"God Will Judge the Nations" Sermon: Zephaniah 2:1-15

“God Will Judge the Nations”

[Zephaniah 2:1-15]

 September 4, 2011 (August 28, 2011) Second Reformed Church

Two weeks ago we began our look at the book of Zephaniah.  Zephaniah was a contemporary of Jeremiah, preaching in Judah during the reign of the good king, Josiah. 

Two weeks ago we looked at the first chapter of Zephaniah, and we saw that Zephaniah preached judgment on the people of Judah because they thought they could worship idols and God; they thought they were being faithful to God even though they were worshipping idols alongside of God.  God told them through Zephaniah that they were fatally mistaken in their belief:  they were not faithful to God; they were committing adultery against Him.

We also saw that, just as God’s Message of Judgment was first against the nation of Judah – God’s people – so judgment begins with the Church.  Although the sins of the Church are paid for by Jesus – God the Savior, all those who believe in God and His Savior are called to repent of our sins – to turn way from them and turn back to God our Savior in sorrow and hope-filled trust.  We also saw that God is the Loving Father who leads all of His people into holiness through discipline.

This morning’s Scripture opens with a word of grace and mercy from God to the people of Judah – the adulterous bride – the Church – the prodigal child, whom the Loving Father must discipline:

“Gather together; yes, gather, O shameless nation, before the decree takes effect – before the day passes away like chaff – before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord.  Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.”

Once God has shown Judah that she was not being faithful – that she was, in fact, being unfaithful – God told her – His people – the Church – to turn before God’s Wrath came down upon them.  God tells them to turn back to Him before the time ran out.

God does not sweep their sin under the rug – He calls them a “shameless nation.”  In the book of Hosea, God told Hosea to marry a prostitute to portray the relationship that God and Israel had.  God told Hosea to name his son, “Lo-ammi,” which means, “You are not my people,” as a witness against Israel.  God sent Hosea to the northern kingdom of Israel and told them to turn back before it was too late.  God used Hosea’s very family as an object lesson against Israel.  Yet, Israel did not turn.

Years before, God sent Isaiah to Judah:  “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken:  ‘Children I have reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.  The ox knows his owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know me, my people do not understand.’

“Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly!  They have forsaken the Lord, the have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

“Why will you still be struck down?  Why will you continue to rebel?  The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.  From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.

“Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.  And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

“If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1:2-9, ESV).

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:  though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.  If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 1:18-20, ESV).

So God came to Judah through the prophet Zephaniah using similar imagery, telling Judah to repent – to turn back – to return to her Husband, God.  “Come back, I know you have committed adultery with other gods, but come back to Me.  Come back before the time is past and My Anger comes down upon you like a fire on the chaff.”

God was saying to Judah and He says to each one with ears to hear, “Have I any pleasure in the death of wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (Ezekiel 18:13, ESV).  God is not a sadist, waiting and hoping that people will sin and reject Him so He can inflict judgment.  No, Jesus said, “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7, ESV).

The good news for all those who hear God’s call is that there is the Hope of Salvation through Jesus Christ Alone.  God is speaking to His people amidst the wicked.  God is speaking to His elect in the Church.  Seek the Lord.  Seek to do His Commands.  Seek righteousness.  Seek humility.

Peter wrote, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you.  Be sober minded; be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.  And when you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.  To him be the dominion forever and ever.  Amen” (I Peter 5:6-11, ESV).

God told Israel and then Judah, and all people throughout time and history.  Turn.  Repent.  Come back to Me.  Believe in the Savior I have sent, and you will be saved from My Wrath.  And to those who have believed and yet sin, God also tells us to turn back, to come with humility, and to pursue righteousness.

And we may wonder:  there are plenty of evil people in the world, why doesn’t God send His Wrath against them?  Why must we talk about wrath against those who claim to be Christians and punishment of the sins of Christians?  And the answer is that God will bring His Wrath down in His Time.  We may never see some universally regarded evil person suffer, but the day will come when all people will have to appear before Jesus and pay the debt for their sins, unless they have already believed on Him.  Either Jesus pays the debt for our sins, or we suffer the Wrath of God for all of eternity.  There are no other options.

Zephaniah told the faithful remnant that they will return to the land, and, ultimately, they will be saved and brought into the Kingdom.  The day will come when God will judge the nations.  God has not turned a blind eye to the sins of those opposing His Will and His People.  But all things happen in God’s Time.  Still to reassure the remnant – to give a consolation to the elect – who would survive the Babylonian conquest and the exile which was to come, God told Judah about the judgment of the nations:

  “For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted.  Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites!  The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.  And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, with meadows for shepherds and folds for flocks.  The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down in the evening.  For the Lord their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes. “

We will remember from reading through the history of the Old Testament that the Philistines were a seafaring people who regularly attacked Israel from the very beginning.  They lived in an area on the seacoast which we now call the Gaza strip.  And God told Israel that by the time the remnant returns from Babylon, God will have destroyed the Philistines – God will have driven them out of the land.  So the coastland will become part of the nation of Judah and the very homes that the Philistines lived in would become homes for the nation of Judah.

“I have heard the taunts of Moab and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they taunted my people and made boasts against their territory.  Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and pits, and a waste forever.  The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nations shall possess them.  This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.  The Lord will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him they shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations.”

Moab was a nation that existed in the southwest corner of Judah – today, this is the nation of Jordan; they were the descents of Lot, the nephew of Abraham.   Yet, they were not the chosen people, and because they were estranged from God, they took out their anger and frustration and their worship of other gods by attacking Israel and Judah over and over.

Since Moab was prideful, God promised Judah that God would rain fire on them, as He did on Sodom and Gomorrah, and kill the Moabites.   God would leave treasure for Judah to plunder when they returned, and Moab would also be given to Judah when the remnant returned.

When the time came and God showed his vengeance against the gods of the nations and all those who followed them, God would terrify the people and some in every nation would turn and bow down and worship the True God.  See, there is even hope for the nations – for anyone who turns and believes that Jesus Alone is God the Savior.  There would even be a believing remnant from Moab, God told them.

  “You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by the sword.”

One short sentence of condemnation against the nation of Cush – modern day Ethiopia – just south of Egypt.  Cush also attacked Israel and Judah again and again, and God promised them death for raising their swords against God’s people; God would raise His Sword against them.

One wonders if this prophecy cut Zephaniah to the heart in a way that the others did not.  Remember, there is reason to believe that Zephaniah was from Cush – that he was a prophet from Africa.

“And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and he will make Nineveh desolation, a dry waste like the desert.  Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of beasts; even the owl and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window; devastation shall be on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.  This is the exultant city that lived securely that said in her heart, ‘I am, there is no one else.’  What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild beasts!  Everyone who passes her hisses and shakes his head.”

And it won’t just be the smaller nations that suffer God’s Judgment, but the very nation of Assyria, which God sent against Israel to punish her, God promised that He would destroy the nation of the Assyrians and lay their kingdom to waste.

You see, a single act can be both morally good and morally evil:  God chose to punish Israel for her sins by sending the nation of Assyria against her, and God allowed the Assyrians to destroy Israel and take her people into captivity.  God was good in doing that.  He punished the sin of Israel, which was His right and necessary, since He is Holy. 

However, the Assyrians did evil in attacking Israel.  Even though God chose to use them, God did not force them to sin, God simply allowed them to do the evil they wanted to do:  God did not stop the Assyrians from attacking, and God did not protect Israel from falling into captivity.  God promised that the day would come when He would wipe out the Assyrians for the sin of attacking God’s people.  And those in morning Bible study will remember that God did destroy the Assyrians and their empire – which covered – by today’s names – Egypt, Jordan, Judah, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Eastern Turkey, Iraq, and Iran.  The capital city of Nineveh was in what we now call Iraq.

The good news was that God did allow the Babylonians to conquer the Assyrians before Judah was captured.  The bad news was that God intended Judah to be taken into captivity by the Babylonians, which they were.  But the good news was that God promised that a remnant would return, and all those who believe in the Savior would be saved.

What do we see?

First, we see that God is merciful and gracious.  We never have to sin, God always make a way of escape so we do not have to sin.  And God was never obligated to forgive sin.  But God chose, for His Own Reasons, to make the Way through Jesus the Savior that we may be right with God, despite the fact that we have sinned against the Holy God.

Second, we see that there will be a remnant from the nations of Israel and Judah, and from all the nations.  God has called and elected people who will believe savingly in Him from every nation in the world.  And all those God has chosen to be His will come to faith and repentance.  God came to earth in the Person of Jesus to live and die and rise and ascend to secure salvation for each one who will believe.

Third, God will judge the nations.  All the enemies of God will find their final judgment on the last day.  Jesus said, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ … And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:41, 46, ESV).

How ought we to respond?

Let us turn quickly from our sin and follow after God in humility and righteousness, being faithful to our God and bridegroom.

Let us trust that God knows exactly what is happening among the nations, and God is working all things together for the good of those who love Him and to His Glory (cf. Romans 8:28).

And let us pray for the nations and the peoples of the nations that they would hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ – that they would believe and repent and follow after the Only Savior.

Let us pray:

            Almighty God, Sovereign over the nations, we thank You that we can trust You for our salvation and our future.  Help us to follow You in humility and righteousness.  As You promised, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33, ESV).   And may You bring to pass what You have promised – that a remnant from every nation shall believe.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.