, when you think about it, it's kind of a silly statement. I'll tell you what, right now, I'm inviting you to my house. We're going to have the family there. I'll have the swimming pool open, the grill will be hot. The beverages will be cold, and we're gonna have a great time. We're going to have a feast. I want you there. I invite you now with open arms really? Come on over? What's that? You want to know how to get here? We'll just take any road. All roads lead to my house. Well, do you think you'd find my house? Of course not. If you don't follow the way to my house, you'll never get here. Same with God. There's only one way to God and Jesus is that way. Let me know what you're thinking. Tomorrow will be gospel Saturday, and we'll read Acts 11 and 12. Do me a favor while I'm on vacation. Let me hear from you. If you have a comment, a question, a prayer request or a praise report, send them to me with a Boostagram or leave a voice message at plus 1-951-732-8511. For prayer requests and praise reports, go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com. and for comments or questions, go to comment dot Lifespringmedia.com You can send an email to me at steve@lifespringmedia.com. and when I get back from my vacation, we'll get all caught up with your prayer requests praises, comments and questions. Steve Webb 13:56 Thanks to Sister Denise Michael Haner brothers Scott, Jason Paschall and sister Brittaney for their donations of time and talent. Brother Scott did today's show art. Thank you, Scott. and thank you for inviting me to join you today. Until tomorrow may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb. See you next time. Steve Webb 14:21 Lifespring media, bringing the message of hope, love and good news since 2004 Transcribed by https://otter.ai