A message the Lord God
revealed to Zephaniah the prophet:
Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame. I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant. I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings. Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.-Zephaniah 3:1-9***Over 700 years before Josiah became the 15th king to rule Judah, the southern nation in the Promised Land, and Zephaniah the prophet was proclaiming the words of the Lord God to the Israelites, Moses spoke to the Israelites about possible blessings and curses. Moses described the blessings that would come upon the Israelites and overtake them in the Promised Land if the Israelites obeyed the voice of the Lord God, and the curses that would come upon them if the Israelites did not obey. Moses told the Israelites that after they crossed the Jordan River and were on the Promised Land, the Israelites were to proclaim the blessings while upon Mount Gerizim and the curses upon Mount Ebal. Before 120-year-old Moses went upon Mount Nebo, and the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and Moses died and was divinely buried, Moses told the Israelites that the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin were to stand on Mount Gerizim, and the tribes of Reuben, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, and Zebulun were to stand on Mount Ebal. Thus, after Joshua, Moses' successor, led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River, and after every male born throughout the 40-year journey to the Promised Land was circumcised, and after the Israelites destroyed Jericho and its inhabitants and were defeated by and were victorious against the inhabitants of Ai, the Israelites positioned themselves at the 2 mountains. After 110-year-old Joshua died and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, and after the other elderly leaders were dead, the Israelites worshiped idols. During the era of judges, the Israelites continually worshiped idols. Josiah's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather King David was the 2nd king to rule over all of the Israelites in the Promised Land, the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), and to Abraham's son Isaac, and to Isaac's youngest fraternal twin son Jacob (Israel), and to their descendants. Solomon, the 2nd child born to David and Bathsheba, was the 3rd king to reign. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to rule over all of the Israelites. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city, and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city, and Jeroboam, the son born to Nebat and Zeruah, was the 1st king to reign. Less than 200 years after Jeroboam's son Nadab became the 2nd king to rule the northern nation, the Assyrians conquered and sent into exile the tribes of Reuben, Gad and 1/2 the tribe of Manasseh. Over 600 years earlier, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and 1/2 the tribe of Manasseh received permission to live upon the same side of the Jordan River that the Israelites had wandered through for 40 years. After the Assyrians conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites, the Assyrians took more Israelite captives to Assyria. Jehoiakim (Eliakim), the son born to Josiah and Zebudah, was the 17th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiakim's 11-year reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem and King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, began looting the temple of the Lord. Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the son born to Jehoiakim and Nehushta, was the 18th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiachin's 3-month reign, the Babylonians took more prominent Israelites, including Jehoiachin, his wives and mother, to Babylon. During the reign of Josiah's son King Zedekiah (Mattaniah), the 19th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Over 500 years after Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of David, Solomon and all of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Before Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, and after Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, seen by over 500 people, and returned to heaven less than 33 1/2 years after he was born, the Roman Empire was ruling the land whereupon the kingdoms of the Israelites previously stood.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, 32:1-42, Deuteronomy 11:1-32, 27:1-28:68, 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua, Judges 1:1-2:23, 1 Samuel 1:1-3:21, 8:1-31:13, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 5:1-26, 6:1-81, 7:20-29, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26