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Hey kids, welcome to Junior's for Jesus.
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Go grab your Bibles.
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We're gonna be digging in and learning
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some really exciting stories.
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We're in the third and final section
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of our messages from heaven.
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Our memory verse for this week is Malachi chapter 3 verse 16.
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Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another
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and the Lord listened and heard them.
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So a book of remembrance was written before him
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for those who fear the Lord
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and who meditate on his name.
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That's Malachi chapter 3 verse 16.
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Sunday, Zephaniah, the ninth minor prophet,
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was probably a great, great grandson of King Hezekiah.
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He prophesied in the early years of King Josiah
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before Nineveh was destroyed
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and before Babylon had become a strong nation.
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He prophesied about the same time as Habakkuk.
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Zephaniah's prophecy, like Jolls,
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was about the great day of the Lord
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for the kingdom of Judah and for the end of the world.
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When he wrote that God would utterly consume all things,
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including people, animals, birds, and fish,
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he was writing about the end of the world.
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Zephaniah chapter 1 verses 2 and 3.
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When he wrote that God would cut off every trace of bail
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from his place, he was writing about Judah.
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That included those who worshiped the sun as well
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as those who tried to worship both God and idols.
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It also included those who didn't care
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and those who thought God didn't care either
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versus four through six and verse 12.
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I will stretch out my hand against Judah
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and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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I will cut off every trace of bail from this place.
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The names of the idolatrous priest with the pagan priests,
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those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops,
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those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord,
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but who also swear by milcom,
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those who have turned back from following the Lord
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and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of him.
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And it shall come to pass at that time
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that I will search Jerusalem with lamps
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and punish them in who are settled in complacency,
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who say in their heart,
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the Lord will not do good nor will he do evil.
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Then Zephaniah described the day of the Lord
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in a prophecy that was partly fulfilled
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when the Babylonians invaded Judah and destroyed Jerusalem.
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Its fulfillment will be completed at the end of the world.
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Zephaniah chapter 1 verses 14, 15 and 18.
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The great day of the Lord is near.
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It is near and hastens quickly.
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The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter.
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There the mighty men shall cry out.
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That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress,
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a day of devastation and desolation,
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a day of darkness and gloominess,
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a day of clouds and thick darkness.
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Neither shall silver nor their gold,
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shall be able to deliver them.
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In the days of the Lord's wrath,
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but the whole land shall be devoured
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by the fire of his jealousy
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for he will make speedy riddance
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of all those who dwell in the land.
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If the people of Judah had turned to God
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they might have been hidden from calamity,
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Their priests had polluted the sanctuary
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and they did violence to the law.
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Zephaniah chapter 2 verses 1 through 3
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and chapter 3 verses 1, 2 and 4.
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The sanctuary is being polluted in our time too.
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Many do that by confessing their sins
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to priests on earth instead of to Jesus,
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our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary.
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Some don't even believe there is a sanctuary in heaven
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and trying to change the Sabbath
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from the seventh to the first day of the week
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has done violence to the law.
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God will protect all his faithful people
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when he punishes the earth at the end.
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Isaiah chapter 26 verses 20 and 21.
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And finally, when they are safe in heaven,
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they will rejoice over them with singing.
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Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 17,
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the Lord your God is in your midst.
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The mighty one will save.
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He will rejoice over you with gladness.
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He will quiet you with his love.
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He will rejoice over you with singing.
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How happy God will be for his children
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who are faithful to him.
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Don't you want God to be able to sing over you?
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This podcast is sponsored by MyBibleFirst.org.
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