ZEPHANIAH’S MESSAGE OF ‘THE DAY OF THE LORD’
The Old Testament prophets were commissioned by Jehovah, the God of Israel, to ‘hear the Word of the Lord’ and then to speak it out to the people, whether or not they were willing to receive it. Often they were unwilling hearers. In many cases the prophets weren’t what we in the 21st century would recognize as ‘professionals’. Instead, they were chosen for a short period was to hear what God wanted His chosen nation to know for that particular moment of time. They were God’s spokesmen, speaking for God in the times in which they lived. As they went about their normal activities they would have a positive awareness that God had a message for them. It was sometimes expressed as ‘a burden’ for often it wasn’t what the people wanted to hear and it made them very unpopular.
As true believers in the God of Israel they knew it wasn’t possible to isolate the sacred and secular parts of life into separate compartments and to say that the two don’t mix. Zephaniah was such a man. He not only had his physical eyes open but his spiritual antennae were alert to see what was going on in the world. This is important for us living in the 21st century. Jesus was constantly telling His disciples to be aware of the "signs of the times", to recognise the significance of what was happening in the world around them. As Christians we have a duty to be both spiritually and socially conscious, to evaluate what’s going on in our community.
We must always ask ourselves if our lifestyles and the practices of our community are in keeping with God’s revelation in Scripture. This has been called ‘double listening’ – hearing what God says to us through His Word and being alive to what is happening around us. If we don’t like what we see, it’s no good just closing our eyes and, like the proverbial ostrich, burying our heads in the sand and pretending it’s not there. The 18th Century Irish statesman Edmund Burke is said to have claimed ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’ and all too often that’s the case.
The prophets’ message was often a combination of ‘forth-telling’ and ‘foretelling’. It was a dual role. They ‘told forth’ God’s message in their own situations. While their world, over 2,500 years ago, can seem to us strange and remote, in principle nothing changes, and we can often see equivalent situations in our world. But in addition to ‘forth-telling’ they also ‘foretold’ what would take place in the future as it would affect their nation and even the world. The actions of men and women inevitably have consequences, and especially to those to whom God has revealed His law. Rebellion would bring judgement but if there was genuine repentance God is His mercy and grace would bring about restoration and blessing.
‘THE PROPHETIC PERSPECTIVE’
When the prophets were speaking of what would happen as a result of what was taking place in Judah the message was very specific. But when they looked out into the future the great events foretold were compressed in a brief space of time. This is called ‘the prophetic perspective’. They saw the future rather like a traveller seeing a mountain range on a distant horizon. From that perspective at ground level it seems that one mountain top rides right behind another when in reality they are miles apart. There’s a prime example of this in the words of Jesus when He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem which took place only 40 years after He spoke and He went on to disclose what would take place immediately before His Second Coming and the final judgement of mankind which of course we still await (Matt 24). Jesus combined the two events in such a way that at the time they could hardly be separated.
The message of Zephaniah has meaning in terms of time – ‘Now’ and ‘Not Yet’ – as the prophet spoke of the judgement of a righteous God and also of His grace in bringing about restoration and blessing. It was relevant in 7th century BC and just as relevant today. Zephaniah tells us that God is in the forefront of the action but has His own timing of events: ‘“Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, “for the day I stand up to testify”’ (3:8).
ZEPHANIAH’S PROPHETIC MINISTRY
The prophets often prefaced their statements with the words ‘The Lord declares …’ as the anointing of the Spirit of God came upon them. This is certainly true of the little known messenger of God, Zephaniah. His short prophecy begins ‘The word of the Lord came to Zephaniah’ (1:1). At the beginning of the 7th century before Christ he follows the distinguished ministries of Isaiah, Micah, Amos and Hosea. These great men of God had brought hope to the troubled nation of Israel but sadly their message of repentance had been largely ignored and resulted in the northern kingdom of Israel being conquered by the Assyrians and the people taken into exile and completely losing their identity as the people of God. The southern kingdom of Judah almost suffered the same fate but in God’s mercy and forbearance was spared for a time in the reformation under the rule of Hezekiah and Josiah. But the change of heart was superficial and the nation soon returned to its former state of rebellion against God’s laws. They again turned to the corrupt religion of the surrounding nations.
‘THE DAY OF THE LORD’
The phrase ’the day of the Lord’ is used nineteen times in the Old Testament and four times in the New Testament. The Old Testament passages dealing with the ‘Day of the Lord’ often convey a sense of expectation: ‘Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near’ (1:7, 14). It refers to a period of time when God is working in a way which will be recognized although not always understood; perhaps in the past, the near future and sometimes the distant future. Whenever it is, God’s will and purpose for His world and for mankind will be fulfilled. Besides being a time of judgement, it will also be a time of salvation for the faithful. Zephaniah’s prophecy has both of these characteristics.
PROPHECIES AGAINST JUDAH AND THE NATIONS
Zephaniah was a worried man as he surveyed the nations of Judah and the surrounding communities. It was a case of gross wickedness and immorality. There was the most appalling spiritual darkness, with the leadership of both crown and temple. The prophet was led to denounce them in very strident terms: ‘… those who bow down … to worship the starry host … and who also swear by Molech’ (1:5). He was referring to prostitution and human sacrifice in the nation’s worship. Zephaniah saw very clearly that such a state of affairs couldn’t continue unchecked. God is not mocked, so the prophet warned them of coming destruction: ‘“I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth” declares the Lord’ (1:2). Why? Moab and Ammon had: ‘… insulted my people and made threats against their land’ (2:8) That was the general verdict to the nearby peoples but it also applied to God’s chosen nation of Judah.
There was apathy and indifference in morality both in state and temple. Jerusalem, said Zephaniah: ‘She does not trust in the Lord … Her officials are roaring lions … Her prophets are arrogant … Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law’ (3:3,4). God had allowed Judah every opportunity to abandon its wicked ways. His patience had been demonstrated time and time in the nation’s history but the time had come when it was almost exhausted. Zephaniah doesn’t mince his words. His message is one of total and devastating divine judgement. The great ‘Day of the Lord’ was imminent. The people were told it was: ‘near and coming quickly … a day of wrath … a day of trouble and ruin’ (1:14,15). Zephaniah’s prophecy of judgement found its initial fulfilment in the events of 586 BC when Jerusalem was overthrown by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar’s army.
That was the immediate future but the prophecy looked forward to the ‘Not Yet’ of the distant future, the final ‘Day of the Lord’: ‘the whole world will be consumed … he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth’ (18). That day will surely come when ‘the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgement will be revealed’ (Rom 2:5). The book of Revelation confirms this and says there will be those who call on the mountains and the rocks to ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!’ (6:16).
We must not make the mistake of thinking that these prophecies were applicable only to the nations of the 7th century. Let’s be aware that one prophecy may well contain foretastes of events that still await a future fulfilment. The turbulent events of this decade haven’t taken God by surprise but there’s every reason to believe that God has allowed them as warnings of another ‘great day of the Lord’ (1:14). God hasn’t torn up His laws. Every human being is accountable to the Creator God according to the light given to them (Rom 1:20).
We in the Western world have been living off the blessings of a Christian heritage that is now in marked decline and so we need to be reminded that ‘The Day of the Lord’ applies to us as well. A day is coming when every soul that has ever lived will stand before the judgement seat of Christ. But those who have enjoyed the special privilege of knowing God’s complete revelation of Himself in Jesus have a greater responsibility. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says: ‘We must pay more careful attention … to what we have heard … For how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation’ (2:1,2).
RESTORATION THROUGH REPENTANCE AND FAITH
But this isn’t the end of the story. The God we know and love is not to be portrayed as the Deists would have us believe. A ‘god’ who is supposed to have made the world much as a watchmaker might make a timepiece, wind it up and then leave it to its own inner workings. Yes, mankind sinned and lost its paradise but God still longs to awaken within them concerns about their wickedness and a longing to return to Him. Zephaniah urged his listeners to ‘Seek the Lord … do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; … you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger’ (2:2). That’s the response that God looks for. We have nothing to offer towards our salvation, only repentance of our sins and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no ‘cheap grace’. The death of Jesus on the Cross makes this abundantly plain. But while we live, the offer of the ‘Day of the Lord’ is still open. The door of hope is left open for those who will dare to walk through it. There’s a heaven to be gained and a hell to be shunned.
Zephaniah speaks of ‘The remnant of my people … the survivors of my nation will inherit their land’ (2:9). The prophecy points beyond the immediate context of defeat of Judah and the exile of most of the population to Babylon and even beyond the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army in 70 AD. God in His great mercy has further ‘Days of the Lord’. The later prophets of Ezra and Nehemiah tell of how God graciously enabled the exiles in Babylon to return and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. Those who returned were still flawed by sin, as Haggai and Malachi make clear, but there was enough repentance and faith for the Lord to fulfil His gracious promises made over the centuries. And so the salvation story continued to its high peak of the first coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ who sealed it by his atoning death on the Cross of Calvary. Through His life and death He has become the grounds upon which God can justify the ungodly and provide for us the righteousness He requires.
Yet the final ‘Day of the Lord’ is still to come. The Messianic prophecies of the coming of Christ are two-fold. His First Coming to Planet Earth in weakness and great humility was the ‘first instalment’ - a pledge and foretaste of that which is to come, but the Second Coming will be as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. All the promises made by God recorded in the Scriptures are fulfilled in Jesus, for both Jew and Gentile believers in Him, the true ‘remnant of Israel … will eat and lie down and no-one will make them afraid’ (3:13). This is the ultimate ‘Day of the Lord’, which will be paradise regained.
The book which began so miserably ends with a proclamation of joyous praise. Zephaniah ends his prophecy with one last reference to the ‘Day of the Lord’: ‘At that time I will gather you; … I will bring
you home’ (3:20). We’re still living in the day of grace. We’re not quite ‘home’ yet but we’re urged by the apostle Peter to be ‘looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness’ (2 Pet 3:13). It’s difficult to resist the conclusion that the ultimate fulfilment of this prophecy is the glorious return of Jesus Christ and the rejuvenation of the entire universe.
God is preparing a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no more pain or suffering, and ultimately the whole of the created order will be redeemed and its best aspects will be brought into the fulfilled kingdom of God, although the details of exactly what that involves are not given to us.
The big theological puzzle for us right now is why the cost in terms of suffering, disease and death needs to be that high. Why not create a new heaven and a new earth here and now, without the pain etc? Why can’t we have the future immediately? The reason is that God’s future redeemed family can be established only through the Cross, through suffering, and living through this vale of soul-making. ‘In bringing many sons to glory it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering’ (Heb 2:10; cf 2 Cor 4:16,17). Of course we don’t have all the pieces of the jig-saw puzzle in our hands. We don’t yet understand exactly how God is working out his perfect and eternal purposes. But one day when we ‘see Him face to face’ (1 Cor 13:12), we will have completely satisfying solutions to all the things that confuse us now.
For the people of God, whether from old or new covenant eras, it’s a call to rejoice. There’s to be a triumphant song: ‘Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all of your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! … The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you’ (3:14,15). As the words of a hymn reminds us:
‘Then we shall be where we would be;
Then we shall be where we should be;
Then which is not now, nor could be,
Then shall be our own.’ (Thomas Kelly)
If we’re born again of the Spirit of Christ, what more can we say but in the final words of Scripture, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ (Rev 22:20).
(Synopsis for overhead projection)
ZEPHANIAH’S MESSAGE OF ‘THE DAY OF THE LORD’
THE ROLE OF THE PROPHET
- Men of God, often not ‘professionals’ but with
a ‘burden’from the Lord
- Their message was often a combination of:
‘Forth-telling’ – against sinful practices of the
leaders of state and temple
‘Foretelling’ - announcing the coming judgement of
God
- and restoration to blessing
following repentance
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
‘THE PROPHETIC PERSPECTIVE’
PROPHECIES HAVE RELEVANCE:
- ‘NOW’ : at the present time
- ‘NOT YET’: in the immediate future
in the distant future
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
ZEPHANIAH’S PROPHETIC MINISTRY
- He followed the 8th century prophets of Isaiah,
Micah, Amos and Hosea to the nation of Israel
- His ministry was in the 7th century BC based in
the southern kingdom of Judah
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
‘THE DAY OF THE LORD’
- The phrase ‘the day of the Lord’ is used nineteen times in
the Old Testament and four times in the New Testament.
- It refers to a particular period of time when God is
working His purposes out.
- Besides being a time of judgment, it will also be a
time of salvation for the faithful.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
PROPHECIES AGAINST JUDAH AND THE NATIONS
‘“I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth” declares the Lord’ (1:2)
Why?
- Judah : ‘… those who bow down … to worship the
starry host … and who also swear by
Molech’ (1:5)
- Moab and
Ammon : ‘… insulted my people and made threats
against their land (2:8)
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY
- IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE: In 586 BC when Jerusalem was overthrown by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar’s army.
- IN THE ‘NOT NOW’ OF THE FINAL ‘DAY OF THE LORD’:
- ‘the whole world will be consumed … he will make a
sudden end of all who live in the earth’ (1:18).
- That day will surely come when ‘the day of God’s
wrath, when his righteous judgement will be
revealed’(Rom 2:5).
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
RESTORATION THROUGH REPENTANCE AND FAITH
HOW DOES IT HAPPEN?
- ‘Seek the Lord … do what he commands. Seek
righteousness, seek humility; … you will be
sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger’ (2:2).
- No ‘cheap grace’ – only the Cross of Christ
FURTHER ‘DAYS OF THE LORD’:
- THE RETURN FROM BABYLON OF THE EXILES
- THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
- THE SECOND COMING AND THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH
- ‘At that time I will gather you; … I will bring
you home’ (3:20).
- ‘Looking forward to a new heaven and a new
earth, the home of righteousness’ (2 Pet 3:13).
- ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ (Rev 22:20).
