Purifying Fire (Zephaniah) Series

If you have a stainless-steel refrigerator, you know it’s very hard to keep clean. But what if you owned a stainless-steel car?

That’s what worried Matt McClure even before he purchased his brand new $100,000 Tesla Cybertruck. He spent hours researching the internet for tips on keeping the exterior clean and received several suggestions. One Reddit user proposed WD-40. Another advised glass cleaner as the safest option. Some others suggested Goo Gone, an adhesive remover, while others swore by Bar Keepers Friend.

In still another reply, Chris Leiter said he often worries about “the stainless-steel panel above the front bumper becoming a massive graveyard for bugs.” He submitted a photo of the bug massacre to ChatGPT, which estimated about 4,600 deceased bugs.

After hours of research, McClure shelled out $500 for cleaning products and settled on a multistep process to wash and coat his new car. 1st, wash with car shampoo. 2nd, apply a stainless-steel rust remover. 3rd, clean with Bar Keepers Friend and Windex. 4th, dry thoroughly. 5th, wipe the vehicle down with isopropyl alcohol. Then finish with ProtectaClear, a coating for metal that helps hide fingerprints (Ben Glickman, “The Toughest Part About Owning A Tesla Cybertruck? Cleaning It,” The Wall Street Journal, 9-24-24; www.PreachingToday.com).

Wow! That’s a lot of work, but not near so much as keeping your soul clean. So how do you do that? How do you clean and keep clean your own soul, which lasts forever?

That was Judah’s concern 700 years before Christ. For 55 years, they had suffered under the evil reigns of Hezekiah’s son Manasseh (695–642 BC) and grandson Amon (642–640 BC). Idolatry, violence, and injustice had deeply stained the nation. Then Josiah, a godly king came to power (640-609 B.C). He led the nation back to God. When they were repairing the Temple, Hilkiah the high priest found the Book of the Law; and when King Josiah heard it, he tore his clothes in despair. He realized that Judah faced God’s severe judgment for breaking the law, so he instituted a series of reforms to turn the nation back to God (2 Kings 22 & 23).

That’s when God spoke to the nation through the prophet Zephaniah. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Zephaniah, four books from the end of the Old Testament, Zephaniah, where God shows His people how to cooperate with Him as He purifies the nation.

Zephaniah 1:1 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 (ESV).

Zephaniah was the great-great grandson of king Hezekiah, a member of the royal family, but more importantly, the LORD’s treasure, for that’s what his name means.

Zephaniah 1:2-6 “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD. “I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD. “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests— 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 Molech, those who turn back from following the LORD and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him (ESV).

Indeed, God will “sweep away” everyone who does not repent, and that includes the citizens of the nation of Judah. God will clean house someday, and He will start with His own people.

1 Peter 4:17 says, “It is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

You see, just because you associate with God’s people, just because you go to church with them, or just because they’re in your family, that doesn’t mean you’re exempt from judgment, because God will sweep away the pretenders.

Evidently, that was the case in Judah even during Josiah’s reforms. There was great revival, but not everyone turned to the Lord in their hearts. They outwardly participated with the reforms but secretly continued to worship their idols. So God is about to act!

Zephaniah 1:7 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 (ESV).

God is preparing Judah like a sacrifice. He is preparing them for slaughter like sacrificial animals in that day were prepared to be eaten. And His guests, in this context the Babylonians, are coming to eat the sacrifice, with that sacrifice including the king’s own sons.