All right, please have your Bibles open to the Old Testament, Spana, chapter two, and stand with me for the reading of God's word. Tonight, we're gonna look at the first three verses of Spana. This is a very densely packed three verses in Spana. It is a hinge passage that continues the theme of Yom Yahweh, and then hands the next section of scripture, which is the God's judgment upon the nations. And so here in these three verses, I've entitled this Bible study, A Call to Two Groups of People. So this is the reading of God's word, Spanish chapter two. Gather yourselves together, indeed gather, O nation without shame. Before the decree takes effect, the day passes like the chaff, before the burning anger of Yahweh comes upon you, before the day of Yahweh's anger comes upon you. Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the earth, who have worked his justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of Yahweh's anger. Amen. Now, I hope you notice the change in the verb tenses and verb categorization from declaration of God's judgment in the previous chapter. So now in this hinge portion, going to chapter two, there is a call to judgment. So there's a shift to an imperative. There's two gathers, gather, gather. And there's three imperatives of seek, seek, seek. So in these imperatives, we see there's actually two groups of people that's being addressed. In order to avoid the coming judgments of God in Yom Yahweh, Israel, along with all of God's people, must come to their senses. Now, in the nation of Israel, there are the few faithful, and there are the masses of the unfaithful. And so, Tzvanya as a prophet is now proclaiming the message of God to both of these groups. So the unfaithful need to hear warnings and call to repentance, whereas the few and the faithful must hear God's exhortation to continue to pursue their faithful, obedient walk in the Lord. Now, those who are repentant when they hear the word, they can be now called to live by faith, and they can continue to seek Yahweh, to seek a righteous living and seek a humble path. Only when people turn to God's way, they can be preserved or saved. And so this was true in Israel's history, only when they humble themselves and trust in the Lord, were they preserved and protected by Yahweh. Of course, when they didn't repent and return to the Lord, they were judged. And so Yom Yahweh is that great theme, the final eschatological judgment of the Lord. This is God's final call of repentance and faith. In this exhortation, as we see the two groups, one unfaithful group, the haughty, we call them. Why are they unfaithful? Because they trust themselves. They trust in their resources. They trust in other men. They trust their national, international alliances. They don't trust Yahweh. That's the problem. They are haughty. They are the proud. And the other, the humble, the one who practices justice, righteousness, and they walk humbly. The one who are pagan, worldly, and they practice injustice, the other, who practice chesed. So there's always two groups of people who receive the word and who reject the word. The same message, but they have very different responses. So we're gonna take a look at Sfania's address to the first group in his command. So I've shortened and truncated and summarized this address in one sentence. Come, come to your senses before it's too late. That's the message. Now, some people, maybe perhaps a large group of people, the majority of people in Israel at this time needed to hear this message. Come to your senses before it's too late. Let's take a look at that message in verse one. Gather yourselves together. This is one word in Hebrew. Gather yourselves together. Three words in English, but actually one word in Hebrew. It's in the reflexive form. So it's you gather yourselves together. And so it's calling the first group to assemble themselves. And the root verb here is a rare verb. kashash verb, which is derived from kash, which literally means straw or stubble. So straw or stubble were gathered together at the end of the harvest period. Only the grain was gathered and stored in the barn, while straw or stubble were gathered for fuel, for burning. So this act of gathering sets up a brilliant work picture for the Prophet Sfania to drive home to his audience this message. This is what's going to happen at the end of your lives, at the end of your generation. You don't want to fall into the judgment of Yahweh. You want to avoid that judgment. So come to your senses. That's the message. And so, indeed gather, O nation, without shame. The second imperative uses the same Hebrew verb, but calls the audience ha-goy. That's the term that's often relegated to pagan nations, goyim, ha-goy. So it says, O nation, that's the pagan nation. Usually, the Jews call themselves Am Yahweh, or Am Yisrael, the people of Israel, or people of Yahweh. But the word am is not used by the prophet, he calls them goy. Why is that? I think it's for a purpose. Because they are just like the pagan nations who live and commit so much sin without shame. Now God's covenant people are just like the pagans. As we've already studied in the historic background of the book of Tzvanya, so many Israelites have adopted a pagan, idolatrous, immoral lifestyle under the godless reign of Menashe. that they live like they belong to pagan nations and they don't look anything like people belong to a holy God. And so they were without shame. This verb form here, without shame, is a nephal form of the verb, which has the same letters as the word for. Silver, it's the kasaf verb. And first year Hebrew students learn this vocabulary for money. It's the same word, money or silver. It's kesef, kesef. That's this verb here in the nifal passive form. So when we look at verse 11 of chapter one, we find this verse. Wail, O inhabitants of the mortar, for all the people of Canaan will be silenced. All who weigh out silver, there is the kesef there, will be cut off. Now this is the second reference in a verbal format. So the word for kesef, the word for silver and money is a root word for desire, longing. passionate wanting. And so there we saw businessmen in chapter 1 verse 11 who were into silver or money making and were pejoratively called people of Qanaan who had no morals. Only avarice, only greed, only self-serving lust. So just like our English word loot. You know that term loot? Dough, bread. Sometimes we use slang, but sometimes we use borrowed words. The word loot comes from Sanskrit, from Hindi. When England or Great Britain had colonized India and they borrowed one of the Indian words and adopted it into the English language. And what does loot mean? It means plunder, robbery. or something that you gain through stealing. Not interesting. Loot. Just like we use the term filthy lucre. The word cash comes from caisse, which in French means money box. Cash. So a lot of our words also have this kind of background. So here is the word for money or silver, as we saw in verse 11, chapter one, but here it is used, it says without shame. When it's used in this passive Nipah form in Hebrew, now it's translated as shame. There's some way as one has an inordinate desire to hoard, it's a shameful act. And it is this idolatrous thing called money that produces such shameful activity. That seems to be the etymological background of what's being written here, without shame. A goy without shame. A.T. Robertson writes, only a nation blinded to its own sin could feel no shame in the midst of such guiltiness. In verse two, there are three before phrases, which are dependent temporal clauses. We notice talking about time because it says before, before, before. And it's highlighting the urgency of the action that is required, that's needed. So the threefold temporal clauses call Israel to come to their senses before, before, before it is too late. Now that's an urgent message when it's repeated three times. Verse two says, before the decree takes effect. The Hebrew is very picturesque and uses the verb of childbirth. So the literal rendering of the Hebrew is before the birth of the decree. That's literal rendering of the Hebrew. That's the language of Yeshayahu. Let's take a look there in Yeshayahu chapter 33, verse 11. That's the Old Testament, Isaiah 33, verse 11. Yeshia 33 verse 11, it says, You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble. My breath will consume you like a fire. You see that phrase, you will give birth to stubble? There's that giving birth verb. It says, before the decree takes effect, that's over translation. The literal translation is to before the birth of the decree. So here in Isaiah 33 verse 11, it says, you will give birth to stubble. Remember I said that that main verb, to gather, is that same word, stubble here. And literally, those two words are found here, give birth, and then the word that's translated in the verbal form as gather, stubble here. So the Prophet Yeshayahu's vocabulary is being employed by Tzfanya. You know, Yeshayahu came before Tzfanya. Tzfanya ministered during Yoshiyahu's reign, and Yoshiyahu's great-grandfather was Hiskiyahu. And Yeshayahu, Hanavi, minister during Hiskiyahu's reign, and his son Menashe. And it was Menashe who put Yeshiahu to death. As the tradition goes, he was sawn in half by Menashe in a very torturous, painful death. So Prophet Yeshiahu's vocabulary is found here in Spanish. And the decree is that which is determined and becomes law or prescription and the adjoining phrase, like chaff the day has passed. The day passes like the chaff. Let's take a look at Yeshiahu chapter 17. And I want you to see the language there. Yeshiahu 17 verse 14. At evening time, behold, there is terror. Now look at this phrase, before morning, beterem bocher, before morning they are no more. So what does it say here in Tzfanya? Before the decree, beterem bocher. Let it, that is the birth, chokh. Let it chokh, the birth of the decree. And what does it say in Yeshayahu 17.14? Before morning, beterem boker, there are no more, enenu. That's the idea of transience. Before morning, there's no more. Like chaff, which is blown away by the wind and no more. As we saw in Psalm 1-4, the wicked are not so, but they're like chaff, which the wind drives away. That's the idea. That's the idea. Before you are swept away, blown away, and the day of judgment comes so fast, that you are no more. that you are judged before the day of the Lord's vengeance and His wrath, Yom Yahweh comes. Before that time comes, act quickly. That's the message. And it's a very picturesque way of proclaiming this very important change of mind and call to action. The call is to repent, come to your senses before it is too late, before your actions give birth to the decree that will blow you away like the chaff, like the passing of a day. That's the sense of the first temporal clause. Proverbs 27 one says, do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth. Remember yourself that. Our life is like a vapor. And then, those of you who like to make long-term plans, do not boast about tomorrow. Hold things very loosely and recognize that we are all on borrowed time. We're on God's timetable, not our own. Second and third temporal clauses have a unique construction in Hebrew, which reads, before no, beterem lo, beterem lo, before no, before no. And this expression, beterem, never appears with lo, or the negative particle lo, elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. So this is unique to its spaniel. It appears twice here. So in the English, it's difficult to translate this. And so it says, before the burning of anger of Yahweh comes upon you. But what does the Hebrew say? Beterem lo, lo yavo. Before the day of Yahweh's anger comes upon you. What does the Hebrew say? Beterem lo yavo. If you see both of these clauses, they're almost identical. There's only one little word that's different. That's the adjective burning. So if you take that out, it's basically an identical phrase repeated twice. The emphasis, therefore, is to impress upon the hearers to avoid the consequences of God's wrath. His wrath is burning, it's kindled, and it could be expressed any moment. Time is of the essence. You don't have the luxury to plan for years and years. It's a dire warning to avoid the terrible consequences, to appeal to the hearers to make their decision quickly. This is the kind of urgency that you and I need to have as we pray and proclaim the gospel. Oftentimes people are way too casual about their eternal destinies. They don't act quickly as they ought to. But if you see Spaniel's message to a wayward nation that is complacent in their sin, are shameful in their activity, they have no time. So they need to turn. Now that the warning has been given to the haughty religionists to come to their senses before it's too late, let's see the exhortation to the humble. Come to your savior, you humble ones. That's the message. If the message to the Hadi religion is come to your senses, this one is come to your savior. So we saw the imperatives to the Hadi to assemble, gather, gather twice, and the three temporal and subordinate clauses before, before, before to motivate repentance and change and decision-making. Now, Tsvanya employs threefold imperatives to seek, seek, seek, vary, vary, very potent usage of repetition. Contrary to what many commentators believe, that this is addressed only to Yehudah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim regarding the impending judgment of the Babylonians, what we actually find are general commands addressed to all people. It says, all the humble of the earth. Is that what it says? That's exactly what it says. Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the earth. And there's nothing specific in here except the call, the threefold call to seek, seek, seek. Now, the first command is to seek Yahweh because the only refuge from God's wrath and his judgment, surprisingly, it's in Yahweh. The only refuge, only salvation from Yom Yahweh is Yahweh. You have to run to him or you will be cast away from him. That's a very clear message. And the act of seeking is a technical term, almost a very technical term in the Old Testament for worship and obedience. If you seek the Lord, that means that you have an intentionality in your heart and a desire to be found in Him, that you would find Him. And the scripture says, He's not very far from us, because He's omnipresent. But the Lord shows favor to those who seek Him, those who humble themselves before Him. but he is far away from the proud. He opposes the proud, but it gives grace to the humble. So the act of seeking is the act of those who come to the Lord to seek him, to worship him and to obey his word. And so these are people who constantly seek, they strive, they persist. So these are the people who are completely opposites of those who found in chapter one, verse six, Chapter one, verse six says, and those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who have not sought Yahweh or inquired of Him. That's most of Israel. That's most religious people who maybe once or twice come to church. They're not serious. They're not seeking the Lord. They're seeking something for themselves, just like most of the Israelites were at this stage in their history. And this will be the case. The majority of the Israelites will basically fall away in the end times, but a remnant will be preserved. So while the haughty religionists turn back from following Yahweh and do not seek Yahweh, the humble continues to seek Yahweh with great persistence. Such persistence arises from an unyielding commitment to Yahweh, despite life's difficulties and trials. Those who seek the Lord don't make excuses to stop seeking the Lord. They continue to do so. And that's why they're faithful. Remember the godly patriarch Job, who continued to seek Yahweh despite his bewildering trials. He didn't even know why he was going through such difficult trials. Scripture says this in Job chapter two, verse nine. Then his wife said to him, do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. But he said to her, you speak as one of the wicked foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept calamity? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. That's a man who's committed to worship of Yahweh. He worshiped Yahweh constantly. He made sacrifices for his children so that perhaps while they were celebrating, they would have said something to defile the name of God, to curse God. So he was an intercessor. He was a mediator. He was a godly worshiper. And when calamity came upon him, he did not blame God. He said, you know, I came into this world with nothing. I will leave with nothing. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He refused to curse the Lord. He refused to blame God. He didn't know why it was happening. He demanded that God gave him an answer, but he remained faithful. Why? Because he was committed. That's what it means to seek the Lord, an unwavering commitment to Yahweh. Now, the audience is identified here as all you humble of the earth. This word humble is the same word as poor. When you're poor in spirit, you're humble. And that's the Lord's description of the blessed ones in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit. for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So all the humble of the earth are further qualified by another phrase, who have worked his justice. Notice these are the humble ones who have a track record of practicing God's judgments. That's the word, mishpat here, judgments, his judgments. And the difference between the generic verb, to do, or to make, asa verb, And this verb here, ba'al verb here that's used, is that this is the word, ba'al, to point to a habitual practice, not just one time doing, but continual doing. So the two nouns are given as goals to continue seeking, namely to seek righteousness and to seek humility. So here are people who are called humble of the earth, They're called who have worked his justice. They have a track record of practicing God's justice or God's judgments. And then two more, seek righteousness and seek humility. This is Spania's equivalent to Micah's prophecy. Let's take a look at Micah. In Micah chapter six, verse eight. Passage that we know very well. Mikah 6, 8 and Mikah 5, 2 are the most popular two passages in the book of Mikah in the Old Testament. One of the 12 prophetic books. In the Minor Prophets, here, Mikah 6, chapter 6, verse 8. He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does Yahweh require of you? But to do, here it is, to do justice. Asot Mishpat. Mishpat here is the same word as judgments. That's the same word that we just read in Tzfanya 2.3 here. And to love loving kindness. What a redundant way that LSB translates. It's ahavat chesed. To love the loving of chesed. Loyal, faithful, covenant, Love. And here, and to walk humbly. To walk humbly. So those who seek righteousness are those who are engaged in righteous acts. So who are the righteous? They're not only the ones with faith that is clothed with forensic righteousness, but this is more practical righteousness. They do righteousness. So let's take a look at Deuteronomy chapter six. Deuteronomy six. Here's how you could check to see if you are a man or a woman of righteousness. So it's not enough just to say, oh, I believe, therefore I've been clothed, I've been declared righteous forensically. Now that may be true. If that is true, then there will be a working out of this righteousness in your life. Because that means that if you believe by faith, that means you have a right relationship with God. Therefore, you will have a right relationship with others. Deuteronomy 6, 25 says, and it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to do all this commandment before Yahweh our God, just as he commanded us. Notice it says, it will be righteousness for us. What did Paul write in Romans chapter one? For the righteous shall live by his faith. Quotes Habakkuk. The righteous man shall live by, not faith, his faith. That's what the Old Testament teaches. And so if he is credited with righteousness, then how does he live? He lives by faith. And so he has a right relationship with God. So those who seek the Lord, worship him, obey his precepts, and God desires his people to practice right deeds, which bless and edify other people. How do most people respond to people? Well, they use and abuse people, they curse people, they fight with people, and then they corrupt people. Well, that's no way to treat people. They're not righteous. So it doesn't matter how religious a person may be, if they are cursing and combating and corrupting people, how can they be a righteous person? But if they're worshiping the Lord, obeying him, well, they're going to bless others and edify others. Let's take a look at Exodus chapter 23. Exodus chapter 23, verse seven. This is practical righteousness that both the Old and the New Testament expects because there is a track record of people who walk humbly by faith. Exodus 23, verse seven, keep far from a false charge. See that command? It means don't make up stories about other people and lie about them. And do not kill the innocent or the righteous. Oh, this is a violent person. This is a person who takes vengeance at every turn. For I will not justify the guilty. Can such a person go to church and declare himself a Christian? I'm afraid many do. But they're guilty. They're not righteous. God says, you're not gonna justify them. There's no signs of righteousness. There's no sign of faith. There's no sign that they're right with God. Verse eight says, and you shall not take a bride. Now, what kind of a person would take a bribe, a person who is in the upper hand? And it doesn't always have to be a financial bribe. In this case, it is. Who would be someone in that society who would take a bribe? Someone who has power, a lender, a judge, someone who has the authority to give permission or grant privileges because he's in a position to do so. And often judges were like that. And you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and perverts the cause of the just. That's just one little sample among dozens and dozens, hundreds of laws in the Torah that demonstrate the character of God in His holiness. Those who seek the Lord worship Him and obey His precepts. And this is what God demands that the righteous, those who live by faith, continue to practice. And the scripture says that the humble of the earth, those who seek Yahweh, have a track record of working his judgments, who have practiced or who have worked his justice. And they're the ones who continue to seek righteousness. and seek humility, continue to seek to be poor in spirit, have a low view of themselves and a high view of God and proper view of others. As Paul would say in Philippians, consider others as more important than yourselves. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Very important mindset. If you continue to do that, you are among the humble. You are seeking righteousness. You are walking in humility. You are seeking Christlikeness. So this is Spania's equivalent version of Micah's prophecy. You want to know what God wants you to do? Pursue what is good. Well, what did God say what is good? What is required of you? To do justice. to practice chesed and to walk humbly with your God. Well, let's take a look at a couple more. If you love justice, if you seek justice, if you walk humbly, you're going to have some holy hatred in you. Amos chapter five, verse 15. And when it comes to evil, you're not gonna be passive. If you see evil, if you experience evil, right in front of you, you're just not gonna be passive. At least you're gonna be perturbed in your spirit. You're gonna be deeply disturbed. Amos 5.15 says, hate evil, love good. It's the same command. If you love good, you're gonna hate evil. If you hate evil, you're gonna love good. And set justice at the gate. Perhaps Yahweh, Elohei Tzva'ot, the Yahweh God of hosts may be gracious to the remnant of Yosef. See there, this is to incur a blessing from God, to receive His gracious allotment. And those who seek humility continue to trust and depend upon the Lord, being confident that the good and gracious Lord will ultimately deliver them. He will come through for them. This is what they believe. If they didn't believe that, They would not seek the Lord. They would not practice righteousness and they would not walk in humility. They would seek their own. They would calculate and they would prognosticate. They would trust in resources and other people. They would not seek the Lord. They would seek money. They would seek power. They would seek opportunities. They would seek everything else except the Lord. If they trusted in the Lord, they would continue to seek the Lord. If they didn't trust him, they would seek other things. This is exactly what the Israelites did. They sought prosperity, opportunities, safety in pagan idols, in pagan lifestyles. They looked at the pagan world. They seemed to be doing well. They seemed to be successful. They seemed to be powerful. They seemed to be doing much better than we. Maybe I ought to try their lifestyle, their religion, their worldview. It is the intoxicating temptation of Satan. Maybe I shouldn't listen to the old boring truth of God's word, but maybe I should listen to those people. They seem to be doing well. That's a temptation, isn't it? Well, the people of the world, they seem to be doing very well. They seem to be happy. They seem to be successful. I want some of that. That's where they go off. They don't seek the Lord. And so they don't seek to love good or to hate evil. Psalm 25 verse nine says, May he lead the humble in justice, and may he teach the humble his way. Those who are religiously proud, the haughty, do not seek righteousness. They seek vengeance. They seek to even out the score. Tit for tat, it's the worldly response. It's never seeking the Lord's righteousness. It's never rely upon the Lord. I'm gonna turn the other cheek, and in due time, you make things right. I'm evil, I don't know the way of perfect justice, but you are perfectly just. I trust you, I don't trust me. I'm gonna leave this to you. I'm going to rest in you. I'm going to do what is right before your eyes. And I'm going to do what is right to others. Even though they do wrong to me, I'm going to do what is right. See, that's the person who's seeking righteousness, who honors the Lord. And then they don't go around thinking, why don't people recognize me? Don't they know who I am? They don't think like this. They say, Lord, I am nothing, you are everything. Use me to bring glory unto your name. Use me as an instrument to bless others that I might have an opportunity to tell them about our glorious Savior. That's the attitude of the humble. But in modern days, in our generation, people are just filled with themselves, a narcissistic preoccupation of their self-importance. And when a nation is filled with such people, they're not going to seek the Lord, they're not gonna seek his righteousness, they're gonna seek their own way. And what happens when people are like that? When the majority of the people are like that, the society is just brutal. They are proud and arrogant. That's why it says, may the Lord, may Yahweh lead the humble in justice. They will not see justice. They'll just see God's judgment and wrath. And only the Lord can teach the humble his way. Psalm 149 verse four says, for Yahweh takes pleasure in his people. He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation. Who gets saved? those who humble themselves and trust in Yahweh and wait upon him. Salvation comes to those who trust in the Lord. Who is judged? Those who scoff at the word. Let's consider what happened at the flood. God gave Noah 120 years to build the ark, according to Genesis. And then, the 120th year had come. God sent the animals two by two, and God says, come into the ark, and he closed the door. You know what the scripture says? On the seventh day, it started to rain. Could you imagine, the doors close, and a whole week goes by, and Noah had preached as a preacher of righteousness for all that time while he was building, for 120 years. Not a single soul came. Could you imagine the mocking, the laughter when the door was closed and there was no rain? They thought this man was stupid and crazy, out of his mind. Who believes in this nonsense? The obedient and the faithful were mocked, ridiculed, rejected. His message was turned. And yet, what happened, as the scripture says, on the seventh day, God sent the rains. And it didn't stop for 40 days and 40 nights. And everyone was destroyed. That's what the Bible says. There's a lot of people, even among evangelical circles, who mock those of us whose hope is in the return of the Lord Jesus in the rapture. They mock it. You know, when I look at people who are earnestly praying and earnestly living and earnestly laboring for the Lord, their hope is in the rapture of the church. So another evangelical whose eschatology is completely different, they usually point fingers and mock them, ridicule them and go, you know, still waiting for the rapture. And it's sad. This is the way things are, and even in evangelicalism. But let us be reminded by the word of God, Yahweh takes pleasure in his people. He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation. Don't let those people discourage you. Continue to seek the Lord. Continue to seek righteousness. Continue to seek to walk in humility before the Lord. Now here's the word, perhaps, perhaps. That's God's invitation to the faithful few to continue to trust the Lord and not to buckle under the pressures of a pagan society. And we find the faithful. How many were there during the days of Eliyahu Hanavi? He said, I'm the only one left in all of Israel. What did God say? You're not the only one. 1 Kings chapter 19 verse 18. Says, yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him. At the height of Baal worship, height of pagan idolatry, there were 7,000 that Eliyahu didn't even know about who are remaining faithful. Now let's take a look at the next phrase. There's the perhaps, that's God's invitation to the faithful to trust in the Lord. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of Yahweh's anger. Again, the context is Yom Yahweh. Perhaps you will be included among the faithful. Few. You will be hidden in the day of Yahweh's anger. This phrase looks back to the Exodus event when God judged Egypt and her firstborn while hiding in his divine provision and protection of his people. Let's take a look at Exodus 12 and see the biblical testimony. Exodus 12, verse 13. And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And I will see the blood and I will pass over you. How will God see the blood? Because there are people who obeyed his word. And there shall be no plague among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Mitzrayim. Now take a look at verse 23. Exodus 12, 23, and Yahweh will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and he will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. This is the historic act of God's salvation that Israel could look back to and say, He did save us. He did judge Egypt with the 10th plagues and the 10th plague, our sons should have died. Our animals should have died, but God preserved us because He gave us the instruction and by that instruction and only through that instruction and our obedience to that instruction were we saved. It's easy to trust in money and power and in men, in government, in politics. That was the situation of Israel during much of her history. They just went far, far away from trusting in Yahweh. Let's take a look at Yeshayahu chapter one, verse four. Now remember, I said that Yeshayahu was a prophet who ministered during Hiskiyahu's, which is Yeshayahu's great grandfather's administration. Yeshua chapter 1 verse 4 It's almost a hundred years Before it says a last sinful nation people heavy with iniquity seed of evildoers Sons who act corruptly they have forsaken Yahweh. They have spurned the Holy One of Israel. They have become estranged from him Look at the condition of the nation even then. This is not a good scene. This is the spiritual condition during Menachee's rule and reign. And so people like this were still living. They needed to hear God's word, a call to repentance. Peter preached repentance. In Acts 3, verse 19, it says this. Therefore repent and return so that your sins may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. And that he may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient time. When is Christ coming? At the period of restoration of all things. When's that gonna happen? During Yom Yahweh, in the Great Tribulation. God will restore all things. And there'll be two groups of people. There'll be the religious haughty, who turn away from the Lord, who reject the word, who refuse to repent, and there's going to be the faithful few in Israel, who will listen to the two witnesses and 144,000 evangelists, and they will turn to the Lord. This will happen all over the earth. There's gonna be a time of great revival, but before the Lord's coming, there's gonna be great apostasy. But even during that time, we believe that the Lord will pour out His Spirit He would show his blessing and even through pain and difficulty and tribulation, the Lord will refine people and bring them to the place of faith. Now we know that just as the blood prevented the angel of death from killing the firstborn of Israel, and there was only one ark and one door through which you can be saved during the days of Noah, There's only one way of salvation in this church age and that is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work. Him crucified and trusting in his glorious resurrection and his return to judge the quick and the dead. He must be preached and repentance must be proclaimed. That's what the apostles did. And that's what the warning in the Old Testament gives. There's only one way of salvation. If you don't come to that way, you'll be forever cut off and lost. Psalms 2, Psalm 2 verse 12 says, That wrath will be kindled, is going to be kindled. It'll be kindled in the great tribulation period, Yom Yahweh. but how blessed are all who take refuge in him. Yes, they may die for their faith and will become tribulational martyrs, but they will enjoy eternity with Christ. There is a narrow window of opportunity to repent and turn to the Lord Jesus. The haughty need to hear the threefold testimony and call to repentance before, before, before the judgment comes. You must act quickly. You must turn genuinely, you must repent, for judgment is coming, but you must do it before. There's a narrow window of opportunity. That's what they need to hear. And people in the religious circles, they need to hear that message, because just like the religious circles in Spaniards day, they did not heed. while the humble need to be exhorted to continue to seek, to seek, to seek. Seek the Lord, seek his righteousness, seek humility and live. Amos chapter five verse six says, seek Yahweh that you may live. Lest he come mightily like a fire, O house of Yosef, and it will consume with none to quench it, for Bethel. Now Amos was an Old Testament prophet, shepherd of Tekoa sent to the divided kingdom in the north. to proclaim God's judgment, you need to repent before, before. That was his message. Spaniel is preaching to the southern kingdom of Yehudah before, before God judges. And what does history tell us? The majority of the people in the northern kingdom did not repent, therefore they were judged. Majority of the people in the southern kingdom did not repent, therefore they were judged. Now what do you think is gonna happen in these last days when the New Testament says, before the day of the Lord, before the coming of the Lord, there's gonna be great apostasy, there'll be great falling away. So let us be vigilant and pay attention to what God is doing. The same God of judgment is the same God of salvation in whom the humble will continue to trust. Psalm 76, nine says, when God arose to judgment to save all the humble of the earth, And we read tonight in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 9, and I want to conclude with this. For God has not appointed us for wrath. What is salvation? It means ultimately to be saved from the coming wrath of God. That's what that means. Jesus came to save us from our sins, and he's preserving us from the coming wrath of God that will be poured upon all humanity. And every living soul will be judged. But the one who trusts in the Lord has already been judged because the Lord judged his son. And so there is no judgment. He has crossed over from death to life, Jesus says in the Gospel of John. God has not appointed us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Since this is so, how important are the instructions and exhortations to God's people to continue to seek Yahweh, seek to worship and obey Him, continue to seek righteousness, seek the ways that please God and do that is right, and bring honor and glory to the Lord and bless other people. And their ultimate blessing, what's the greatest blessing for man? Isn't it salvation of their souls? If you proclaim the gospel and wanting them to be saved, that is the greatest good. That is the greatest blessing that you can do to another person. And if they're already saved, the greatest blessing is that you would continue to encourage him or her to remain in the faith, to continue to grow in their salvation and prepare themselves for the eternal glory and the great rewards and inheritance that is to come, is to exhort them to be faithful and continue. and to walk humbly, to think everything of God and so much of others and nothing of ourselves. This is the way we ought to live. And what does God say? He's coming to save all the humble of the earth. That's the Old Testament. What does the New Testament, what does Paul say? God has not appointed us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is our great eternal destiny. What a blessing that is. So you can be assured, have peace and confidence. How do you know you have confidence? Because the Holy Spirit will bear witness with your spirit that you are right with God and you are bearing fruits of obedience, of righteousness, and that your walk of humility is pleasing to the Lord. May the Lord continue to impress upon your heart and validate that he is pleased with you and that he has preserved you for salvation. He has not preserved you for wrath. May that be true of you and may that give you so much joy in your walk with Christ. Let's pray. Father, thank you for reminding us of your perfect will and your exhortation for believers to continue to seek, to seek you. And yet there are those who need to turn from their sin and turn to you. So we pray for those around us who are religious, just like the Israelites were, and yet they are living on the edge of destruction. Lord, help us to lovingly call them to repentance and to faith before it's too late. Help your people to continue to seek you continue to have peace and joy in the midst of living for you and for your glory, overflow in thankfulness and gratitude, and that you would make every believer a blessing, blessing to you and blessing to others. And Lord, we pray this, not for ourselves, but for your name's sake. In Jesus' precious name, we pray, amen.