“The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.” (Zephaniah 1:1)
Zephaniah – means “Yahweh has hidden” or “Yahweh has treasured”
WHAT IS HIDDEN AWAY IS THE REMNANT
The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; They shall feed their flocks there; In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will intervene for them, And return their captives. (Zephaniah 2:7)
Therefore, as I live,” Says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, And the people of Ammon like Gomorrah— Overrun with weeds and salt pit, And a perpetual desolation. The residue of My people shall plunder them, And the remnant of My people shall possess them.” (Zephaniah 2:9)
The natural, literal application of these words has become so divisive in our modern world – the idea of a remnant returning to possess the land displaces many others who have as much right to live in peace as anyone else. But if we do hold to such a literal understanding, it must be equally applied.
The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness And speak no lies, Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; For they shall feed their flocks and lie down, And no one shall make them afraid.” (Zephaniah 3:13)
Can it truly be said that, “The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness And speak no lies, Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth”?! No, these have a spiritual application in the lives of each of us, not a natural, physical, political one.
“…, remnants are all things of innocence, all those of charity, all those of mercy, and all those of the truth of faith, which a person has acquired from the Lord and learned since early childhood. Every single one of them lies stored away. And if a person did not acquire them, no innocence, charity, or mercy could possibly be present in his thinking and actions, and so no good and truth at all could be present. He would then be worse than any fierce monster, as he would also be if he did possess remnants of such things and yet so blocked their path with filthy desires and dreadful false persuasions that they could not do their work.” (Heavenly Secrets, paragraph 661.2)
“… it is remnants that make man’s life superior to that of animals; it is from remnants, or from the Lord through them, that anyone is enabled to be a human being, to know what good and truth are, … For remnants alone are what contain spiritual and celestial life.” (Heavenly Secrets, paragraph 560)
AS YOU READ ZEPHANIAH – CONSIDER WHAT IS HIDDEN …
- The Lord hides away and protects these remnants, states of good and truth.
- We hide our evils and falsities – from others, and from ourselves.
- Spiritual realities are hidden from us (the inner meaning of the Word – “the cloud”).
- Our path through life is hidden from us.
In part, that hiding is our own fault:
- We look to external things to solve our problems, as though that is all there is.
- We close our eyes to the inner realities of our own lives.
In part it is a protection from the Lord:
- If we knew what we must pass through to be regenerated, we probably wouldn’t go there!
- The Lord ensures we only become aware of those truths we can maintain.
Recorded on Sunday 25 September 2022