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INTRODUCTION
TO
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET

ZEPHANIAH.

This prophet, a contemporary of Jeremiah, exercised his ministry during the reign of Josiah. It was a time of revival (2 Kings 22.), but the captivity was impending, nevertheless, and Zephaniah points out the moral state which, despite the superficial revival under Josiah (Jeremiah 2:11-13), made it inevitable.

Zephaniah is in four parts:

• I. The coming invasion of Nebuchadnezzar a figure of the day of the LORD, Zephaniah 1:1-2:3.

• II. Predictions of judgment on certain peoples, Zephaniah 2:4-15.

• III. The moral state of Israel for which the captivity was to come, Zephaniah 3:1-7.

• IV. The judgment of the nations followed by kingdom blessing under Messiah, Zephaniah 3:8-20.

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959_1; Zephaniah 1:7, for the day of the LORD is at hand

Day Of The Lord

As in the other Prophets, the approaching invasion of Nebuchadnezzar is treated as an adumbration of the true day of the LORD in which all earth-judgments will culminate, to be followed by the restoration and blessing of Israel and the nations in the kingdom. See "Day of the LORD" (Isaiah 2:10-22; Revelation 19:11-21); "Israel" (Genesis 12:2, 3; Romans 11:26). Cf. Joel 1., 2.

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959_a; Zephaniah 1:1, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah

• 2 Kings 22:1-20;
  2 Chronicles 34:1-33;
  Jeremiah 1:2;
  Jeremiah 22:11.

  • Ref. Jeremiah 1:2;
  • Jeremiah 22:11.

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959_b; Zephaniah 1:4, the name of the Chemarims with the priests

i.e., idolatrous priests.

• Cf. 2 Kings 23:5;
  Zephaniah 1:4.

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959_c; Zephaniah 1:5, them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops

• 2 Kings 23:12;
  Jeremiah 19:13.

  • Jeremiah 19:13.

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959_d; Zephaniah 1:5b, and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham

An idol of the Ammonites, the same as Molech, or Milcom.

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959_e; Zephaniah 1:7, the Lord GOD: (1) for the day of the LORD is at hand:

Day of Jehovah.

• Cf. Zechariah 12:1-4;
  Zephaniah 1:7-18.

  • Ref. Zechariah 12:1-4;
  • Isaiah 2:10-22;
  • Revelation 19:11-21.

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959_f; Zephaniah 1:11, Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh

Lit. The Mortar, a depression in Jerusalme where the bazaars were.

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959_g; Zephaniah 1:12, punish the men that are settled on their lees

• Jeremiah 48:11;
• Amos 6:1.

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959_h; Zephaniah 1:14, The great day of the LORD is near,

• Joel 2:1, 11.

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959_i; Zephaniah 1:15, That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble

• Cf. Isaiah 22:5;
  Jeremiah 30:7;
  Joel 2:2, 11;
  Amos 5:18;
  Zephaniah 1:2, 15.
  • Ref. Isaiah 22:5;
  • Jeremiah 30:7;
  • Joel 2:2, 11;
  • Amos 5:18.

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960_a; Zephaniah 1:18, Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them

• Proverbs 11:4;
  Ezekiel 1:9;
  Zephaniah 1:18.

  • Ref. Ezekiel 1:9.

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2005; Zephaniah 1:14, The great day of the Lord is near, it is near

The Pilgrim's Way...As Judgment Falls

Writings Of One, Jack Hook, Our 2005 Modern Day Zephaniah. *

Hello my friends.

Has the holy and righteous God of Israel given over America to judgment? Are the fiery aircraft missiles of 9/11, the one-two punch of the flood waters of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the earthquakes to come a clear warning from God that he is going to destroy the land of America/Babylon by fire, earthquake, and flood, Revelation 16:17-21, 18:1-24? Regretably, I think so.

Why? Four reasons...

• (1) Because of America's betrayal and seduction of Israel and the Jewish people, who themselves will be judged and scattered again by God for rejecting his Son...

• (2) Because of American Christendom's betrayal of Jesus by welcoming seducing spirits and doctrines of devils and refusing to repent when exposed...

• (3) Because of the acceptance and legalization of the homosexual lifestyle of Sodom and Gomorrah...

• (4) And finally, to execute vengeance for the mass murder of fifty million children in their mother's womb.

  Dark and gloomy days are here and will only get worse with the passing of time. I do not enjoy writing these things. I have written them knowing full well that God does not take pleasure in the death of sinners, and neither should any of us, Ezekiel 18:23,32. My heart is broken for what is coming upon the people of this world, which includes my family and friends. However, a heart that is truly broken will not be silenced and stopped from speaking the truth in love and with compassion, hoping some will hear and turn from their ways.

  The prophet Zephaniah saw the days of wrath now before us today and said...

      "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord. The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord. And their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung....
      I have cut off the nations, their towers are desolate. I made their streets waste, that none passeth by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant....
      Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey. For my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger. For all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy."

  Seeing the death and destruction around us, and knowing what is to come, Christians should humbly cry out to the lost around them and say as Jesus did in similar circumstances...unless you repent, you shall likewise perish, Luke 13:1-5. To many American Christians these words are too harsh and cruel, even though they came from the mouth of the one they say they love. Many of them have most likely never read this passage or heard it from the pulpit. Moreover, the perishing or death Jesus is talking about is not just physical death when the soul separates from the body. He is warning of the eternal separation from his presence when he casts an unrepentant sinner into Hell, Matthew 10:28.

  I have received many replies to the "Solomon is Calling, Part 4...Changing the World" letter posted on my web site. Some of you have asked me to clarify what I meant by the three pillars of pollution that have doctrinally seduced most of Christendom in America....

  • (1) the prosperity gospel of the pampered prophets,

  • (2) the militant patriotism guided by the "just" war doctrine for Christians established by Constantine and Augustine,

  • (3) and the new age psycho-babble of the purpose-driven, possibility-thinking, and mega-church movements. These three evil pillars, along with the "ecumenical" movement led by the Pope of Rome, clearly reveal the Great Harlot religion of Revelation 17, who will also be destroyed during Daniel's 70th Week.

    As I was preparing to write another letter to all of you, . . .

    ~~ Writings and Web Page of Jack Hook

~~ * By Jack Hook

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