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Zephaniah
The Day of the Lord
As we have been studying the Prophets, we must admit something. All this talk of judgment is quite a downer! I’ve been immersed in the Prophets for a month now, and I can tell you: When you get serious about studying this stuff and applying it, you can get depressed. But there is another feeling I get as well: no matter how depressing the message of judgment becomes, it is never the final word of God to His People. Sure, He displays His justice in all its wrath on sin, but He never leaves us there: He always gives us HOPE! And that hope is by the way of His Son, Jesus Christ.
So, this morning, we will look at the prophet Zephaniah. You can tell that this is an obscure book of the Bible, for most of us (if we are truthful) probably cannot say what Zephaniah is about, and many of us have difficulty finding Zephaniah in our Bibles! It’s there, I assure you. Hidden in the pages of the 12 Minor Prophets, at the end of the Old Testament. Zephaniah is number 9 of those 12 small books of the Bible. Just 3 chapters, but He is there. Just 3 chapters, and since “all Scripture is inspired by God,” (2 Tim. 3:16), these chapters have something huge to tell us. Just because he is a “Minor Prophet” does not mean his message is “minor” in any way. The Minor Prophets are called that just because their writings are so much shorter than the “Major Prophets”—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Their message is just as much from God. And Zephaniah, as obscure as he seems to us, deserves our full-fledged attention!
What is his message? It is one that is echoed by many of the prophets. Judgment, the need for repentance, and salvation from God. The reason Zephaniah is on our Bibles is to explain God’s big plan for bringing a people together in unity and loving relationship with each other and (most of all) with Him as their God. You and I need to understand God’s heart toward sin and rebellion against him. We need to hear God’s plea for us to repent. And (OH! DO WE NEED THIS!) we need to hear God’s plan to bring us back to himself in a wonderful place of relationship and love.
It’s all there in Zephaniah! Let’s look at what He was told by God to say.
1. The Judgment of All Peoples (1:2-18; 2:4-3:8)
God’s judgment does not start with those people “out there”—those “pagans,” those “heathens” who do not know God. No. God’s words of judgment comes first to the people who are called “God’s People”—the special people who are in a covenant relationship with the One True God—Yahweh.
These are terrible words of judgment. These words are not meant to make us feel good. No warm fuzzies here—just God’s attitude toward sin. Look at chapter 1, verses 4-6.
4 “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—
5 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,
6 those who turn back from following the LORD
and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him. (Zephaniah 1:4-6)
Why is God so upset? Because these people, who claim to love God, are more in love with other things.
There is an Irish Folk song that the Clancey Brothers performed.
“There was an old woman in Wexford,
In Wexford town did dwell;
She loved her husband dearly,
But another man twice as well.”
This is the case of many in Zephaniah’s day of their love for God. It is the case in our day as well. People profess to love God. They even proclaim it loudly that they “love Jesus.” But in reality, they love others and other things more. They love their money more than they love God. They love their sex lives more than they love God. They love their comfort more than they love God. They love their reputation more than they love God—so they simply do not live like they should, they simply do not share their faith as they should.
Zephaniah points out that this is idolatry—making a god out of anything but God. However, idolatry may be subtle—for they “bow down and swear by the LORD” (end of verse 5). What could be wrong with that? Well look at the end of the verse: “and who also swear by Molech.” Molech was the god of the Ammonites. These so-called “People of Yahweh” would bow to Yahweh, but also to Molech.
But God is God. The Ten Commandments says, “You shall have no other gods before me”
(Exodus 20:3). We hear a lot today about taking the best of Christianity and adding the best of Islam or Buddhism or New Age teachings to it, you know, just to round it out. Wait a minute, is this not exactly what God is condemning people for here in Zephaniah? Yes!
Our situation is very much the same as it was in Zephaniah’s day. The greatest command, both back then and today, is the same: Jesus said it, so I believe
it—“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). Anything else is an offense to God and merits His judgment.
This Judgment will come in the form of what Zephaniah (and the entire Bible) calls “The Day of the Lord.”
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.
8 On the Day of the LORD’s sacrifice
I will punish the princes
and the king’s sons
and all those clad
in foreign clothes.
9 On that Day I will punish
all who avoid stepping on the threshold,
who fill the temple of their gods
with violence and deceit. (Zephaniah 1:7-9)
The “Day of the Lord” is that time when God will ultimately reveal His sovereignty over human powers and human existence. The word “Day” in Hebrew,
yom, is the fifth most frequent used noun in the Old Testament and is used with a variety of meanings: it can mean the time of daylight from sunrise to sunset (Gen. 1:14; 3:8; 8:22; Amos 5:8); a 24-hour period (Gen. 1:5; Num. 7:12, 18; Hag. 1:15); a general expression for “time” without specific limits (Gen. 2:4; Ps. 102:3; Isa. 7:17); or the period of a specific event (Isa. 9:3; Jer. 32:31; Ezek. 1:28). Therefore, the “Day of the Lord” does not in itself designate the time perspective
of the event, but the event itself.
The prophets’ language of the Day of the Lord is aimed at warning people of the danger of trust in traditional religion without commitment to God and to His way of life. It is that point in time in which God will ultimately reveal His control of history, of time, of His people, and of all people. The New Testament writers explained this expression—it points to Christ’s final victory and the final judgment of all sinners. They point to one major event:
the end time when Christ will return for the final judgment and establishes His eternal kingdom.
Zephaniah speaks clearly to this event. And he makes it clear that judgment is not just for the Israelites. Yahweh, the God of Israel, is the One True God, the Sovereign over
all peoples and nations. In chapter 2, we see God’s judgment going in all directions.
2:4-7 Philistia to the West.
Amos tells us that they took slaves from whole communities and sold them to neighboring countries for profit.
2:8-11 Ammon and Moab to the East.
Amos tells us that they killed pregnant women and burned the bones of the king of Edom to insult one of that country’s heroes.
2:12 Cush to the South.
Isaiah tells us that the Cushites were aggressive and highly feared.
2:13-15 Assyria to the North.
Nahum tells us that the Assyrians (and their capital city of Nineveh) were full of idolatry, violence, and sorceries. Zephaniah, here in 2:15 quotes their attitude:
“She said to herself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’” This is the boast in most secular cultures (especially ours). “I am the master of my soul; I am the captain of my fate. I do not need a god. I do not need anybody.”
God is the God of all nations—to the west, to the east, to the south, to the north. None is beyond answering for their lives before a just and righteous God. It matters not if they have their own religions. It matters not if they have done some good, if they have done some evil. For God sees the evil and says that we all must answer for it. If he does not, then God would not be just.
Is this only an Old Testament teaching? Isn’t the God of the New Testament different? Nope! Check out the first three chapters of Romans!
"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
(Romans 1:18-20)
Are people “off the hook” for their sins because they live in places that have not heard the name of God—Yahweh the Father and Jesus the Son? No. People are without excuse, for we all are wicked—every single one of us.
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
(Romans 3:10-12)
All people will face judgment on the Day of the Lord.
“Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD,
“for the Day I will stand up to testify.
I have decided to assemble the nations,
to gather the kingdoms
and to pour out my wrath on them—
all my fierce anger.
The whole world will be consumed
by the fire of my jealous anger.” (Zephaniah 3:8)
All people—to the west, to the east, to the south, to the north—are accountable before God. And especially the people at the center—the people in the city of Jerusalem.
1 Woe to the city of oppressors,
rebellious and defiled!
2 She obeys no one,
she accepts no correction.
She does not trust in the LORD,
she does not draw near to her God. (Zephaniah 3:1-2)
The judgment of God goes out to all the nations, but it ends where it began: right there in “Sin City”—Jerusalem. They refuse to respond to God, they misuse their power and position, they are shameless, they are persistent in their rebelliousness.
It’s not as if God has not warned them! He has told them of…
2. The Need for Repentance (2:1-3)
1 Gather together, gather together,
O shameful nation,
2 before the appointed time arrives
and that day sweeps on like chaff,
before the fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you,
before the day of the LORD’S wrath comes upon you.
3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,
you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you will be sheltered
on the day of the LORD’S anger. (Zephaniah
2:1-3)
God has provided the way out of his wrath. It is repentance. They are to gather together BEFORE (three times repeated!) the Day of the Lord! They are to gather together and SEEK (three times repeated!)
The Lord, righteousness, and humility!
Repentance takes a humble heart. It takes saying, “I am not all that. I am
not able to be righteous on my own. I am not God. I submit to God.
He is God, and I desire to be one of his children. I will humbly obey
Him, serve Him, and love Him and Him alone. I will NOT have other gods before Him. I willingly bow before Him as the Lord of my life.” That takes
humility! Do you have that kind of humility?
God says that if they gather together and seek Him in humility, “perhaps” they will be guarded on that terrible Day of the Lord. They did not, and so what does God owe them? NOTHING! They deserve what’s comin’ to them. End of story! Let’s go home.
Not quite.
This same God who is perfectly just, is also perfectly merciful. He understands the people’s inability to “gather” and to seek Him. So, He will do what they cannot do for themselves.
3. The Hope of Salvation (3:9-20)
Here is the amazing and wonderful thing about the “Day of the Lord:”
It is both the Day of God’s judgment,
And it is the Day of God’s
mercy.
“Then will I purify the lips of the peoples,
that all of them may call on the name of the LORD
and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
(Zephaniah 3:9)
Since “the peoples” (that is, people from all those nations from all over the earth), cannot purify themselves, God (“I”) will purify them!
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush
my worshipers, my scattered people,
will bring me offerings.
11 On that day you will not be put to shame
for all the wrongs you have done to me,
because I will remove from this city
those who rejoice in their pride.
Never again will you be haughty
on my holy hill.
(Zephaniah 3:10-11)
Jerusalem, what was once “Sin City,” will be the place where all the peoples will bring God offerings. God will supernaturally remove sin from this new Jerusalem.
19 At that time I will deal
with all who oppressed you;
I will rescue the lame
and gather those who have been scattered.
I will give them praise and honor
in every land where they were put to shame.
20 At that time I will gather you;
at that time I will bring you home.
I will give you honor and praise
among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes
before your very eyes,”
says the LORD. (Zephaniah 3:19-20)
The sinning people could not and did not gather to seek God in humility. So here we have God doing supernaturally what they could not do naturally. They could not gather, so god says,
“I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered.”
God says, “At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home.”
That is where they belonged all along. Home. Not just the Israelites, but all people of every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. We all belong home with the One True God in his Holy City, the New Jerusalem.
You see, Zephaniah is pointing to our future here. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we unite as One Humanity under the banner of Christ. We gather together, whether here in Canton, Ohio or in
Zeragoza, Spain, or Timbuktu—to submit to the Kingdom of God with Christ as our King. It does not matter anymore what nation we are in, or whether we are Jew or Gentile (see Ephesians 2:11-16).
And what we are experiencing now in part will come to perfection in the coming Day of the Lord. That will be both a day of
judgment and a day of mercy. Armageddon is coming—and woe to those who have rejected the path to relationship with God provided by his grace in Jesus Christ!
For in the coming Day of the Lord, those with faith in Christ will be gathered together. John the Apostle was given the privilege of seeing into the future at this phenomenal event:
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
(Revelation 7:9-10)
God is going to gather these people to live in a new place.
And, amazingly, what is the name of this place?
The New Jerusalem! The old Jerusalem was destroyed for its sin. That happened in AD 70, when the Roman general Titus destroyed the city, just as Jesus had predicted.
But the prophecy of Zephaniah spoke of a renewed Jerusalem. He pointed to more than the physical city—he spoke of the spiritual city in which we will dwell with God forever. And it is incredible to see that the Bible ends with the vision given to John of this actually happening in the future!
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." (Revelation 21:1-3)
It has always been God’s greatest desire to dwell with his beloved people. He will do it in perfection someday—in the New Jerusalem. It will be at that time that “They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
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