The United States
in
Zephaniah
by the late
C. O.
S t a d s k l e v
Written about 1959
Chapter I
The Great Day of the Lord
In the balance of this book we
shall consider the prophecy of Zephaniah, which is very similar to the
prophecy of Joel. As mentioned previously, both Joel and Zephaniah are short
prophecies of three -chapters and both deal with our particular time and
nation. Zephaniah gives some history and short-range prophecy also, but it
is primarily an end-time prophecy and largely devoted to the United -.
States of America.
Zephaniah in the first two
chapters sets forth his vision and revelation of the evils, wickedness and
corruption of our day and our nation. But in the last part of his book he
reveals the same truth that Joel does: namely that there will be Divine
intervention when this great Zion nation turns to God. This new order of the
ages will be cleansed, and there will be a tremendous demonstration and
manifestation for the heathen world of God’s faithfulness and reality as He
delivers us from both internal and external enemies.
Let us begin by reading from
chapter 19 and verse 14: “The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and
hasteth greatly . . . .“ In other words, everything is speeded up — more
happens now in a week than previously happened in perhaps 10 or 12 years.
Again may I mention that the expression “the great day of the LORD” refers
to the time in which we now live, the closing of the church age and the
ushering in of the kingdom age.
.... .even the voice of the day
of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.” This is a very
challenging statement because there is no question that mighty men
throughout the world today have wept bitterly as they have seen their
nations one after the other being subverted betrayed, double-crossed and
taken over. I can well imagine that some of our military leaders have
certainly wept on the inside. Perhaps many have shed literal tears as they
realized how our boys were being sacrificed, and as they have had to send
precious, young men into battle with their hands tied. Perhaps this is what
the prophet saw.
Verse 15: “That day is a
day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and
desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness... .“ God is angry with the United States of America because we are
not turning to His Word. Zephaniah speaks of “wasteness and desolation” and
one thinks of the desolation poured upon Germany, Great Britain and France
and now upon other parts of the earth. The prophet also sees great clouds
arise, a result of atomic and hydrogen explosions. All of these things
concerning our day and time were seen by Zephaniah in his vision and
revelation.
Verse 16: “A day of the
trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.”
The words “trumpet and alarm” give the same thought that Jesus brought out
when He said there would be wars and rumors of wars. “Fenced cities” and
“high towers” are symbolic terms referring to military might.
Note verse 17. The Almighty
speaking through the prophet says, “And I will bring distress upon man, that
they shall walk like blind men... .“ When one sees the negotiations,
agreements and concessions we make to our enemies, one must agree that we
certainly are blind.
Here is the reason for all of
the difficulty we are in: .. .because they have sinned against the LORD: and
their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.” Many
good people seem to imagine that God does not care any more; some act as
though God is dead; others seem to think He is not what He used to be, that
He can no longer handle the evil forces as He did in the days of the
Egyptians and Babylonians and Israel’s other enemies. According to some
people, we must rally and save God. No, my friend, God is still sovereign.
God’s hand of judgment is upon
us because we will not turn to His Word for our nation and for our day. We
continue to insist that the Jews are Israel and that the church is the
kingdom. These teachings cancel out completely everything the Bible actually
teaches concerning our nation. If the Jews are Israel and if the church is
the kingdom, then the prophecies of Joel and Zephaniah are not what Joel and
Zephaniah claimed they were.
May I emphasize that this 17th
verse says “they have sinned,” referring not to the our enemies and the
Communists but to the good people of this nation. One would think after
reading a passage like this we would begin to ask ourselves if we are
sinning against God.
We are the people whom God is
now dealing with. God will make quick work of our enemies. (the Communists)
when they have accomplished their
purpose in His plan to turn the United States to the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Speaking of this time of world
upheaval and the judgment of the nations in which we are in, Zephaniah
prophesies:
Verse 18: “Neither their
silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S
wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for
he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.”
This does not mean that God will
destroy all human life in the particular land that Zephaniah foresaw. It
means He will make a speedy riddance of certain people.
Who are these people? It says of
them, “Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in
the day of the LORD’S wrath.”
If you are familiar with the
history of money and the history of wars, you know that those who have
manipulated and cornered the silver and gold (especially the gold) have
generally been able to hide, protect and shield themselves in past times of
distress, war and judgment. They have been able to take advantage of war,
violence, upheaval and emergency, but not at this time when the age is
closing and we are moving into the day of the Lord. Thank God they have had
their day and their days are numbered.
According to the prophecies of
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Ezekiel, gold and silver will no longer be
used as a means and method whereby a handful of people can control and
dictate the policies of an entire nation. Gold and silver will no longer be
the basis for issuing money. Money will be issued on the wealth and goods
and services of the nation. It will be issued to match the population and
the increase in the population. Gold and silver will have nothing to do with
the amount of the medium of exchange the people of a nation may have.
Using gold and silver as a basis
for issuing money is an old pagan fetish; it is something that is forbidden,
condemned and cursed throughout the entire Scripture. This is brought out in
the writings of Moses and Joshua and throughout the historical books of the
Bible. All of the prophets and apostles condemn what we know today as the
gold standard money system.
Do not become frightened and do
not panic. What we have said does not mean that your money and wealth will
have no value. Goods and services maintain their value no matter what
happens to gold and silver.
There will come the greatest
physical and material release that mankind has ever known when we have a
change in our money system. Isaiah prophesied that gold and silver would be
cast to the moles and to the bats. One does not throw real money and real
wealth to the moles and bats. What did Isaiah mean?
He meant that the day will be
gone forever when gold and silver will be used as a basis for money and as a
medium of control. There will no longer be a system whereby people can be
enslaved and starved, where money can be made scarce. The judgments of God
will bring this to pass.
Zephaniah 2
“Seek Ye The
Lord,
All Ye Meek Of The Earth.”
Let us turn now to the 2nd
chapter of Zephaniah, where we find something very interesting in view of
current events throughout the earth.
Verse 1 reads: “Gather
yourselves together, yea, gather together, 0 nation not desired...
Recall that in the original Old
Scriptures there were no chapter divisions, so this verse immediately
follows verse 18 of Chapter 1. As we read in the margin, this verse speaks
of a people who have no shame, no feeling or regard for people in distress.
No matter how many home-owners these money powers foreclose upon, no matter
how many businesses or institutions they take over or how many banks they
are harming by tight money, they have no shame. No matter how many people go
without adequate food and clothing, no matter what happens to the aged or to
the youth, “we must have tight money and high interest.” This is satanic —
and God’s judgment is upon it.
Incidentally, the 5th chapter of
James brings out the same truth. Please remember the judgment is not upon
industrial capitalism. Industrial capitalism is a god-send and a blessing.
Zephaniah is prophesying against financial capitalism and the manipulators
of money.
Verse 2: “Before the
decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce
anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger come
upon you.” I have called your attention to this before, but I repeat it
again for emphasis. According to Bible prophecy, when God pours out His
judgment and wrath upon the antiChrist forces and World Communism, upon the
haters of the Lord Jesus Christ and those who are opposed to His kingdom
principles, then He also pours His Holy Spirit upon His kingdom people, the
Isaac sons.
Verse 3: “Seek ye the
LORD, all ye meek of the earth . . . .“ There are millions of people in this
nation who are meek and humble, who desire only to live and let live. And
God does make a difference —He did in the days of Noah and Lot, and thank
God He will again. So He admonishes the meek to “Seek ye the LORD.” Seeking
the Lord simply means to seek His Word. The only place one can find God and
the will of God is in His Word. One does not walk around and try to seek the
Lord physically — we seek Him when we turn to His Word.
"... which have wrought his
judgment (those who desire the judgments of God pertaining to the nation;
that is, a scriptural, righteous civil administration); seek righteousness,
seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.”
This is the teaching of Bible prophecy, of the Apostles and of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord said, “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be
also in the days of the Son of man.” Who were destroyed in the days of Noah?
Were Noah and his family destroyed? No the wicked were destroyed and taken
away.
What happened when God poured
judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah? Was Lot destroyed? No, Lot remained and
lived through the destruction; he was protected and spared. The wicked were
destroyed, and so it will be at the end of this age.
Zephaniah 3
“My Determination Is
To Gather The Nations.”
In the first several verses of
chapter 3 the prophet Zephaniah sees the corruption, the oppression, the
wickedness and the evil in Christendom in this end time.
Verse 1 reads: “Woe to
her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!” A city here does
not refer merely to some local city — it refers to the religious, political
and economic systems. When he speaks of “her” he is speaking to a nation and
people who are officially Christian.
Verse 2: “She obeyed not
the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she
drew not near to her God.” This is the condition of Christendom as a whole.
We have not received correction in spite of all the judgment that has been
poured upon us. Neither have we drawn near to the Lord nor turned to His
Word.
Verse 3: “Her princes
within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not
the bones tilt the morrow.” In other words, the condemnation is upon the
leadership. God does not condemn the people but rather the leadership in
Christendom. He condemns the princes and the judges for the iniquity,
oppression and wickedness in the realm of religion, politics and economics.
Verse 4: “Her prophets
(that is, the clergy or preachers) are light and treacherous persons: (They
are neither students of Bible prophecy nor diligent men in the Word of God)
her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the
law.” And certainly this generation of preachers has done violence to the
law by teaching that there is no national message and that God’s laws set
forth through Moses for civil administration are not for us today. Just the
opposite is true — they were given primarily for us today.
We read in verse 6 as God speaks
through the prophet, “I have cut off the nations... .“ Scores of nations in
our lifetime have actually been cut off. Their rulers, dynasties and
administrators have been overthrown as the Communists have taken over one
nation after the other.
Continuing with this verse we
read: “their towers are desolate . . . .“ In other words, their defenses
crumbled; they were not adequate. Nation after nation has found itself
unable to stand against the hammer and the sickle, God's judgment upon the
wickedness and corruption in Christendom today.
The verse further says, “I made
their streets waste... .“ And He certainly did. One thinks of the cities of
Germany and Great Britain and other nations — they certainly were made waste
and desolate and were destroyed.
Verse 7: “I said, Surely
thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should
not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and
corrupted all their doings.”
This has been our reaction. In
spite of Korea and Vietnam, in spite of all the judgments, distress, anxiety
and trouble that the nations of Christendom are in, we are not receiving
instruction. We are not turning to God; we do not see the hand of God; we do
not see His purpose because we will not study the Scriptures in the light of
what is taking place, in the light of Bible history and prophecy.
In view of all of this, the
Almighty declares in verse 8: “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the
LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to
gather the nations.. . .“ This, my friend, is what the Almighty is doing and
what He has already largely accomplished. He has gathered representatives
from over 100 nations here in this great kingdom nation. Their strategy and
design is to take over the United States of America, but the strategy and
design of the Almighty is to bring them together for a dreadful and terrible
judgment.
This same thought is brought out
in Mathew 25, where the judgment of the nations is foretold. The Lord
gathers the nations and then separates the sheep from the goats, the left
from the right. He separates the nations who have fed and helped those in
distress and need, and He tells these people to go into the kingdom.
Continuing with verse 8
in Zephaniah 3: “...that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine
indignation even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured
(or cleansed) with the fire of my jealousy.” As the Lord has gathered the
nations, we find the world divided into two great kingdoms: (1) the kingdoms
under Communism and heathendom and (2) the nations under Christendom. These
are the two great kingdoms.
Please rid yourself of the idea
that some antichrist will come and take over the kingdom of the Lord. This,
my friend, is not true — it is not the teaching of the Scriptures. The
antichrists, thank God, have had their day and we are now moving into the
day of the Lord when He gathers the nations to pour upon them ‘‘all ‘His’
fierce anger.~~
Beginning in verse 9 we
have the contrast between God’s dealing with the nations of Communism and
heathendom and His dealing with His covenant kingdom people. As we found in
Joel (and as brought out also in Isaiah, Jeremiah and the other prophets) at
the time of the judgment upon the anti-Christ camp, God pours His Holy
Spirit upon His Israel people. It will be the greatest outpouring of the
Holy Spirit this old world has ever seen.
Verse 9: “For then will I
turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of
the LORD, to serve him with one consent.” One of the things God will do for
His people is to give them a pure or common language. It is phenomenal the
way the English language has now become the universal language. Note that
the purpose is “that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve
him with one consent.” The Lord has already begun to make English the common
language throughout the earth in order that the truth and light of the
gospel of the kingdom might go out to all nations of the earth.
Verse 10: “From beyond
the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed,
shall bring mine offering.” This is a tremendous scripture with a startling
revelation. There are three identification marks here that identify the
United States of America as the nation that Zephaniah foresaw.
First of all, we have the phrase
“From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.” Standing where the prophet stood as he
looked beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, his gaze would fall upon the United
States of America in the region of North and South Carolina.
Next the people are called “my
suppliants” by the Lord Almighty. This is the only nation in at least 2500
years that was established by people who were suppliants, people who prayed.
The Pilgrims, the founding fathers, the Puritans were people of prayer. They
prayed before they left the Mayflower; and as they landed on our shores, the
first thing they did was to pray.
The third identification phrase
is “even the daughter of my dispersed.” This, too, is very meaningful
because the people of this nation are the descendants of the Israel people
who were dispersed. Ten-tribed Israel, the Isaac sons of the northern
kingdom, were dispersed into Europe. They became the Germanic tribes, moving
on into Britain, Scandinavia, Scotland, France, etc. They became the peoples
of Christendom.
What does the prophet mean when
he says, “they shall bring mine offering”? Perhaps it is the same prophecy
that we have in Isaiah 18:7 where we read, “ln that time shall the present
be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled.
I believe the prophets saw in
vision that this nation (located beyond the rivers of Ethiopia and founded
by praying men and women, by the descendants of the people of Europe) would
do something that no other nation in all history has done. It has spent
billions of dollars as an offering, as a gift to people in distress all over
the world.
It is a phenomenal thing. Every
other great world power has used its power to demand tribute and to enslave
and oppress people. We have spent billions of dollars to do just the
opposite. Why? We are the beginning of the new order of the ages. We as a
nation certainly have not had our cleansing nor our baptism of fire; but we
are on our way.
Look at the next verse (11):
“In that day (the great and dreadful day of the Lord) shalt thou not be
ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for
then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy
pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.”
The expression “them that
rejoice in thy pride” is a strange one. What does it mean? It means that the
subversives, corrupters and anti-Christ forces who appeal to pride and
carnality and to the lower instincts of a human being will be taken out of
our midst. There will be a real cleansing in this nation, as set forth in
the kingdom parables and in the prophecies of Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel.
It is coming! The pendulum will swing just as far in the positive direction
as it has swung in the evil, negative direction.
Verse 12: “I will also
leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people... .“ We are already
an afflicted and poor people. Consider your indebtedness. Consider the
indebtedness of this whole nation. Consider the deficit spending where we
are actually mortgaging and selling into bondage our children in order to
have a medium of exchange. As a people we have not yet had sufficient
distress to cause us to turn to the Lord and to His Word. But we will.
The verse continues . . . and
they shall trust in the name of the LORD.” We will shortly discover that we
have nothing else in which to trust. We will realize we have been betrayed
to the extent that we are completely disarmed and helpless before our
enemies. That discovery will be God’s opportunity to give us and the whole
world a demonstration of His own power and reality.
Psalm 2 tells us that God sits
in the heavens and laughs. Why do you suppose He laughs at what is going on?
Simply because what the Communists are doing to us will drive us to our God.
And when we turn to our God, we will see the end of World Communism and of
all the anti-Christ forces.
Verse 13: “The remnant of
Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful
tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none
shall make them afraid.”
“The remnant” refers to the
people who are left, those who survive this ordeal and those who are not
deported nor executed (and there will be many executions and deportations
from this nation when the cleansing of the kingdom comes). We will no longer
be troubled with all the lying propaganda now being poured upon us.
Starting with verse 14 of
this third chapter of Zephaniah we come to one of the most beautiful and
precious portions of Scripture in the entire Bible. And it is addressed to
our nation, the United States of America. If our nation were going to be
destroyed and taken over and if the enemy were going to communize and
socialize us, these next several verses would make very little sense. Thank
God this will not be the case.
Verse 14: “Sing, 0
daughter of Zion (the United States is the daughter of Zion); shout, 0
Israel (this nation is the land of Israel’s regathering); be glad and
rejoice with all the heart, 0 daughter of Jerusalem.” Why does this verse
speak of the United States as the “daughter of Zion” and the “daughter of
Jerusalem”? The answer is very plain and simple when one knows Bible
history. And I must mention that those who do not know Bible history cannot
possibly understand Bible prophecy.
This nation is spoken of as the
“daughter of Zion” because Zion was David’s civil headquarters. Our nation
has patterned its civil administration
closer to that of King David than any other nation in 2500 years.
And we are spoken of as the
“daughter of Jerusalem” because David’s religious center was in Jerusalem.
David was a believer in Christ; he was a Christian and had the joy of
salvation. Our nation is a Christian nation. All of the citizens are not
born-again believers, but neither were they all born-again believers in the
days of Moses and Joshua. The religion of the nation, however, is Christian;
and our civil laws and the Constitution come closer to the laws of God than
those of any other nation since the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. This 14th
verse quoted above tells us we are to sing, to be glad and to rejoice.
The reason is given in verse
15: “The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine
enemy .. . .“ This is the great cleansing that will come to the United
States of America. The awakening will come when we begin to understand the
Gospel of the Kingdom and the national message of the Bible.
"..... the king of Israel, even
the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.” The
Lord by His Spirit has been in the midst of this great, phenomenal nation.
His blessings are here (spiritually, materially and physically) more than in
all nations of history combined. This, my friend, is the beginning of the
kingdom and of the restitution.
This Divine intervention and
deliverance is possible because Christ died not only for the personal
salvation of “whosoever will,” not only for the church, the body of Christ.
He died also for the redemption of Israel; and we here in this great land
are literally the regathering of the Israel people.
Before we leave the thought
brought out in verse 15 that “the LORD, is in the midst of thee,” let
me call your attention to verse 5 in Haggai chapter 2:
“According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt
(and we came out of Egypt as Isaac Sons hundreds of years before there were
any Jewish people) so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.”
What was the covenant that God
made with the Isaac sons, our forefathers, when they came out of Egypt? Let
me quote from Exodus 29:45 and 46:
“And I will dwell among the
children of Israel, and will be their God.
“And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth
out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the
LORD their God.”
Do you see any significance in
these verses? The Anglo-Saxon people have recognized, honored and worshiped
the true and living God. What is the reason? As God covenanted, His Spirit
has been in the midst of the Isaac sons, the Anglo-Saxon people, more than
in any other people all through history —in fact, we have had more of the
light and illumination that comes from the Spirit of God than all other
peoples of history combined.
Let me give one more reference
relative to the Spirit of God dwelling in the midst of the Isaac sons.
I Kings 6:11,13: “And the word
of the LORD came to Solomon, Saying . . . And I will dwell among the
children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”
Let us now go back to Zephaniah
3 verse 16: “In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem (and this is
not the old literal city in Palestine but the new Jerusalem right here in
this great American wilderness), Fear thou not: and to Zion (the United
States), Let not thine hands be slack.” We are spending billions of dollars
and sacrificing thousands of our best young men in an effort to maintain
peace and order throughout the earth, but we are not acting in harmony with
the Word.
The Almighty speaks further to
us in verse 17: “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: he will
save. . . .“ This is not personal salvation; this is the deliverance of a
nation that is threatened as we are.
".... he will rejoice over thee
with joy; he will rest in his love, lie will joy over thee with singing.”
This is beautiful. In verse 14 we are told as a people to sing, to be glad
and rejoice. And in this verse we are told that God Himself will have joy
and rejoicing over what He will do and what He has already done in this
great nation.
Here is God’s promise in verse
18: “1 will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are
of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.” There will be much sorrow
before the final showdown is over. What is the “solemn assembly” spoken of
here? Perhaps it is a scriptural United Nations Organization. Bible prophecy
makes it very plain that the Isaac Sons will come together into a solemn
assembly as we come up to the end of this age.
Verse 19: “Behold, at
that time I will undo all that afflict thee . . . .“ This short sentence
speaks volumes. We are being afflicted not only by the Communists throughout
the world but by satanic forces in our own nation. These enemies will have
an ‘‘undoing.’’
Reading on: “ . . . and I will
save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get
them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.” The
prophet Zephaniah foresaw in his vision and revelation the shame, the
insults and accusations hurled against this nation from all over the world.
But he notes that this situation will be changed to “praise and fame in
every land.”
The prophet closes with this
marvelous promise from the Almighty in verse 20: “At that time will I
bring you again, even in the time that I gather you:
for I will make you a name and a
praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity
(fortunes) before your eyes, saith the LORD.”
by the late
C. O.
S t a d s k l e v
Written about 1959 |