Ezekiel 6

Ezekiel is now told to use words, and in particular to speak against the mountains of Israel. The reason why the mountains of Israel were important, and are mentioned by other prophets (eg Micah) as well, is twofold. First they signified the rugged terrain of Israel; secondly, and more importantly in the current context, they were the places where pagan worship took place. In Kings and Chronicles we read of pagan worship taking place on the "high places", and of some kings doing good things, but generally not taking down the high places. These high places had arisen partly as a result of Israel mixing their religion with pagan worship practices of the nations. Since the nation had failed to get rid of these abominations, God would do it Himself. Indeed this is a pattern, God gives people a chance to put things right themselves, if they fail to do so, then He acts Himself in judgement.

These pagan sites sometimes involved human sacrifice, but the Israelites would find themselves killed at these sites. They will see the utter futility of these idols they worshipped.

However, a remnant would be preserved. The remnant would realise what had gone wrong, how they had grieved God by worshipping idols and lusting after other things.Then they will be appalled at their behaviour.

People may say it is terrible that God can inflict such judgements, but the really terrible thing is that we live such lives that deserve such judgement, The nations around them would see the judgement and understand.

Ezekiel 5

Again Ezekiel has to give the message in a dramatic form. First he had to shave his head and beard. What he did with the hairs would represent what would happen to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many would die within the city of Jerusalem, many would flee but be killed by the sword, and many would be spread around the nations as exiles.

Political commentators often remark on the position of Israel in the middle east, and its impact on history. This is no accident. God deliberately placed Israel where He did. It is on purpose that Jerusalem is central to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Jerusalem was meant to be a shining example, but instead the people rebelled against God. In fact Israel's behaviour was worse than the nations around her. Now this is not the only place in the Bible where this sort of thing is said, and it is remarkable that the book the Jews adhere to is so condemning of their behaviour. There really is no way the Bible could have been made up by the Jews to serve their own ends, for it is so critical of the Jews themselves.

God Himself would be against Jerusalem because of their vile behaviour. Terrible things would come upon them, and indeed these things did happen during the Babylonian siege. The nations around them would see what God had done to Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 4

One of the features of Ezekiel's ministry was that God got him to act out a lot of his messages. Now these were not the sort of dramas we might see today in church's or outreach events! However, God does not restrict Himself to one means of communication.

First Ezekiel had to take a block of clay and draw the city of Jerusalem upon it. Ezekiel had spent time with the people of Tel Aviv (3:15), he was also probably a priest. So he would be known and people had probably got wind of the fact that something odd was going on with him. Therefore they would pay attention to this block of clay. Ezekiel was to put siege works against the block to signify that Jerusalem would be under siege. Moreover, it was God Himself who was besieging the city.

After this he was to bear the sin of Israel. Now this is almost certainly not to be taken in the way of Jesus bearing our sin, but rather of Israel (the southern kingdom) having to suffer for 390 years for her rebellion. Next he was to bear the sin of Judah (the northern kingdom) for 40 days. Now people would see this going on for over a year, and they would be familiar with what had happened to Israel.

The wheat, barley etc represents a meagre vegetarian diet. This was signifying the conditions of the siege, hence the original instruction to burn it over human excrement. Ezekiel objected to this last point, finding it repugnant. God relented and allowed him to use cow dung, a common fuel in those days. If you read the Bible you actually find that God is more willing to change His mind than we might imagine.

The siege that was coming on Jerusalem would be truly awful and terrible.

Ezekiel 3:16-27

After being at the Kebar River for seven days Ezekiel receives a second vision, similar to the first, and the Lord speaks to him. In those days it was common for cities to have watchmen, their task was to look out for trouble, to see if any danger was on the horizon. The safety of a city was crucially dependent upon the watchman. Ezekiel was a watchman for Israel, his job was to report what the Lord said.

God says this to Ezekiel to impress on him the seriousness of the task, and the responsibility he had. If Ezekiel did not warn the people, then while the people would still be responsible for their actions and will die for their sins, but Ezekiel will also be accountable. But if he had warned them and they did not listen, he would not be responsible. This gives a good general principle in giving God's word, we absolutely have a responsibility to preach the word of God, but we are not responsible for the response.

The warnings had to be given to all people, including the "righteous", so that they were warned of the consequences of turning to evil ways. People always have a natural inclination to turn to evil.

Having given this harsh word to Ezekiel, God takes him to the plain and the glory of the Lord appeared to him. Again Ezekiel fell down, but the Spirit raised him up. Although Ezekiel had to speak when he could, there would be times when the people would bind him so he could not speak, and times when the Lord Himself would prevent him from speaking. But when the Lord gave him words, He would enable him to speak. Again, God tells him not to concern himself with the result.

Ezekiel 3:1-15

The commissioning continues. Ezekiel had to eat the scroll. The message he had to give was not to be mere words, but was to be a part of him. When we listen to someone preach we can usually tell the difference between someone who is just giving information, and someone who is preaching about what God has put inside them. The word tasted sweet to Ezekiel.

Ezekiel was being sent to a people who really ought to have been ready listen and respond to the word, for they understood the language. More importantly they had been created by God and brought up in His ways for centuries. Yet this was not to be the case. Ezekiel would have had an easier job going to speak to a foreign nation. Jesus experienced the same, and indeed the gospel did find a readier audience among the Gentiles.

The problem was not the upbringing or cultural background of the people, but the condition of their hearts. We do well to remember this, for our natural inclination is always to look at the outside, to judge be appearances, but this rarely tells the whole truth.

Ezekiel would find the people obstinate, God's response to this was to make Ezekiel even more unyielding. He did the same when commissioning Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1). God can equip us to be able to handle anything. Ezekiel had to ensure that he continued to pay close attention to God's words.

The vision then seems to come to an end, and there is a rumbling as the vision departs. Ezekiel went in the bitterness and anger of his spirit. This probably refers to him empathising with God at the state of the people.

The Tel Aviv of verse 15 is a place in Babylon, not the modern Israeli city. Ezekiel sat among the people observing, and was distressed at what he saw. So we see that Ezekiel identifies with the heart of God, and sees what the people are really like.

Ezekiel 2

God then gives Ezekiel his mission. Unlike in Mission Impossible, there is "if you chose to accept it". God has chosen Ezekiel to do this task, and Ezekiel will do it. Moses argues with God that he was not up to it (Exodus 3 and 4) but got nowhere.

The people who have the most difficult tasks are often given visions of God's glory beforehand. The foundation of our task must be the glory of God. Neither love for God nor love for people (though naturlaly both of these are extremely important and desirable!) are not a sufficient foundation. It is God Himself and His greatness that will keep us going in the difficult times.

The Spirit then raised Ezekiel to his feet. When we come to God we may/must bow down, but then He raises us up to stand on our feet. God was sending him to the Israelites. Directly speaking, this would be the Israelites who were in exile. They were a rebellious nation, as indeed had all their ancestors. The view of Israel in Ezekiel is fairly uniformly bad, they are stubborn and obstinate. There is no guarantee that the nation will listen, indeed Ezekiel is being prepared for a bad response, but at the end of it the nation will have to admit that God had sent a prophet to them.

Ezekiel is warned how difficult his task will be and he must expect much opposition, but despite this he must no be afraid. Ezekiel cannot make the people obey or rebel, but he does determine what he does. We must all apply this to ourselves, regardless of what others are doing, we must continue to obey the Lord.

Finally Ezekiel saw a scroll representing the words he would preach. These would predominantly be words of lament and woe.

Ezekiel 1

Most of the chapter, indeed most of the book, is written in the first person, and in verse 1 Ezekiel tells us where he is and that he was in his thirtieth year. This year was significant for it was the year a person could enter priestly ministry. It is also at about that age that Jesus began his ministry.

Verse 2 and 3 are probably a editorial addition to clarify when the prophecy actually started, namely 597 BC Ezekiel received visions from God and the word of God. The hand of the Lord was upon him. When the hand of the Lord is on us He will lead us to do His will and reveal to us how He sees things.

The rest of the chapter describes the vision that Ezekiel saw. The vision came in a dramatic way and seems very strange to us. Several visions in the Bible include the number four, for instance Zechariah and Revelation. The four creatures are probably throne attendants.

They each had the face of a human, but also the face of other animals. The creatures moved only at the behest of the Spirit, and they were associated with fire and burning coals. Isaiah chapter 6 also tells of a vision of God including burning coals.

Ezekiel then notices that there was a strange arrangement of wheels. The sight of these wheels was awesome. It is difficult to work out exactly how things worked, but the key point is that the wheels moved only at the behest of the Spirit. When they moved there was the sound of a vast army moving.

Finally Ezekiel sees a figure. This figure looked like a man, but then had a glorious appearance. Ezekiel fell down in awe and heard a voice.

What are we to make of all this? Perhaps it signifies God moving on the earth, and when He does so it seems as though men are moving (in Ezekiel's case Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar in particular). Behind the human actions is God acting, causing momentous things happen on the earth.

The final appearance of the Lord as a man is not that unexpected. Genesis says that we are made in the image of God, and when God appears He usually takes the form of a man. Jesus is the supreme example of this, but there are others such as Jacob wrestling with God (Genesis 32:24-32).

2 Peter 3:10-18

There really is absolutely no point trying to predict when the Day of the Lord will come, for it will come like a thief, ie when people least expect it. Paul said the same (1 Thessalonians 5:2), as did John (Revelation 3:3), and Jesus (Revelation 16:15, Matthew 24:39). When it does come there be no mistaking it, for the old heavens and earth will be swept away.

Peter then turns to the question that really matters. How should we live then? The answer is that we ought to live holy and godly lives. In fact this will speed the coming of the Lord. The fact that there will be a new heaven and a new earth does not mean that this earth has no importance. There is work to be done here and now, and we ought to get on with it.

So we should make every effort to live lives pleasing to God. Every day of "delay" in the coming of the Lord means a day when more people can get saved. Peter then refers again to Paul's letters, implicitly equating them with Scripture.

Peter closes by summing up his message. We are not to be carried away by false or silly teachings, but to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, ie living more and more Christlike lives.

2 Peter 3:4-9

One of the things the scoffers were saying is "where is this coming?". It is generally believed that the early church expected Christ to return soon, or at least within there lifetime, so when He didn't this caused some concern within the church, and caused others to mock the church.

Peter's first response in verses 5-7 seems a strange response to us. Why on earth does Peter start talking about God judging the world by water? One reason is that the story of Noah was very important to Peter. The more important reason is that the thing the people should primarily be concerned with is judgement. Doing something about the judgement that would otherwise come upon them is the issue they should be addressing, not when the Lord would return.

The second answer that Peter gives does mean more to us. Essentially Peter is saying that God's concept of time and ours are often completely different. Somethings can seem to take ages, others can happen extremely quickly, but to God it makes no difference. Moreover, God's desire is that all people come to repentance.

People are still far too concerned with when Jesus will return. Jesus Himself warned us against doing this. Instead we should focus with getting on with the task, then whenever He does return we will be ready.

2 Peter 3:1-3

Peter explicitly refers to this being his second letter, probably referring to 1 Peter. The fact that 1 Peter is not really a "reminder" is thought by some to mean it must be referring to some other letter. However, I am not really convinced by this objection. The dominant theme in 1 Peter is a "reminder" of the way that Jesus dealt with suffering and injustice, the only difference is that 2 Peter explicitly uses the term "reminder".

Whatever the case, the purpose of this letter is to "stimulate you to wholesome thinking". Our minds are very important, and the way that we think is important. One of the most important ways of doing this is to study the word of God. Here Peter refers to the "holy prophets" (probably a term referring to all or most of the Old Testament"), and the "command given by our Lord and Saviour through your apostles". This latter part puts the apostolic teaching on a par with that of the OT prophets.

A key part of Peter's warning is that there will be false teachers and scoffers in the last days. Now Paul and Jesus Himself also warned about this, it is a consistent teaching of the New Testament. We also need to remember that we are still in the last days. The church always needs to be on its guard against false teaching.

2 Peter 2:17-22

Peter does not mince his words about these false teachers. They are "springs without water", ie they offer life, but actually give nothing. A mist has no substance. They will eventually find themselves in deepest darkness.

The tactics used by these false teachers is to use clever sounding words, but which are in fact empty. They will also boast about themselves, and will appeal to people's lustful desires. This is not just referring to sexual desires, but to desires for money, and to our pride. In doing so they entice people away from the truth.

They claim to offer freedom, but are in fact themselves in slavery to depravity. The tragedy of it all is that they once knew the Lord. As an aside, the New Testament does contain occasions, such as here, where it refers to people who once knew the Lord but then fell away. As far as the Bible is concerned it is possible to fall away. This does not mean we should live in fear of doing so, but should ensure that we continue in faith. When such people fall away they tend to return to their original depravity.

All this is a warning that we should be careful about false teaching, particularly clever sounding teaching.

2 Peter 2:13-16

The people who rebel against God do not just harm themselves, but they harm others too. We often hear the mantra that as long it harms no one else it is OK. While seeing the point of this it is very much a mistaken attitude. For as John Donne said, "no man is an island". Like it or not I have an effect on other people in the world, and they have an effect on me. If I live my life well then I will be a blessing to others, but if I live badly I will be a curse to others.

Peter describes the excesses of the people he is talking about. It is useful to remind ourselves that from the context he seems to be talking about Christians who have become rebellious. They had some connection with God, but then went their own way. Peter cites the example of Balaam. Now Balaam was a man who had spiritual insight, but he lacked spiritual wisdom. Instead of using his gift to serve the Lord he used it to make money and a name for himself (Genesis 22-25:1). It took a donkey to talk some sense to the man.

We need to be careful that we do not become full of our own supposed cleverness, for it will get us nowhere. And God is quite capable, as He did with Balaam, of showing us how stupid we are.

2 Peter 2:10-12

Peter gives two characteristics that must be avoided: following the desires of the flesh, and despising authority. Both of these are very prevalent in today's society. We need to ensure that we purge ourselves of these traits as well. Despising authority is one we need to pay particular attention to for it is very easy to fall into the trap of doing this. In 1 Peter it is clear that we are to respect all authority, including governmental authority (Paul gives the same message as well).

Arrogance is a trait that characterises people who do these things, thinking we are our own masters, effectively gods ourselves. Peter then says (as seems to be his habit) something which is a little confusing, referring to angels. Peter says that even when angels bring judgement on celestial beings they exercise only God's judgement, they do not add their own "tuppence worth". We can learn from this in the area of dealing with spiritual forces. The only authority we have is the authority that comes from the Lord, we must not assume that we have authority in our own right. If we go beyond this and start imagining that we have our own authority then our stupidity will quickly become apparent.

2 Peter 2:4-9

The angels sinning could refer to Genesis 6:4 where some angels are said to have intermarried with human daughters, or possibly to the rebellion in heaven. The word used for hell, Tartarus, is used only here in the Bible, and is a place of punishment. Peter seems to be influenced by the book of apocryphal book of Enoch.

Peter then refers to the flood, which seems to have been a favourite story of his as he mentions it in 1 Peter as well. He draws attention to the fact that God did not spare the ancient world, saving only a few. Sodom and Gomorrah too suffered severe judgement, yet a righteous man Lot was saved. Peter seems to have a somewhat higher opinion of Lot than is justified by the account in Genesis. Peter's use of the term "just" may have been influenced by the reference in the Book of Wisdom to Lot as the "just one".

The key point that Peter is making in all this is that God knows how to punish the wicked and how to save the righteous, even in the most unjust societies. This means that we can be confident in God and his ability to "cope" with the situations we find in our societies. Whatever the circumstances we must act in a just way, obeying and trusting God.

2 Peter 2:1-3

There have always been false prophets and teachers and always will be. Indeed from very early days God gave warning of this (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). False prophets introduce heresies and do so secretly. Ie they are not open about what they do, and may introduce a little error amongst a lot of seemingly harmless stuff. We have a tendency to treat heresy as just an intellectual idea, but wrong ideas can have destructive consequences. On the grand scale we can see the effects of communism and Nazism in the last century which led to the deaths of millions. The effect of moral relativism has had a corrosive effect on society. Ideas do matter. Some churches can be inclined to focus on experience and discount theology, this too is a mistake because it makes the church open to false teachings, and it is also unable to counter the pervasive philosophy of the age in which it lives.

Almost all false teachings will deny the deity of Jesus Christ. Christ is the one who saved us, He is the centre of it all, and without Him we are nothing.

False teaching will often go hand in hand with immoral behaviour. False teachers are actually doing the work of the devil, they are not introducing a new angle on things, or interesting ideas. This will lead to depravity in their own lives, and they will exploit the people they teach. The destiny of such people is destruction.

2 Peter 1:12-20

Peter is happy to continue to remind them of the truth. Peter knows that his life will shortly come to an end. Indeed Jesus had told him the kind of death he would suffer (John 21:19), therefore he is keen to ensure that his hearers continue and grow in the gospel. Peter had experienced the reality of the gospel and what it meant, so he wants others to enjoy the same.

The good news was not made up by men. Most religions and philosophies are the products of men's minds, and some of them are complete fabrications. But Peter and the other apostles told them what they had seen. Moreover Peter, James and John had been witnesses to the transfiguration. They saw Jesus glorified, and heard the Father's voice affirming His Son (Matthew 17:1-7).

The prophets, especially Isaiah, had prophesied about what would happen. They spoke long before Jesus came, when the nation was often in a state of apostasy. Peter reminds them that prophecy in Scripture is a result of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is not a result of the prophet's own interpretation.

2 Peter 1:8-11

The things just outlined by Peter are the only way to be effective and productive in our faith and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Many others will claim to have things that we need, but the qualities in v5-7 are the ones that lead to fruitfulness.

If we don't have these qualities, then we will not see clearly. People often want spiritual insight, or long for words of God. Now prophecy is good, and from time to time God may well speak directly to us, but if we want to see clearly then it is essential that we have the v5-7 qualities. If we do not have them, then no matter how many "words" or visions we receive, we will actually see nothing and know nothing. For the fundamental truth is that we have been cleansed from sin. Sin was our biggest problem, and Jesus came to set us free from sin.

The Bible never envisages a Christian life without effort, and here Peter calls in his hearers to make every effort to confirm their calling and election. Now this is to earning salvation, for it is God who has called and chosen us. What Peter is saying is maybe something like this "if you want to be really sure that you are saved, then do these things and you will see the reality of it all".

2 Peter 1:5-7

"For this reason". Since we have been given everything we need then we should make every effort to take advantage of this. Just looking back again at the statement in v4, "everything we need for a godly life", we should take great encouragement from this. It means that whatever circumstances we face, whatever ungodly reactions and attitudes we find arising on ourselves, it is possible for us to overcome them.

Our goal should be to increase our "goodness". Faith is not a mere intellectual or emotional thing, it is about changing our very nature, and changing the nature of our lives. We need to want to do the right thing. However, we need to know what the right thing is. In many cases this obvious, but in other cases it isn't, or lack of understanding hinders us from doing the right thing. So we need to add knowledge to goodness.

But knowing and wanting are not enough, we need self-control as well. Self-control is often mentioned as part of the fruit of the Spirit. Sin leads us to go out of control, the Spirit leads us to regain self-control over ourselves and our lives. No matter what pressure we face, it is actually possible for us to remain self-controlled.

None of this is a one-off decision, we need to persist. So we need to add perseverance to all the other qualities, the quality of just keeping on pursuing the goal, keeping on refusing to do wrong, and insisting on doing right. We are also to have nature of Christ. And we are to have affection for each other, we are to like one another. Finally we are to add love.

2 Peter 1:3,4

Peter is writing to a people who were facing various kinds of false teachings. Peter's first response to this is to assure them that In Christ they have everything they need in order to lead a godly life. Paul says that the devil sometimes appears as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). When someone comes to Christ they naturally want to live a life pleasing to God, and one of the enemies tactics is to try and persuade us that we need to do something extra in order to truly please God. For instance in Galatia some tried to insist that Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised. Gnostic type teachings talked about a deeper knowledge. The truth is that in Christ we have all that we need.

We are given all this provision through our knowledge of Him. So if we want to please Him more, then we need to know Him more. And Jesus called us by His own glory and goodness. Jesus was dependent upon no one else.

Some of the false teachings talked about getting in touch with God or today talk about spiritual awareness. The promises of Jesus enable us to share in the divine nature. "The corruption of the world" is the decaying nature of the world, and the world is in a state of decay because of sin. But our lives can be different. We need no longer be subject to the same decay. This does not mean that we will not grow physically older, but it does mean that inwardly we are being renewed each day (2 Cor 4:16). We should have a confident expectation of the future, because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

2 Peter 1:1,2

2 Peter claims to be written by Peter, and 3:1 refers to this being the second letter of Peter. There is also substantial internal evidence for its Petrine authorship, namely: the author was a witness to the transfiguration (1:16-18), and was friends with Paul (3:15).

However , there has been doubt cast on its authorship even from the third century by Eusebius and Origen. In fact even Calvin expressed some doubt about its authorship. Luther also had some doubts (in addition, he had a low opinion of James). It is interesting that such luminaries as Calvin and Luther had doubts about some books of the New Testament. My natural reaction is to think that to doubt the clearly claimed authorship of books of the Bible marks you as a liberal and therefore discount your views. Clearly one cannot apply this approach to Calvin and Luther!

The Petrine authorship was accepted at the Council of Carthage in 397 AD. I will assume that since the book claims to be written by Peter, then this is the case.

The book contains a lot on how to deal with false teachings, in particular in regard to the second coming. The book also has some key statements on the authority of Scripture, both on Old Testament prophets (1:20,21), and on the writings of Paul (3:16).

Verse 1 emphasises the preciousness of their faith. This echoes the sentiments of 1 Peter 1:7. Our faith is of immense value, which is why the enemy tries to rob us of our faith, and why we must do our best to nurture our faith. The best way to do this is to live by faith, the more we do this the more our faith will grow.

"Grace and peace be yours in abundance" is almost identical to 1 Peter 1:2.

Zephaniah 3:14-20

These verses declare the blessing that will eventually come upon Israel. This should cause the nation to rejoice in the Lord. For on that day the Lord will have taken away their punishment and will have turned back their enemies. There is no indication here (unlike in Isaiah) of how the Lord will do this, but we can now see that it is speaking of a day when Israel will realise who Jesus is, and what He achieved on the cross. Throughout history there have been many enemies of the Jews, and in the last days all nations will turn on her, but they will be defeated by God.

On that day the whole world will see that God is for Israel. The people will have no need to fear, and the Lord will delight in Israel. Instead of rebuking her He will delight in her with singing.

Those who hanker for the old ways will be removed, there will need to be a complete change if heart in the nation. All the oppressors will be dealt with, and the lame will be healed. Instead of disgrace and shame, the people will receive honour and praise.

All this is in stark contrast to the rest of the book, and, as mentioned earlier, there is very little indication of how this would or could happen. In the New Testament people like Paul and Peter speak of a mystery being revealed, and of the prophets longing to know how these things could happen. When Paul speaks of the mystery being revealed in Christ he is often referring to how the promises of God could possibly come about when there was the enormous problem of sin and disobedience in Israel. It is only because of Christ's death and resurrection that we can look forward with confidence and hope.

Zephaniah 3:9-13

The final result is not the destruction of everything and everyone, but a people who truly love and obey the Lord. The Lord will purify the lips of the peoples, so that all may call upon Him and serve Him in unity. Notice the importance of the mouth. What we say is important, and what comes out of our mouths is an indicator of what is in our hearts. When Isaiah (Isaiah 6) had his great vision of God it was a burning coal that touched his lips to purify him. Note also that people will come from all nations.

Cush was at the extremities of the known world. God 's people from even the furthest corners will come to make acceptable offerings to Him.

Jerusalem will not be put to shame, even though she deserves to be so. Instead she will be purified, and this will be done by removing the ungodly from her. Pride in particular is mentioned. Instead it is the meek and humble who will remain. They will trust in God and do no wrong and will not lie. Again we can see allusions to this in the New Testament. Jesus said that the meek would inherit the earth, and Revelation 21:8 when speaking of the new heaven and earth lists various people who will not be there.

Zephaniah 3:6-8

If we are honest I guess most of us find this sort of passage difficult to come to terms with, namely God declaring that He has destroyed other nations. Anyway, let's try and get some sense out of it.

Although Assyria was currently a much reduced threat, in recent times she had been a major threat. She had conquered many nations, including the northern kingdom of Israel. Israel and Judah had been separate kingdoms for a good long time. God says in Isaiah that Assyria was His instrument (eg Isaiah 10:5). God's judgement had come upon the earth.

His hope was that Judah would heed the warning, realise that they had sinned and needed to repent. If they had done this then they would have found God to be a place of refuge and would have been protected. Instead they carried on eagerly in their corrupt ways.

God then calls upon them to wait for Him to testify. God will gather all the nations for judgement and His wrath will be poured out on them all. We probably react to the word jealousy as well, for we associate it with unworthy feelings. However, God rightly demands that He is the only One we trust in and look to, for He is the only God, the only one who has our best interests at heart.

While we find all this wrath and judgement difficult to take, and it goes against the spirit of the age, the clear message is that we should see God's actions as a warning. We should heed the warning and question our own ways, and then repent of our own ways. People accuse God of being unfair, but the truth is that if we just complain about God we achieve nothing. If instead we repent and commit our way to Him we will not only benefit ourselves, but we will become a blessing to others, and many people will be saved.

Zephaniah 3:1-5

Attention now turns back to Judah and Jerusalem, and the attacks are even more severe. First the sin of Jerusalem is outlined in some detail. The people oppressed other people, they were rebellious, and they were defiled. When people desert God the outcome will always be mistreatment of people. Conversely if we want to be good to other people we need to love God. This often comes from a rebellious spirit, and rebellion against God will again show itself in a rebellious attitude towards all authority. When we reject God we will indulge in behaviour that defiles ourselves (see Romans 1:18 onwards).

The people obeyed no one and would not accept correction, this is the result of rebellion. She would not trust God nor draw near to Him. The officials were like roaring lions, ie people to be feared, as were her rulers her were like wolves. The prophets lacked principles, and could not be trusted, and the priests profaned the sanctuary of God, and paid no respect to the Law.

This is all very depressing. However, we can turn it on its head and see what qualities we should have. We are to be teachable, and people who trust in God. We are to draw near to Him. When faced with difficulties our instinct should be to turn to God. At the start of each day we should commit ourselves to the Lord.

If we have positions of authority we should exercise it as a servant. We are there to be make people's lives better, not to Lord it over others, or to use it for our own advantage.

If we speak on God's behalf as a prophet, preacher or teacher, then we should be men and women of integrity, people should be able to trust us. As priests (and all believers are priests) we should honour our own bodies (which are temples of the Holy Spirit), and respect all of God's ways.

The attitude of the people is in stark contrast to that of God. What does it mean to say "morning by morning He dispenses His justice"? From what has just been said, it seems that there would be precious little evidence of this in Jerusalem.

Zephaniah 2:4-15

God now names four nations who will also share in the judgement.

Four of Philistia's five main cities are mentioned. Gath is the one that is omitted, this may be because it was still pretty desolate after Uzziah's attacks. Moab and Ammon were nations that were a result of Lot's daughter's (Genesis 19:36-38) desperation for children and incest with their father. Cush is Ethiopia. Assyria had been the top nation, but was now in decline.

The land of Philistine is promised to the remnant of Israel. Canaan is the land that had been promised to Israel. It can seem at times that God has forgotten His promises, but this is never so. When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people past promises are fulfilled.

Lot had been rescued from Sodom (Genesis 19), hence the comments in verse 10 are particularly poignant. Again it is the remnant of Israel who will reclaim the land. Moab and Ammon had a history of mocking Israel, one day she would pay for this.

Cush gets the briefest of mentions.

Assyria had boasted about her strength, thinking herself equal with God and completely secure. God would show up the emptiness of her claims.

Zephaniah 2:1-3

The coming of God's judgement is usually presented as inevitable, but then it followed by a call to repentance. We react to judgement passages thinking they are too harsh, or just baulking at the terrible things that will happen. However, we see in our society today that a softly, softly approach is not exactly over successful. The passages are harsh because the matter is so serious. Yet it is always God's desire that men repent (2 Peter 3:9; Ezekiel 33:11).

When people do repent, God changes His plans. When God speaks He is looking for a response from us, this is the reason He speaks.

Zephaniah calls on the humble to seek the Lord. It may even be that most people do not seek the Lord, but if it is in your heart to seek Him, then you should do so, regardless of what the rest of the people are doing. Moses often stood in the gap between God and the Israelites. Supremely, Jesus stood between us and God on the cross. We should never underestimate how much delight God takes in a man or woman who shows faith, who shows passion for His word, who turns from evil ways to His ways. The whole of the Bible makes it clear that this is the heart of God.

Zephaniah 1:14-18

The Day of the Lord is to be feared. Jeremiah said at one point, "woe to those who say peace, peace when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 8:11), rebuking the leaders for not treating the people's wound seriously. As mentioned earlier, the people in Zephaniah's day could quite easily have been complacent. When the Day of the Lord comes there will be no half measures from God.

It will be a day of wrath. God's wrath is not an uncontrolled outburst, but God's righteous judgement on man's sin. It will be utterly controlled and reasoned, which makes it all the more terrifying. This is why it will be a day of distress and anguish. People will be brought face to face with their sin and its consequences. Man's armed forces will be no protection.

The distress will be utterly overwhelming, and it will come because of people's sin. Sin is man's biggest problem, and the thing he most needs to address.

Wealth is seen as a protection against most things, but it will be useless against God's wrath.

God's wrath will be sudden, and will be complete.

Zephaniah 1:7-13

The people are called to be silent before the Lord. Remember the situation. Politically things were OK, with the threat of Assyria abated, and Babylon yet to become a major threat. Religiously Josiah had implemented Godly reforms. Yet it was still imperative for the people to listen to the Lord.

The immediate reference of the sacrifice is Judah and Jerusalem being prepared as a sacrifice. There is an obvious allusion to Jesus being the sacrifice, though it is not clear that there is any intention of that here.

The officials and royalty were probably thought of as being immune from the cares of the common people, but God’s judgement will affect all people. Those “clad in foreign clothes” refers to those who conformed to the ways of other nations.

“Avoid stepping on the threshold” may refer to a Philistine superstition, or to robbery of people’s homes.

v10-13 show that the rich merchants will not escape either. In any society there are grou

Zephaniah 1:2-6

There is no messing about with Zephaniah, no building up to his theme gradually. Instead he declares straight away that God is going to sweep everything away. This is a recurrent theme, for in the days of Noah God destroyed all the people except Noah and his family, and the animals he took. With Israel much of it would be destroyed, with only a remnant left. At the end of time the old earth and heavens will be no more, to be replaced by a new heaven and earth,

The judgement affects both men and living creatures. The well being, or otherwise, of living creatures in intimately tied in with the moral condition and actions of men. The idols, which were the root of the disobedience of men, will be swept away as well.

"When I destroy all people". This phrase is perhaps a warning against over-literal interpretation of the Bible, for God did not destroy absolutely everyone, and even at the end of time not everyone will perish.

God then becomes more specific, turning first to Judah and Jerusalem. His hand would be against them. Again there is emphasis on the purging of idol worship, and of those who worship idols. Some worshipped Molek (which involved child sacrifice) while invoking the name of the Lord. The judgement would be on those who once followed the Lord, but had stopped doing so. v5,6 make it clear that it is no use having a bit of God mixed in with a load of rubbish, nor is it any good having once served the Lord. Neither of these things will save one from the judgement.

Zephaniah 1:1

Zephaniah lived in the time of King Josiah. Zephaniah himself was also of royal descent, Hezekiah being one of his ancestors.

Josiah was one of the good kings (1 Kings 22:1-23:30, 2 Chronicles 34:1-36:1), who rediscovered the Book of the Law and put many good reforms into effect. He got rid of a lot of idol worship and instituted proper worship of God.

In the time of Josiah a prophetess said things similar to Zephaniah, predicting judgement. Zephaniah is also concerned with judgement, but also with the ultimate salvation of a remnant.

Interestingly, while Josiah's commitment and fervour for the Lord were enough to ensure peace in his time, they were not enough to avert the coming judgement. Jesus is the only One who is good enough to bring salvation for all.

Politically the time of Josiah was one of "calm before the storm". Assyria, who had been the main threat in Hezekiah's day, was on the wane and would soon collapse. Babylon, who would in the not too distant future completely overrun Judah, had not yet reached her pinnacle of power. This was part of the reason why Josiah could make advancements in the nation.

1 Peter 5:10-14

Peter has dwelt mostly on the example we are to follow in the midst of suffering. Now he talks about the end result. God has called us to share in His eternal glory, we must always remind ourselves of that. This is our eternal destiny.

We do go through suffering from time to time, but God Himself will restore and strengthen us. In the midst of suffering we feel weak, often overwhelmed by what is happening. We can also have a sense of despair, knowing that we lack the wherewithal to overcome. But it is God Himself who will strengthen and restore us.

Peter closes the letter with various greetings. It is significant that he says "this is the true grace of God". We are misled if we believe that the grace of God means an easy life. In contrast, Peter has explained how God's grace really works, and it achieves for us an eternal glory.