Download Everyone Accountable

SESSION 2
Everyone
Accountable
Much like God’s holy judgment against the earth in Noah’s
day, so is His judgment against idolatry brought to bear in
any spectacular Day of the Lord.
DAT E OF M Y B I BL E S T U DY:
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IN JESUS, CHRISTFOLLOWERS NO
LONGER HAVE
TO DREAD THEIR
ACCOUNTABILITY
BEFORE A HOLY
GOD. JESUS IS THE
CHRIST-FOLLOWER’S
REFUGE OF GRACE;
HE IS THE SOURCE
OF FORGIVENESS
AND NEW LIFE.
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FROM EVERYDAY PEOPLE TO HEADS OF STATE; FROM
COMMON CROOKS TO POPULAR ATHLETES; FROM BIBLICAL
CHARACTERS TO MODERN-DAYPEOPLE—TOO OFTEN WE
LIVE AS THOUGH NO ONE WILL EVER HOLD US ACCOUNTABLE
FOR OUR ACTIONS.
The temptation we face to dodge accountability represents a
part of the story. However, the real story of Scripture centers
not on us but on the Living God, who’s all-powerful. God is
also all-knowing. One New Testament writer reminds us that
“neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight:
but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him
with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). In Jesus, Christfollowers no longer have to dread their accountability before a
holy God. Jesus is the Christ-follower’s refuge of grace; He is
the Source of forgiveness and new life. Yet new life in Christ
brings a new desire and accountability to live in righteousness
(see Colossians 3:1-17).
Centuries before Christ came and fulfilled the way of salvation,
God called Zephaniah to warn the people of Judah about their
sins. Many of the covenant people in Zephaniah’s time lived
as though the Lord didn’t matter. They worshiped idols and
practiced the worst of pagan rituals. They broke the Lord’s
covenant, ignoring the Commandments that spelled out their
responsibilities to love God and to treat one another right.
Zephaniah warned them that a day of accountability was
coming—the “Day of the Lord.”
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ZEPHANIAH 1:1-11
1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of
Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son
of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king
of Judah: 2 “I will sweep away everything from the face of
the earth,” declares the Lord. 3 “I will sweep away both
man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and
the fish in the sea—and the idols that cause the wicked to
stumble.” “When I destroy all mankind on the face of the
earth,” declares the Lord, 4 “I will stretch out my hand
against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will
destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place, the
very names of the idolatrous priests— 5 those who bow
down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who
bow down and swear by the Lord and who also swear by
Molek, 6 those who turn back from following the Lord
and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him.” 7 Be silent
before the Sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near.
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated
those he has invited. 8 “On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all those
clad in foreign clothes. 9 On that day I will punish all
who avoid stepping on the threshold, who fill the temple
of their gods with violence and deceit. 10 “On that day,”
declares the Lord, “a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,
wailing from the New Quarter, and a loud crash from the
hills. 11 Wail, you who live in the market district; all your
merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will
be destroyed.
Think About It
Circle in these verses all
the “I will” actions the
Lord promised to take.
What is your emotional
response to these
divine actions?
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UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT
When Zephaniah was born, his parents gave him a name that means “the Lord hides.”
We can only guess at what prompted this Israelite couple to choose the name Zephaniah.
Perhaps it reflected their prayerful hope that the Lord might shelter their son from all the
violence, corruption, and gross idolatry characterizing Judah in the seventh century B.C.
During the reign of King Manasseh (687–642 B.C.), for example, children were sacrificed
to a pagan gods, witchcraft and sorcery flourished, and violence filled the streets with
innocent blood (see 2 Kings 21:1-18).
Around 621 B.C., King Josiah, Manasseh’s grandson, led the people of Judah in a period
of repentance and renewal of the covenant. They got rid of many of the pagan practices
that polluted the people’s hearts and invited God’s judgment. However, the spiritual
reforms made by Josiah evidently had not begun when Zephaniah prophesied. He—like
the prophet Nahum—declared that the Lord was about to shake the world. The Assyrian
Empire would collapse and its capital city Nineveh would become a heap of ruins. Nineveh
was indeed attacked in 612 B.C.
Zephaniah foresaw this coming time of reckoning, a “Day of the Lord.” He warned the
people of Judah not to think that judgment would fall only on godless enemies such
as Assyria. The people of Judah also would be held accountable for their idolatry and
wickedness. God’s judgment would begin with those who were supposed to be known as
the children of God (see 1 Peter 4:17).
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EXPLORE THE TEXT
JUDGMENT ENCOMPASSES EVERYONE
(Zephaniah 1:1-3)
In a brief introduction, Zephaniah identified his family heritage and
the timeframe of his prophetic work. He traced his ancestry back four
generations to one man named Hizkiah. (Hizkiah and Hezekiah are
alternate spellings of the same name.) One of Judah’s few faithful
kings bore the name Hezekiah (see 2 Kings 18:5-6). If that king was
Zephaniah’s great-great-grandfather, then the prophet also was related
to the current king of Judah, Josiah the son of Amon. Josiah was King
Hezekiah’s great-grandson (see 2 Kings 20:21; 21:18,25-26).
Verse 2 is shocking in its tone and breadth. The Lord declared that a
worldwide cleansing was in store, warning, “I will utterly consume all
things from off the land!” The decree included all human and animal life,
as well as all the birds and fish—everything! Wickedness had infected all
created life. For those who knew the Scriptures, this warning sounded
eerily familiar. It sounded like the Lord’s fateful decree in the days of
Noah before the flood (see Genesis 6:7).
The Lord had promised Noah that He would never again destroy the earth
and its creatures with a flood (see Genesis 9:11). However, that promise
didn’t mean the Lord would ignore the wickedness of people and nations.
Zephaniah warned that a day of God’s judgment was coming. It would
encompass everyone and everything.
Describe ways people usually respond to “The-end-isnear!” messages. In what ways do Jesus’ words in Matthew
24:42 relate to this question?
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THE DANGER OF SPIRITUAL COMPROMISE
KEY DOCTRINE:
Our Sin Nature After
the Fall
(Zephaniah 1:4-6)
As a result of
Adam and Eve’s sin
in the garden of
Eden, all humans
inherit a nature and
an environment
inclined toward sin.
Therefore, as soon
as we are capable
of moral action, we
become transgressors
and are under
condemnation. Only
Jesus Christ can give
sinners a new nature
(2 Corinthians 5:17).
The people of Judah had suffered under the Assyrians’ cruel boot for nearly a
century. Yet therein lay a temptation for the covenant people. The temptation
was to hear Zephaniah’s fiery prophecy of judgment as directed only at Assyria
and other foreign nations. But Zephaniah declared that when the Lord said
He would cleanse “all things” in judgment, this included Judah. It included
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The people of Judah were as polluted with
idolatry, injustice, and violence as the surrounding nations.
Worship of the Canaanite deity •Baal plagued the Old Testament Israelites
throughout their history. Baal was the so-called “god of the storm”; his
worshipers claimed that he was the source of all fertility. They engaged in
sexual rituals to lure Baal into giving fertility to their crops, to their livestock,
and to their families. When the writer of 2 Kings penned the history of Old
Testament Israel’s final years and laid out the reasons the Lord allowed Assyria
to destroy the Northern Kingdom, idolatry topped the list (see 2 Kings 17:7).
The Southern Kingdom survived for another 135 years, but sadly the people
of Judah often gave in to spiritual compromise too.
The phrase I will cut off meant that God would personally take action to get
rid of idolatry and pagan elements in the hearts of His people. Those who
stubbornly gave themselves to these practices would experience the blade
of His judgment. This included, of all people, Israelite priests who aligned
themselves in faith and practice not with the Lord but with idolatrous
pagan priests, or •Chemarims!
These verses list other subgroups who were in real danger of being cut off, or
consumed, by God’s judgment. The groups are identified by their spiritually
compromising practices. Worshiping the host of heaven probably was related
to the practice of astrology.
A similar situation existed in Zephaniah’s day with people who claimed
loyalty to both the Lord and to the pagan deity •Milcom. That is, they would
attach the Lord’s name to an oath in one situation but utter the name of
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Malcham in an oath in another situation. Whichever deity they felt offered the
best chance for success in a situation, that’s the name they swore by. Jesus later
condemned such divided loyalty as really no loyalty at all (see Matthew 6:24).
It’s actually spiritual treason, an intentional breaking of the First and Second
Commandments (see Exodus 20:3-6).
Finally, the Lord through His prophet condemned a group of people who simply
had quit following the Lord. These Israelites once worshiped the Lord; they
identified as His people. Presumably, they once brought sacrifices to the Lord’s
temple, sang praises to His name, and sought wisdom from His Word. But no
more. They were possessed of an “an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the
living God” (Hebrews 3:12). They became practical atheists, neither seeking to
know God better nor to follow His ways.
List some spiritual compromises you see in our world today. In what
ways do these compare to the compromises identified by Zephaniah?
A DAY OF RECKONING IS COMING
(Zephaniah 1:7-11)
Here Zephaniah introduced for the first time the phrase the day of the
Lord, which defined the prophet’s entire message of coming judgment.
Many Israelites in his day knew about “the Day of the Lord,” but they
believed that it would a day of divine judgment on their enemies—and
only on their enemies. For Israel, the day would be a joyous time of
divine deliverance and restoration—or so the people imagined.
This was hardly a popular message for Zephaniah to proclaim. The
people wanted their prophets to talk about salvation for Israel, not
about doom and gloom. But Zephaniah called for silence in the Lord’s
presence. Hope for salvation lay strictly in God’s grace and forgiveness.
The people’s sinful lives deserved only God’s wrath.
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Bible Skill:
Compare passages
that use the same
phrase.
Several Old Testament
prophets used the
phrase “Day of the
Lord.” Review these
passages where it
appears: Isaiah 13:6,9;
Joel 1:15; 2:1,11;
3:14; Amos 5:18,20;
Obadiah 15; Zephaniah
1:7,14; Malachi 4:5.
Identify characteristics
related to the Day of
the Lord as described
by these prophets.
The second half of verse 7 amazingly foreshadows the atoning work of
Christ. Zephaniah saw that God had already prepared a sacrifice and
had set apart the guests to be invited. This sacrifice involved a time
of judgment coming in his day. Yet it also foreshadowed the ultimate
“Day of the Lord” when Jesus offered Himself on the cross as the onceand-for-all Sacrifice for sin (see Hebrews 9:24-28).
Because the leaders of Zephaniah’s day did the opposite of what God
expected of them, the Lord declared that He would punish both the
leaders and the wrongdoers. The leaders of Judah wanted to emulate
their pagan neighbors more than to represent their covenant God. The
phrase leap on the threshold refers to a pagan superstition that had no
place in Israelite faith and practice (see 1 Samuel 5:5).
Zephaniah warned the residents of Jerusalem that “the Day of the
Lord” would not bring shouts of joy and celebration. Rather it would
be filled with mournful howls and shrieks of terror as the enemy
descended on the city to destroy it. All business and trade would be
ended. The market and financial districts would be cut off. On that
fateful day, no place would provide refuge from the Day of the Lord.
The day of reckoning would have arrived!
In what ways can Christ-followers take seriously our
accountability before God for our sins yet rejoice in the
peace, forgiveness, and new life we find in Christ?
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OBEY THE TEXT
We can be sure that everyone stands acccountable to God for responding to His holiness
and grace. We must resist the temptation to give in to spiritual compromise. With God’s
help, we can remain devoted to Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Discuss as a group the things young adults can guard against to avoid
temptation and spiritual compromise.
List ways your Bible study group can help each other strive for holiness.
Also list any boundaries that need to be established so that the group can
function in this way.
In what ways does your life demonstrate that you are trusting in Jesus alone
for your salvation?
MEMORIZE
S eek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
you who do what he commands. Seek
righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will
be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.
—Zephaniah 2:3
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Use the space provided to make observations and record prayer requests
during the group experience for this session.
MY THOUGHTS
Record insights gained and questions to discuss during the group experience.
MY PRAYERS
List specific prayer needs and answers to remember this week.
MY MISSION
Acknowledge ways you will obey God’s Word this week.
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