SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/10/2016 12:49 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Introduction to Zephaniah 3
We have one more chapter to look
at in the book of Zephaniah and we want to take a look at an introduction to
his last chapter in our Spiritual Diary for this evening. Dr. Wiersbe entitles this chapter in his
commentary “The Glory of the Kingdom” and it looks like we will be in this last
chapter for several more Spiritual Diaries as there is much to cover in these
twenty verses.
I have
mentioned on many occasions as we have been studying the Old Testament prophets
that on many occasions they finish their the last part of their books with hope
and Dr. Wiersbe gives us three reasons why they do this. “To begin with, hope is a great motivation
for obedience, and the prophets wanted to encourage God’s people to submit to
God’s will and do what He commanded. God’s
covenant blessings come to His people only when they obey His covenant.
“As second
reason is the prophets’ emphasis on the faithfulness of God. The Lord will keep His promises and one day
establish the kingdom; and since God is faithful to keep His promises, we ought
to be faithful obeying His Word. If we
obey, God will be faithful to chasten; if we confess, He will be faithful to
forgive.
“Finally,
the closing message of hope was an encouragement to the faithful remnant in the
land, who were true to God and suffered because of their devotion to Him. It’s difficult to belong to that ‘company of
committed’ who stand true to the Lord and His Word no matter what others may do
or say. Knowing that God would one day defeat their enemies and reign in righteousness
would encourage the believers remnant to persist in their faithful walk with
the Lord.
“In his
last chapter, God reveals His plans for Jerusalem, the Gentile nations, and the
faithful remnant. At the same time, the
Lord reveals Himself and His gracious working on behalf of His people in every
age and in every place.” So it looks
like we all should look forward to studying this last and very important
chapter of Zephaniah.
3/10/2016 1:02 AM
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