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***Isaac was born to 100-year-old Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and 90-year-old Sarah (Sarai). When Isaac was 40 years old, he was married to Rebekah, Abraham and Sarah's grandniece. Fraternal twin sons Esau (Edom) and Jacob (Israel) were born to 60-year-old Isaac and Rebekah. In Padan Aram, Haran, Jacob was married to Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean). Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. Joseph and Benjamin were born to Jacob and Rachel. Joseph was 30 years old when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, proclaimed him second-in-command. Jacob was 130 years old when he moved with his family from Canaan to Egypt. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt, and Jacob's family buried his body in Canaan, and 110-year-old Joseph and his siblings were dead, their descendants the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were from the tribe of Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam the prophetess died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron the high priest died. Sometime thereafter, 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 they obeyed the voice of the Lord God, and the curses that would come upon the Israelites if they did not obey the voice of the Lord God. Moses told the Israelites that they were to proclaim the blessings while upon Mount Gerizim, and the curses while upon Mount Ebal. Notably, Israelites in the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad asked to be given some of the land that the Israelites had already conquered. Moses spoke to the Reubenites and Gadites, and after they responded, Moses gave the Reubenites, Gadites and 1/2 the tribe of Manasseh the land requested. Before Moses went upon Mount Nebo, and the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses the prophet 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' aide and successor from the tribe of Ephraim, led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River, and every male born throughout the journey to the Promised Land was circumcised, and the Israelites destroyed Jericho and its inhabitants, and the Israelites were defeated by the inhabitants of Ai, and were victorious against the inhabitants of Ai, the Israelites positioned themselves at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. After 110-year-old Joshua died and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, and the elderly leaders associated with Joshua were dead, the Israelites worshiped idols. During the era of judges, the Israelites continually worshiped idols. Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, was the 1st king to rule over the Israelites in the Promised Land. David, from the tribe of Judah, was the 2nd king to rule over all of the Israelites. 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. King Pekah was the 18th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During Pekah's 20-year reign, the Assyrians invaded the kingdom and King Tiglath-pileser, ruler of Assyria began taking Israelites captive, including the Reubenites, and Gadites, and 1/2 the tribe of Manasseh. During the 9th year of the reign of King Hoshea, the 19th king to rule the northern nation, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Approximately 80 years after Samaria was conquered, Rehoboam's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Josiah became the 15th king to rule Judah. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that Zephaniah the prophet proclaimed the words of the Lord God began proclaiming the words of the Lord God during Josiah's 31-year reign. Jehoahaz, the son born to Josiah and Hamutal, was the 16th king to rule Judah. 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. Josiah and Hamutal's son Zedekiah (Mattaniah) was the 19th king to rule Judah. During the 9th year of Zedekiah's reign, 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 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