GOD is speaking through the prophet Zephaniah to the remnant of people in Judah who have remained faithful to Jehovah. God is continuing to give them assurance and hope as they view the promised future of God's fixed judgement on the sinful nation of Judah. He is assuring them he is for them in caring and protection, and giving them an insight into his ways. God's way is, on the one hand, care for his own, the faithful remnant; and on the other, judgement on those who oppress God's own, his faithful people. There is a very reassuring message here for every age, not least our own age. The action of the world against the faithful who cling to Christ as Saviour and Lord, and seek to shine the light of God's truth in the darkness of the world, is and has always been, one which is described in our verses like the Moabites and the Ammonites. From this we can take comfort in this prophecy because as God has worked in the past he will continue to do in the present. The comfort of this prophecy before us for the faithful in Judah, is also a comfort us who are faithful to Christ in our day.

The land of the Philistines were the focus of God's way in the previous verses we have considered, now the focus is on the other nations around the west, and east, and south of Judah. These are Moab, Ammon and Cush which is situated in the Upper region of the Nile.

THE WAY OF THE WORLD DESCRIBED.

God sees all the ways of the world in its opposition against his people. These are described for us firstly in verse 8, where we are told that Moab insults God's people, and the Ammonites taunt God's people. This action of the world against the faithful is declared as coming from their pride in verse 10.

Let us think for a moment on this exposing of the way of the world against the truth of God and those who believe it and hold firmly to it. The action comes from pride. Pride is at the heart of the attitude of the people of the world. In pride the world looks down on the truth of God, judging it and despising it. In pride the world feels is knows better than the revelation of God given in the Bible, and feels it has outgrown what they determine is myths and the views of ignorant men in the past. Pride declares that men have come of age now and have proved that the truth of God in the Bible can be declared obsolete. From this position of pride the world mocks, taunts, and insults those who hold firmly to God's word and seek to show the light of God's word in the darkness of the world. Then follows what is mentioned at the end of verse 8. The world makes threats against the people of God. In the time of Zephaniah this was threat against the land of Judah. Today it is threatening those who shine the light of Christ with penalties and rejection. In the world at large we are seeing the work of the darkness of the world threatening to kill Christians who will not submit to the ways and beliefs of the world. This is not new. Christians in the early times of the church were threatened with death if they would not renounce Christ. To be a Christian in the early days after the resurrection of Christ meant the loss of employment, and social isolation. Christians have to face this today in many parts of the world, and those who do not have to face it yet, may well have to do so as times get more godless and dark.

GOD'S WAY AGAINST THOSE WHO OPPOSE HIS PEOPLE.

What we read that God says he will do against Moab, Ammon and Cush, may seem very remote to us in our day. It is difficult to see how the powers of the earth we see operating can be destroyed. No doubt the remnant in Judah felt the same as they viewed the power and pride of their enemies, yet in God's time the prophecy of the verses before us took place. God's word never fails.

The way of God against the enemies of his people is one of judgement, and in our verses we learn what this judgement means:-

a. The completeness of God's judgement.

In verse 9 the prophecy is that Moab would become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah. We read of the judgement of God upon Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. In verse 24 we read that God rained down burning sulphur on these evil cities. We are told that the cities were overthrown, and the entire plain, including all the people living in the cities. We are told that all the vegetation of the land also was destroyed. When Abraham returned next morning to view the cities and and the plain he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. There could not be a more devastating picture where all living things are no more. When God judges the wicked his judgement is irreversible and complete. In verse 11 we are told that the judgement destroys all the gods of the land, and godless men are made to bow down before the almighty power of God.

b. Certainty of judgement.

The world laughs at such declaration of judgement. No doubt Moab and Ammon did the same. Certainly the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah despised Lot when he warned them of what was coming. As we look out on our world the powers of the earth seem to be entrenched and be beyond any power to overcome them, but the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Moab and Ammon, sound a warning.

In the book of Revelation we are told of the Trumpets of judgement sounding and a third of the earth being consumed. These warnings are continually being sounded all down history. When floods and earthquakes come the world shuts its ears to the sound of the trumpet. When the world is encompassed with economic disasters the world does not hear the trumpet warning of God's displeasure over the godlessness and unrighteousness in the world. Are not the continual wars and threats of wars another sound of the warning trumpet of God's displeasure with the world, but the world in its pride disregards God's warning. The world simply despises and denies any idea that God is judging the sin in the world. Later in Revelation we hear of the pouring out of the bowls of the wrath of God, and these are times when the judgement is complete. When the end of time comes the world will face the final judgement of God.

This certainty is made known in the way God reveals himself in verse 9. God declares that he is the living God and he is the Almighty God, and because he lives and is omnipotent, his judgements when declared are certain.

c. God's judgements are just.

The world always speaks of the judgements of God as unjust. The world speaks of the judgements falling on innocent people. What the verses before us reveal is that all this action of judgement by God is a reaction of the world against the 'remnant of my people'. God's actions of judgement are just because the world fights against God in the persecution and rejection of God's people. This truth is expressed in Revelation 16: 5-7 where we read the words of the angel "You are just in these judgements, you who are and were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve." And I heard the altar respond; "Yes, Lord almighty, true and just are your judgements." To be opposed to the remnant of God's people, those who remain faithful to God and his revealed Word in the Bible, are not simply opposing them, but fighting against God.

GOD'S WAYS TOWARDS HIS PEOPLE.

The people of God are referred to as the remnant, and the remnant is mentioned in the end of verse 9. We were introduced to this idea of the remnant in the previous prophecy against the Philistines. In those previous verses the remnant were those of the house of Judah who had remained faithful to Jehovah when the rest of the nation had provoked God to anger over the continual apostasy from the ways of God that they had been taught. This is always the case all down the years of history. The visible church of God has never been pure. The visible church has been seen to be the chief persecutor of those who seek to remain faithful to the truth of God given in the pages of the Bible. There have been times of revival when the number of the faithful have increased mightily by the gracious power of the Holy Spirit, but the church visible has never been a pure church. As Jesus taught in the parable of the wheat and the weeds; the devil always sows weeds amongst the wheat, and the only time there will be a pure church is when Christ returns at the spiritual harvest, when the wheat, representing God's faithful people, will be gathered safely into God's barn, and the weeds gathered only to be destroyed by burning.

At the end of verse 9 we read concerning the remnant "The remnant of my people will plunder them; the survivors of my nation will inherit their land." From this we see God's care for his own faithful ones. Whilst judgement is executed against all those who oppose God and persecute God's people, God promises here that his remnant will possess the the land of those who have persecuted them, and enjoy the plunder of their possessions.