ZEPHANIAH — CHAP. 1 and 2…. JUDGMENT ON JUDAH AND CALL TO REPENTANCE

 Zephaniah 1

New Living Translation

1 The Lord gave this message to Zephaniah when Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah.

Coming Judgment against Judah

2 “I will sweep away everything
    from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away people and animals alike.
    I will sweep away the birds of the sky and the fish in the sea.
I will reduce the wicked to heaps of rubble,[a]
    and I will wipe humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

[THIS CAN ONLY DESCRIBE SOMETHING IN THE MODERN SPACE AGE ERA— EARTH MEANS LAND; GOD HAS NEVER SAID HUMANITY IS GOING TO BE WIPE FROM THE EARTH. THE HEBREW IS OFTEN TRANSLATED "LAND" IN MANY PLACES - Keith Hunt]

4 “I will crush Judah and Jerusalem with my fist
    and destroy every last trace of their Baal worship.
I will put an end to all the idolatrous priests,
    so that even the memory of them will disappear.
5 For they go up to their roofs
    and bow down to the sun, moon, and stars.
They claim to follow the Lord,
    but then they worship Molech,[b] too.
6 And I will destroy those who used to worship me
    but now no longer do.
They no longer ask for the Lord’s guidance
    or seek my blessings.”

[THAT IS MODERN JUDAH; THEY HAVE LEFT SERVING THE LORD A LONG TIME AGO— Keith Hunt]

7 Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign Lord,
for the awesome day of the Lord’s judgment is near.
The Lord has prepared his people for a great slaughter
 and has chosen their executioners.[c]

[JUDGMENT ON JUDAH, THE HOUSE OF JUDAH IS COMING; THERE WILL BE A GREAT SLAUGHTER AND THE ENEMY TO DO THIS HAS BEEN CHOSEN.  IT WILL BE THE KING OF THE NORTH, THE MIGHTY BABYLON/ROMAN HOLY EMPIRE, THE BEAST POWER OF EUROPE.

IT WILL BE THE TIME OF DANIEL 11: 40-45 INTO CHAPTER 12, A TIME SO GREAT THAT THERE WILL BE NONE LIKE IT BEFORE OR AFTER. THE TIME JESUS SPOKE ABOUT IN LUKE 21: 20-21. JERUSALEM WILL BE SURROUNDED BY ARMIES, AND THE CITY COMPLETE DESTROYED— JUDAH DESOLATED AND SCATTERED— THE TIME JESUS SPOKE OF IN LUKE 21: 20-21- Keith Hunt]

8 “On that day of judgment,”
    says the Lord,
“I will punish the leaders and princes of Judah
 and all those following pagan customs.
9 Yes, I will punish those who participate in pagan worship ceremonies, and those who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

[THE PEOPLE OF JUDAH ARE A SECULAR PEOPLE; THEY DO NOT SERVE THE WAYS AND CUSTOMS OF THE TRUE GOD. THEY PRACTICE MANY PAGAN CUSTOMS. THEY ARE A VIOLENT PEOPLE WHEN THEY ATTACK THEIR ENEMIES—VIOLENCE  WILL COME TO THEM - KEITH HUNT]

10 “On that day,” says the Lord,
    “a cry of alarm will come from the Fish Gate
and echo throughout the New Quarter of the city.[d]
    And a great crash will sound from the hills.
11 Wail in sorrow, all you who live in the market area,[e]
    for all the merchants and traders will be destroyed.

12 “I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners
    to punish those who sit complacent in their sins.
They think the Lord will do nothing to them,
    either good or bad.
13 So their property will be plundered,
    their homes will be ransacked.
They will build new homes
    but never live in them.
They will plant vineyards
    but never drink wine from them.

14 “That terrible day of the Lord is near.

[IN PROPHECY MUCH DESTRUCTION HAS ALREADY COME ON JUDAH;  THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL BRING MORE—Keith Hunt]

    Swiftly it comes—
a day of bitter tears,
    a day when even strong men will cry out.
15 It will be a day when the Lord’s anger is poured out—
    a day of terrible distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and desolation,
    a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,
16     a day of trumpet calls and battle cries.
Down go the walled cities
    and the strongest battlements!

17 “Because you have sinned against the Lord,
    I will make you grope around like the blind.
Your blood will be poured into the dust,
    and your bodies will lie rotting on the ground.”

18 Your silver and gold will not save you

    on that day of the Lord’s anger.
For the whole land will be devoured
    by the fire of his jealousy.
He will make a terrifying end
    of all the people IN THE LAND.[f]THAT IS A RELATIVE STATEMENT

THERE WILL BE MILLIONS LEFY, GOING INTO THE NEW AGE AS PHYSICAL PEOPLE.

MANY OTHER PROPHECIES SHOW THAT TO BE TRUE— Keith Hunt]

……………………………

What will have already come on the Middle East, and the world, during the great TRIBULATION will be horrible enough, but what comes during the DAY OF THE LORD, from REVELATION 7 to the end of the age, will be THAT MUCH MORE POWERFUL AND DESTRUCTIVE!!!  FROM CHAPTER 7 AND ON IN REVELATION, WILL BE SO A MASSIVE DESTRUCTION, IT IS HARD FOR THE HUMAN MIND TO COMPREHEND IT ALL - Keith Hunt

……………………………….

Zephaniah 2

New Living Translation

A Call to Repentance

2 Gather together—yes, gather together,
    you shameless nation.
2 Gather before judgment begins,
    before your time to repent is blown away like chaff.
Act now, before the fierce fury of the Lord falls
    and the terrible day of the Lord’s anger begins.
3 Seek the Lord, all who are humble,
    and follow his commands.
Seek to do what is right
    and to live humbly.
Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you—
    protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.

[YES GOD CALLS OUT TO JUDAH AND ISRAEL TO REPENT, WHILE THERE IS TIME TO ALTER THE FUTURE PROPHECIES ON HIS  PEOPLE FOR THEIR SINS - Keith Hunt]

Judgment against Philistia

4 Gaza and Ashkelon will be abandoned,
    Ashdod and Ekron torn down.
5 And what sorrow awaits you Philistines[a]
    who live along the coast and in the land of Canaan,
    for this judgment is against you, too!
The Lord will destroy you
    until not one of you is left.
6 The Philistine coast will become a wilderness pasture,
    a place of shepherd camps
    and enclosures for sheep and goats.
7 The remnant of the tribe of Judah will pasture there.
    They will rest at night in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon.
For the Lord their God will visit his people in kindness
    and restore their prosperity again.

[A PROPHECY FOR THE PALESTINIANS AND THE END TIMES— WE HAVE SEEN THE SAME PROPHECIES IN OTHER OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS -  THE TIME WHEN JUDAH AND ISRAEL ARE BACK IN THE HOLY LAND AND PROSPERING -Keith Hunt]

Judgment against Moab and Ammon

8 “I have heard the taunts of the Moabites
    and the insults of the Ammonites,
mocking my people
    and invading their borders.
9 Now, as surely as I live,”
    says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,
“Moab and Ammon will be destroyed—
    destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah.
Their land will become a place of stinging nettles,
    salt pits, and eternal desolation.
The remnant of my people will plunder them
    and take their land.”

[STRONG STATEMENTS TOWARDS SOME OF THE ARAB NATIONS NEARBY; THEY WILL BE NO MORE AND THEIR LAND GOES TO THE ISRAELITES— Keith Hunt]

10 They will receive the wages of their pride,
    for they have scoffed at the people of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
11 The Lord will terrify them
    as he destroys all the gods in the land.
Then nations around the world will worship the Lord,
    each in their own land.

Judgment against Ethiopia and Assyria

12 “You Ethiopians[b] will also be slaughtered
    by my sword,” says the Lord.

[DANIEL 11: 40-45— Keith Hunt]

13 And the Lord will strike the lands of the north with his fist,
    destroying the land of Assyria.

[THE GERMAN NATION—

IT WILL BE DESTROYED BY THE KINGS OF THE EAST— REVELATION 9: THE 6TH TRUMPET - Keith Hunt]

He will make its great capital, Nineveh, a desolate wasteland,
    parched like a desert.

[BERLIN— Keith Hunt]

14 The proud city will become a pasture for flocks and herds,
    and all sorts of wild animals will settle there.
The desert owl and screech owl will roost on its ruined columns,
    their calls echoing through the gaping windows.
Rubble will block all the doorways,
    and the cedar paneling will be exposed to the weather.
15 This is the boisterous city,
    once so secure.
“I am the greatest!” it boasted.
    “No other city can compare with me!”
But now, look how it has become an utter ruin,
    a haven for wild animals.
Everyone passing by will laugh in derision
    and shake a defiant fist.

……………………………………..

YES TWO GREAT POWERS AT THE END TIME— GERMANY/EUROPE, THE 7TH RESURRECTION OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE— THE 5TH TRUMPET. AND THE KINGS OF THE NORTH AND EAST, RUSSIA, CHINA, INDIA, NORTH KOREA, PAKISTAN, THE 6TH TRUMPET.

THE TWO GREAT POWERS AT THE END TIME, WHO WILL EVENTUALLY COME FACE TO FACE TO BATTLE. THIS IS THE WAR THAT IF NOT CUT SHORT, WILL DESTROY ALL HUMN LIFE FROM OFF THIS EARTH— Keith Hunt]