Hello and welcome to the House of Faith Ministries. I'm Lisa Kaine and I'm recording this teaching on Wednesday, August 21st, 2024. Welcome. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Father God, we bless you, honor you, and thank you for your word. And we pray that we have ears to hear your word, that we apply your word, that we live by your word, and that we give you the glory, the honor, the praise, and the strength. For we know you are God of kings. You are God of lords. You are the great I am. Thank you. Thank you for helping us go along our journey of life because we know that you are here with us in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen. God bless you and welcome. So, we're going to be talking about Zephaniah chapter 2 and the title of this message is when you seek the Lord. So, let's go to our opening scripture here. Uh, we're in chapter 2 verse three. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. So, as you can see, I've got some words bolded here. So, this is how I teach for those of you who are new. Uh take a look. I am teaching from the King James version. So the words in bold are King James version words. That's the translator of the King James chose that word to put there in English. Well, that word also has more meaning and other words that it can mean. So example here, seek it means to search out, strive after through worship and prayer. The word meek there means depressed, humbled, lowly. Rot means to do, make, practice, commit. Look at how judgment it means. Verdict. Look at what righteousness means. Right. Equity, prosperity, meekness is condensation, modesty, divine, and objective clemency. Gentleness, humility, and being hid is absent, kept closed or concealed. So, we're going to be talking about a little bit of end times, but we're really going to be focusing on seeking the Lord here. So the purpose of this teaching is there's a day coming that we as believers need to be hid and kept from the wrath of God on that day. So to be hid, Zephaniah is showing us the difference between being in the Lord and not being in the Lord. This is going to be very important because I want you to see the difference here because it's very clear. There is no mystery behind it and we can see this in everyday life. Okay? Okay. So, we're going to start with verses 1 and two. Um, gather yourselves together. Yeah. Gather together, O nation, not desired or pined after before the decree or the appointment bring forth before the day. That word day means warm hours. Basically, as the sun rises and the temperature warms up, that's the concept. And it starts to cool off as it as it eases to the end of the day. That's what the word day means. So it's uh that that 12-hour period if you will. So before the decree bring forth before the day passes the shaft before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you. So the day of the Lord so we're going to talk a little bit of end times here and I I want you to understand what is going on. So there's there's an undesired or wicked nation that's not being pined after. We we see this around the world. And so what the Lord is doing, he's talking to wickedness. He's talking to these people through Zephaniah. Zephaniah is a prophet. And as he's talking to them, he's saying, "Listen, this day is coming." So what is this day? This day is the day of the Lord. This is when God is going to pour out his wrath and judgment on the earth. He has not done that yet. a day. It it re it references the seven-year time period that's talked about in Revelation. Daniel talks about it. You can go read these. I've taught on it in the past. This day is not a good day. This time period is not a good time. And in fact, the the whole meaning behind this particular teaching is you need to avoid that time period. So, anyone who is alive when that day starts and that seven-year time period starts because day of the Lord is that starting day and it covers that entire seven-year period, you will be entering that time if you're alive in that day. If you don't believe, if you are not walking in the righteousness, you're not believing in Christ, you're himh hawing, if you will, uh if you think Jesus is just a good guy, was a good guy that lived many years ago. That kind of concept of thinking is going to leave you behind and you will have to go through the suffering time period of that seven years. Now, what I want you to understand about this time period is like the first five months, you can't die. And what's going to happen in that first five months is that these horselike creatures with scorpion tails are going to go and sting people because this people needs to suffer for rejecting Christ and entering this time period. And that's part of God's wrath that's coming in. So he's going to release the seven uh seven seals uh the trumpets, the BS, and each part is a wrath that is going to come into. Now, let me make something very clear here. At the end of this seven-year time period, it says man will be finer than of gold. Now, I don't know what that means. I know we have gold on this planet. I don't know what of gold is. Some sort of uh difference of gold. Uh but anyways, I know this When God flooded the earth in Noah's day, he only had four couples survive. That was Noah and his wife and then his three sons and their wives. That was it. That's all he needed to repopulate the earth. So when you come to this end of this seven-year time period, you're only going to have maybe three couples, four couples. That's it. So, anyone entering into this seven-year time period of God's wrath, it is hell on earth to hopefully wake you up and see what the Lord can do to save you in that time period. Now, we don't know. Don't let preachers and teachers tell you that you can still repent in that seven-year time period. Keep in mind, the church is gone. So, we're not preaching grace anymore because grace is done. It ends at the day of this Lord beginning. So since we're not going to be there and grace is not going to be there, I know from scripture that there's there's seven there's thunders that are going to speak and when they speak, they're going to speak to the people. And my guess is they're going to tell you how to get saved during that time period. But you can avoid that by accepting the grace of Jesus right now. He died on the cross for our sins. He rose from the grave three days later in victory. Now's the time to accept him, believe him, and let him save you. We've all been sinners. We've all been born in sin. We're all sinners. So, it's time to get saved. So, I really want you to catch this. I want you to understand it. This is what is being prophesied 2,000 plus years ago now. So, let's go to verse three, which was our opening scriptures. Read that again. Seek ye the Lord. So this is the concept of what he's saying. Listen, that day is coming. Now look what you need to do. He says, "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment. Seek righteousness. Seek meekness. It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." In that day, there is the church is going to be raptured out, but I don't know when. Nobody knows the day nor the hour, but it is in that time period. And it's most likely in a seven to 10 days time period because God is a God of mercy. He is full of grace. And I can definitely see that he will pause because what's going to happen is if you're a believer in Christ, you're telling all of your loved ones, your family, your friends, your body of Christ, your church, your neighbors, you're letting them see God lead you, change you, walk in your life. You're setting an example. So when that day happens, these people are going to see it. These non-believers, guess who they're going to call? You and me. They're going to say, "Hey, you know what's going on?" You get to tell them and maybe at that moment you will have this opportunity to minister to them. And but see, while you're there, this entire earth is going through a major change. The earth is shaking. The sky is getting scrolled away. The unbelievers that have their money, who built their bunkers, are running into them. You can go read Revelation 6. They're yelling at the at the rocks. Fall on us. Kill us. We because that day is here. They're recognizing it. They're They know it. So, we're to be hid while all that is going on. So, maybe they can't even reach us during that time. I don't know. But we're safe. God has us in a safe place. Remember Rahab on the uh walls of Jericho? They saved her. Her house stayed standing while all the rest of the walls fell. So, that is how we're going to be on that day until he returns. Now, in here in this first chapter in chapter 2, verse three, notice he's pointing out to righteousness and meekness. So, you've got to be right and have a humble heart. And isn't that what a ch a Christian goes through when you become a Christian? As the Lord changes you on the inside, you become more humbled. You recognize how much you're forgiven. Oh, and you want to cry all the time. Understand though that God is going to judge this world. If you go to Revelation 20, you look at verses 11 through 15, you're going to find the white throne judgment. And anyone's name that's not found in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire. That's reality of the situation. That is what's coming. This is prophesied, has been prophesied for many years since the Bible's been written. So, it's coming. Don't think that, oh, that's just old. It's never happened. Don't go there. Don't think that way. Now's the time to get saved. You want to avoid that seven-year time period. Let's look at verses four and five. For Gaza, the word Gaza there is the old word or Hebrew word aad. And it means strong city shall be forsaken which is loosened or destitute. And Ashcolon means a sense of a weighing place, a desolation. They shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day and that word Ashra means ravager and Echron which means eradication shall be rooted up. All these names are what they're descendants. So the parent had that child named that child. That child became a nation. Had a lot of kids and they became a nation. So you've got uh the children of Canaan and they're the Canaanites and so forth. You're going to see that here. All of those are just descendants, but they had a meaning to their name. And why the parent named them that it could be that some event happened. Paleleague, that word pale was a name of a child given at the time of Nimrod. Say when a great earthquake, the the earth came apart. That's when the continents came into existence. Well, that word pale means shaking and rushing of water coming up. Why? Because the continent is separated. Water came in between and filled it up. That happened at that time after the Tower of Babel. So, you can go check that out if you'd like and look that up. But they give you these names that mean these things. So, you're seeing this Echron, which is eradication, shall be rooted up. Verse five, woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherites. They're an executioner or the sense of an executioner. The word of the Lord is against you, oh Canaan, which means humiliated. If you go read about Noah when he was uh at first living after the flood, there was an event that happened with his um son Ham. And anyways, they're cursed and humiliated. And Canaan is a son of Ham. You can go read that and find out. This is this is obviously talking about that. And and keep in mind this is what put a curse that particular curse a curse of perversion um or sexual immorality was on Cain and Ham. That curse has been with their generation since. And until that person breaks that curse in their lineage, they are uh under that curse. Uh I don't know what was in my heritage and my lineage. Um, I know that there was suicide and um, drugs, alcohol, that kind of thing. So, what I do know is that it is broken and it broke with my dad. Then he got his father and his mother saved and then I'm his child. It's broken with me. That is not part of this. I, in fact, depression tried to come on me 30 plus years ago and I kicked his butt and I've shared that testimony in many of my teachings. and uh my my daughter is broken this. So it it's been a broken curse. Well, you're seeing the lineage here in Zephaniah. And he's addressing it. And watch what he's saying very carefully. He's saying the land of the Philistines, which means migratory. By the way, Palestine and Philistines, it's the same word. It's migratory. I don't know why they claim that that land is theirs when they've been migrating from land to land. Anyways, that's beside the point. The land was of Israel was given to uh Israel by God. Amen. Uh I will even destroy thee that there shall be no inhabitant. So he is addressing the sin in the land. He is saying here is this sin and because of the sin that is in the land you are cursed. I'm going to I'm going to break I'm going to destroy you. So he he mentioned Gaza, Ashcolon, Ashdod, Echron, Cherites, Canaan and the Philistines. They worship other gods. They have this genealogy curse on them. And he's saying they will be destroyed. This is what happens when you don't seek the Lord God, the God of gods, King of kings, Lord of lords. He's the only one. So these two scriptures in particular are showing us the difference between seeking God and seeking other things in lie of Yahweh. So I have a question for you right here in the middle of this teaching. Which one are you doing? Who are you following? Is this world more important to you or is God? You know, I fasted a few weeks ago for someone that the Lord had me fast for and the conversation that the Lord and I kind of had there was oh uh you know as I was trying to not do it turning over because he's telling me in my sleep and uh finally I don't know it's the Holy Spirit or me I don't know but the the the sentence the structure the voice was saying what's more important food or saving a soul and of course there was no brain no brainiac thinking there. I obviously went and did the fasting, but it's just interesting how your mind goes through this as a human being. We don't want to do these things, but we have to lives are at stake. These curses are in place still today. That day is coming. So, we have to stand in line with God. We have to choose him. He is more important than anything else in this world. And that includes food. All right, let's move on to verses six and seven. And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks. Enclosure is what the word fold means. And the coast shall be for the remnant or remainder of the house of Judah. And the word Judah means celebrated. They shall feed thereupon. In the houses of Ashcolon shall they lie down in the evening for the So Judah is going to lie down in the Ashcolon area, the houses of the Ashcolon people. for the Lord their God shall visit them and turn away their captivity. So now you're seeing Judah is going to come back. Now keep in mind when Zephaniah wrote this, Judah and Israel were two separate uh entities. One had 10 tribes, one had two tribes. You can go take a look at that. This was um separated, but they now they're all back as one nation called Israel. But Judah is the one that was going to sit in the place of the where the Ashcolon. In other words, God is going to remove the evil and he's going to put his righteous people in there and that's exactly what he's going to do. So this is again this is God keeping his word. He kept his word. Look at Israel today. They are in the land. They are there and they are returned because God said he would do it and he did. Amen. Let's read verses eight and nine. I have heard the reproach of the disgrace of Moab in Setua son of Lot and the revilings or vilification of the children of Ammon tribal inbred a son of Lot. You see this is another descendant. The Moabites and the Ammonites come from Lot. Remember when Lot was taken out of Sodom and Gomorrah and he went and lived in a cave in Zoir, he his daughters got him drunk and they sex with him and they had offspring from him. So they have incestual um curses on them embedding in them. So whereby they have reproached my people and magnify themselves against their border. Another way of saying that is they're making themselves look really big and strong, but it's a trick of the mind. They're trying to trick you to see that they're bigger, they're loftier. Yeah, we got it. We know. They're they're puffing themselves up when in reality they don't. They might and they might believe what they're doing, too. You never know. Verse nine, therefore, as I live, sayith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, surely Moab shall be as Sodom. Interesting because isn't that where Lot came from?

as Sodom and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah. Notice what the word Sodom and Gomorrah mean, scorch, burn, and heap, even the breeding of nettles and salt pits and a perpetual desolation, devastation, astonishment. In other words, when you walk through where Sodom and Gomorrah is by the um salt um see over there, that is an area of still all desolation. And you can go actually find the little uh sulfur balls that are still there from the day they were destroyed. Uh the residue or remainder portion of my people shall spoil or plunder them and the remnant of my people shall possess inherit them. So again here he's saying if you're going to live in this sin I'm going to destroy you and you are going to be replaced with my righteous people. That's exactly what he's doing. God is reinforcing what he's been saying in this entire scripture. He is scripture. He's saying it again and again. He's pointing out the nationality or origins. He's showing he's dealt with him and he's giving the land to his people to plunder and possess. So, in other words, if you have a curse on you because you're living in sual immorality or whatever sin you're living in, all of that is leaving you and going to the righteous people. And keep in mind just because I'm not of Israel. I am a righteous person standing with God. He calls me that. So the plunder I have the plunder and the possessions around me of what others should have. But because they live in sin, it was taken from them and he's given it to me. Now this is where you have the opportunity to repent. get your life back in order with God so that you can have the possession, the inheritance of what he's given you, and you can avoid the seven-year time period of God's wrath. Amen. Let's go to verses 10 and 11. This shall they have for their pride. Oh, here comes the word pride, arrogance, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people, the Lord of hosts. That's what I was referring to earlier. They're making it look like they're bigger. They're tricking you. They're full of pride. They can't even tell that. They got to remember God is the one in control. They're so far off. They can't tell. And look at what's going to happen to them though once they're going to fall. You're going to see this. Verse 11. The Lord will be terrible or fear unto them. For he will famish. They're going to become thin all the gods of the earth. And men shall worship, depress, prostrate him, everyone from his place, even all the isles of the heathen. And let's remember what Proverbs says. Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goeth before destruction and a hotty spirit before a fall." This is very very important that you understand what is going on here. We are seeing that the root of the evil that is in the hearts and the minds of the people is pride. And the moment you think you're above everyone else, including God, you're going to fall. And notice, he's going to starve them. They're going to be famished thin because of the fear they have within them once they realize who God is. And they will realize who God is. If you look at prophecy and everything that happens, even at that great earthquake that I referred to where the sky scrolls away at the end when all those people are calling rocks fall down, says they will know that he is God. They will. It doesn't mean they're going to believe and accept. They're just going to know that he's God because he's the one with all the power and the authority. He's the one who created this world. We should have some respect for that. Amen. Let's go to verses 12 and 13. Ye Ethiopians also ye shall be slain by my sword. And Ethiopia is descendants of Kush. And he will stretch out his hand indicating power against the north hidden dark quarter. That's what that word north means. Interesting. And destroy Assyria and will make Nineveh a desolation, a drylike wilderness. Look at this. Uh, Assyria means successful, second son of Shem, Ashure. Nineveh, he was founded by a guy named Nine. So, they called it Nine place, but uh that also means fish place. So, he's just saying, and notice what he says, by my sword. That means a drought. I want you to see something here that is so very powerful because it's still applicable to today. Remember, the the day of the Lord has not happened. So more nations are in sin and they are being dealt with by drought. What do we see in the world today? Severe drought going on. So when you seek the Lord, you're asking the Lord for rain, right? Remember Elijah held back the rain because of what Ahab and Jezebel did. David found out why he was having three and a half years of reign because of what co uh King Saul did with his blood curse. We I taught that in the teaching with Rispah and the women of the Bible uh women of the Bible series. So the nations are going to be in drought until they repent and then they have to turn back to the Lord in hopes before the day of the Lord comes upon them that they would get saved. Now I don't think the nations are going to that's your leadership behind the nations. We can see the evil wickedness in our leadership. We can see them rejecting the rules. The Pope just recently announced that it's okay to bless homosexual marriages. That is uh an abomination from the Bible. And I don't know if the Pope has read the Bible in all honesty, but this is the direction things are going in which was prophesied in scripture. This is everything that's been prophesied. There's nothing mysterious or hidden here. Let's read the last two verses here in um Zephaniah. So chap uh chapter 2:es 14 and 15. And flock shall lie down in the midst of her. All the beasts of the nations both the corarant and the midturn their birds or species of birds shall lodge in the upper lentils of it. Their voice shall sing in the windows. Desolation shall be in the thresholds for he shall uncover the cedar work. This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly that said in her heart, I am and there is none besides me. How has she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in? Everyone that passeth by her shall hiss and wag his hand. And by the way, that prophecy has come true. Uh during the time when Israel was separated, Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens, he wrote that the land was desolate and devoid of inhabitants when he went through there. That's what Zephaniah prophesied and that's exactly what happened. So the travelers that go through there, they're walking through this area. They saw it desolate and they were look at how bad this place is. I don't want to be here. This is what happened. Remember, Israel and Judah were following after these gods. This is why God separates, sent them away. But then God brought them back and they've been a nation since 1948. Jerusalem has been back since 1967. We know that was prophesied. And no other nation has come back like that. But this is what God has done. Now he's blessing his people today. Israel is the fourth largest nation to provide food for the world. You see this is what happens when you seek God Almighty. Zephaniah is saying seek the Lord. Get in that secret place with him. Ask him questions. Believe. Talk with him. He's alive and well. Just because you can't see him, that's your act of faith. You know, I there's times I go, "Lord, Lord, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't understand." That's okay. He does reveal the answer though when it's time. And see, when you do seek the Lord and you come back, you're repenting. You are the one setting the example and showing the Lord how showing the world how to be Christlike, how to walk under righteousness and godliness with our heavenly father. because now is the time to repent. So as someone who lives in this time of grace, we are in a dispensation of grace. What do we preach? What do we teach? We teach forgiveness. Jesus says, "Whatever you forgive, I will forgive." So I forgive just like he would. And he said, "I judge no one." He's going to come back in the end and he will be king and he will judge. But until then, he's forgiving, forgiving, forgiving until the day of the Lord comes. You do not want to go in the day of the Lord. You don't want to have any part of that. Today, now is the time to repent. Let's pray. I want you to repeat this prayer with me. Okay? So, I will pause allowing you to repeat it. Dear Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. I'm sorry I messed up, but I want to get right with you today and every day going forward. Help me to read your word, to understand your word, and to live by your word. And keep me from your day of wrath that is coming in Jesus' name. Amen. That's what it takes. Repent. turn your life around and avoid that time period. It is going to be hell, literally hell on earth. And keep in mind, hell is even worse than that. And since most people are going, I'd say 95 plus% of the world is going to die in that time period, might as well accept the Lord and go in the rapture. It's a better option. Amen. God bless you. I will see you in the next message. Bye-bye.