And Zephaniah then goes on to describe the judgments which are coming. I won’t read all of that, but he starts with judgments coming upon the different nations which surround Israel.
Interestingly, the first one he mentions is actually Gaza. If I can come to it in chapter 2 verse 4 it says:
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon desolate;
They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday,
And Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy you;
So there shall be no inhabitant.” Zephaniah 2:4-5
Ashkelon is just up the road from Gaza by the way. So, it speaks about something happening in the area of Gaza. But it goes on to speak about different countries. It speaks about Ammon which is Jordan, it speaks about Moab, it speaks about Assyria, which is the northern part of Iraq. And it says that all these countries are going to be affected by this time of trouble.
Of course, they were affected in the time when the Babylonians came in as well. So, Babylon didn’t just invade and attack Israel and Judea, it also attacked the countries surrounding it and particularly country to the north of Babylon which was Assyria.
We have a general state of trouble but also something specifically located around the land of Israel.
Also goes on to speak about the judgment coming upon the rebellious and wicked city that has not obeyed the Lord, has not received correction, not trusted in the Lord. And, if you look around the world today, we live in a world which is full of rebellion and pride and rejection of the Lord.
Wherever you look, whatever country you’re in, whether it’s Britain or Russia or America or any of the countries of the world, there is a general spirit of rebellion against God, which is taking hold upon people and becoming increasingly strong in the days in which we live.
Jesus said it would be as in the days of Noah at the time of His Second Coming. And you read in the book of Noah in the book of Genesis about Noah. It was a time when there was great wickedness on the face of the earth and every imagination of the heart of man was only evil continually and the earth was filled with violence Genesis 6-8 and so God was displeased with what was taking place on the earth.
34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Matthew 24:34-39
Interestingly and by the way, the word for violence in Genesis is hamas חָמָס [ḥāmās]. But there’s a source of violence particularly coming from terrorism, from drug pushing, from all kinds of things taking place, influences in the world which are towards violence and destruction and, of course. manifesting itself in some of the horrible wars which are taking place around us in the world today.
