Messages from Heaven Part 3, Sunday

Hey kids, welcome to Junior's for Jesus.

Go grab your Bibles.

We're gonna be digging in and learning

some really exciting stories.

Let's get started.

We're in the third and final section

of our messages from heaven.

Our memory verse for this week is Malachi chapter 3 verse 16.

Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another

and the Lord listened and heard them.

So a book of remembrance was written before him

for those who fear the Lord

and who meditate on his name.

That's Malachi chapter 3 verse 16.

Sunday, Zephaniah, the ninth minor prophet,

was probably a great, great grandson of King Hezekiah.

He prophesied in the early years of King Josiah

before Nineveh was destroyed

and before Babylon had become a strong nation.

He prophesied about the same time as Habakkuk.

Zephaniah's prophecy, like Jolls,

was about the great day of the Lord

for the kingdom of Judah and for the end of the world.

When he wrote that God would utterly consume all things,

including people, animals, birds, and fish,

he was writing about the end of the world.

Zephaniah chapter 1 verses 2 and 3.

When he wrote that God would cut off every trace of bail

from his place, he was writing about Judah.

That included those who worshiped the sun as well

as those who tried to worship both God and idols.

It also included those who didn't care

and those who thought God didn't care either

versus four through six and verse 12.

I will stretch out my hand against Judah

and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

I will cut off every trace of bail from this place.

The names of the idolatrous priest with the pagan priests,

those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops,

those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord,

but who also swear by milcom,

those who have turned back from following the Lord

and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of him.

And it shall come to pass at that time

that I will search Jerusalem with lamps

and punish them in who are settled in complacency,

who say in their heart,

the Lord will not do good nor will he do evil.

Then Zephaniah described the day of the Lord

in a prophecy that was partly fulfilled

when the Babylonians invaded Judah and destroyed Jerusalem.

Its fulfillment will be completed at the end of the world.

Zephaniah chapter 1 verses 14, 15 and 18.

The great day of the Lord is near.

It is near and hastens quickly.

The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter.

There the mighty men shall cry out.

That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress,

a day of devastation and desolation,

a day of darkness and gloominess,

a day of clouds and thick darkness.

Neither shall silver nor their gold,

shall be able to deliver them.

In the days of the Lord's wrath,

but the whole land shall be devoured

by the fire of his jealousy

for he will make speedy riddance

of all those who dwell in the land.

If the people of Judah had turned to God

as Zephaniah urged,

they might have been hidden from calamity,

but they refused.

Their priests had polluted the sanctuary

and they did violence to the law.

Zephaniah chapter 2 verses 1 through 3

and chapter 3 verses 1, 2 and 4.

The sanctuary is being polluted in our time too.

Many do that by confessing their sins

to priests on earth instead of to Jesus,

our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary.

Some don't even believe there is a sanctuary in heaven

and trying to change the Sabbath

from the seventh to the first day of the week

has done violence to the law.

God will protect all his faithful people

when he punishes the earth at the end.

Isaiah chapter 26 verses 20 and 21.

And finally, when they are safe in heaven,

they will rejoice over them with singing.

Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 17,

the Lord your God is in your midst.

The mighty one will save.

He will rejoice over you with gladness.

He will quiet you with his love.

He will rejoice over you with singing.

Now let's apply it.

How happy God will be for his children

who are faithful to him.

Don't you want God to be able to sing over you?

This podcast is sponsored by MyBibleFirst.org.

Visit us for other great resources

for children, youth, and adults.