Zephaniah 1:1-3:20, Revelation 10:1-11, Psalm 138:1-8, Proverbs 30:11-14
Today is the 19th day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today as we greet a brand-new shiny sparkly week and yeah, this is Christmas week. Today happens to be the final Sunday in the season of Advent and the season of Advent will end on Christmas eve as we ring in Christmas day. And we’ve talked about it several times. I enjoy, personally, Advent, the season of Advent. I didn’t grow up really knowing anything other than having heard the name Advent before and thinking it was something some people do, but I don’t know, we don’t, nobody that I know does but as I have grown older and got more familiar with the heritage of our faith and the fact that there is a Christian calendar and Advent is a season in the Christian calendar; It has become very meaningful to me, it’s not in the Bible, like Advent as a season of celebration or observation, that’s not in the Bible. So, there’s no command to pay attention to Advent but if you ever want to be able to kind of point your heart in a direction toward something so that you can fully truly appreciate it and Advent is such a season. It is a season, the 40 days before Christmas. That’s, well there are Advent calendars that have you coming back every day so that you’re kind of reminded and some of those calendars have goodies in them and the little gifts every day that kind of moves you forward. But underneath it all is really a sense of longing. So, if you have a calendar and every day you moving toward this final day and you get a little something or whatever, however, that however you do that. It is meant to pull you forward toward this one point, which is Christmas day and it’s about the longing of the soul really. We know that before Jesus came people were longing for a rescue, for a Savior. And then the Savior came with great joy to the world. And so, to put ourselves in that position, longing, waiting, needing a rescue, a Savior and we put ourselves in that position then Christmas becomes very, very meaningful as we go through the traditions of it, but as I have said before Jesus came, we read about that, we believe in that, we study his life, we try to become Christ like in our lives but we realize that we too are also waiting because we believe that there will be a second Advent, which means arrival and so we participate in the waiting, and in the longing for Christ’s return. Even as those so long ago waited longingly for his arrival. This is Christmas week. So, before this week is out, we will experience Christmas together and you can feel it in the air. We’ve been through so much the last couple years and that there may be plenty to go through but this time of year, there’s some kind of lift, something new in the air that reminds us that all things will be made new and that there is hope. Hope for the world, joy to the world. And so, let’s enjoy this week fully. And as we dive in today for our next step forward in the Scriptures, we will do what we seem to be doing most every day, reading a whole book in the Bible in one sitting. We’re camped out in the book of Revelation in the New Testament. So that’s where will be for the remainder of the year, but in the Old Testament were moving through the 12 minor prophets and today we’ve reached the ninth of the minor prophets.
Introduction to the Book of Zephaniah:
This book is known as Zephaniah and like so many of the other minor prophets don’t know really a whole lot about who Zephaniah was, maybe the…the most substantial information that we can get about Zephaniah is actually found in the book. At the very beginning, the Lord gave his message to Zephaniah when Josiah’s son Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushy, son of Gedeliah, son of Amoriah, son of Hezekiah so, that’s what we know about who Zephaniah was. One thing that’s interesting that has been noted by biblical scholars in that particular description is that Zephaniah wasn’t like the son of so-and-so, nor did he trace his ancestry back like 15 generations or something. He went back four generations, which some scholars find to be intentional and interesting. And a possibility might be that Zephaniah, because we went back four generations to Hezekiah that he might be a descendent of the reforming King Hezekiah who was up right before the Lord and made great reforms among his people to return them to God. So, if Zephaniah were a descendent directly of a king, that would give him credibility, that would give a reason maybe to preserve his work, but it would also perhaps explain his awareness of the world’s situation like the political climate that he was in. The name Zephaniah means God has hidden and as we just read the book itself states that the message was given during the reign of Josiah, which would put him around the mid 600s BC and that would make him contemporary with other prophets that are found in the Bible like Jeremiah. And textual scholars have found similarities in the prophetic writing, well, there are similarities in prophetic writings in general, some are more considerable than others. Zephaniah has a language and tone that is been recognized as similar to prophets like Isaiah. Course, like so many things this is kind of piecing the story together to sort of get a sense of background. So, it seems that based on the style of writing of Zephaniah that he was familiar with Isaiah’s prophecies. Now we have read a lot a prophecy over the last few months. And so, we kind of get the arc of it and we also know that most of the prophets that are found in the Scriptures, their prophecies to God’s people to warn them and to call them back. We remember when we read the prophet Jonah that Jonah was actually not sent to God’s people but was sent to God’s enemies to prophesy and invite them to repent. Zephaniah’s a little different than both of those because his prophecy, he seems to be prophesying judgment on the known world, which included his people in the land of Judah. And so, we will hear about the day of the Lord, and we’ll hear of it because…because we’re being encouraged as hearers of this work to repent before it’s too late. But let’s remember here as we’re going into Zephaniah and as we continue through Revelation God isn’t trying to destroy people, He’s destroying evil, not people, but if people want to be evil and…and want to walk a pathway of evil then…then there gonna be, they’re gonna destroy themselves, they’ll be swept away. But the loyal and lowly and humble will be secure, those who trust in the name of the Lord and Zephaniah will…will have the same kind of arc as other prophets where we…we hear of impending judgment, but we end with promise and hope and restoration. And so, we begin and end the book of Zephaniah, we will read from The Voice this week.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for this brand-new shiny sparkly week that we are moving into, the final full week of this year, with this week ending with Christmas day and so we only have one more shiny sparkly threshold to walk-through into another week. And that will be a week from today and that will lead us to the end of the year and that is hard to believe. And it would be easy enough to just sort of feel like we’re done but we’re not. We have these days remaining as we push to the conclusion and we pray Your Holy Spirit speak to us, lead and direct our step’s we pray as we move to finish this year strong, so that we might begin a new year strong. Holy Spirit come we pray into all of this; we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Hi family, this is Susie from Colorado. I wanted to reach out to WWW who has a hand injury and is just really worried about how she’s gonna work, if her hand has to be operated on. I’ve gone through something similar and I am…I am, you’ve been on my heart for the last two days because I know it’s scary and I just pray God would heal the bones in your hand that there would not even be a need for the surgery. Please keep us posted but I’m praying for you. Also, family, would you please pray for two new babies that we are taking custody of, permanent custody of. I named one, a 10-month-old Joseph and then I named the one that we believe is 3 to 4 years old, he’s so malnourished it’s very, very hard to tell his exact age. I named him Gerald. They both have hydro-cephalic syndrome and we will be taking them into our orphanage tomorrow, God willing, in Haiti. So, please pray for these two little boys to…to get well that they can be treated with surgery and not have to suffer this…this terrible disease. And also, little Elijah, I asked you to pray for him before too, he has hydrocephalic syndrome as well. He’s not doing very well would you please pray for him. His situation is inoperable and I just I don’t want him to suffer. Thank you so much.
This is Redeemed from California calling for Irene. She is Zambian and was adopted by white parents here in America. The current polarized climate and blatant racist acts she’s witnessed recently has planted fear in her heart as she prepared to leave for college. Father, I pray that Irene might recognize that her Zambian roots, her American adoption, her beautiful soul, her beautiful skin color and the unique gifts that you have bestowed upon her are not by accident and that You intend to use them for Your, her uniqueness of her family formation for her good and Your glory. Father, she has done the hard work of preparing herself for college and now the enemy is walking around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour her hopes for a good future. Protect her from the enemies’ attacks on her thought-life, that she might not shrink back to who you created her to be. Give her wisdom and discernment to recognize the difference between the deceivers lies and the voice of Your truth, so that the spirit of fear does not become a strong hold in her life. Give her holy boldness as she navigates towards her independence. When she witnesses hateful acts, let it be a reminder of how important it is for her to be a vessel of Your love regardless of their nationality or station in life. Now Father, You’ve opened up the world of opportunities to Irene, so give her a peace that surpasses all understanding and restore her excitement about her future You have planned for her. Help her to meditate on Philippians 4:6-9 that reminds us to be anxious for nothing and tells us what kind of things to think on. Thank you for the good job her parents have done and thank You for answering this prayer, in advance. And we look forward to hearing her testimony of Your faithfulness. In Jesus name. Amen.
Hi, this is Just Judy in Jesus from Wilton, California again. I would like to give a testimony, a quick testimony because I’ve wanted to do this for so long and we quit going to church because of COVID and I just, I feel like I just needed to tell everybody about how I praise God how I love Him so much. He has brought me through, time and time again, of bad times and He continues to…to bring me through everything. When I was younger, I met my husband when I was 14, we got married when I was 16. We went through a season of hell until we were 50. I lost my children through miscarriages or whatever but God still, still after having a hysterectomy gave me a baby. The girl just set the baby on the table and said take care of her and I’ve had her 43 years. Her name is Shannon. She’s the best little angel God ever put on this earth. But God brought me through my addictions. I’ve been through heavy, heavy bike traffic, fast bikes, fast men, fast women for my husband he just liked to never settle down. Leave me alone for a long time and a lot of times. But God brought me through it all and He’s still taking care of business. Leukemia patient, oh my test, things were just perfect today. I cannot tell anybody how much I love Him, how I love Him so much, He is the best God, He is a good, good God. And people, pray for me. I love prayer, I pray for all of you, I listen to this every day. I love you, I love Jesus. Thank You Lord, Father God, thank You for being my Father God. Amen. Thank you, guys, bye.
Hi, this is KD out of Atlanta. Calling in, I’m a little bit behind but I was just listening to the December 10th prayer line where ___ and Joe the Protector were requesting prayer for their children and Joe for his family cause it might be a possible divorce on the horizon. So, I was just calling in to pray for, letting you know that I heard your request and I am praying for both of you. Also, for everyone else who Lord, is just going through things with their children, I am going through some things with both of my older kids too. So, I was just calling in praying for all the parents of wayward children who are experiencing difficulties right now with their children going astray. Just letting you know that things do get better. My daughter, she’s in therapy but my son, we’re still praying for him as well. So, just calling in to let you know that I am still praying for the both of you. Bye.
Hi this is Andrew for Washington. This call if for the lady who called in and said that she had a brain operation back in 18, had optical damage and first-time in four years they put up a Christmas tree. Man, just wanted to say that your story touched my heart and I felt compelled to call in and just tell you that I’m so happy you called in and shared and that you found joy and peace and contentment through DAB family and God’s goodness in your life. Wish you a Merry Christmas and blessed new year.