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The Book of Zephaniah – Zep 3:1-20

[Study Aired April 19, 2025]

Chapter three of Zephaniah is the classic outline of man’s journey of Judgment, Repentance and Conversion to becoming the New Adam in Christ, the spiritual man. Unwittingly, the Apostle Peter’s response to the Lord in the following verses sketched the basic outline of that process.

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. 
Luk 22:33  And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. 
Luk 22:34  And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

Our obvious sins are mostly clear to everyone, including non-believers, but what about our subtle, secret sins that only we know and tend to ignore? We know Christ is also aware of them, yet we continue to be sifted as wheat without enough pain to compel change. Without much thought, how can we test that our sins are obvious? — because we hide. 

Absurdly to Orthodox Christianity, the Body of Christ is blithely guilty of endlessly preaching on us having been a Whore, that filthy, polluted and oppressing city, and subsequent Judgment, Repentance and Conversion since that is the foundational theme of our existence. Of course, Babylonian Orthodox Christianity fawning over the Jews deludedly standing aloof would never descend to those degrading levels.

Significations:

Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

Zep 3:1  Woe to her [An earthquake understanding! She is you and I] that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! 
Zep 3:2  She obeyed not [Judgment] the voice; she received not correction [Repentance]; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God [to receive Conversion]. 
Zep 3:3  Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. 

Don’t you just love the holy spirit’s poetry!? The Lord’s Priests were originally represented by Judah, and now, in our time, we are the Princes roaring our fornicating doctrines on anyone looking our way, a veritable whore with our thighs exposed, showing the world our first Father Satan’s stained jewels — young by nature of spiritual immaturity as women and children, hasty, dishonourable, impudently chastising the elder laity (Isa 3:12).

We were filled with the imagined meat of our lying doctrines, like evening wolves lying about too fat to move, jealously guarding the carcass, unwilling the following morning that one morsel of raw flesh should remain on the bones from the previous day’s kill. The most glutted she-wolf is Mystery Babylon the Great; her face bloodied from murdering the word of Christ and His Christs.

Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 

Eli’s spiritually filthy priestly sons perfectly depict the scenario in 1 Samuel 2, representing Babylonian Christianity, and Samuel alone, the remnant Elect.

1Sa 2:12  Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial [‘Worthless; unprofitable; base; wicked; self-profiting]; they knew not the LORD.
1Sa 2:13  And the priests’ custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; [No. 3 to them, the unwitting process of Judgment]
1Sa 2:14  And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh [Jerusalem, you and me]unto all the Israelites that came thither.
1Sa 2:15  Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. 
1Sa 2:16  And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.
1Sa 2:17  Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD. 
1Sa 2:18  But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. 

Juxtaposed is the Passover sacrifice the Israelites ate the night before leaving Egypt, which the sons of Belial much later desecrated.

Exo 12:8  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 
Exo 12:9  Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance [Inner parts of the lamb] thereof. 
Exo 12:10  And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

There you go! — Judah’s slothful, ravenous and impetuous Priests utterly desecrated the Lord’s ordinances, emblematic of us, her prophets, before being dragged out of Babylon. Classically, the first, the elder priesthood unwittingly will serve the younger, Samuel, representing the Bride of Christ today.

Pro 12:27  The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious. 

Zep 3:4  Her prophets are light [Spiritually unskilled] and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
Zep 3:5  The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.

A gloriously liberating act is while it is yet today and not tomorrow, we acknowledge our sins, since on the morrow, we arise spiritually refurbished, forgiven seventy times seven, ready to hopefully deny all unrighteousness. When, and like the sons of Belial, we kill and eat the Lord’s sacrifice half raw, we are in serious danger of judgment.

Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 
Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 
Mat 5:23  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 
Mat 5:24  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 
Mat 5:25  Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 
Mat 5:26  Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Christ becomes our adversary when we neglect to acknowledge our sins before seeking physical and spiritual healing. He demands a pure heart nourished by His word, represented as elegant portions of well-roasted prime meat and fat. That process results in Christ answering our prayers according to His will.

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. 

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 
1Jn 5:15  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 

Zep 3:6  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.
Zep 3:7  I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.

Towers are embedded in a city’s walls, particularly on corners where they have a commanding view of approaching enemies. When we refuse to acknowledge our sins, we are sleepy watchmen in our Old Jerusalem’s towers within, where subsequently, the enemy marauds through our streets, laying waste to our spiritual understanding. Once we rose early to righteously seek the Lord, but our ways are so corrupted from repeatedly rejecting our Lord’s counsel that we now rise early, like Israel, to justify our ways.

Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. 
Jer 3:12  Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. 
Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. 

Treacherous Judah represents the Lord’s Elect early in their progress to being recreated the New Adam in Christ, and now she rises early to feed on her Lord’s spiritually understood word. In the positive form, she is like a wolf feeding on the prey of her sins, grateful for her Lord’s anger against her old man.

Pro 31:15  She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. 

Zep 3:8  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. 

Psa 27:11  Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 
Psa 27:12  Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 
Psa 27:13  I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 
Psa 27:14  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. 

The Lord’s Elect is first granted the understanding to wait for her Lord to devour their sins, followed by the world in the Lake of Fire, having their lives purified by the fiery word of Christ, all conveying the same purity of word delivered by His Christs.

The Conversion of the Nations

Zep 3:9  For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent. 

Rom 15:8  Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: 
Rom 15:9  And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee [the Elect] among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name [The same song the 144,000 only know, as does Christ]. 
Rom 15:10  And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. 
Rom 15:11  And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.

We can only glorify our Lord when we are unified in His spirit, kissed by the same spirit as the Father. Anything less than that is doctrinal fornication.

1Co 6:17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 
1Co 6:18  Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 
1Co 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 
1Co 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 

Zep 3:10  From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. 

Ethiopia to the south of Israel also includes Egypt, and to the east on Israel’s southern border, Essau, the Edomites. ‘The daughter of the Lord’s dispersed’ directly corresponds to Israel’s exile and scattering among the world’s nations, unashamedly disseminating their Babylonian doctrines and further spawning harlot churches from Babylon to the north. Typical of harlots, they are impudent, brazenly stalking their prey like wolves, the laity in the evening.

Psa 140:5  The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins [Lure to a snare] for me. Selah. 

Zep 3:11  In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain. 

The Kingdom of God does not come upon the Elect with observation , but it will assuredly arrive with fearful observation upon the holy mountain of God beginning in the First Resurrection, concluding in the Lake of Fire, where every person conceived since Adam will glorify Christ and the Father.

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 
Luk 17:22  And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. 
Luk 17:23  And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. 
Luk 17:24  For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven [meaning, our understanding within]; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. 

Rev 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 
Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds [Clouds are his Elect in the First Resurrection]; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Zep 3:12  I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. 
Zep 3:13  The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 

The afflicted and poor people are the remnant, the Elect of God rejected by the world. They initially and likewise afflicted God’s people, chosen by him before the foundation of the world, who first trusted to immediately succeed Christ, painfully learning to deny themselves and thus become as He is, the new man in him.

Jer 23:2  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:3  And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 
Jer 23:4  And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. 

Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 
Rev 19:21  And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. 

Paradoxically to the harlot churches of Babylon, the remnant that has come out of their midst learns to glorify Christ for being deemed worthy of being slain by the fiery sword of His word.

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Israel’s Joy and Restoration

Zep 3:14  Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Zep 3:15  The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. 

Rom 4:15  Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. 
Rom 4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, 
Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 

Rev 5:11  And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 
Rev 5:12  Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. 
Rev 5:13  And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. 

Zep 3:16  In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. 
Zep 3:17  The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. 
Zep 3:18  I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.

The remnant, the Elect of God, who deny the flesh through burdensome trials, are the first to rejoice in their Husband, Christ, as His Bride. Following them are the nations of the earth from Adam to the end of the One-Thousand Year rule, who, in the Lake of Fire, will be a solemn assembly refined by Christ’s fiery word. They will remember the ‘reproach’ they inflicted upon the very Angels of the Lord, hidden among them, even married to some, and bow at their feet in anguished humiliation.

Rev 3:8  I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 
Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan [Harlot religions of the world, particularly Judeo Orthodox Christianity], which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 

Zep 3:19  Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: [Beginning with the Elect and concluding with the world] and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. 
Zep 3:20  At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you [The Elect of God] a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD. 

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour [The Saviour of the entire World as numerous as the stars of heaven]; 
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 
1Ti 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus [NO THIRD PERSONAGE]; 
1Ti 2:6  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 

Eph 4:4  There is one body, and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 
Eph 4:5  One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 
Eph 4:6  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 
Eph 4:7  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 
Eph 4:8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto [ALL] men [Beginning with his Elect and concluding with the World].

Amen.