Well, take your Bibles as you turn off whatever electronic thing you have, and let's turn back to Zephaniah.
If you go to Matthew, go four books to your left, and that should be Zephaniah, not far over there, Zephaniah chapter 2. Now, Josiah is the king of Judah. Again, the Israel is divided. There's the northern kingdom called Israel, made up of ten tribes.
The southern kingdom, Judah is the one we're looking at, the one that's being focused on by the prophet here. Judah was meant to be the godly remnant, but Judah herself had become quite ungodly. Idolatry filled the land. Wickedness filled the land. Anytime you chase false gods and embrace false doctrines, you have bad morals. So wickedness fills the land, but Josiah, under the discipleship of Zephaniah, has been a part of eradicating the idol shrines and temples in the land and removing the wickedness from the land.
But unfortunately, it was too little, too late. The wills of God's justice had been turning slowly, but turning exceedingly fine, and it was time for him to bring judgment against Judah. Now, when we come to chapter 2, God has already spoken to Judah about that there's hope that there should be repentance, that there is a godly remnant within the remnant, if you will.
Again, Judah was the remnant of holiness, but she had failed. And now there's a remnant within Judah that can be hidden, the text says, from the wrath of God, if they will but repent and turn to God. And now he shifts, starting in Zephaniah, chapter 2, verse 4, to pronounce judgment on the surrounding nations. And he's doing this primarily to provoke Judah to turn to the Lord and trust the Lord.
So we turn to Zephaniah, chapter 2, beginning in verse 4 and going through verse 11. The prophet writes, For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon a desolation, Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted. Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of the Carathites. The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines, and I will destroy you so that there will be no inhabitant. So the seacoast will be pastures with caves for shepherds and folds for flocks, and the coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will pasture on it in the house of Ashkelon.
They will lie down at evening, for the Lord their God will care for them and restore their fortune. I have heard the taunting of Moab and the reviling of the sons of Ammon, with which they have taunted my people and become arrogant against their territory. Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be like Sodom and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah, a place possessed by nettles and salt pits and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the remainder of my nation will inherit them. This they will have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of Hosts.
The Lord will be terrifying to them, for he will starve all the gods of the earth, and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to him, everyone from his own place. You've heard the expression many times. Doubtlessly, you've used the expression at least a few times, and that expression is this, I'm going to pay him a visit, or I'm going to pay her a visit. When we say that phrase, what we mean, there's two basic things involved there. We're going to see a particular person, a personal visit, and there's a particular purpose for that visit. Well, God visits his people, and God visits the peoples of the earth, and we know there's appointed for all of us a visit with God.
Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 tells us, it's appointed for men to die once, and after this comes the judgment. Now, as we talk about God paying a visit, and that's what I've entitled this exposition, when God pays a visit. When God visits the peoples on the earth, there's usually two things involved. Number one, judgment. Number two, salvation or deliverance. He visits them for judgment, or he visits them for salvation and deliverance.
Judgment. Zephaniah chapter 1 verse 4 tells us, so I will stretch out my hand, emphasizing God's personally making the visit here, against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the names of the idolatrous priest along with the priest. I'll personally come and visit them in judgment. And then also in salvation, like in Psalm 106 verse 4, he visits with his people. The psalmist writes, remember me, O Lord, in your favor toward your people.
Visit me with your salvation. When Jesus was born, the Bible tells us that God has come and God has visited us and accomplished redemption for his people. Now, here we have in this part of chapter 2, Zephaniah announces that God is paying a visit to the pagan nations around Judah. These are God's enemies because they are God's people's enemies. God is not going to put up with people claiming his land as their own and mistreating his people whom he's chosen for himself. We need to remember that in this modern age, as people rage and rail against the nation of Israel. We should be reminded that God's covenant, that that's my land I gave to the descendants of Abraham. Those are my people in that land and I take it personally when you take claim to my land and mistreat my people. Now, the nation surrounding Judah could have risen up and said, but wait a minute, there's pagan as we are.
There's wicked as we are. They don't serve you properly, Yahweh. They don't honor you properly as they should. No, but God has said, they're still mine. My elect covenant has not changed. Jesus, who is the Yahweh of the Old Testament. Let me say this one time because it's unclear to me at times, or has been in the past. We see the word Jehovah. We see the word Yahweh. We see the word capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D in the Old Testament, Lord. What that is, is that's the name for God. And when the translator translated the name for God, they fell back into the Jewish custom that God's name was too holy to be spoken. So they went with the word Adonai in the Hebrew and just kind of substituted it for the actual Hebrew word, so that they wouldn't have to say the actual name of God. It was just too holy to say. And then over the years Adonai is translated from the Hebrew into Jehovah.
Transliteration means a letter for letter bringing over into our language. But actually the Hebrew word for God that's used over and over, that's translated L-O-R-D, is the word Yahweh in the English transliteration. It's best for us to use the word Yahweh, though I'm not saying it's wrong to use Jehovah, but they're the same person.
All right? So I'm going to use Yahweh. Yahweh, of course, is Jesus, and Jesus is Yahweh. And we need to remind ourselves as we look at this chapter, and God's bringing this judgment on the nations around Judah, that Yahweh is not just the Lord of the church or the Lord of Israel, he's Lord of all.
That's one of the things we're getting at. He's Lord of the nations. Exodus 19 5 reminds us, Now then, you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant. Then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine. There's not a spot anywhere, any place, at any time on the globe where Jesus cannot put his finger and say, mine.
It's all his. The psalmist said in Psalm 50 verses 9 through 12, I shall take no young bull out of your house, nor male goats out of your folds, for every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is mine.
If I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you, for the world is mine. He's Lord of all. When he returns, he'll have across his chest, King of kings and Lord of lords. Now, the major prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel along with Amos prophesied against the nations. Matter of fact, every prophetic book has denouncements or judgments prophesied against the nations of the earth, except for Hosea. And it's interesting, as we look at these prophecies, not much is told us about the specific evils or the specific sins of those nations. Most of the time, just that God is going to judge them.
I think the point is, their wickedness was obvious. The prophet goes into quite a bit of specifics when he talks about Judah or Israel being punished for her sins, because that was God's people, and they had the light of God and the truths of God and the law of God, so the specific error was spelled out. But not so much when God pronounces these judgments on the nations. I think two things are clear. Number one, it is the Lord God of Israel, Yahweh.
He is the one personally bringing the judgment. And secondly, it's pronounced that he is Lord God, not just of Israel, he's Lord God of all things. And I might even add a third thing, it's all done, the punishment on the nations is done to promote Israel to return and come back to faithfulness to God. Now, as you look at verse four of our text, you have the conjunctive word there, which shows you that the rest of the chapter is connected back to the first few verses.
For Gaza will be abandoned on and on and on we could go. So what he's talking about here is that the rest of this chapter points back to and builds on verses one through three. God is saying, if I'm going to come against the nations and judge them with such severity as I am going to do, how much more Judah should you revere me, should you repent, and should you turn back to me? The point is, if I would judge the nations that had little to no light compared to you, Judah, you have the law of God, you had Moses, you had the patriarchs, you had the ordinances, the Passover meal, the sacrificial system, you had light upon light upon light of my truth.
You know who God is. So if I'm going to judge the nations who are guilty, but compared to you have very little light, how much more serious is it going to be, Judah, if you don't turn back to me, if you keep sitting against me? But I think one of the points here again in verses one through three of chapter two, God has extended grace and goodness and an offer of hope to the nation. I think one of the things God is pointing out here, I've been very good to the nations of the earth, and so I've been very good to you, Judah.
I'm the God who causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends the rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous, and I am the God who hold all men accountable. So this is meant to provoke Israel or Judah specifically to love and honor God, the God who is good to all. God's judgment on the nations was God's discipling, if you will, of Judah. Now these nations that are listed, that we're going to look at here in just a second, they lie in close proximity to Judah, and they were Judah and King Josiah's primary enemies. These nations were a threat to them, but God is going to show that he is the almighty sovereign, he is Yahweh, and he will crush these enemies of his people with divine justice.
Well, Roman numeral one, as we try to unpack this, there's a lot here, and I apologize if we run through quickly, you can't remember it all, and I can't remember it all, but I have 11 pages of notes to help me. But try to get what God wants you to get, and the Spirit of God is so good to do that, as you're sitting there, usually he's already dealt with you in your quiet time, in your meditation, your study of the Scripture, and then your preacher gets up and proclaims that truth, and the Spirit of God in you gives you the amen. Yes, I've been seeing, I've been seeing, amen, I know that's God's truth. So look for that amen of the Holy Spirit as we unpack this text. Well, first God is going to pay a visit to the Philistines.
We've heard a lot about them in the past, have we not? The Philistines. Now the Philistines settled in this region, Canaan, at about 1200 BC, and the Philistines lived in close proximity, actually they're living on part of the promised land, and they had a peaceful coexistence with Israel over most of the years.
The exception would be the period of Saul and the period of David. But here Zephaniah in verse 4 mentions four major Philistine cities, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron, and he lists them from south to north. In verse 4 he says Gaza is going to be abandoned. Similarly, Ashkelon will have a light fate, it will be left in desolation. Ashdod, he says, will be driven out at noon, probably means how quickly they will fall. By noontime it'll be all over for Ashdod.
And then Ekron will be uprooted. Now all of this is going to happen through the agency of the Assyrians that God will use as his agent of judgment. It is God personally bringing the judgment, but he judges them through the sovereignty that he extends over the Assyrians to use them as his rod of punishment. Now the major issue of these Philistine cities is that they occupy the territory that belonged to God and belonged to Israel. This was God's land. Remember Isaiah talked about this being Emmanuel's land. It's important to understand that in one sense none of us own anything, it's all God's.
But in a very particular and specific way this territory, this geographic area of the world, was God's unique abode and God had given it to the descendants of Abraham. Now when we look at verse 5, he begins with that word woe. We've seen that word a lot, w-o-e. Prophets have used this a lot in the Old Testament. In fact, it's used 41 times by the Old Testament prophets, and it always means an announcement of doom.
Woe, he says, to the inhabitants of the coastlands, to the nation of the Karathites. That's another word for the Philistines or Philistia. Then he says in verse 5, the word of the Lord is against you. Powerful phrase. It has two reference points that display its meaning. The word means the word that spoke everything into existence.
Secondly, the word that is the overmastering agent of all of history. In other words, this word of God is all powerful. For example, in Psalm 33, 9 and 10, for he spoke and it was done, he commanded and it stood fast. This one who is God, who has the word of God, is against you and it's all powerful. Isaiah 13 verse 3 tells us, I have commanded my consecrated ones. I have even called my mighty warriors to proudly exalting ones to execute my anger. So he's brought the powerful word, his spoken word against them and God's word will not return void.
It will not be nullified. And then the last part of verse 5, he talks about how he's going to destroy you, the Philistines, and there will be no inhabitant. Here the Lord God is the dreaded warrior. The doom of the Philistines is certain because it is the Lord God Yahweh who brings it upon them. And of course there's certainly again a word here for Judah. God is God of all. Now remember, Judah had been so enamored with the world around them. Do you get that way sometimes?
So drawn in to the cultural relevance and the the newest thing and the modern things that would be in the world of the Philistines. So God says, what about this? What if I crush them to nothing? Then what are you going to look to?
What if I crush all of this stuff and get rid of it? Then who are you going to worship? Who are you going to look up to then? God is saying, why don't you go ahead and turn to me now? Do you understand, brothers and sisters, there's coming a time when all that will be left is God.
Everything else will be gone. Now look, in common grace we enjoy the things of this world that are not inherently sinful. A good meal, fellowship with our families, fine suit of clothes, none of those things in themselves are evil. A lot of things we enjoy.
Watching our kids and our grandkids grow up and play ball and do stuff. But this world and all it contains is passing away and God says, if I'm going to get rid of it, Judah, why don't you go ahead and look to me now. Verse 6, so the sea coast will be pastures with caves for shepherds and folds for flocks and the coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah and they will pasture on it and the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening for the Lord their God will care for them. The destruction of the Philistine cities is going to be so thorough that it's just going to be a pasture land when God gets through. All traces of former Philistine civilization and commerce will be raised, removed.
There will only be grass and bramble and overgrowth where there were once bustling powerful cities. Now the irony of it, notice what he says here as we look at this verse. Verse 7, the remnant and the coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah.
In other words, God says I'm going to give you what they now possess. And they, the remnant of Judah, will pasture on it and the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening. What a metaphor, what a powerful metaphor that these cities once known for rallying troops against Judah become a quiet pasture land for the Judean flocks. The ruins of wicked Philistia become a peaceful pasture land for God's elect people. This reminds us that everything is about God's people.
Have I ever told you that before? Everything that's ever happened, everything that is happening, everything is going to happen is for our good and his glory. God is really passionate about his people and he tells Judah here that I'm going to bring these nations to the ruin and even though their land is ruined it's going to become a sweet restful place for you. God does bring corrective judgment on his elect Judah but he loves them deeply and he loves them with an everlasting love and he is their shepherd who secures a haven of rest for them. Now notice he says a remnant of the house of Judah, not all of Judah. There's a godly remnant who didn't turn to idols, who didn't chase the synchronized Yahweh bell worship that was so popular in this day.
This remnant is those that God chose, the remnant is those that God disciplines, the remnant is those that God keeps, and the remnant is those whom God plans to use in his plan of redemption. It is through the remnant of Judah and the descendants thereof that God will bring his savior, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then in verse 7 he says, For the Lord their God will care for them. God cares for them with sweetness and kindness, even loving kindness. He will restore their fortune, the Bible says here in verse 7.
The houses of Ashkelon, he said earlier, they will lie down in the evening. His precious elect Judah will have this tenderness, this care, this pastorland, if you will. Literally this is going to come true for ancient Israel because Judah is his precious child he's caring for. Here they will lie down in what was formerly the raging cities of the Philistines now becomes a peaceful and comfort abode for those who are the remnant of Judah.
A place that once planned war against you to destroy you has now become your haven abreast. It reminded me of the New Testament verse Hebrews 10 12 and 13. But he having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time sat down at the right hand of God waiting from that time honored until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet. God the Father is saying to that everything that is opposed to Jesus Christ will be placed under his feet as a footstool. It's a metaphoric picture of everything under Jesus as he's at perfect rest. So his enemies are going to be his footstool, but our enemies are going to be pasture lands for our peace and our rest. God delights to supply for us the luxuriant couches of our enemies and even provides a pillow for our feet on their territory.
You know why? Because everything God does is to the end of the good and the blessing of his people and all for his glory. Now, so those are the cities of the Philistines and now we move forward beginning in verse 8. Next he pays a visit to Moab and Ammon.
Moab and Ammon. We begin in verse 8 and we have the words, I have heard the taunting of Moab and the reviling of the sons of Ammon with which they have taunted my people and become arrogant against their territory. So here the Moabites and the Ammonites are people who were known to have taken advantage of Judah when the Babylonians invaded Judah and they were fleeing Judah for their lives and they were refugees and they were particularly taunted and mocked and persecuted by the Ammonites and the Moabites and God saying, I remember all of that.
Obadiah speaks of this persecution of the Moabites and the Ammonites against Judah as they fled from the invading Babylonian army. The point is the Jews were always, and by the way the Jews still are God's chosen people, the land God had promised them is his land and he will not abandon his claim to the land or his claim to his people. Now look at verse 9 if you will. Therefore as I live declares the Lord of hosts. What a statement for God to make.
As I live I'm going to make sure this is done. Like you might threaten a person something if I live till tomorrow I'm going to blank blank blank. That's kind of what God is saying here. The nations Moab and Ammon foolishly neglected to remember that to hurt and persecute Israel was to attack Israel's God. Now we need to remind ourselves where Moab and Ammon came from. A lot after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was made drunk by his daughters and they had an incestuous relationship with their father and the descendants of this incestuous relationship became the countries of Moab and Ammon. So they had a very wicked beginning and the Lord has now decided he will punish Moab and Ammon and severely punish them just like he punished Sodom and Gomorrah.
Notice it there in verse 9. Therefore as I live declares the Lord of hosts the God of Israel surely Moab will be like Sodom and the son of Ammon like Gomorrah a salt place possessed by nettles and salt pits and in perpetual desolation the remnant of my people will plunder them and the remainder of my nation will inherit them. So like you said with the Philistines ultimately Judah your remnant is going to have everything that they have. Everything they now own and everything they now control Judah will be yours. He's going to punish them like he punished Sodom and Gomorrah noticing the the severity and the thoroughness of the punishment. He says as I live I'm going to make sure that this happens. Then he calls himself in verse 9 the Lord of hosts which is the idea of one who has sovereign rule over the entire universe.
The strength and the superlatives that come out over and over as God describes with what fierceness and absoluteness and thoroughness he's going to come in judgment. He says their land in verse 9 is going to be but nettles and salt pits. In other words it's going to be completely ruined.
It's going to be an infertile wasteland. When I get through with it God says Lot had taken this area when he and Abraham had decided it was Abraham's idea that they part ways because their herdsmen were having conflicts and Lot chose the fertile valley towards Sodom and Abraham chose another area but that was all to be God's land. It was all to be land controlled and owned and possessed and enjoyed by the descendants of Abraham.
So now what's going to happen is going to all be returned to the rightful owner. So we have strong words of judgment but again mingled in together that are these words of hope. Last part of verse 9 again the remnant of my people will plunder them and the remainder of my nation will inherit them. Now in verse 10 we continue on and they say this or the prophet says this they will have in return for their pride.
Pride. In their pride they taunted Judah and mocked Judah and became arrogant thinking they were so great they made themselves out to be I mean the everything of everything. And God says I want you to know as I am the Lord of hosts I'm giving you my word as I live I'm bringing them down to size.
Listen to me. God is going to see to it that there is not one proud heart that he does not bring down to size. So child of God be a repenter now. Strive toward humility now. You don't want God have to do it his way later on. Now for the wicked ultimately their humility will be at the great judgment but for the child of God like Judah.
Judah is a pitcher a type of the child of God in a way. We get our discipline now because we belong to him. So yield to God's purposes to crush your pride. Charles Haddon Spurgeon used to talk about people who would come and go out of this church.
They'd come in and stay a while and leave a while and he used to say well they come to us unhumbled they stay a while unhumbled and they leave again unhumbled. If you're going to be in a true church it's going to require one thing a gospel humility. You're either humble and want to follow the Lord or you're proud and want a church that fits you. Well these Ammonites and these Moabites were full of themselves and God said they're going to be brought down to size in return for their pride I'm doing these things. God will always remove all that you look to that made you proud. All you possess and land and territory as with the Moabites and the Ammonites. God says I'm going to remove it from them and I'm going to give it to my freshly humbled remnant of Judah. When he says they've sinned that's again Moab and the Ammonites against the people of the Lord of Hosts. Again they forgot afresh that mocking and persecuting God's people was the mocking and persecuting of God.
Remember how Paul explained it in Acts 9 3 through 5? As he Saul of Tarsus at that time was traveling it happened that he was approaching Damascus and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him Saul Saul why are you persecuting me? Not why are you persecuting the church? Not why are you persecuting Christians?
You're persecuting me. He said to him who are you Lord? He said I'm Jesus whom you are again persecuting because when you come against my people even though my people may not be what they ought to be they're still mine and when you come against them you come against me and that's the way the Lord through the prophet is fashioning this that coming against Judah was coming against God and God said tell you what I'm not going to have it.
I'm going to deal with it. Verse 11 he continues on the Lord will be terrifying to them for he will starve all the gods of the earth and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to him everyone from his own place. Terrifying to them. You know there is only one terrifying God and one alone because there is only one true God who is just who is omniscient and who is omnipotent and when you think about that if he's perfectly just and knows absolutely everything including everything about me including the thoughts and intentions of my heart and he is omnipotent and can bring to bear on me all the force of holy judgment then he is a God who is terrifying. He is the God you must fear. Joel 2 11 speaks of how terrifying he is in Joel 2 11 the prophet wrote the Lord utters his voice before his army surely his camp is very great for strong is he who carries out his word the day of the Lord remember that's always judgment that has its final fulfillment when Jesus returns the day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome and who can endure it and then again when Jesus comes in Revelation 6 15 then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free men that's every person who's unsaved hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains crying out that they might be saved from what they called the wrath of the lamb verse 11 continues on and God says I'm gonna starve all the gods of the earth of course it's metaphorically speaking because the gods of the earth were all these dumb idols made of stone and wood and clay and whatever else they could make a god out of he said I'm gonna starve them to death I'm gonna show them for what they really are they are impotent they are false literally to starve means to make them thin he said I'm going to remove the people who made them I'm going to remove the people who worship them I'm going to remove the people who kept them up and fixed them and repaired them when they started falling apart I'm going to starve out in figurative speech I'm starving out these false gods that have been adopted and accepted in my land they'll have no one left to support them so they will figure speech starve to death then a powerful turn what a phrase here at the end of verse 11 and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to him that's yahweh everyone from his own place now there's certainly an apocalyptic element but also a a contemporary element that that yahweh worship was typically to be done in Jerusalem and that's that's that's what people understood it it's in the promised land and centered in Jerusalem in the temple where people know and worship God and here the prophet says something that had to be sort of mind-blowing to an ancient Israelite and that is that all the nations gentiles included are going to bow and worship yahweh now this is partially fulfilled and when the Judeans returned from exile they settled in the region that was once the Moabites land and once the Ammonites land and some remnant of Moabites and Ammonites were there and they kind of whether general or not went along with the Jews and worshiping yahweh so there was a worshiping a bowing down and honoring of this God of the Jews from other nations but of course there is a final and apocalyptic truth to this also that when Jesus returns as Paul told us very clearly in Philippians chapter 2 verses 9 through 11 for this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name so that the name of Jesus every knee will bow that's the phrase the prophet uses here of them bowing to the yahweh of those who are in the heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father now when that future event occurs in the coming glorified eternal state that's when all of this world will become Jesus world that is right now but for God's sovereign purposes he's temporarily allowed satan to be quote God of the world end of quote he's the one who's behind this present mechanism and bureaucracy and world system that we see but there's coming a day when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ I love that phrase I every year I listen to Handel's Messiah all the way through at least twice in the weeks leading up to Christmas because every word isn't in scripture often I'll put the scripture on my dash and I'll listen to the different uh uh songs because Handel wrote that glorious uh musical called the Messiah and when it gets to this verse it just really stirs my soul revelation 11 15 then the seventh angel sounded and there were loud voices in heaven saying oh let it be Lord Jesus the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he will reign forever and ever and all the nations will bow to him yet is it not true that in this gospel dispensation as it has been said the sun never sets on the worshipers of the one true God the gospel has gone into all the earth and there are true believers among most peoples tongues tribes and nations so as the sun moves we know it's not moving but figuratively speaking as the sun moves and it shines on every inch of the earth there's at least a remnant of people who call on the Lord through the Lord Jesus Christ so that's really happening to a great extent that people are bowing for him from all the nations today now right quick look back at verse seven look back at verse seven and we'll close with this thought this kind of grabbed me as i was meditating on it and i want to close with this he talks about again how he's going to judge the Philistine cities he's gonna bring them to nothing then he says for the remnant of the house of Judah they will pasture on what was once the Philistine cities and the houses of Ascalon they will lie down at evening here's the phrase for the Lord their God will care for them you know what that literally is translated in the original Hebrew it's not care for them it means it's just the Lord their God will visit them the Lord their God the prophet said is going to pay his people a visit and in this context this is not a visit of judgment it's not a visit of corrective discipline it's a visit of salvation and loving kindness and care God paid us a visit about 2 000 years ago did he not when the Mary was with child when Mary was with child the virgin and she gave birth to Jesus that's God coming to pay a visit he lives sinlessly on the earth he goes to the cross for the sake of the children it's nailed there and is punished in our place for our sins a vicarious atonement was buried and raised for our justification sins up into heaven where he forever intercedes for us and then he will visit us again revelation 19 11 through 13 says and I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he who sat on it is called faithful and true and righteousness he judges and wages war his eyes are a flame of fire and on his head are many died ends and he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself and he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God now you'll either receive Jesus to visit with you in his grace and mercy in his first coming or you will bear an audience with him in his judgment and you will visit with him at his second coming but he would visit with you right now he will visit with you right now if you would but visit with him the bible reminds us in revelation 320 behold i stand at the door and knock sitting under the preaching of the word something is speaking to you something is nudging you stand at the door and knock and if anyone how's that for your reformed theology doesn't bother mine if anyone hears my voice and opens the door i will come into him and will dine visit same idea with him and he with me he desires today this moment right now to visit you and you say if you visit you know often when you go visit somebody you bring gifts jesus will visit you bringing the whole of eternal salvation and it's free it's free because he's paid for it already now there's one final visit one last visit where god will visit with us and that is this final visitation at the marriage supper of the lamb that's when we will visit with jesus for the very last time in the glorified eternal state you say pastor why would you say we will visit with him for the last time because after that time we will never leave him again so there'll be no visit just abide we'll just abide with him forever and ever and ever and ever oh dear friend you heard the testimonies of these two men this morning have you visited with him because if you're willing to hear his voice and open the door he will come in and visit with you forgive you of every sin cleanse you of all wrong purge from you every defilement pastor you don't know what i've done you don't know where i've been i do care but it doesn't matter because he is mighty to save satan has commit convinced far too many of you to focus on yourselves and your shortcoming and your sinfulness and your weakness and not focus enough on him look at him he is mighty to save and he desires to visit with you
