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SELAH 5
Do not fear - The Lord your God in your midst - will save --
One recent Sunday morning . . . we were considering the last prophets just prior to Judah's captivity in Babylon. Although we are aware of the danger of `plucking out' verses of Scripture from the whole message, chapter 2 of the Book of Zephaniah spoke to us in relating to the situation of God's people in Great Britain today. Zephaniah was one of the last three prophets whose ministries to the people of Judah all began in the same year. Jeremiah would speak and warn the people for fourty years, culminating in their captivity and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, its treasures and the Ark of God's Presence also taken out of the Land of Israel. This might not sound too terrible for today we all have access to the mighty ATM machines and cash is always available to rebuild what has been lost, but for the people of Judah with their Temple and the Ark of God's Presence gone, utter despair overwhelmed them. Little wonder that Jeremiah spent most of his ministry rejected and persecuted! Habakkuk also began his ministry during the same year, and his complaint to the LORD was how could an ungodly nation destroy a Godly chosen people? He received the LORD answer: Judgement will come upon Judah, but after this terrible time to come, `the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea', for He would fulfil His Covenanted Promises to Israel. He calls them to stand firm for `the just shall live by faith'.
Zephaniah was the last of those three prophets whose work began in the same year, fourty years before the captivity, and again he spoke of the coming judgement for Judah. But he went beyond Judah to the surrounding nations who would turn against Judah in her weakness. Finally in chapter3 he speaks sure and certain hope to the remnant of Judah. Verse 8 begins this promise:
" `Therefore wait for Me,' says the LORD, `until the day I rise up for plunder . . . . For then I will restore to the people a pure language, that they may call on the Name of the LORD, to serve Him with one accord'. "
It is with this background that we `pluck out' some verses from the Book of Zepahniah for today's people of God, that hidden Remnant within His Body, for Zephaniah's name has a meaning of `hidden of God'!
All three prophets spoke during the reign of Josiah, who according to the record of 2 Chronicles 33 followed on from Amon `who did evil in the sight of the LORD'. These three prophets of the LORD spoke at the time when Josiah had been reigning for 18 years, and so he would have heard of the coming judgement and therefore he began his reforming work. We have spoken many times of a fourty years Probation during which time the nation's character - that is, that it's belief that the given Word of God was true - was tested. We know that Judah's character was proven false and so captivity followed, but before that time Zephaniah - the last of those three great prophets of the LORD - spoke to the Remnant within Judah, who in the midst of the coming destruction still believed and faithfuly prepared for that future which would surely come, for: (3:17-20)
" The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save . . . . `I will gather those who sorrow . . . . at that time I will bring you back . . . . At that time I will bring you back . . . . when I return your captives before your eyes', says the LORD."
However we need to bring this background into our modern day, for the time spoken of by Zephaniah is surely close to hand! Readers of this `In Brief' may recall that we wrote of this more fully within an historical context in our Church Letter sent out in November 2017 entitled, `Be strong all you people in the land, for I am with you'. In our days, and with `western' minds corrupted by the ideology of the 17th century Age of Enlightenment' - `the Age of Reason' when philosophers called on all men to walk by reason and not faith -such enlightenment has indeed brought natural benefits to the West by way of science and education. But this has been at the expense of neglecting God's Word which calls His people to walk by faith in the Age of Reason, thereby accepting the benefits without denying the fulness of God in the Person of Jesus! Such corruption has spread throughout the Western Church, and so with confidence we can take the words of Zephaniah into our present days.
One of the great philosophers of the Enlightenment times was Jean Jacqes Rousseau, whose theorising on the Rights of Man in this new Age formed the basis for `The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen' - which formed the ideology for the terror of the French Revolution! We would therefore bring out three points from that Declaration in order to show how deeply this `Enlightenment thinking' has percolated into our 21st century culture:
Point 1: No law other than the General Will
Point 2: No-one need worry about their rights to an opinion unless
it disturbs the Public Order established by the General Will
Point 3: Property Rights are abolished except where determined by
the expression of the General Will
This Declaration was not in any way based on Judaeo/Christian `law' but on the Natural Laws given to all men by right and brought out by those philosophers who drew heavily on the work of ancient Greek philosophers. This Declaration, which was delivered to the French National Constituent Assembly in 1789, had been drafted by three men, one of whom was Thomas Jefferson. It was he who drafted `The American Declaration of Independence' which has as one of its principal purposes the complete removal of the Christian religion from the governance of that country, for in those men's understanding Christianity had oppressed the citizens of nations through its close connection with the monarchical form of governance. There must therefore be a total separation of State and Religion! However the expression used throughout those Declarations refer to the `General Will' - which is an entirely abstract expression, even if we apply the elipsis `. . . of the people, and this expression remains meaningless for people cannot govern themselves. In general terms, Western democratic government with its many variations is through the peoples' elected members of a National Parliament, which is an expression of `the General Will of the people' and can be dissolved if it does not have the support of its elected representatives.
Roussaeu's `General Will' leads to an embodiment of `the General Will of the people', which in turn leads into anarchy - as happened in the French Revolution - and the embracing of a tyrant who then becomes the embodiment of the `General Will'. In the case of the French Revolution this was Napoleon Boneparte.
This was more recently seen in the National Socialism of Nazi Germany! The nation's `soul' was embodied in one person, who led the people into nihilism, total destruction, but with its certainty that the `soul of the nation' will rise again! This is the end result of extreme nationalism as opposed to national identity! In its fullest sense Democratic rule is the final barrier against such an occurrence, and we certainly see this danger arising in `democratic' Russia, and stirrings of it are to be seen in a dominant power within the European Union - always keep in mind that the EU is a Customs Union of Sovereign States clustered around a dominant nation! As in the past there is a reaching out for a closer tie with Russia, the other dominant power in Eurasia, This will not be in a partnership but a (usually secret) Agreement, an agreement not to interfere with each other's imperial intentions until their interests clash and one `power' turns against the other in outright war! Brexit, if brought about in its fulness through strong determined leadership, will bring Great Britain out of the coming turmoil in Europe and available for the LORD's Purposes, should He so wish it. However in view of the strong opposition to Brexit by unelected enlightenment people, this country will need a return to full democratic governance by elected Parliamentarians as an expression of the people's will whilst respecting the views of minority groups.
If we can accept that the message from the prophet Zephaniah is also for today, a `captivity' is coming. Much will come under judgement, but the word from the LORD to His Remnant in the Land was:
" Therefore wait for Me . . . In that day it shall be said: Do not fear . . . . the LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save . . . . "
As we wait for Him in total trust, and as we pray for deliverance, we are certain that all that is coming is within His Purpose for His people Israel - and in its fulness for all Israel.
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You may E-mail us at: derek@northernstyletrust.com or Telephone (01493) 444494 (UK)
Our Web Address: www.northernstyletrust.com
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