Day 204: Zephaniah's Warnings

Isaiah 28:1-29 Turning his attention to his own people, the Lord in this prophecy passed judgment on Ephraim (Israel) for its excessive sense of self-sufficiency. He then accused Jerusalem for its false prophets, deceiving priests, and poor leaders who give flattering counsel for their own benefit. The people must repent quickly lest punishment rain down upon them.

Ch 29:1-14 Using the name Ariel, which refers to a part of the Temple’s altar of sacrifice, Isaiah lamented the blindness of the people of Jerusalem, who engaged in external religious practices with hearts and minds far from God and his mandates. Any kind of prayer or worship requires a sincere disposition to seek God’s will and truly love him with deeds. 

Ch 29:11 This is sealed: A seal was an impression made on wax to keep a scroll or other document closed. The distinctive seal served as notice that the contents of the document were private and that it was from a legitimate authority. In other uses, it could indicate ownership. Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders give the recipient a permanent and indelible seal, or mark, to indicate a grace or power bestowed by the Holy Spirit. We also speak of a “seal of confession” whereby the priest or bishop is prohibited from divulging the contents of the penitent’s confession. (CCC 698, 1121, 1295, 2490-2491, 2511)

Ch 29:13 Honor me with their lips...far from me: Metaphorically, the “heart” is the very depth of one’s being. The sense here is one of hypocrisy, or perhaps lack of spiritual resolve; the people pray, but they lack a sincere desire to identify themselves with God’s will. (CCC 368)

Ch 29:15-24 Those who are foolish run from God or, worse, deny his existence and his providential intervention in all human affairs. The Lord will come again in all his glory and majesty for his Final Judgment of all people. Healing of infirmities is among the signs of the presence of the Messiah. As always, the poor are the primary beneficiaries of the Lord’s benevolence. (CCC 238, 716)

The Book of Zephaniah

Author and Date:

• Zephaniah was a prophet in Jerusalem during the time of King Josiah, who ruled Judah in the late seventh century BC, and his book reflects his oracles before 622 BC, the year that Josiah promulgated sweeping religious reforms.

• A few sentences may reflect later additions in the sixth century BC made after the Babylonian Exile.

Audience:

• In the time of Zephaniah, the people of Judah suffered from the widespread practice of religious syncretism (defined as the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions in this case), caused by decades of toleration and acceptance of pagan worship.

• Josiah became king at a young age (eight years old, in 639 BC) and did not begin his reforms of the Law and worship of the Jewish people until eighteen years later.

Main Themes:

• Zephaniah is an eschatological book, meaning it speaks prophetically about the end times, the judgment that will take place on the “day of the Lord” (cf. 1:7-18). 

• No one is spared this judgment: not Judah, not Jerusalem, and not the foreign nations.

• Judah and Jerusalem had shown themselves to be prideful and rebellious and had taken on the worship of idols, encouraged by the false prophets and corrupt priests who had endorsed or permitted that practice; injustice perpetrated by self-serving rulers and public  officials led to fraud, bribery, acts of violence, and exploitation of the people.

• The pagan nations, too, had excessive pride as they oppressed and took advantage of the weakness on both sides of the border, splitting the united kingdom into Judah and Israel (cf 2:8-15).

• Along with these warnings comes a message of hope: The sufferings and punishment of the People of God would purify a remnant of Judah and Israel and bring about a conversion; this remnant would lose its pride, walk humbly in righteousness, and the Lord himself would rule them.

• Even their oppressors, the foreign nations, would experience conversion (cf. 3:9-15).

• Zephaniah’s oracles on the “last things” influenced early Christian preaching on the end times. 

• The great liturgical hymn Dies Irae (“Day of Wrath”), sung in the Liturgy of the Hours, was inspired by and can be seen as a reflection of one of these oracles (cf. 1:15-16).

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

Zephaniah 1-3 Writing from Jerusalem in the mid seventh century BC, Zephaniah not only referred to God’s justice against Israel’s enemies but also to the Final Judgment, the “day of the Lord.” This phrase is not identical to the end of the world as taught in Catholic doctrine but rather contributed to the formulation of that truth. (CCC 677, 1040)

Ch 1:2-18 God’s wrath would not spare Judah, whose people sinned grievously. Rather, God’s punishment was inevitable, leaving Judah riddled with destruction.

Ch 1:14-18 These verses in their Latin translation form the basis of the Dies Irae, a poem traditionally sung as a Sequence in Masses for the Dead. It is sung in the Office for the Dead in the Liturgy of the Hours. 

Ch 2:1-15 The role of the prophet was to deliver God’s messages regarding the dire consequences of sin and to encourage sinners to repent before it was too late. This chapter begins with a call to conversion and then enumerates what sinful nations will face.

Ch 2:3 You humble of the land: Sometimes translated as “people of the poor,” this phrase refers to the remnant of Israel who remained faithful and hopeful as they awaited the restoration of Israel through the coming of the Messiah. These faithful enjoyed the guidance of the Holy Spirit as they prepared themselves for the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of the New and eternal Covenant. (CCC 64, 711, 716)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• Isaiah Ch 28 starts this little section from Chs 28-35 where The Prophet Isaiah is mostly focusing on Judah (SOUTHERN KINGDOM)

• Isaiah focuses on Judah by pointing to the NORTH, the Kingdom of Israel which is also called Ephraim.

• Isaiah emphasizes DRUNKENNESS when he speaks of Ephraim

• Isaiah 28:1, “Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim…”

• There is this recognition of drunkenness and the effects of alcohol

• It’s really remarkable

• The Bible talks in many ways about the blessing of wine

• It gives joy to men's hearts

• It allows people to rejoice

• BUT…

• DRUNKENNESS IS NOT THE SAME THING as the WARMTH that wine can give to men’s HEARTS

• Drunkenness is considered to be a GRAVE SIN depending on the degree to which a person gets drunk 

• We recognize that we are made in GOD’S IMAGE AND LIKENESS

• So what does that MEAN?

• It means that we have a WILL to choose

• It means that we have an INTELLECT to think

• We are MADE FOR GOODNESS

• One of the consequences of the Fall way back in Genesis Ch 3 is DARKENING OF THE INTELLECT

• So we can SEE but we can’t always SEE CLEARLY

• Another consequence of the Fall is WEAKENING OF THE WILL 

• So we can CHOOSE but we don’t always CHOOSE WISELY

• And the third consequence is WE ARE ATTRACTED TO SIN

• Now what does DRUNKENNESS do?

• Drunkenness EMPHASIZES ALL THREE OF THOSE CONSEQUENCES!!

• Oh by the way the FOURTH consequence of the Fall is DEATH!!

• And the FIFTH consequence of the Fall is being CUT OFF FROM THE LORD!!

• There are other consequences as well

• The attraction to sin is called CONCUPISCENCE, a big fancy word (Wow, try saying THAT word three times fast 🤪)

• Those are ALL emphasized by DRUNKENNESS

• We don’t THINK clearly when we have drank, drunk, drinken a lot

• We don’t CHOOSE WELL OR WISELY when we drink a lot

• We are also ATTRACTED TO THINGS WE NORMALLY WOULDN’T BE ATTRACTED TO when we drink

• One of the reasons why DRUNKENNESS is a SERIOUS SIN is it EMPHASIZES and ACCENTUATES, and makes us even more of a SLAVE to the DARKENING OF THE INTELLECT

• THE WEAKENING OF THE WILL

• AND ATTRACTION TO SIN

• Hope that helps

• Isaiah is telling Ephraim that how they live all of the time-the darkening of the intellect, weakening of the will, and attraction to sin-is LEADING THEM AWAY FROM THE LORD

• Isaiah 28:16, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold I am laying in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation…’”

• St. Peter in 1 Peter 2:6 quotes this verse in Isaiah and says actually that JESUS IS THAT PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE, SURE FOUNDATION, that Isaiah was talking about

• So that’s kind of cool, this connection between Isaiah Ch 28 and 1 Peter Ch 2

• You might not have noticed some points where we have some names that came up in Isaiah Chs 28 and 29

• They may have sounded familiar or were completely foreign to you

• Isaiah 28:21, “For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim, he will rage as in the valley of Gibeon; to do his deed-strange is his deed! And to work his work-alien is his work! Now therefore do not scoff…”

• So what is THAT??

• This SHOULD sound familiar even if you can’t remember

• What is Mount Perazim?

• What is the valley of Gibeon?

• We might think we KNOW this

• And we DO KNOW THIS!!

• These were places where God brought VICTORIES

• Mount Perazim comes from 2 Samuel Ch 5 where God gave DAVID a GREAT VICTORY (Want a refresher on this event? Go read Day 124: King David Rules in the Bible in a Year Study Guide! 😁)

• Gibeon comes from Joshua Ch 10 where the Lord gave Joshua a GREAT VICTORY (Want a refresher on this event? Go read Day 84: The Sun Stands Still in the Bible in a Year Study Guide! 😁)

• WOW! WE KNOW THE BIBLE BETTER NOW!!

• It’s Day 204 and we’ve been reading and listening to the Word of God for the last 200+ days!!

• The pieces are all starting to come together a bit

• Another name you might not have recognized because the ONLY place it is used is in Isaiah Ch 29 (It’s also used in The Little Mermaid, but that’s neither here nor there 🤪)

• Isaiah 29:1, “Ho Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped!”

• We see that name and think it’s The Little Mermaid

• BUT IT IS NOT!!

• It is the name for JERUSALEM!!

• Ariel means LION OF GOD

• It’s a little bit of SARCASM maybe from Isaiah

• He is calling Jerusalem the Lion of God, the city that turned away from God, the city that is going to be overrun

• Isaiah 29:3-4, “And I will encamp against you round about, and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you. Then deep from the earth you shall speak, from low in the dust your words shall come…”

• Ok, LION OF GOD 😉

• It’s basically a sarcastic criticism of Jerusalem

• Because Jerusalem is now going to be besieged and laid low

• In the end of Isaiah Ch 28, the words of the prophets can seem like “What the heck??”

• Isaiah 28:24-26, “Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground? When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, and put wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and spelt as the border? For he is instructed rightly; his God teaches him.”

• Wait a second... 

• How did we go from “God will have this victory like he did in Mount Perazim and the valley of Gibeon” to a FARMING LESSON???

• Isaiah 28:27, “Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin; but dill is beaten out with a stick and cumin with a rod.”

• THANK YOU FOR THE FARMING LESSON ISAIAH!!!

• WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??

• Once we slow down a little bit and pick it apart, we realize what Isaiah is pointing to

• Isiah is saying, “A farmer does not only plow. So does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground?”

• A farmer doesn’t ONLY plow

• A farmer doesn’t ONLY throw seed in the ground

• A farmer doesn’t ONLY level the surface after he has placed the seed in the ground

• The farmer will SOMETIMES plow

• The farmer will SOMETIMES seed the land

• The farmer will SOMETIMES water the land

• The farmer will SOMETIMES fertilize the land

• The farmer will SOMETIMES harvest the land

• The farmer doesn’t do JUST ONE THING

• Isaiah is trying to say something about GOD

• Isaiah 28:29, “This also comes from the Lord...he is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.”

• God will do ALL THINGS, but he will do all things IN HIS TIME

• Does this make sense?

• It’s very powerful once we understand the image

• But until we understand the image it may seem a little bit obscure

• So on to Zephaniah which has three chapters like a few of the minor prophets

• What is going on with Zephaniah?

• Remember when Josiah was the young king who RESTORED WORSHIP in the Kingdom of Judah (SOUTHERN KINGDOM)? (No? Then go read Day 188: The Book of the Law and Day 189: Follow the Lord in the Bible in a Year Study Guide! 😁)

• So this is Zephaniah prophesying shortly BEFORE those religious reforms of King Josiah, maybe around the year 630 BC

• That’s very kind of important

• Not kind of

• That is VERY important for us to understand the context

• Zephaniah has FIVE ACCUSATIONS against the people of Judah (And he will have ANOTHER FIVE ACCUSATIONS later on in Ch 3)

• What are these FIVE ACCUSATIONS we hear today?

• The people of Judah have fallen into: 

1. IDOLATRY

2. THEY FAILED TO GROW IN PRAYER AND CLOSENESS WITH THE LORD

3. THEY HAVE BAD LEADERS and those bad leaders have been bad representatives of how we are called to WALK WITH THE LORD

4. THEY HAVE BEEN SUPERSTITIOUS

5. THEY BELIEVE THAT THERE IS NO ACTUAL JUDGMENT COMING UPON THEM FOR THEIR ACTIONS

• FIRST ACCUSATION:

• Zephaniah 1:4-5, “...and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests; those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens; those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom.”

• So Zephaniah is going to stretch out his hand against them because they committed IDOLATRY

• SECOND ACCUSATION:

• Zephaniah 1:6, “Those who have turned back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

• This is REALLY IMPORTANT because it talks about the people haven’t prayed to God

• They didn’t seek God’s COUNSEL

• They didn’t look to God for WISDOM

• They didn’t look to God for that INTIMACY IN PRAYER

• THIRD ACCUSATION:

• Zephaniah 1:8, “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who clothe themselves in foreign attire.”

• That is SO INTERESTING!

• That means that they wanted to look like ALL THE OTHER NATIONS

• REMEMBER

• One of the BIG CALLS for God’s People was that they were going to have to LOOK DIFFERENT

• Remember the Laws of Leviticus?

• They were to EAT DIFFERENTLY

• They were to DRESS DIFFERENTLY

• They were to CUT THEIR HAIR DIFFERENTLY

• All these things were meant to MARK THEM OUT to live as GOD’S PEOPLE

• But here, all the OFFICIALS, the king’s sons, clothed themselves in FOREIGN ATTIRE

• Basically they were saying that they DID NOT WANT TO BELONG TO THE LORD

• FOURTH ACCUSATION:

• Zephaniah 1:9, “On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud.”

• Fr. Mike said this was SUPERSTITION and it’s a good possibility that is the case

• Some commentaries think that this verse is a reference to 1 Samuel where the idol Dagon where they brought the Ark of the Covenant and put it in the same place as the idol to Dagon and the idol kept falling on its face

• One of the theories is that because that idol fell down, it fell down on the THRESHOLD of that temple to Dagon, so the people would then jump over that threshold to get to their preferred idol of Dagon

• Maybe that’s an allusion to 1 Samuel Ch 5

• We don’t know

• Apparently in the Middle East at that time, there was an idea that thresholds to buildings were SACRED and it was basically superstitious

• It was considered “bad luck” to simply STEP over the threshold, you were supposed to LEAP over the threshold

• So Zephaniah is pointing out the people placing their FAITH in SUPERSTITION

• It seems kind of funny

• But it’s also RELEVANT to us 

• We sometimes have these little superstitions that we allow to be in our lives that might take away from our TRUST IN THE LORD

• FIFTH ACCUSATION:

• Zephaniah 1:12, “At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are thickening on their dregs, those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.’”

• So this is about people who DO NOT BELIEVE THE LORD WILL JUDGE THEIR ACTIONS

• There is something so interesting

• All five of these accusations (and there will be ANOTHER 5 accusations in Zephaniah Ch 3) are NOT SURFACE ACCUSATIONS or INDICTMENTS

• They actually go to the HEART OF RELATIONSHIP

• How can I belong to the Lord if I keep giving my heart to OTHER IDOLS?

• How can I be in relationship with the Lord if I do not seek his voice and SPEND TIME IN PRAYER?

• How can I belong to the Lord if those who are leading us, and I act like them, are dressing like people who DON’T WANT TO BELONG TO THE LORD?

• How can I belong to the Lord if I am ACTING OUT THESE SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PAGAN PEOPLE AROUND ME?

• How can I belong to the Lord if I DON’T ACTUALLY BELIEVE HE IS REAL AND PRESENT AND HE IS ACTIVE IN MY LIFE?

• THAT IS SO SO IMPORTANT!!

• Zephaniah Ch 2 talks about how God will have judgment on Israel’s enemies and he names five groups of people

• PHILISTINES

• MOABITES

• ETHIOPIANS

• ASSYRIANS

• CHERETHITES? (Fr. Mike did not mention the FIFTH group of people so this is my guess...anyone else have an idea? 🤔)

• There is a POWERFUL POWERFUL MOMENT in Zephaniah 2:3, “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the wrath of the Lord.”

• Basically, the day of the Lord is going to come so you are still going to have to endure it

• BUT…

• If you seek the LORD and do his COMMANDS

• If you seek RIGHTEOUSNESS

• If you seek HUMILITY

• PERHAPS you may be HIDDEN when that day COMES

• Because at the end of Ch 2 and going into Ch 3 this is what you find when it comes to EVERY ONE OF THE PROPHETS

• They are promising not only CORRECTION

• They are promising not only GOD’S JUSTICE

• BUT…

• They are also PROMISING GOD’S RESTORATION

• Zephaniah 2:9, “...The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”

• “THEM” in this case means the ENEMIES of God’s People

• Even though there is JUDGMENT coming

• Even though there is JUSTICE coming

• THERE WILL BE A REMNANT AND THAT REMNANT WILL BE VICTORIOUS

• That REMNANT will experience GOD’S PROMISE AND GOD’S GOODNESS

• THIS IS SO IMPORTANT FOR US!!

• We also are waiting

• We also are facing enemies

• We also are facing the spiritual battle between dark and light

• The spiritual battle between God and the Powers & Principalities of this Earth

• We are waiting like the People of God did in Isaiah’s day and in Zephaniah’s day

• As we wait for the DAY OF THE LORD, our call is to SEEK JUSTICE

• As we wait for the DAY OF THE LORD, our call is to SEEK RIGHTEOUSNESS

• As we wait for the DAY OF THE LORD, our call is to SEEK THE LORD WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE

• THAT IS THE MESSAGE OF ZEPHANIAH AND ALL OF THE PROPHETS!!

• THAT IS THE MESSAGE TODAY!!

• NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS

• NO MATTER WHAT KIND OF DAY WE HAVE

• WE CAN USE THIS DAY TO SEEK THE LORD WITH ALL OUR HEARTS

• THAT’S WHAT WE ARE DOING RIGHT NOW FOR THE PAST HALF HOUR!!!

• Sweet Mother Mcree this was a LOOOOOONG episode!!! 😮‍💨

• Fr. Mike apologizes for that and is praying for YOU!! 😉

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and we thank you for your Word. We thank you for continuing to speak to us and continuing to call us to be yours. We know that you’re present in all things and that your judgment on the world and your judgment on our lives, our actions is good, is true, is fair, is just. Because you are good, and you are true, and you are fair, and you are just. Lord, you know the secrets of our hearts. You know our weaknesses. You know our strengths. You know the wounds that we carry, that no one else knows. And because of that, you can judge us rightly and you love us. Therefore, you want the best for us. God, I ask that you please use this day. Use what happens in our lives today, whether they be positive things or negative things. Whether they be joyous things or sufferings. Use the moments of this day, the interactions of this day, to call us back to you. Let the joys remind us of your goodness. Let our sufferings remind us of our need for you. Let every moment be a reminder of how much you love us and how much we are yours, how deeply we belong to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”