Discuss Zephaniah 2

Not a big deal; I thought mentioning the Second Coming I was referring to the Rapture which in reality is the beginning of the Second Coming. When the sign of the Son of Man appears may be around the sixth seal when Jesus is recognized as beginning judgments on earth (which again bolsters my theory). There are verses talking about Christ's victory before the bowl judgments as that basically is when there is no more holding back and the incense of the prayers of the saints take no effect and thus we (I assume it is the resurrected saints) can't get in there to pray anymore and of course no one on earth can pray for more delay as well.

The comments remind me of Matthew 24:49 as to fellowservants that are trying to get the message across about the King coming soon; and the bride being snatched. Zephaniah 2:3 is one of those O.T. nuggets about being delivered before wrath begins. I don't argue about whether it is man's wrath; Satan's or Gods anyway since it is all under God's judgment. What is different is that once the Trib. starts things are all going to happen in sequence all 21 judgments PLUS what the 2 Prophets decide to dish out. Another argument is that Pretribbers left behind will fall for Antichrist; and I may agree partially that those who are NOT praying to escape ALL things to come to pass ( Luke 21:36; see also Rev. 3:10) may either not be real believers or the rapture is a reward issue; all of God's children are saved but some need their garments washed through martyrdom (that is my contention if they have garments in the first place they must be saved; whether or not they are new Trib saints or ones stained that are left behind such as with Zechariah 8:3. However we are to buy oil or be tried as gold in the fire may mean refinement in the Tribulation; but since that is unpopular I won't force the issue and be open to all believers being raptured.

Post Tribbers can be fooled if they think the Beast is making the world ready for Christ also.

Salvation (part 3)

Ezekiel 36:24-32 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

Joel 2:12-14 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

Zephaniah 2:3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-14.

Part 1.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 one must 1sr understand that the day of the Lord is not the tribulation. Here in verses 2 and 3 Paul is assuring the Thessalonians that day hasn't come yet. In verse 3 He's assuring them that there was no msg sent by him that the day of the Lord was at hand and that the great tribulation will come 1st and also that day hasn't come yet. That's why he mentions the son of perdition.

vs 2)"That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter AS FROM US, as THAT THE DAY OF CHRIST IS (AT HAND.)

vs 3) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

VERSE 1 IS THE SCOPE OF THE LETTER.

vs 1) Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, AND BY OUR GATHERING TOGETHER UNTO HIM,

By letter by "SUPPOSEDLY" from Paul they thought the day of the Lord has begun.



In vs 5 he reminds them of what he told them before.

vs 5) "Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?"

Here's what he reminded them of.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Most of what we know about the day of the Lord is in the OT.

Here's verses from the OT describing what the day of the Lord will be like.

Zephaniah 2:2-3.

Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you.

"Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: IT MAY BE YE SHALL BE HID IN THE DAY OF THE LORD'S ANGER."

Zephaniah 1:18.

Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of (ALL) them that dwell in the land.

see part 2.

Thank you David T.

I look forward to seeing her and my dad again with the Lord in eternity. I appreciate your prayers. I am doing well with her death. I have many siblings. about half of us are believers, the other half are not and follow pagan practices. So, I continue to pray for their salvation and a return to the faith we were brought up in.

Dear GiGi,

My heart is heavy for the passing of your Mom; but I rejoice that she is in the presence of her LORD and SAVIOR-KING JESUS CHRIST. I will also pray for your family; especially for your older siblings.

The LORD continue to shine HIS face on you and your family and be gracious unto you. HIS words of grace and peace are on all who love and trust in HIM.

We will all rejoice together in the presence of our SAVIOR and LORD in the near future.

GOD bless all on this forum. Numbers 6:24,25,26

October 26, 2022

Yes, He will, Chris. I trust Him. My conscience is clear and I pray that God will send salvation to my siblings as we work through this loss.

Thank you

Thanks GiGi. I feel the heaviness on your heart concerning your sisters & the decision they took. The Lord is merciful - He understands - He will judge righteously.

Yes, Chris, especially that we do need to stand before God and give an account to Him. My two sisters who were my Mom's power of attorneys are not believers. They made many decisions that, although my Mom was to die of sepsis in God's will, hastened her death. They have to stand be fore God and give an account and, not being under the blood of Christ, will be found to be guilty. I pray for them to repent and turn to the Lord. They are 70 and 69

I could share more but...

Proverbs 20:29 - The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.

Old age is a wonderful thing and as I get older I appreciate everything much more than I did in my youth. I like seeing my hairs go gray (even though age-wise...I'm not even in the middle yet) and some of the best spiritual mentors I've had in my life were over the age of 65.

Thanks for correcting me, GiGi. I somehow thought that you & maybe a couple of other family members were around her when your sister, being the eldest, made that decision to disconnect. I agree with you, that I too couldn't do it - we may have a few regrets in life that we carry in our hearts & have to live with, but that's one that would be too painful for me. Blessings.

Thanks Chris.

I was not there when she passed. I would not have agreed to remove oxygen because it probably only spared her an hour or so. I would rather that God decide her time, and in the meantime, I would continue to give oxygen or fluids or whatever she would allow until God chooses her last breath, etc. So I am glad I was not there. That would have been very disturbing to me. I am pro-life which means that I would never take an action to shorten or end someone's life either in the womb or at any other stage of life. My Mom did not want to have CPR or be on a life support machine. I agree with that. I don't want that either. If I am gone, I'm gone. Let me be. I would be going to be with Jesus. But, others may feel differently and I can respect that. My dad was 62 when he had his first and only heart attack. He was put on life support machines, but was determined to be brain dead soon after. He died before the night was over, so we did not have to decide to remove the life support from him, which was the plan for the next day. God took him in His time. I would have wanted that for my Mom as well. When we were called to the hospital, the Dr. said it may take about 12 hours for her to die. She was still alive 20 hours later. But was very near death.

Thank you for sharing about your Mom. So sad to die so young. God helped you to prepare for the news your Dad was to bring you.

Thank you for sharing those sad last moments with your Mother, GiGi. And I was particularly moved by the decision of your sister to remove the oxygen supply from her. I'm sure that would have been a very, very difficult moment for you & others there.

My Father was in a similar situation when he was by his wife's side at hospital as she was in her final moments in her cancer-riddled body. I was at school doing revision for upcoming exams, when at 3:15 pm, I felt something lift off me & I then gazed out of the class window. Fortunately, my teacher didn't chide me for losing my focus. I didn't know what happened, just had that strange lightness & release. Dad met me when I arrived home later & told me that Mom had gone & later shared that at around 3 pm, she was very weak, incoherent & with very laboured breathing. He could have disconnected her tube, but he just took hold of her, kissed her, & prayed to our Merciful Father to take her Home. With that, she stopped breathing - she was only 40 yrs old.

I just share that because we can trust the Lord to deal with the terminally ill & also with loved ones, in a way beyond our knowledge & feelings. He does all things well & how much more when a soul is at the entrance to eternity. Even as David acknowledged, "My times are in thy hand" ( Psalm 31:15); he knew full well, whether through illness or the onslaught of the enemy (as the Psalm suggests), God is the One in control & He will give or take away according to His Will.

Is old age a punishment? Or should one be allowed to elect death instead of enduring extended suffering? Now, I'm in that old-age bracket; life has slowed down some, few more aches, pains & stiffness, but I don't regard it as punishment, but to use our days to give thanks to the Lord for His Goodness, to live for Him, to be a witness to the 'younger' ones of God's Faithfulness, that this life is passing, yet it's a time to be ready for an eternity with the Lord, Who has given us His all for us.

Actually the punishment was shortened life: Genesis 6:3,

Promise Ephesians 6:1-3, Psalms 103:5,

Hopefully these are helpful

Dear Joe lee,

I was recently in a situation where this was brought up. My Mom died a few weeks ago. us ten siblings took turns in pairs each day to be with her in the hospital during visiting hours to care for her in ways the staff usually does not. We feed her and kept her company, etc. for the two weeks she was hospitalized before she died. On the first Monday of her hospitalization, my oldest sister, who was the power of attorney, said after we to get her to eat some food, "You know, the more we feed her the longer she lives."

Another time she said something to me about euthanizing her so she could not suffer. Int he end, she was still breathing on her own but was clearly dying. She was on oxygen and given morphine for that time when the doctors determined that her death was eminent. My sister, who was the power of attorney was there during her last hour. She took the oxygen off of her event though she was breathing on her own still. And then soon after that she stopped breathing.

My sister had the approach you suggested about offering an old person a shorter life to avoid suffering. I do not subscribe to this thinking. I think that God is the determiner of when we take our last breath and our heart beats its last beat, not us. believe that as long as one is alive (not through CPR or life support machines) we treat a person to uphold life, not death. I believe that one should take actions that alleviate one's suffering but not precipitate nor hasten death. End of life situations can be tricky due to modern medicine. My Mom had a living will that included her wishes for her end of life. She never said she wanted to be euthanized as she has always been against that due to her faith.

I wish I had Scriptures handy right now to give to you, but none come to mind right now. I just believe that the beginning of a life and the ending of a life are within the right of God and not man, and that we are to be for life, not death.

Is old age a punishment? and if so, wouldn't it make more sense to either let the aged have the choice of living an easier life but shorter or a longer life but less easy? Please keep in mind that this is only a question, and a thought.

So very interesting and I kept misreading the word bittern for bitten, to add to my confusion. I've heard the word cormorant before but until this moment I didn't know ... now I do. I just wanted to thank whoever is posting such great, beautiful and informative content. Sincerely, your friend, Joe Lee.

The Bible doesn't say that. It says : Genesis 9,

Genesis 9:18, Genesis 9:21-22, he didn't cover his father, yet went & told his brothers, notice they were all adults with wives, (not children) Genesis 7:7, I've heard some Pastors explain it was perversion. Also disrespectful, dishonoring his father & taking advantage of a bad situation. His brothers showed honor & respect: Genesis 9:23, Please read: Genesis 6:8-13, Notice Noah was Just & found favor with GOD, in a corrupt violent time. Doesn't say & his children were also "perfect or Just" Genesis 6:22, Genesis 7:1, Genesis 10, the lineage of Noah, Shem, Ham, & Japheth. Notice also in the curse he cursed "canaan" please see Genesis 10:18-19, they were the people of Sodom & Gomorrah. Was this perversion carried down? Even from before flood? Genesis 8:21,

Genesis 13:13, Genesis 18:16-, Genesis 19, Zephaniah 2:9, 2 Peter 2:5-9, Isaiah 3:9,

Please rely on the WORD of GOD, if you study & read it thoroughly, you'll be surprised what it clarifies.

Hopefully this is helpful in answering your questions.

Brother Joshua,

You may or may not be right. I realize I am not smart enough to predict the end time, or spend time on conspiracy theories. I rest easy in the Lord, and I confide all of my worries to him. God tells us:

Matthew 24:36

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."

This verse is so very powerful:

Zephaniah 2:3

"Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger."

God tells us above - that he may hide us in the day of the LORDS anger, that is the Meat and Drink that I focus on.

Happy Sabbath Day!

Lenny, the way that I can understand this verse (in Isaiah 45:7), is to see the contrasts given therein. The Lord God says that He forms (creates) light. If that light is removed, the result is darkness. So in a sense, He has also created darkness (or, at least chosen not to remove that darkness by some other means, other than using light).

Likewise, God makes (or, gives) peace. If He chooses to remove that peace, that absence of peace is unrest, war, turmoil (evil). So I don't believe the verse indicates that God specifically chooses to create evil (sin?), but when He removes peace & serenity from a person or from the world, the result is not good at all. Maybe we could ask, 'Why would God want to remove the peace He gives?' It could be for accomplishing of His purposes in man or in the world & to show man how deep his wickedness can go when God is not in his view & His Peace is not in Him. And we remember, that these words were spoken to Cyrus (verse 1), a Persian ruler, whom God used to accomplish His purposes on behalf of Israel. So these words came to remind Cyrus who this God of Israel was with Whom he was dealing with.

Zephaniah 1:14. The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

Zephaniah 2:3. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.

2 Corinthians 4:5-7. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. Amen.

Nephillim part 3 we the Canaanites / giants like Goliath just evil people like the rest of us?

Zephaniah 2:5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

So please explain, with a wealth of Bible knowledge, why God commanded Israel to exterminate all the Canaanites and the giant Phillistines (Goliath and David)

Deut 20:17 - But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

Num 21:3 - And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites;

and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

Why did the Lord not tell Joshua to please send evangelists to tell them the ways of the Lord?

No, instead the Lord commanded they all be killed.

Zechariah 14:21 - Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts:

and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein:

and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

NO QUOTES FROM ENOCH or anything except the Bible

Read again...no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

The view of the sethite Adamite sons of God makes the Lord sound like a homicidal maniac.............

I think that people that think that think that the big bang are not smart but i look at it like this way... God said it and BANG it happened.

2 Chronicles 14:12 So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
Zephaniah 2:12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.

Ezekiel 30:5 Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.

if all are so good then why this?
Zephaniah 2:5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the
Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the
Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

Obadiah 1:18 - And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a
flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour
them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath
spoken it.

Kate B is an intelligent woman.

Here I think God our creator is warning us about the worship of false gods and be faithful and believe in him.

"Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger...for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity." The Nation of Israel and the Nations of the whole world shall bear their punishment for their sins, and the earth prepared for the Presence of the LORD.

Is there a war before armageddon

PARADOX ! AVENGE AND RESTORE YOUR CHOSEN ELECT ZION OH LORD GOD AMEN ! BRING THY HOLY AND MATCHLESS WORD TO PASS IN AND THROUGH CHRIST OUR BLESSED LORD INDEED AMEN AND AMEN ! SEND ELIJAH AMEN !

We all need to pray for each other and trust God in all things. Amen.