Zephaniah 1:1-2:3 Comments by Stephen Ricker
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The Coming of the Day of the Lord
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Memory Verse: 1:18
Questions
Introduction
Outline
OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS TIMELINE
ISRAEL'S HISTORY
A LIST OF MAJOR EVENTS FROM BABYLON TIMES TO ROMAN OCCUPATION OF JUDAH
A LIST OF ISRAEL'S KINGS AND PROPHETS
A MAP OF JERUSALEM
A MAP OF ASSYRIA
A MAP OF BABYLON
MAPS OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOM OF ISRAEL

I. Title (1:1-3)

* See a carving of Babylonian soldiers on horses to the right.

Babylonian Soldiers on Horses

>1. Who did the word of the Lord come to and when?

* 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:"

* "The word of the LORD" -The prophets needed to distinguish their wordings were from the Lord because there were many false prophets and prophets of other gods and idols.

* "The word of the LORD that came to" -The Lord gave messages to his prophets. Just how they came to them is seldom noted. Since the prophets were "carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21) those who are now full of the Spirit can experience that same thing. Jesus said, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26)

* Zephaniah received and delivered these words during the reign of Josiah, the king of Judah. These are several short messages concerning the coming Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is a term meaning the time when God clearly and decisively acts on a grand scale in nations and peoples lives with judgement for the guilty and salvation by grace for his people, the remnant survivors.

The Lord God's judgement was coming "because they have sinned against the LORD."

Josiah and some faithful accepted these messages and conducted religious reform. Their sin was spiritual adultery, neither hot nor cold relations with God. The sin is spiritual duplicity. "Those who bow down and swear by the Lord, and who also swear by Molek, those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him."

Look at my heart. Am I guilty of duplicity? Do I ask the Holy Spirit to show me my motives when I pray and meditate? Do I pray and meditate at all? Or sincerely? Do I fast reverently seeking the Lord and his will for me?

Lord search my heart and reveal my errors and sins so I can stop and correct what is needed. Grant me the courage to change the things I can change and acceptance of the things that I cannot. Spirit of God guide me and change any duplicity in me.

* "Zephaniah" -He is believed to be of the royal line of Judah. Unlike other prophets the book open with his linage, the fourth generation descendant of Hezekiah. Where Micah's prophecies were from the common people's point of view, Zephaniah's prophecies concern the court in Jerusalem. See the introduction for more information.

* "Hezekiah" -The Bible contains two persons with the name Hezekiah; the king of Judah (2 Kings 18:1-20:21; and 2 Chronicles 28:27-32:33) and one of those who returned from exile. (Ezra 2:16; Nehemiah 10:17) Since Zephaniah is the only prophet to mention his linage to this extent and stops at the only Hezekiah of the time leads many to believe that Zephaniah was the descendant of King Hezekiah.

* "during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah" -Josiah reigned from 640-609 B.C. He was eight years old when he became king. The elders and the high priest ruled the country until he was old enough to do so. He was a righteous king in the eyes of God. During his reign the book of the law was found. The repentance that took place during his reign was to little, to late. First Judah would fall to Egypt in 609 B.c., then to Babylon in 604 B.C. (2 Kings 22:1-23:30; and 2 Chronicles 33:35-35:27) See introduction for more information.

>What shocking word was revealed in verses 2 and 3?

* Zephaniah 1:2-3 "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."

* "sweep away everything from the face of the earth" -The Lord said this in the days of Noah concerning the coming flood. (Genesis 6:7, 7:4, 23)

* Since the Lord said he would not flood the earth after the flood, this is only talking about the judgement of fire (18, 3:8)

Earth Fire

>How might Josiah, Judah's king receive this message?

* Josiah was a righteous king as stated above. He was seeking the Lord. Prophets before his lifetime had spoke of Babylon coming to be a judgement against Judah. Zephaniah's announcement in verses 2 and 3 concerned more than the Babylonian coming to power through force and Jerusalem's burning. But how would the king know it? The king and all of Judah must have been shocked that even though in their life they were trying to serve the Lord, the earth would still be cleansed in a similar way it was in the time of Noah.

* Some people have a hard time understanding how a loving God can terminate the life of so many people, including children. "Why not give them a chance?" they ask. First, God is sovereign. "Is that just? It that right?" they ask. "Yes," is the answer.

"What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

"One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?

"Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory-- even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?" (Romans 9:14-24)

Some may not understand this. Consider this, "No one is righteous. No one seeks God. All have sinned and fall short of the glory (goal) of God." So is God to blame? God does not owe anyone anything. God does not need anything from anyone. If all go their own way rejecting God's way, if they push him out of their life by sin and rebellion, then is God to blame when he lets them have what they seek? He does not want anyone to continue in sin and thus be under his wrath. He says to all, "Come, let's reason together." Not only that, but through his Son, Jesus the Messiah he made it possible for us to come to him.

Sin makes us dirty through and through. God is willing and able to take away all our sin. He did this through Jesus, who took the wrath that we should receive because of our sins. Jesus did this while on the cross. God does not force this gift of purification and forgiveness onto us. Rather he wants us to accept the gift by faith. Thus faith in God's Son is a reciprocal of his love.

The opposite of wrath is love. What happens if people reject this gift of love, this offer of a love relationship with God through his One and only Son, Jesus? He says here, "I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth... The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of the earth." Sin will be removed one way or another. Sin can be removed in only one of two ways; through the blood of Jesus, or through the wrath to come. You have a choice; leave his wrath and enter into a love relationship with Jesus, or remain in wrath and be removed from the face of the earth.

>What does it tell us?

* God is just and a judgement is coming though we wait for it.

Darius the Persian King

II. Against Judah (1:4-13)

>2. What did the prophecy say about God's chosen nation?

* Zephaniah 1:4 "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"

* "against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem" -Judgement starts with the Jews. (Romans 2:9-10) The Lord had called Israel (Judah is only one of the twelve tribes) to be his chosen nation. He made a contract of love with them. They accepted it. The Lord God lived up to his part of the contract generation after generation. Generation after generation most did not keep up their part of the contract.

The northern tribes had already been judged by Zephaniah's time. Now the Lord God was going to enact the part of the contract where the southern tribes, Judah would be punished. Like Israel they too would be sent into exile.

Verses 4-13 are about the immediate judgement on Judah. Exodus 15:26 says, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." Numbers 33:55-56 says, "But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them." Deuteronomy 28:15, 36-36, 45-50 state, "However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you... The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you... All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young."

* "Baal" -Baal occurs in the Old Testament as a noun meaning, lord, owner, possessor, or husband." Baal was the supreme male deity of the Phoenician and Canaanite nations. In the Ras Shamra inscriptions he is known as the son of Dagon and the heir to the throne of El (the root word for God). Baal was a fertility-god whose domain was in the sky, from where he fertilized the land and thus controlled nature. Baal worship had similarities to the worship of the Lord, the God of Israel. One of the major difference between Baal ideology and the Bible was that Baal did nothing about sin, neither condemn sin or make a way to take away sin.

* The legal points of the covenant (contract) with Israel was clear. After generations of trying to woo them to him and grace he would now enact the clauses of curses.

Baal and Ashraroth

* See artifacts of Ashraroth (left) and Baal (right) to the right. Clay figures such as these, depicting Ashraroth (Astarte) the naked goddesses of fertility are frequently referred to in the Bible, have been found by archaeologists all over Palestine. The fact that they occur in such numbers in the layers dating from Israelite times confirms all that the Bible has to say about the danger of idolatry spreading through the whole people. The noticeable accentuation of sexual characteristics not only makes it clear what was the nature of these Canaanite cults, but also explains why the prophets thundered against them with all the power at their command and denounced them as a menace to society. The discovery of such statuettes also helps us to see the point of many frequently misunderstood passages in the Old Testament. Baal was also one of the gods whose worship was forbidden. (The Bible as History in Pictures, Werner Keller)

>What dual belief did they profess?

* Zephaniah 1:5-6 "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."

* "starry host" -Some ancient cultures believed that the stars dictated their lives. Even today some people look to the stars for guidance. This belief stems from an error in understanding. The Lord did place lights in the sky as signs. (Genesis 1:14) However, rather than looking to the one who created them, sinful man decides to figure out what the stars, moon, and sun are telling them. Without the Holy Spirit this is completely impossible.

* "Molech" -Molech is a transliteration of the Hebrew word related to word for "king" but describing a foreign god or a practice related to foreign worship. The meaning of "Molech" is debated. One of the practices of the worship of Molech was to offer one's children, especially the firstborn son to Molech as a live fiery sacrifice, a practice forbidden by the law (covenant). (Lev. 18:21)

* "turn back from following the LORD" -The first reason for false religion. Israel and Judah claimed the promises of the Bible without following the Lord.

* "neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him" -The second reason for false religion. Israel and Judah claimed the promises of the Bible while not seeking the Lord.

>What did Jesus have to say about this? (Matt. 7:21-23)

* Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"

* James 2:19 "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder."

* Throughout the two thousand years since Jesus ascended into heaven many people have claimed to be Christian and yet do not follow Jesus nor seek him. Today those who were only pretenders, even those who were sincere in religion have fallen away from truth, stop attending churches, and do whatever they think is right. Few know the Bible, few study the Bible, and few read the Bible. No wander sin and sorry is so common. This is a sign that judgment is coming, just as it was in Zephaniah's day.

>3. What is the day of the Lord? (7a)

* Zephaniah 1:7a "Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near."

* "Be silent before" -The KJV translate this "hold thy peace". Judah, the nation the Lord is addressing in these verses will not speak for they will be full of awe and respect when they are before the Lord's judgment. The time frame of the sentence, the day of the Lord is two fold; the Babylonian exile and Jesus' second coming. At that time they will not say anything, they will not speak. He will judge according to what they did. When asked if a few are going to be saved Jesus taught about the narrow door. In conclusion he said, "Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!' There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last." (Luke 13:26-30) In the parable of the net he concluded, "This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:49-50) See also Matthew 13:40-43, 22:11-13, 24:50-51, 25:29-30.

* "the Sovereign Lord" -Sovereign in Hebrew is Adonia. Lord in Hebrew is YHWH. In regard to the divine name YHWH, commonly referred to as the Tetragrammaton, the translators (of the NIV) adopted the device used in most English versions of rendering that name as "LORD" in all capital letters to distinguish it from Adonai, another Hebrew word rendered "Lord," for which small letters are used. Whenever the two names stand together in the Old Testament as a compound name of God, they are rendered "Sovereign LORD" in the NIV. (NIV Study Bible) The KJV uses "Lord GOD" when they are together.

* "the day of the Lord" -"In the last days" and "in that day" and "in the day of the Lord" all referred to the future from the Old Testament prophets' point of view. They all referred to events concerning Jesus first and second coming. The day of the Lord is the time when God reveals His sovereignty over human powers and human existence.

* "the last days" -In Hebrew this is "aharit yom". "Aharit" is usually translated "end", "latter", or "last". Zephaniah's main theme is the day of the Lord, repeated many times in his small book.

* The Old Testament prophets often spoke of "The day of the Lord" as the time when God reveals His sovereignty over human powers and human existence. For example "The day of the Lord" is the dominant theme of Joel. Besides Joel six other Old Testament prophets (Isaiah 13:6,9; Ezekiel 13:5, 30:3; Amos 5:18,20; Obadiah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:7,14; Malachi 4:5; perhaps Zechariah 14:1 too) uses the term "the day of the Lord". Sometimes the prophets of Israel and Judah abbreviated it to "that day". It was familiar to their audience, a term by which the audience expected light and salvation (Amos 5:18), but the prophets painted it as a day of darkness and judgment (Isaiah 2:10-22; 13:6,9; Joel 1:15; 2:1-11,31; 3:14-15; Amos 5:20; Zephaniah 1:7-8,14-18; Malachi 4:5). The Old Testament language of the day of the Lord is aimed at warning sinners among God's people of the danger of trusting in traditional religion without commitment to God and to His way of life. It is language that could be aimed at judging Israel or that could be used to promise deliverance from evil enemies (Isaiah 13:6,9; Ezekiel 30:3; Obadiah 15). The day of the Lord is thus a point in time in which God displays His sovereign initiative to reveal His control of history, of time, of His people, and of all people.

* The apostles Peter and Paul also used the term "day of the Lord" (in place of "Lord" they also put "God" and "Lord Jesus"). (Acts 2:20; and 1 Corinthians 1:8, 5:5; and 2 Corinthians 1:14; and 1 Thessalonians 5:2; and 2 Thessalonians 2:2; and 2 Peter 3:10-12)

* The apostles used the terms "last times" and "last days" referring to the whole period introduced by Jesus' first coming. (John 11:24; Jude 1:17-18; Acts 15:16-18; Hebrews 9:36; and 2 Peter 3:3) These days are last in comparison to Old Testament days, which were preliminary and preparatory. (Romans 16:25-26; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:26) Also, the Christian era is the time of the beginnings of prophetic fulfillment. (1 Corinthians 10:11) The "days" can be interpreted as "ages" (Matthew 12:39, 13:39-40, 49, 24:3, 28:20; Ephesians 1:21, 2:7; and 1 Timothy 6:19; Titus 2:12; Jude 1:25) (periods of time) that reflect the six days of creation with the seventh day as a day of rest. Indeed the apostles very clearly call the one thousand year reign of Jesus as "the Lord's Sabbath" and "the day of rest". (Hebrews 4:1-11, 6:5; Revelation 14:13) Jesus himself invited us to his day of rest (Matthew 11:19; Luke 18:30, 20:34-36) and to work now and rest in the future (John 9:4). Since this is the time just before the Sabbath rest, then we are in the sixth day, the time when man and woman (Adam and Eve) were created. The Lord God Almighty is called the "King of the ages". (Revelation 15:3)

* Blackstone wrote in his book Jesus is Coming "The division of time into sevens, or weeks, permeates the Scriptures. A fundamental enactment of the Mosaic Law was the keeping of the Sabbath (Ex. 20:8). This was based upon God's great rest day in Genesis 2. Upon this is founded not only the week of days, but also the week of weeks leading to Pentecost (Lev. 23:15-16); the week of months, with the Atonement and seven days' feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month (Lev. 23:27-28); the week of years, ending with the Sabbatic year (Lev. 25:4); and the week of weeks of years, ending with the seventh Sabbatic year, and followed by the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:8-12)." He continues with more and quotes 2 Peter 3:8 then continues, "so we also have the great week of Millenniums. Six thousand-year days of labor and then the Millennium, or blessed seventh thousand-year of rest." He is not the first to see the significance.

* For more on this time period read the manuscript "The Believer's Future - Hope that Inspires" found on this site.

* Eschatology is the teaching concerning the last things in world history. The Greek word "eschatos" means "last" or "final." Accordingly, eschatology is the study of the things expected to occur at the end of history. This does not include what will happen after the Lord Jesus creates the new heaven and the new earth as described at the end of Revelation.

* "is near" -Babylon would conquer and deport Judah within Zephaniah's lifetime. So the immediate fulfillment of "the day of the Lord" was near. However, since "the day of the Lord" concerns Jesus' coming was it near? From man's point of view, no. Even in the apostles days the question was asked, "When will Jesus come to set up his kingdom?" Peter answered this way, "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." (2 Peter 3:8-10)

* Imminence is about being ready even though we don't know when Jesus will come, more than what most understand as the Christian meaning of the word.

* Habakkuk 2:2-3 "Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

* Jesus often told us the same thing in parables about his return; the nobleman who went to a far country, the servants given talents while their master is away, the ten virgins, etc. The letters of the apostles also address the timing of Jesus' return. Many who call themselves Christians believe in imminence, that is, that Jesus can return at any time since his ascension. Is this in line with Jesus' parables? And what of claim that the gospel must be preached in the whole world before he came again? This did not happen until recent years. Below is a quote from "The Church and the Tribulation" by Robert H. Gundry in chapter 3 under the heading "Expectation and Imminence".

* If the second coming could not have been imminent for those originally commanded to watch at the time they were so commanded, then the commanded expectancy could not have implied imminence of the event looked for. It then becomes unnecessary for us to regard Jesus' coming as imminent, for we have received no further and no different exhortations. In other words, if a delay in the Parousia of at least several years was compatible with expectancy in apostolic times, a delay for the several years of the tribulation is compatible with expectancy in current times. Jesus clearly indicates to the early disciples that His coming will be delayed for some time. The express purpose of the parable concerning the nobleman who went to a "far country" is that the disciples should not think "the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately" (Luke 19: 11-27). "While the bridegroom was delaying" also intimates delay (Matt. 25:5). In the parable of the talents, Jesus likens His return to the lord who "after a long time" came back from a far country (Matt. 25:19).

Jesus bases the parable of the servants on the presupposition of a delay in His coming, for without the delay no interval would have provided opportunity for the servants to display their true colors (Luke 12:41-48; Matt. 24:45-51). And when Jesus has the wicked servant say, "My master will be a long time in coming," He tacitly admits that there will be a delay. As the wicked servant's eternal judgment "with the unbelievers (or hypocrites)" shows, the contrast in servants distinguishes true disciples, whose characteristic it is to watch, from false disciples, whose characteristic it is not to watch. The necessary delay made no difference to the expectant attitude of the true servant, but it revealed the falsity of the wicked servant. Jesus does not condemn recognition of delay, but the attitude which takes selfish advantage of the delay. Moreover, readiness denotes not so much tiptoe anticipation as faithful service day by day: "Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes" (Luke's version).

We might suppose that the long period of delay required in the parables would be satisfied by "a few years." But a few years is all the delay post-tribulationism requires. Jesus could not have given in good faith the great commission with its worldwide extent -"all the nations" and "the remotest part of the earth" -without providing a considerable lapse of time in order that the "disciples might have opportunity to perform the task. The long-range missionary endeavors of Paul may not possess independent argumentative weight (Paul's journey to Rome was contingent on the Lord's will, Rom. 1:9, 10). Yet as the Lord's commission for him to go "far away to the Gentiles" (Acts 22: 21) and to witness before "kings" (Acts 9:15) and as the promise in Jerusalem that he would "witness... at Rome" (Acts 23:11; 27:24) link up with the great commission generally, they gain considerable weight.

It may be countered, with an appeal to Paul's statement "the gospel... was proclaimed in all creation under heaven" (Col. 1:23), that "the extensive preaching of the gospel in the first century might . . . satisfy the program of preaching to the ends of the earth." However, Paul wrote his statement during his first Roman imprisonment, some thirty years after Jesus gave the great commission, an interval more than four times as long as the tribulation. And Paul had not fulfilled his intention of visiting Spain, where the Gospel had not yet been preached (Rom. 15:20, 24). Evidently he himself did not regard the great commission as fulfilled. Apparently, then, in Colossians 1:23 Paul is not affirming a fulfillment of the great commission, but is setting the universality of the Gospel (the good news is for all men, even though it has not reached all men) in opposition to the esotericism of the Colossian heresy.

Of corroborative value is the personal history of Peter (John 21:18, 19; 2 Pet. 1:14) . Jesus foretold that Peter, then middle-aged ("when you were younger ... "), would die at an infirm old age ("when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will gird you ... "). If we try to save the imminence of the Parousia by saying that Peter could have been martyred at any time, we forget that his infirmity and old age were not imminent. And if we say that the prediction concerning Peter was not common knowledge among Christians until long after his death, we overlook the presence of other apostles on the occasion of the prediction. Furthermore, John writes of the incident in order to correct a wrong impression which had arisen concerning his own death. The whole matter, then, must have received some publicity in the early Church.

To claim that these delays were "general in nature, without specific length;" merely avoids the issue. Whether general or specific, long or short, the delays were delays and, by being stated, rendered the second coming non-imminent to the apostolic Church. Moreover, the delays were not entirely general in nature. The specificity of the great commission ("in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth"), of the promise that Paul should bear witness at Rome, and of Peter's old age as a time of infirmity to the degree of inability to dress himself make the delays much more pointed than the doctrine of imminence can allow.

Again, to claim that "the delays had been fulfilled by the time the exhortations to watch were written" runs afoul of historical facts. At least those exhortations to watch in the epistles appeared in writing before the disciples could have fulfilled the great commission, before Paul had completed his extensive missionary efforts, and before Peter had reached old age, become infirm, and died. From the very beginning, even before the written exhortations, Christians knew that they were to watch through the oral ministry of Jesus and the apostles and prophets. In one of his earliest epistles Paul already commends believers for their watchfulness (1 Thess. 1:9, 10). The point remains that if watching could not have connoted imminence in the apostolic age, it need not connote imminence now.

But should we not think that all else was contingent upon the second coming, that an "only if Christ does not return beforehand" qualified every other expectation? Possibly, but only possibly, in connection with the personal circumstances of Peter and Paul. It is very hard to think, however, that an imminent return of Christ might have taken away sufficient opportunity to fulfill the great commission. Moreover, when imminence becomes the ruling principle by which all else was and is rendered contingent, even the events of the tribulation do not have to take place; they might "die on the vine" just as the great commission and the predictions concerning Paul and Peter would have done had Jesus returned beforehand.

* This ends the quote from "The Church and the Tribulation" by Robert H. Gundry.

>What was prepared for that day? (7b-9)

* Zephaniah 1:7b-9 "The LORD has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated those he has invited. 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. On that day I will punish all who avoid stepping on the threshold, who fill the temple of their gods with violence and deceit."

* "The LORD has prepared a sacrifice" -Who is the sacrifice? Is it those who are judged? Is it Judah? Is it Jesus? It is Judah, the subject of judgment in verses 4-13. Matthew Henry wrote, "On a day of sacrifice great feasts were made upon the sacrifices; so the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem shall be feasted upon by their enemies the Chaldeans; these are the guests God has prepared and invited to come and glut themselves - their revenge with slaughter and their covetousness with plunder."

* "he has consecrated those he has invited" -Consecration is the act of cleansing from sin. The priests were required to go through rituals of multiple cleansing before they performed sacrifices. The coming slaughter of judgment is called a sacrifice so God's preparation of his guests is called his consecration of them in preparation for their feasting on the plunder.

>What will happened on that day?

* "I will punish" -The Lord's judgement on Judah. The Lord punishes as a good father punishes a child who does wrong.

* "the princes and the king's sons" -Punishment will first come on the leaders, starting in the royal family, the descendants of David. Josiah's grandson would go into exile along with other members of the royal family in the first Babylonian exile.

* "all those clad in foreign clothes" -The people in foreign clothes, the second marked for punishment are the priests who were instructed by the Lord in what they are to wear in their office, but instead put on foreign garments to offer foreign sacrifices to foreign gods.

* "avoid stepping on the threshold" -1 Samuel 5:4-5 "But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold."

* Dagon is the name of a foreign god meaning, "little fish," or "dear." Dagon is associated with the Philistines. However, his origins were in Mesopotamia during the third millennium B.C.

Dagon

* See a relief of Dagon, the half man, half fish God to the right.

* "all who fill the temple of their gods" -The third group marked for punishment are among the general population of Judah who do not worship the Lord.

>4. What sounds will be heard on the day of the Lord? (10-11)

* Zephaniah 1:10-11 "On that day," declares the LORD, "a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, wailing from the New Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills. Wail, you who live in the market district; all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will be ruined."

* "on that day" -Shortened from "the day of the Lord" in verse 7.

* "a cry will go up from the Fish Gate" -The Fish Gate was in the north wall of Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 33:14, Nehemiah 3:3, 12:39) The Babylonians would come from the north and the guards there would sound the alarm.

* "wailing from the New Quarter" -When Solomon built the temple he extended Jerusalem's borders to the north so Jerusalem would include the temple. The New Quarter was built up after Solomon's reign and was to the north and west of Solomon's extension. See map by clicking link at the top. Since the Babylonians were coming from the north and this area's natural defences (lowest slops) were not as secure, the New Quarter was the most vulnerable.

* "a loud crash from the hills" -The hills are a general reference to the hills Jerusalem is built on. When Babylon came the city came down with a crash.

>Why?

* "you who live in the market district" -The general sin given was the rich preying on the poor. Their trading would stop and they would cry. Babylon would go to the markets to plunder.

* "all your merchants will be wiped out" -The merchants who exploited the poor with cheating scales.

* "all who trade with silver will be ruined" -The bankers who had cheating scales. The Bible gives detained instructions about banking. Israelites were not to charge interest to their fellow Israelites. They were allowed to do this to Gentiles. The Gentiles charged interest to everyone, a practice the Israelites accepted and practiced.

* Amos 8:5-6 and Micah 6:10-11 record the sins of merchants and bankers. They did not do what they were required to do.

>5. Who are the complacent? (12)

* Zephaniah 1:12 "At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, 'The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.'"

* "At that time" -Another way to say "the day of the Lord" (7) and "on that day" (10).

* "search Jerusalem with lamps" -When punishment comes they tried to hide to no avail. The Babylonians recorded how they drug them out of caves, graves, and holes in the ground. The same will be true when Jesus comes again. "Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" (Revelation 6:15-17)

* "those who are complacent" -They worship idols and cheat their fellow Jews and believe that the Lord will continue to keep his covenant. They believe that God will protect them against the Babylonians as he did against the Assyrians in 701 B.C.

* "who are like wine left on its dregs" -H.A. Hanke comments, "Lees are dregs or sediment deposited from wine or liquor (Isaiah 25:6). To settle on one's lees meant to become complacent and self-satisfied with one's character and circumstances." (The Wycliffe Bible Commentary) The dregs are useless, no one drinks the bottom settlement. G.A. Smith wrote, "The great causes of God and humanity are not defeated by the hot assaults of the Devil, but by the slow, crushing, glacier-like mass of thousands and thousands of indifferent nobodies, God's causes are never destroyed by being blown up, but by being sat upon." Consider the German's who did nothing, said nothing, and turned away while the Nazis killed many innocent.

* "The LORD will do nothing" -They believed that since nothing has happened to them all this time, and even to their ancestors things will continue as they have. This view of non-involvement of God in national life is a serious heresy for Israel and Judah.

> What will happen to them on that day? (13)

* Zephaniah 1:13 "Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. They will build houses but not live in them; they will plant vineyards but not drink the wine."

* "Their wealth" -When they were slaves in Egypt they had nothing. When the Lord delivered them from Egypt they left with the wealth of Egypt. (Exodus 12:33-36) He lead them into a good land that produced much good foods. During David and Solomon's reigns the nations around them were subjected to them and gave them tribute. When their punishment will come the Lord will take it all away.

* "They will build houses but not live in them" -They won't enjoy the fruits of their labors.

* "they will plant vineyards but not drink the wine" -All the hard work will be unfruitful. They will not have rest or pleasure.

>How did Jesus give a similar warning? (Luke 18:22-30; John 12:23-26)

* Luke 18:22-30 "When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."

* John 12:23-26 "Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."

* Like many prophecies verses 4-13 were fulfilled or perhaps its better to write "will be fulfilled" more than once. First fulfillment is in the history of Judah (and Israel as a whole) and the second this will be completely fulfilled when Jesus comes to his people, first and second coming. Judgement came first the the Jews and will come

* Leaders and people who have wealth have an obligation to use what the Lord has given them for good and righteous acts.

* What has the Lord given you? What does he require of you? What are you doing that you should stop? What are you not doing that you should do? Repent now for one day we will give an account for what we have done. Just because we have heard and accept the truth does not mean that we won't have to give an account of what we did and did not do after we accepted the truth. Jesus speaks of this often. Paul call it the Bema Seat.

III. The Great Day of the Lord (1:14-2:3)

shophar

* See a picture of rams horns (shophars) to the right.

>6. What is near and coming quickly?

* Zephaniah 1:14 "The great day of the LORD is near-- near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there."

* Verses 4-13 were about the immediate judgement on Judah. Now Zephaniah was shown that the same thing will happen when Jesus comes again. The rest of chapter 1 concerns Jesus second coming and chapter 2:1-3 is the required response to the warning.

* "The great day of the LORD" -The addition of "great" here distinguishes it from the punishment against Judah in the previous section. The great day of the LORD is against the nations at Jesus' second coming.

* "The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter" -For those who heard the message of warnings and repentance but did not heed. Jesus says, "there will be weeping and gnashing of the teeth."

* "the shouting of the warrior there" -Joel writes of the Lord's army coming with him when he comes to judge the nations. Isaiah, who lived just after Joel also prophesied about this day. (Isaiah 13:10, 19:1, 34:4) Jesus repeated this several times quoting from these prophets. (Matthew 10:23, 16:27-28, 24:27, 30, 37, 39, 26:64, 25:31, 26:64; Mark 14:62, etc.)

* Joel 2:1-11 "Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand-- a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come. Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste-- nothing escapes them. They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle. At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale. They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course.They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks. They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows. Before them the earth shakes, the sky trembles, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?"

* Matthew 24:29-31 "Immediately after the distress of those days "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."

* Mark 14:62 "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

>How is it described in verse 15?

* Zephaniah 1:15 "That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,"

* "a day of wrath" -Wrath means a strong, stern, or fierce anger that produces punishment. The wrath of God is consistently directed towards those who do not follow His will. (Deuteronomy 1:26-46; Joshua 7:1; Psalms 2:1-6) Historical calamity and disaster is to be expected when God was stirred to anger. (Isaiah 13:9; Mark 13:31; John 15:6; Romans 2:5; and 1 Thess. 1:10)

* "a day of distress and anguish" -The wrath of God poured out on the unrepentant during the seven years of tribulation, especially the last half will generate such anguish that they will want to die, but will not be able to. (Revelations 9:6)

* "a day of trouble and ruin" -The world and world civilisation will be ruined because of man's sin that brought on the wrath of God.

* "a day of darkness and gloom" -Many places in the Bible tell that at the end of the seven years of tribulations the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. (Isaiah 13:10, 34:4; Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 3:14-15; Revelation 6:12-14) Jesus reaffirmed this. (Matthew 24:9; Mark 13:24)

* "a day of clouds and blackness" -The clouds and blackness are also recording in Joel 2:2, 30-31 which Peter quoted on the day of the first Pentecost.

>What will be sounded? (Numbers 10:1-10; Joshua 6:1-20)

* Zephaniah 1:16 "a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers."

* Numbers 10:1-10 "The LORD said to Moses: "Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. If only one is sounded, the leaders--the heads of the clans of Israel--are to assemble before you. When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are to set out. At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set out. The blast will be the signal for setting out. To gather the assembly, blow the trumpets, but not with the same signal. The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies. Also at your times of rejoicing--your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals--you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God."

* "a day of trumpet" -The blare of trumpets during the last seven years of this age is often mention in the Old and New Testament.

* "and battle cry" -The battle of Armageddon, aka Megiddo. (Revelation 16:16)

* Originally the Lord said each month should begin by observing the first appearance of a new crescent moon. At that time they were to blow a trumpet. (Num. 10:10, Ps. 81:2-4)

* Numbers 10:1-10 and Joshua 6:1-20 state the reasons to blow a trumpet. They are; to call the community together, to call the elders together, to have the Israel camp set out, before going into battle, during a battle, taking a city, at the beginning of each month (new moon), during the time of rejoicing, during the holy feasts, and over burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

* Basically trumpets were used for announcements for something coming or happening.

Two Silver Trumpets

* See a picture of two silver trumpets to the right that were used solely at the temple in Jerusalem. (Numbers 10:1-10)

* "against the fortified cities and against the corner towers" -This is a war cry, a sound to battle. The Lord is going to go to battle against those who consider him their enemy.

>How will Jesus second coming be like this? (Matt. 24:30-31; Isaiah 27:12-13; and 1 Thess. 4:13-18; and 1 Cor. 15:50-54)

* Matthew 24:30-31 "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."

* Matthew 13:30 "Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"

* Isaiah 27:12-13 records worshipers being gathered at a trumpets sounding. It states, "In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one. And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem." This seems to be the threshing Jesus spoke of in Matthew 13.

* 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 states, "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up (rapture in Latin) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words." John 5:28-29 record Jesus saying this. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:3)

* 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 states that at the last trumpet is when Jesus bride will receive their resurrection bodies. It states, "I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." Many in recent years have been confused by this trumpet and ignore the word "last".

* The book of Revelation chapters 8 through 11 look forward to the sounding of seven trumpets during the Tribulation; and 4:1 records, "the voice like a trumpet said, 'Come up here...'" The six blasts in chapters 8 and 9 are judgments. The last according to 1 Cor. 15 is the rapture.

* Revelation records seven trumpets sounding. When the last of the seven trumpets sounds several things will happen including Jesus physically arriving on earth as King. Revelation 11:15-18 states, "The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: -The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.' And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great-- and for destroying those who destroy the earth."

* Jesus himself said, "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. [Also in Rev. 6:15.] And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." (Matt. 24:30-31) Jesus is speaking as Revelation has recorded the ending of the age we are in and the beginning of the next age.

* The Feast of Trumpets (Yom Tedium) proclaims the bride's resurrection, God's judgment on the wicked, and Jesus' second coming.

* Isaiah 18:3 states, "All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it."

* Some say the trumpet calling us to Jesus is recorded in Revelation. 1:10-11. It states, "On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet..." The voice like a trumpet was Jesus speaking. After scribing for Jesus letters to the seven churches, John then wrote, "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." (Rev. 4:1) Then the seven trumpets of Revelation are sounded a few chapters later.

Some believe Jesus saying to John, "Come up here," is the time of the rapture. They say this is the trumpet calling the bride to rise from the grave if deceased and those alive joining them in the air to eventually be taken to heaven, the home Jesus has prepared for his bride. There are two problems with this understanding. First, John did not specifically say that the second time the trumpet voice spoke to him that it sounded like a trumpet.

Second, since this is before the seven trumpets of Revelation how can it be the last trumpet? What trumpets are before it? One stretched possibility is that Israel was to sound a trumpet at the beginning of each month when the crescent of the moon is first seen. (This could take two or three days; no one really knew for sure). Since the Feast of Trumpets is at the first day of the seventh month, then there could be six months trumpets before this one. But they are not recorded in the Bible. Second, since as some believe there are seven ages and the Millennium is the seventh, then it is possible that the sounding of the trumpet to mark the beginning of this feast and month is the last of seven age trumpets. But they are not recorded in the Bible.

The simplest solution is that, ""Come up here" was only to John and it does not foreshadow the rapture. Rather the rapture is the last of the seven trumpets in Revelation. (From "The Believer's Future - Hope that Inspires" found on this web site.)

>What other events in history foreshadowed this? (Ex. 19-20 with Hebrews 12:18-29; Joshua 5-6)

* Jesus' bride can also learn about his coming as King of kings and Lord of lords on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem by looking back to the time when Israel was led out of Egypt to Mount Sinai to receive the law of God. At that time the Lord became their King a trumpet blasted and the mountain shook and was ablaze with fire and smoke for the Lord descended onto the mountain in fire, and there was lightning and thunder. The Israelites could not approach the mountain because of their sins and needed to be consecrated and have their clothes washed. Moses was told, "Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain." (Ex. 19-20) Hebrews 12:18-29 tells us that Israel at Mount Sinai foreshadows Jesus' second coming.

* We can also learn about Jesus' coming at the sounding of trumpets from his leading Israel into the Promised Land. Jericho was the first city to be taken. (Jos. 5) During the battle the Lord did all the fighting. The Israelites were told to march around the city once a day for seven days with seven priest blowing seven trumpets at the front of the procession. On the last day they sounded the trumpets and the Lord tore down the walls and the Israelites took the city. (Jos. 6) The Lord tells us this now so that we will understand what he is soon to do upon his return. The seven trumpets of Revelation will sound and evil doers will perish and the righteous will take possession of the land.

* Isaiah 29:5-8 also reveals that Jesus' second coming as King of the Kingdom of God is as the Lord God came down Mount Sinai to became Israel's king. It states, "But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant, the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire. Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel (Jerusalem), that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night-- as when a hungry man dreams that he is eating, but he awakens, and his hunger remains; as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking, but he awakens faint, with his thirst unquenched. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion." The armies assembled at Megiddo will see Jesus come in glory to Jerusalem.

* Add to this the prophetic regathering of both houses of Israel. (Isaiah 18:3, 7, 27:12-13, 48:1-14; Joel 2:15-32)

Revelation Timeline

>7. Why will the Great Day of the Lord come? (17)

* Zephaniah 1:17 "I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth."

* "because they have sinned against the LORD" -Sin is rebellion against God and brings the wrath of God. (Romans 1:18, 9:22; Colossians 3:6) God made a way through Jesus, his one and only Son for the removal of sin and its affects including wrath. But if a person doesn't accept this gracious act all that is left is to remain under his wrath.

* Romans 1:18-19 "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."

* Romans 9:22 "What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction?"

* Colossians 3:5-6 "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming."

* Revelation 15:6-8 says seven angels will pour out seven bowls of God's wrath. This is in the second half of the tribulation.

>What will happen to them?

* "I will bring" -The Lord will do this. At first atheists and unbelievers will try to explain everything that begins to happen during the seven years of wrath as natural events, some even blaming man's actions against the environment. Eventually they will come to accept it is God's wrath against sin.

* "distress on the people" -The people who are still under his wrath.

* "they will walk like blind men" -They will not be blind. This can be in part because they are under a state of shock because of the wrath and perhaps in part because the day of the Lord is darkness. (15)

* "Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth" -Many will die.

Olivet Discourse Chart

>Will what they trusted in save them? (18)

* Zephaniah 1:18 "Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD's wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth."

* "Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them" -Many trust in their retirement savings, their stocks, their bonds, their paychecks, their bank accounts, their precious metal hidings, their valuable goods, their investments and savings, and many other things in this world. None of these things can save us from the wrath of God.

* "the day of the LORD's wrath" -This is another phrase for "the day of the Lord".

* "In the fire of his jealousy" -The Lord God is a jealous God, jealous for those he love.

* "for he will make a sudden end" -The end of the age, when he comes again and destroys his enemies. This is at the battle of Armageddon. Revelation 16:16-21 records the sudden end of the kingdoms of this world. "Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible."

>Who is this prophecy about?

* "the whole world will be consumed" -The kingdoms of this world.

* "all who live in the earth" -Man is the reason everything has to suffer. God's punishment, like the sin which necessitated it, is thus both universal and radical. (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, David W. Baker)

* Isaiah 10:21-23 "A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land."

* Isaiah 28:21-22 "The LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon-- to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task. Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier; the Lord, the LORD Almighty, has told me of the destruction decreed against the whole land."

* Jeremiah 30:10-11 "'So do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel,' declares the LORD. 'I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. I am with you and will save you,' declares the LORD. 'Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.'"

* Nahum 1:6-11 "Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him. The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him, but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of [Nineveh]; he will pursue his foes into darkness. Whatever they plot against the LORD he will bring to an end; trouble will not come a second time. They will be entangled among thorns and drunk from their wine; they will be consumed like dry stubble. From you, [O Nineveh,] has one come forth who plots evil against the LORD and counsels wickedness."

Worship

>8. Who does the prophecy shift to? (2:1-2)

* Zephaniah 2:1-2 "Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation, 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."

* "O shameful nation" -Zephaniah shifts his book back to sinful idolatrous Judah. Now after warning of the discipline coming to them and the wrath coming to the world he gives them instructions on what to do before them.

* "before the appointed time arrives" -Before they are sent into exile, before the day of the Lord's wrath.

* "that day sweeps on like chaff" -Chaff is the left over stalk pieces after the harvest. The image given is wind blowing the chaff away from the threshing area.

* "before the fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you" -Before Judah undergoes the Lord's wrath they do these things.

* "before the day of the LORD's wrath comes upon you" -The advice is good for any people before the time of God's wrath, including before and during the seven years of tribulation, the day of the Lord's wrath.

>What advice are they given?

* "Gather together, gather together," -Elsewhere earlier prophets including Joel further defines this as a sacred assembly.

* Joel 1:13-15 "Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty."

* Joel 2:12-17 "'Even now,' declares the LORD, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.' Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing-- grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, 'Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?''"

>9. What are the humble to do? (3)

* Zephaniah 2:3 "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."

* "Seek the Lord" -Through prayer, worship songs and hymns, and fasting.

* "humble... who do what he commands" -The humble do not fight God. Rather they humbly submit to his will.

* "Seek righteousness, seek humility" -Even if a person wasn't righteous or humble he can repent.

* "perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger" -Not a promise, but something to hope in.

>10. What does Jesus say to us? (Rev. 3:14-22)

* Revelation 3:14-22 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."