So we turn to Zephaniah, one of the so-called minor prophets, a relatively brief book, three chapters, but a very powerful book, a book which focuses greatly upon the day of the Lord. We have spoken in previous times of the day of the Lord, but the book of Zephaniah from beginning to end, deals with the Day of the Lord and the various aspects of the Day of the Lord. And in your handouts, they're actually at the end of your handout. Particularly, I will direct you to page 5, 6, and 7 are some supplemental articles on the Day of the Lord that I trust will be helpful to you. What I'd like to do is walk briefly through the setting of the book. a little bit about Zephaniah, and then the theme of the book, provide an overview of this minor prophet, Zephaniah, and then conclude by spending time looking at four themes that emerge in the book. As is often the case, if we look at what does this teach us about the character of God, that question will unlock much biblical truth for us. So we'll be looking is a way of completing our study of Zephaniah at what do we see about the character of God, number one, what do we see about the character of sin and some of the perils of sin, number two, the character of judgment, number three, and the character of true repentance and transformation, number four. So all of those themes are expanded upon in this book of Zephaniah. But Zephaniah, we know more about this prophet than some of the others. We see his lineage here in chapter 1, verse 1. The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, son of Cushai, son of Gedalia, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. So we have four generations that are identified for us. He is identified as a lineal descendant. of King Hezekiah. So again, more information than is sometimes the case in these prophets. And then we have the setting, the actual time in which he did his prophetic work during the time of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah. So we have information about his heritage, we have information about his timing. If we were to look at the descendants of Hezekiah. We have Manasseh who reigned for over 40 years and was a spiritual disaster in the land. And then Amon, his follow-on, also an evil king. So there was a tremendous amount of heritage that had followed from Hezekiah, a godly king, with Manasseh and Ammon, which was a time of great spiritual decline, a time of spiritual apostasy, a time of defection from the truth. In many ways, the country had suffered under very evil leadership. And then comes along Josiah and in the relatively young man when he took on the reins as king. And in the midst of his reign in the 18th year, If you were to flip over, just keep your finger on Zephaniah, but turn over to 2 Kings chapter 22, I want to just simply identify for you a couple of things that you should be aware of that are important to the setting of this book. In 2 Kings 22, we have the rediscovery of the book of the law in the temple. You see that in 2 Kings 22. Hilkiah, the high priest, takes it and brings it to Josiah, and this ultimately becomes an instigator of revival in the land. And you see in 2 Kings 23, a number of reforms under Josiah. He became king as a young man, and then at the 18th year of his reign, you see him beginning a process of cleaning house as he began to take away all of the vestiges of foreign religion that had found their way into the temple. He began to clean house not only with the physical elements but the priests who had been propagating false teaching. And so you have a time in the latter half of Josiah's reign where you have great reforms. Sadly, there had been so much evil propagated in the land that it consummated ultimately in the time of the deportation of Judah to Nebuchadnezzar in 605 and ultimately the destruction of Jerusalem in 586. But there was a period of extensive reform, extensive revival during Josiah's reign. That's when You have the ministry of Zephaniah. It's very likely that Zephaniah's warning and his very stern words that the Lord spoke through him were used in the life of Josiah to propagate a time of reform, type of revival in the land. And so that's the setting. It's during the time of Josiah. You see that in verse 1. But immediately after you have the information about the lineal heritage of Zephaniah and the time of his ministry with Josiah, it immediately launches into some of the most stern words in all of scripture. In chapter 1, verses 2 and 3, Zephaniah pronounces judgment by the Lord upon the entire world. I will completely remove all things, the Lord says, from the face of the earth. I will remove man and beast. I will remove the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked. And I will cut off man from the face of the earth, declares the Lord. This is a time of global judgment, a time of worldwide judgment that the Lord is proclaiming. And then in verse four, he transitions from a broad-scale time of judgment to focus upon Judah specifically. And in chapter 1, verse 4, through chapter 2, verse 3, the focus is upon Judah. In chapter 1, verse 4, through verse 13, we have the reasons for the judgment. You have details as to the sin that had permeated Judah, the apostasy that was there, the violence in Judah, the time of decline in Judah. You can see the idolatrous priests, the remnant of Baal from a place, etc., and turning away from the Lord, not responding to his word. So he pronounces judgment upon Judah, but he gives specific details in chapter 1, verse 4 through verse 13 as to the cause, the contributing factors of this time of judgment. Then in chapter 1, verse 14 through verse 18, We have words about the day of the Lord itself. He indicates in chapter 1 verse 14, near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly. Listen, the day of the Lord. In it the warrior cries out bitterly, a day of wrath, etc. So chapter 1 verse 14 through 18. And then in chapter 2 verses 1 through 3, you have a call for repentance, where Judah is called to gather themselves, to come and to humble themselves before the Lord. And there are words of not only warning, but words of grace. Before the decree takes effect, the day passes like chaff. Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you. Before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you. This is a characteristic literary style in the book of Zephaniah. Repetition. and amplification through repeating a phrase and developing a phrase. And so here in chapter 2, verse 2, is an example. Before the decree, before the burning anger, before the day of the Lord, certainly he accentuates the urgency of turning from sin and seeking the Lord. Verse 3, seeking righteousness, seeking humility. In verse 3, you have the same literary style repetition of words where he's emphasizing the urgency and necessity of turning unto the Lord in repentance. Then in chapter 2, verses 4 through 15, you have judgment upon the surrounding Gentile nations. In chapter 2, verse 4 through verse 7, you have words of judgment upon Philistia with Gaza and Ashkelon and Ashdod and Ekron. And yet embedded in this time of judgment upon the surrounding nations, you have words of promise to Israel that this is a land that they will ultimately inhabit, a place where they will ultimately be given land to care for their animals and to restore themselves. So they're words of promise even in times of judgment. In chapter 2, verses 8, you have the Lord pronouncing judgment upon Moab and upon Ammon What's interesting in this, of course you've gone from countries which were to the west towards the sea from Israel to now you're on the Transjordan area on the east side with Moab and Ammon. But what has happened, the Lord has heard the taunting of Moab, the reviling of the sons of Ammon, which they have taunted my people." He still claims them as my people. And even here you have an intimation of God's faithfulness to his promise to Abraham that he would bless those who bless his people and curse those who curse his people. And so because of the taunting and the reviling of Moab and Ammon, they will be judged as well and ultimately destroyed. They're likened to Sodom and to Gomorrah. And then ultimately in verse 12, and now we've gone from west to east to south, speaking of Cush or the Ethiopians, judgment upon them. And in the verses 13 through 15, we've gone west and east and south and now north and northeast, time of judgment upon Assyria, whom he describes as a place that is vaunting in its own strength. In verse 15, the exultant city which dwells securely, who says in her heart, I am and there is none besides me, but ultimately will become a place of desolation. And so you've got worldwide judgment, then a focus upon Judah, and then a focus upon the Gentile nations. And then he turns to Jerusalem in chapter 3, verses 1 through 7, where he speaks words of woe upon a rebellious and defiled city. He circles back to Jerusalem and speaks of the defilement of the city and the hardness of their hearts, the fact that they have not drawn near unto their God, the fact that their princes are roaring lions and the prophets are reckless, treacherous men. So the leadership in Jerusalem is defiled and destructive. And he's speaking about the time of the Lord is coming. The judgment that he's speaking of would come very shortly after he spoke these words. Likely he was speaking around 620 BC and in 605 BC and then later in 586 you had Nebuchadnezzar coming to Judah and deporting the people and ultimately destroying Jerusalem itself in 586. So these are words spoken shortly before the time of God's judgment would be poured out upon his own people. But then you have in verse eight a time where he speaks of waiting because there's going to be a time of judgment upon all of the nations. He says, wait for me. The day when I will rise up as a witness, my decision, my determination is to do what? To gather the nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them indignation and all my burning anger. all the earth will be devoured for the fire of my zeal." He's speaking about global disaster, global judgment, complete destruction. This has not happened. We're looking forward to a time of future judgment at this point. He's looking forward at this time to the time of Jacob's trouble. He's looking to this time that was prefigured. Indeed, the suffering under Nebuchadnezzar was catastrophic. but it prefigures, it's almost a type of the judgment which would come in the end times during the tribulation period and in fact there will be a time of purification, transformation, and restoration that the Lord will bring upon his own people. That's described in chapter 3 verses 9 through the end of the chapter where he speaks of a time of judgment upon all the nations and then ultimately in chapter 3 verse 9 he speaks about a time when he would change hearts But then I will give the people's purified lips. Why? That they may call upon the name of the Lord to serve him shoulder to shoulder. We've not seen this. This time awaits us. This is a time of the regathering of Israel, the restoration of Israel, a time not only of Israel, by the way, but upon the Gentile nations when they will come and be restored, and a time when they truly will shoulder-to-shoulder worship the Lord. We see that at the end of the Tribulation period when we have the implementation of the Millennial Kingdom itself. And he's speaking about this time when the remnant of Israel is going to be restored. In chapter 3, verse 12, I will leave among you a humble and lowly people and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord. The remnant, chapter 3, verse 13, will do no wrong and tell no lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths, etc. This is yet to occur. This is speaking of the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon his people where they ultimately, their hearts are changed. where they are given new hearts, where they're transformed as a people, and they are turning unto the Lord in worship and in service unto Him, a time of great change, a time of the reign of the Lord Himself. As a matter of fact, it's described in verse 15 that the King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst. You will fear disaster no more. Verse 17, the Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy. You probably have seen this verse quoted about the singing of the Lord over His people. This is the exultation of the Lord over Israel when their hearts are changed, when you have this massive regeneration of the remnant of Israel at the end of the time leading to the Millennial Kingdom itself. We've not seen this. There's no way that we could read this passage and have an ordinary understanding of this text and see this as having any fulfillment in our times. This has yet to occur. This is speaking about national Israel being restored. So what we see is the character of God described as a time of judgment The day of the Lord seen in 605, 586, but ultimately the day of the Lord in the tribulation period. You have a near aspect of the day of the Lord. We saw this in Joel. You've got a day of the Lord as a locust plague. Literal times of judgment, literal times of devastation. But the ultimate time of judgment and all of these times of devastation are looking forward to a time of worldwide devastation, a worldwide judgment, a worldwide transformation that we have not seen. This is the time of the tribulation period, the time of Jacob's trouble, the day of the Lord, which has yet to occur, which will ultimately result in a time of national regeneration of Israel, the Lord's return, the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, where the King is reigning in their midst. That's exactly what this is describing. So we've got times of judgment and times of salvation. There are dual focuses in this book. And as some have pointed out, It's a picture of actually the proclamation of the gospel where both of these aspects are so integral to the faithful proclamation. We have to understand the bad news if we're going to understand the good news. The good news is that there is salvation in the Lord, but we do not appreciate that unless we understand the justice, the holiness, the wrath of God, the times of judgment upon a holy God upon evil as he sees it, which is uncompromising. No mitigation whatsoever in the judgment of God upon this world. So until we understand the urgency of the need to turn, and you see a passage like 2 verses 1 through 3, gather yourselves before the day of judgment, before this time of chaff. It's interesting in chapter 2 when he describes before the day passes like chaff, I'm reminded of Psalm 1 where the psalmist talks about two ways of life. There is the way of the man who is godly, who walks in the way of the Lord, who does not follow the ways of the wicked, but he meditates upon the day of the Lord, and he stands before God as a justified man. But the way of the wicked is not so. The psalmist says they're like chaff, which the wind drives away. I'm reminded, as I see chapter 2, verse 2 of Psalm 1, where you have two ways. You have those who repent and are restored, and you have those who, in their stubbornness of their hearts, the hardness of their hearts, ultimately will be completely judged by a wrathful, vengeful, angry God. And so we see the character of God. We'll unpack this momentarily. I want to trace those four themes through you. But if you want to see a schematic of what we've just covered in just a handful of minutes, on page three of your handout, you have an outline that will take you through the flow of the book, and then you have a schematic on the lower part of the page that walks through these same themes exactly. So dual themes, judgment, salvation, global judgment, judgment upon Judah, transformation, focus upon God's people, upon Israel, a time when the King of Glory will literally reign in their midst, a time of transformation, a time of restoration. So that's the flow of the book. And the Day of the Lord is pictured all the way through this book. In chapter 1, verse 7, the Day of the Lord is near. In chapter 1, verse 14, the Day of the Lord is near. But you have two dimensions to the Day of the Lord. You have the judgment which occurred in Zephaniah's day, in the time of the deportation of Israel, but certainly we could not look at the day of the Lord as it is described in the totality of Scripture and see its complete fulfillment in that time. There's no reasonable understanding of Scripture that could look at the day of the Lord as having been fulfilled with Nebuchadnezzar. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2 about a time of the day of the Lord, when the man of sin will be manifest, when he will be revealed. And we understand the time of Jacob's trouble in the Old Testament and ultimately described in the 70th week of Daniel. This is the ultimate day of the Lord for all of this is pointing forward to. And what do we see? We see the character of God himself as a God of holiness, a God of justice, a God of wrath, a God of vengeance. but a God of grace and salvation as well. These two themes, so important that we see both of them pictured in this book. Judgment and salvation. Judgment and salvation. Judgment flowing from the holiness of God and the depravity of man. Salvation flowing from the grace of God and the sovereign implementation of His redemptive plan. You see all of that pictured for you here in the book of Zephaniah. And the ultimate end of the book looks at this time of rejoicing. It ends on this note of transformation in chapter 3 verse 9 and following through about verse 14 and then in the last handful of verses in chapter 3 you have this time of restoration and in fact God himself in verse 17 is described as singing with joy, of exulting with delight and joy over the restoration of his people. So what a comparison, what a contrast where you have the anger, the fury, the unmitigated wrath of God, and then you have the joy of God. How often do we see the joy, the singing of God, as a victorious warrior picture? Do you see both of them in this book? And so it's important that we, if we're going to see the full counsel of the Word of God, that we embrace both the bad news, which is that God will completely judge sin without compromise, and the very good news, the words of grace, that because He is a God of redemption, a God of salvation, and He offers a way of deliverance, the pathway to deliverance is repentance. And that's pictured for us here in chapter 2, verses 1 through 3. So that's the flow of the book itself. What I'd like to do is unpack this book looking at four themes, and you're going to need to turn to Zephaniah, and we'll be turning from one passage to the next, but I want to look at four themes. One, the character of God himself. Two, the character of sin. Three, the character of judgment. And four, the character of true repentance and transformation. So, the character of God. How do we see God himself described in his own self-revelation in the book of Zephaniah. Look at chapter 3, verse 5. You have the Lord described as a righteous God, a holy God, a God of purity, a God who does no injustice. In fact, every morning he brings his justice to light. But look at the juxtaposition of the holiness, the justice of God with the people. The unjust knows no shame. And so in chapter 3, verse 5, you see the character of God and you see the character of man. You see the character of God as righteous, a God of justice. And yet, who is He dealing with? He's dealing with people who literally acknowledge no shame. They are unjust before Him. So He is a God of justice. He is a God of holiness. He is a God of purity. What else do we see about the very character of God? Chapter 1, verses 14 through 18, some of the most stern words in all of Scripture about the time of judgment, a time of the outpouring of His wrath upon the earth. Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly. These are words of great urgency. Listen, the day of the Lord. The warrior cries out bitterly. How do we see it described? A day of wrath. a day of trouble and distress. Verse 15, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and battle cry. You see, this is the God with whom the unjust have to deal. This, this is the outpouring of the anger of God upon the earth, upon his people. And so what do we do? We look around us and how do people respond to this? Look at verse 18. Is there any hope in any means that we could ultimately devise on our own? No, the answer is in verse 18, neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord's wrath. All of the earth will be destroyed in the fire of his jealousy. How often do we think of God as a jealous God? He is jealous for his own glory. He will suffer no compromise, no mixed worship. We're going to talk about that shortly when we talk about the character of sin and the dangers and the perils of syncretism or mixed worship as opposed to pure worship. God will countenance no mixed worship. He is a jealous God. He demands that he be worshiped supremely as a God of majesty. He will make a complete end, a terrifying one. of all the inhabitants of the earth. He is just, he is holy, he is righteous, but he is an angry God towards sin. He will countenance no rebellion against him. You have his sovereignty. Look at chapter 3, verse 8, as we see his determination. Chapter 3, verse 8. Wait for me, declares the Lord, from the day when I will rise up. My decision, the King James says, my determination is to gather the nations. This is the determination, the decision of God himself as to what he will do. Flip back to chapter 1, verses 2 and 3. This very book begins with a repeated phrase, I will remove all things. I will remove man and beast. I will remove the birds of the sky. I will stretch out my hand against Judah. I will cut off the remnant of Baal. What do you hear? I will. God is saying, I will. And there is no answer to that. There is no rebuttal from the wicked. There is no yes but. God himself is saying, I will judge. I will destroy. I will remove. I will clean house, is what he's saying. So God is sovereign. Look at the character of God. He is just and he is righteous and he is holy. He countenances no rebellion against himself. And he is sovereign over all of these things. Later in chapter 1 verse 7, be silent before the Lord God. He goes on, I will punish the princes. I will punish all who leap upon the temple threshold, etc. He continues this refrain of I will, I will, I will, I will. This is God's determination. And there is no answer that man can possibly postulate before this God. I will destroy the wicked. There is no compromise. There is no ambiguity about this. This is the character of God. And yet we have not only that, but we have his faithfulness to his covenant promises. I mentioned this to you earlier, but in chapter two, when we see Moab and Ammon and he speaks to them, I have seen, what does he describe the taunting of Moab and the reviling of the sons of Ammon with which they have taunted my people. my people. Did you understand the significance of that phrase, my people? Has God said that they are not his people? No, he has said that they are his people. He has not disowned his people. They are his covenant people. He will judge them. He will discipline them. Deuteronomy 28 could not be more clear, but Deuteronomy 30 talks about the time when he will regather his people and he will restore them and transform them and give them new hearts. And so we have the covenant promises of God. God is true to his word. He is true to his character. Because he is a holy God, because he is just, he will certainly be wrathful and angry towards sin. But because he is a faithful and true God, he always upholds his words of covenant promise to his people. My people, he calls them. He doesn't disown his people. He is faithful to his people. You see this in chapter 2, and he describes this remnant in chapter 3, verses 12 and 13. He never gives, I will leave a humble and lowly people and they will take refuge. The remnant of Israel. This is a theme that is so important that we understand this, that God has a remnant of Israel. And right at the end of this time, after pronouncing all of the judgment, which is absolutely sure and certain, he says, I have a remnant of my people and I will restore them. And in verse 9, I will give the people's purified lips. Who changes hearts? God changes hearts. This is a time, the Westminster Confession speaks of an evangelical grace. That's not a word that we use very often, but it's talking about the grace of God in granting new hearts, of taking away a heart of stone and giving a heart of flesh, of doing in the hearts of men something they could never do on their own. Repentance is something that is entirely a gift of God. But he grants that gift because he has a remnant, because he has a people that he will draw to himself, that he has not abandoned his people. And so because he has not abandoned them, but because he cannot countenance rebellion, he has to be true to his character. What does he do? He changes hearts. He prepares his remnant. He grants repentance. so that they will return unto Him and be the people that His covenant people are to be, so that they will live before Him the lives of obedience and humility and submission that He rightly demands of them. So what He demands, He gives them. He demands obedience and He gives them new hearts. He is a God of justice and He is a God of grace. He is a God of faithfulness. And then lastly, not to be overlooked in this little book, In chapter 3, verse 17, words that are often quoted, but we have to understand them rightly. Verse 17 of chapter 3, the Lord your God is in your midst. When do we see this? This is not happening in our day. This is looking at the millennial kingdom, 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. Now, I've just said this awaits us, but the character of God is that there is joy. If you remember Luke 15, verse 7, there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 who need no repentance, whose hearts are hard towards God. There is joy in the kingdom of God. There is joy in heaven when there is repentance. So this isn't simply something that awaits in the future. God is a God of joy. When people are brought because of His sovereign working of restoration, when He grants repentance and He gives them new hearts, that is a joyful thing to God. So the juxtaposition of the wrath of God and the joy of God in this little book is something that is marvelous to see, but it's important that we grasp both of those simultaneously because we see the purity, the uncompromising holiness of His character. God will not compromise His nature. He has to judge sin. He will judge sin. There is no way that he will look away from sin and simply ignore it. He would completely devastate the rebellious without mercy and yet he extends a new heart and he grants a new heart to his people, to his elect, to his remnant and he draws them surely and certainly to himself and then he exalts over them with joy. Why does he do that? Because it is a consummation of his saving work. It is the expression of His grace when He takes rebellious sinners and He draws them to Himself and He gives them new hearts and suddenly there is a new creation. That's exactly what happens. Every time a sinner is converted, there is joy in heaven because the redemptive plan of God is being played out in time that it was determined from all eternity past. But we see it in time, but the determination was made in eternity past and every time a sinner comes, The blood of Christ is being honored for that man, for that woman, for that boy, for that girl, as the case may be, and God rejoices because His plan of redemption is being played out, and not only at an individual level, but certainly at a corporate level in the land of Israel when He brings His remnant to Himself. So the character of God. The character of sin. We have to see this in chapter 2, verse 1. What's the nature of sin? They are without shame. This is the nature of a heart that is rebellious towards God. There is no shame. There is no contrition. There is no sense of remorse over sin. Oh, there might be a sense of I'm sorry, but the nature of the heart is that we are not shameful before God until He grants us repentance to see our sin for the heinous thing that it truly is. Until He gives us eyes to see sin for what it truly is, we deal with sin on an entirely inadequate level. When we say to God, I'm sorry, but we're not repentant, that's not recognizing sin for what it is. That's not being shameful towards our sin. He describes them in chapter 3, verse 1, as rebellious and defiled. The King James talks about something that is filthy and polluted. This is the nature of sin, rebellious and defiled, filthy and polluted, without shame. This is the very nature of sin. Look at the path. I call it the pathway of sin. These are words of warning. Look at chapter 3, verse 2. We'll touch on this briefly. Here is what happens to those who are captive to sin. They do not heed the voice of God. They do not accept instruction. They do not trust in the Lord. They do not draw near to God. That's the nature of the unrepentant heart. It is hard towards God. It is hard towards sin. It is without shame. It is rebellious. It is filthy. It is polluted. It is unteachable. It is untrainable. It is not contrite. This is the proud nature of sin itself. Which ultimately leads to one of the true perils that Zephaniah speaks about, and we see this in the city of Nineveh in chapter 2, verse 13 through 15. How does he describe Nineveh whom he will judge? He says, this is the exultant city, these are almost words of sarcasm, which dwells securely, who says in their heart, I am and there is none besides me. But what happens? She has become a desolation. God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. 1 Peter 5, 5. James chapter 4, verse 6. Humility is the pathway to repentance. Pride is rearing the hand towards God and fighting against God. It is a stiff-necked disposition. And perhaps the most dangerous attitude of all you see in Zephaniah chapter 1, verse 12. I want you to see this. Turn in your scriptures to Zephaniah 112. The scripture talks about these people as stagnant in spirit, who say in their hearts, the Lord will not do good or evil. This is the disposition that God will not intervene in my life. that I may conduct myself in whatever form or fashion, I may raise my rebellious fist towards God, I may walk in utter disregard towards God, I may abandon His ways, but He does not care. He will not intervene in my life. We see that attitude all around us, this reckless indifference to the holiness of God, a denial of the justice of God, a proud heart that is puffed up and says, God will not do good or bad. He will not get involved in my life. He will not judge. He will not take action. Oh, but He will. He already said that in chapter 1. I will. I will. I will. I will. Chapter 3, wait because my determination, my decision is to pour up my wrath upon the people when I gather them together. He even describes preparing a sacrifice. He's talking about a sacrifice of the nations. He gathers them together almost in a funeral pyre to pour out the fire of His wrath upon them. So make no mistake, this is the attitude that ultimately results in someone going to hell. That God does neither good nor evil. That God will not intervene in my life. That God doesn't care. That God is indifferent towards my rebellion. That attitude is a condemning attitude. That attitude will ultimately result in utter condemnation. So the perils that we see, and he describes other perils. He talks about the peril of syncretism in chapter 1, verse 5, where he talks about those who bow down and swear to the Lord, and yet swear by Milcom, a pagan god. This is the mixture of false worship with true worship. God doesn't count, and that's mixed worship. He requires pure devotion, pure worship. It's not God plus, it's not Jesus and. It's not Christianity and there is no coexistence with God, with false religion. We can't swear to the Lord and yet swear by a foreign God. This is syncretism. This is false worship. If there is worship for God and something else, you are not worshiping the true God of heaven and earth. So he's talking about the dangers of syncretism. He talks about the danger of pride and the danger of presumption in chapter 1, verse 12. We've talked about the nature of judgment, but just briefly, it is inescapable. It is utterly inescapable. I will destroy. I will remove. I will utterly wipe out. I will cut off. It is inescapable. And you saw in chapter 1, verse 18, that nothing that we could ever mount up in our own defense. There is not any amount of money that could ever buy you deliverance from a holy God. Their silver and their gold are no refuge at all. Their silver and their gold will not deliver them on the day of the Lord's wrath. It is inescapable. It is futile. It is proud. It is the ultimate deception to think that we can escape the wrath of God. So it is inescapable. And yet, here we have the nature of true repentance. What does repentance look like? You see it in chapter 2, verses 1 through 3. Seek the Lord. all the humble of the earth. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. Here's a homework assignment for you. Take this passage and then compare it to Matthew 5, the Beatitudes. Matthew 5, the Beatitudes talks about the nature of true repentance. It's exactly what's described here. It's the same thing that's described in James 4 when he talks about let your laughter be turned into mourning. Humble yourself before God. Weep before God. It's the same thing that's taught in Isaiah 57, verse 15, that the Lord is high and lofty, and yet He dwells among a people, and He is present among a people who are contrite and obedient before Him. This is the nature of repentance, to seek the Lord. Oh, you humble of the earth. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. There is only one place of refuge. It's not in silver or gold. It's looking for the cleft in the rock that he provides. And that cleft in the rock is Jesus. That's the only refuge that we have. And he's saying, humble yourself before God and find deliverance. There is hope in no one else. than in turning and contrition to God himself. So, seek three times, he says this, and he precedes it with before the burning anger, before the day of the Lord. It's before the decree talks about the urgency of repentance, the urgency of turning. These are words of grace. He's warning his people of the inevitability of judgment, and yet the promise of repentance as the pathway repent and turn, humble yourself before God, bow your knee before God, accept his terms of salvation, come and submit to him and you will find deliverance and you will find this evangelical grace, this regeneration of heart that he describes in chapter 3 verse 9 when he gives his people purified lips. From out of the heart of man comes words of with the disposition of the heart. He's talking about not just a new language, he's talking about a new heart among his people and ultimately a time when he transforms his people. When in chapter 3 verse 11, when you will feel no shame. Not because they're indifferent towards God, but because they're right towards God. Because of all, he's talking about I will remove from your midst your proud, exalting ones. So pride is demolished. You will never again be haughty. Those who are contrite before God, those who are restored, when He pours out His Spirit and He gives new hearts, pride is decimated, humility is created, and new hearts are given. God is doing a great transforming work. In chapter 3, verse 7, before they wouldn't receive instruction, but surely you will revere me and accept instruction. And so he's picturing a time of restoration, he's talking about a time of great transformation, and ultimately a time of great exaltation that we've spoken of a few times already, where the Lord is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, quiet in his love, rejoice over you with shouts of joy. Why? Because when a man, a woman, a nation comes to him, and repentance because He's given them new hearts, it is all of God. Repentance is a gift from God. Salvation is from start to finish a work of God's own saving mercy. And when God sees that played out, it's all of Him. all of him. There is no place for self-exaltation. There is no place for pride, because the heart is so rebellious. You see this here. But what does he do? He takes out a heart of stone and gives him a heart of flesh, and then he shouts for joy over what he has done, how he's redeemed a people that would not bow the knee before him, and he gives them new hearts, and he draws them unto himself. And then he celebrates with joy over what he has done out of his inestimable mercy towards rebellious sinners. So what a picture we have in Zephaniah, these dual themes of judgment and salvation. When you see the character of God You see the nature of sin, you see the nature of repentance, and you see the nature of transformation. All of it is pictured for us in these three fairly brief chapters. But a day of the Lord in history would never connect us, but ultimately looking forward to that time in the time of Jacob's trouble, the time of the tribulation period, which we believe we will not be present during that time. We believe the Lord will come and take us his church to be with him and we will return with him in glory and be with him during the millennial kingdom to reign with him as his purchased people.