Drastic Measures!

"I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the Lord. 3 "I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea— and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble." "When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth," declares the Lord...

When did God say this?

You might be tempted to think that God spoke these words to Noah, or to the Apostle John in the Revelation. But you'd be surprised to discover that he revealed them to Zephaniah, one of the minor prophet, some 600 years before Christ.

When did what God talked about happen? It's drastic stuff. Just the first line is difficult to imagine even though it is stated in simple language. This is the stuff of study Bible notes. Mine says the following:

"Basic Training for Satisfaction

Because Yahweh's day of fury is coming, Judah must repent and wait upon God. The prophet calls the people back to the basics as the only means for experiencing salvation through judgment. Two judgments are certain: (1) near judgment against Judah through Babylon, and (2) future judgment against the entire world due to pervasive sin against the God of all the earth.

These warnings provide the context for the book's main purpose: to exhort Judah to trust God to faithfully preserve and ultimately satisfy them, even through judgment."

The last sentence of my study Bible note is the crux of the matter for you and me. It states the following: "What we hope for or fear tomorrow changes who we are today. Zephaniah motivates his audience with hope and dread as basic training for finding satisfaction in the Lord."

Comments

Daughter and dog...

About six months ago we discovered that Ann was pregnant and were very excited for she and Jackson. We will have babies on this side and that of the Atlantic. We weren't prepared for that news and we we were even less prepared for the news that our little dog is pregnant. To date we have spent more on the dog than on Annie (don't tell her... Ann that is). Ann has yet to discover whether her baby is a boy or girl. Both ultrasound images were inconclusive. Though I did some further investigation of my own and was startled with what I found. to me it looks as if the baby is definitely a boy and has some resemblance from both sides of the family. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.

God’s Orchestration

I love to see the Lord work His Salvation miracles. His works are Master Pieces of sweet music. They are arrangements that only He can make happen. Two weeks ago I began my second attempt at cello lessons. I had tried the instrument about five years ago and found my fingers so rusty and decrepit that I had given up after just a few months. So, why my second go? Here’s one short and sweet story. There is a youg man that works with Alexandre at school. He teaches music and is a musical genius. At sixteen he began a city wide music program to train young musicians in Sorocaba. Recently he has worked with two deaf children and has been able to teach them to play violin using a method that he developed. There doesn’t seem to be an instrument that he cannot play. His seventeen year old wife also plays the flute and is studying nursing. They are a very young but very sharp couple. In a conversation after the recent Recital Junior convinced me that it would be a good idea for me to take up...

Abs of Steel with Glasses

Have you ever wondered why Clark Kent always took his glasses off before he turned into Superman? I hadn’t ever thought about it either until this last Saturday when I almost got sucker-punched. Wellington, one of my spunky Juniors, wanted to wrestle. He feigned a punch to my gut and I said, “Go ahead. I have abs of steel!” I think that my gym visits might be going to my head because my abs of steel are buried under a healthy layer of blubber. I have improved my six-pack but it is far from chiseled. It looks more like a quarter of a keg. Anyway, quick as a wink and with near lightening speed Wellington said, “Yeah but up here is made of glass!” as his poke went within a hair’s breadth of my glasses! I belly-laughed. His rapid reflexes and wit had caught me by surprise. And what he said was so true and funny. It was an excellent though brief lesson. I often prepare for an oncoming fray. I get ready, set and then “BLAM”! The proverbial punch comes from a totally different direction. ...

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