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"I will utterly consume everything"

Text: Zephaniah 1:2

A GENERAL PROCLAMATION OF JUDGMENT

Zephaniah began his book by proclaiming a very solemn word of judgment from the Lord.

“‘I will utterly consume everything
From the face of the land,’
Says the LORD;
‘I will consume man and beast;
I will consume the birds of the heavens,
The fish of the sea,
And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked.
I will cut off man from the face of the land,’
Says the LORD.”
Zephaniah 1:2-3

1. The key word- “consume”

a) This word was repeated three times over-

“I will consume”.

b) The intended purposes:

i) To express the severity of Divine judgment.

ii) To highlight certainty of God’s judgment.

iii) To cause people to take God’s word seriously.

iv) To evoke fear.

v) To cause people to pause in their wrong-doing.

vi) To lead people to genuine repentance.

2. The Person behind the statement of these solemn words

a) Zephaniah was only a spokesman of God.

b) The LORD God Himself is the One who will execute Divine Judgment.

3. The things that will face the judgment of God

a) Man is the sinful and guilty culprit who will be judged by the Lord for his wickedness.

b) The judgment will also affect that which mankind made as images to be worshipped!

i) Land creatures

ii) Sea creatures

iii) Sky creatures

4. Stumbling blocks

a) This is a reference to the idols that Man made to worship.

b) Man worshipped the creatures that God made rather than the Creator Himself.