In today’s episode of ADDBIBLE, we delve into Zephaniah Chapter 2, exploring the prophet’s call to return to God amidst His warnings of judgment. Host Allen J. Huth reflects on his personal Bible readings over the years and shares insights from his journals. He discusses the importance of staying consistent in one’s faith to avoid the pitfalls of what he terms ‘yo-yo Christianity.’ Understanding the divine messages in Zephaniah can provide profound insights using historical context and personal anecdotal evidence.
00:00:09 Introduction to ADDBIBLE and Zephaniah Chapter 2
Welcome to ADDBIBLE, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
SPEAKER 02 :
Today we are in Zephaniah chapter 2. We’ll listen to Faith Comes by Hearing’s reading of the 15 verses of Zephaniah 2.
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Zephaniah 2
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Gather together, yes, gather, O shameless nation, before the decree takes effect, before the day passes away like chaff, before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do His just commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord. For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation. Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted. Woe to you inhabitants of the sea coast, you nation of the Kirithites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines, and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left. And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, with meadows for shepherds and folds for flocks. The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes.
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I have heard the taunts of Moab and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boasts against their territory.
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Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits and a waste forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them and the survivors of my nation shall possess them. This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts. The Lord will be awesome against them, for he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations.
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You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by my sword.
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and he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert. Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of beasts, even the owl and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals. A voice shall hoot in the window. Devastation will be on the threshold, for her cedar work will be laid bare. This is the exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, I am, and there is no one else. What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.
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In the recording of Zephaniah chapter 1, I shared my personal Bible reading journal from 1991 when I read the whole book of Zephaniah on one day. So today I will share my journal entry from the year 2001 when I was reading the whole Bible on one day. And I was reading Zephaniah on Christmas Eve, as I mentioned yesterday. Also, I was reading the book of Revelation. So I wrote concerning Zephaniah in 2001. More judgment on a disobedient people. God goes from judging heathen nations around Israel to judging his own family. No one escapes God’s judgment. He can cause utter, complete destruction, according to verse 2 of chapter 1, beg people to return to him, according to chapter 2, verse 3, and completely restore people, chapter 3, verses 14 through 15. But why go through such a cycle? Why not just stay obedient? That was a great question in my journal in 2001. So let’s ponder this thought today. Why do Christians have yo-yo Christianity? Why do we go up and down? Why don’t we just stay obedient and not put ourselves in the place of God’s wrath? Well, that’s a good question, and maybe it’s a question you’ve had in your own life. And let me answer it with my own personal experience. I was saved at 15 years old. That night, God put the word in my heart. He said, there’s a Bible on your bookshelf. Get it down and read it. That’s when I became a daily Bible reader. I read the Bible a chapter a day at that time, and I finished it three and a half years later, somewhere in my 18th year, and I just started over. So I have been a daily Bible reader forever. my whole life. What are the benefits? What has it done for me in my life? I believe, absolutely believe, that staying in the Word of God each and every day of your life keeps you consistent in your Christianity. I believe that’s the result of my Christianity for staying in His Word for over four decades. I have never backslidden. I have never walked away from the Lord. I have never doubted God or my relationship with Him. How can I if I stay in His Word each and every day? Now, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t had spiritual challenges in my life. I’ve shared plenty of those on these ADDBIBLE recordings. I’ve had career challenges where I didn’t see God’s hand and wondered what He was doing in my life. I’ve seen challenges raising my children. A few times put me to the brink of questioning my relationship with God. But in each and every instance, I believe the consistency in God’s Word has kept me stable in my Christian walk. So if you have had yo-yo Christianity, or if you’ve been up and down in your Christian walk, check out what your relationship with God’s Word has been over your Christian walk. My guess is you will find the same thing I have found. When you stay consistently in His Word, your walk gets straightened out. When you jump in and out of God’s Word, you probably go up and down in your Christianity. I would love to hear from you about this. I would like to know if what I think is true about staying in God’s Word, and that’s what keeps you consistent in your walk with the Lord. Share with me some of your own experiences of when you’ve stayed in the Word. Have you been consistent in your walk? Or when you’ve been out of the Word, did you suffer more? I’d like to know. I make this kind of statement, but I’d like to hear from you. You can contact me at EzraProject.net. There’s a contact page or there’s a contact area on your AddBible app. So let me hear from you about this. Back to the question I asked in 2001, but why go through such a cycle? Why not stay obedient? My experience and my advice is to do that, you stay in God’s Word. Chapter 2 of Zephaniah gives the opportunity for people to come back for the Lord and not suffer the wrath of God. Zephaniah gives people the invitation in the first three verses. He says, gather together. Yes, gather, O shameless nation, before the decree takes effect, before the day passes away like chaff. before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commandments. Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord. Basically, that’s what I’m saying. The same thing Zephaniah is saying. Gather with the Lord. Seek the Lord. Stay consistent with the Lord. And avoid the wrath of God. Notice, all these are verbs. These are things we have to do. Gather. and seek. So that’s our practical application out of Zephaniah chapter 2. Avoid yo-yo Christianity. Avoid the ups and downs of your Christian walk by staying consistent with God, by gathering with Him daily, by seeking Him daily. And why not? I hope you’re not too busy living your life for time with God each and every day. Let’s pray. Father, many of us may confess that it’s been hard to stay consistent with you. It’s hard to have a daily quiet time. It’s hard to read your word each day and pray to you each day. So we ask you for your forgiveness. We also ask you to strengthen us so that we can get better at this. Though it takes a willingness on my part to do this, Holy Spirit, I ask you to draw me together with you each and every day. As you do, Holy Spirit, bless me as I read your word. Help me understand it and apply it to my own life. And Father, hear my prayers when I pray to you each and every day. Help me take responsibility for my own Christian walk with you. Help me avoid your wrath by eliminating yo-yo Christianity in my life, by smoothing the ups and downs into a smooth path of walking with you each and every day of my life. I know as I read your word, you’ll bless me if I do that. So thank you for your blessings. Thank you for your promises. Help me in my daily time with you, and I will give you the praise and the glory. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thank you for listening to ADDBIBLE today. About a year ago, we decided to try radio as a way to connect more people to God’s Word. So far, we have not heard from any of you about what you think about AddBible or if we are enhancing your time in and understanding of God’s Word. Your thoughts and your comments are really important to us now as we consider renewing the program for another year. please visit EzraProject.net and leave us your comment in the Contact Us drop-down under About Us. We need to hear from you, lots of you, in August and September or the program will end. Are we touching your life? Do you want us to continue? We are depending on your feedback as we make our necessary ministry business decisions. I, like you, have listened to Christian radio for years and never gave a program my feedback. Now that I’m on the production side of radio, I understand how important it is to hear from the listening audience. I look forward to hearing from you at EzraProject.net today. And join us in prayer as we decide the future of ADDBIBLE on radio. Thank you. We started on radio on October 1st, 2024. I hope you noticed some differences in ADDBIBLE from other programs. For example, we are fully committed to the Word of God. That’s why we play full chapters on the air, not sound bites. It takes a lot of our program time, but it’s my belief it’s more important for you to hear the Word of God than me. You may also have figured out by now I’m not a pastor, just a layman like most of you. So these recordings are not based on sermons. They’re based on my personal walk through the Bible over several decades of my life. Therefore, ADDBIBLE is a unique perspective of how the Bible impacts life, not a teaching series you get at your church. I share personal Bible reading journal entries from my life, from my journals, I’ve never thought would ever be shared with anybody. What I share are raw, authentic notes from Bible intersections of my own life. My life is no different from yours, so I hope the stories and applications I share are relevant to your life as well. I hope you are enjoying this unique radio program and therefore will help us stay on the air. We have so much more to share. Visit EzraProject.net and donate today. Or send a check to the Ezra Project 1399 South Havana Street, Suite 201E, Aurora, Colorado, 80012. That’s Ezra Project 1399 South Havana Street, Suite 201E, Aurora, Colorado, 80012. When you do, I will send you your first copy of a day-by-day through the Bible book. There are 11 books in the series, so I will surprise you with one of my choosing. Or, after you donate at EzraProject.net, look at our resource page, pick a book you want, and let me know your choice at the contact section on our website. We are happy to send you the book of your choice. I know you’re going to enjoy it and want to share it with others.
