Zephaniah 1:7-18 On That Day
On that day of the Lord when He judges ALL the earth, there will be disaster like never before. Those who are not with Him WILL be punished.
Zephaniah’s words are for Judah’s current future and our not-too-distant future. The judgment spoken of in our last reading and today’s, speaks of a global judgment. It speaks of a destruction never before seen. One of such magnitude that EVERYTHING is wiped from the face of the earth.
From what I am seeing and understand, that day won’t be a single day as we think of it. It will be a season. For distress and anguish, ruin and devastation, darkness and gloom, thick clouds and darkness, trumpet blasts and battle cries against fortified cities will take time; man’s time. That time will be a time when money CAN NOT buy relief; not even silver or gold will mean anything. It will take time for man to fall to this place. Man believes he has security in what he holds in his hands, especially in ‘precious metals’. But they mean NOTHING to God, and are WORTHLESS when it comes to security and salvation.
Only those whom HE consecrates will be safe. They may not face that ‘day’ physically. I believe this ‘day’ will be after Jesus’ millennial reign; after the FINAL battle with Satan. I don’t know if there will be a ‘rapture’ at that time for those who have remained true to the Lord. But, even then, we can be CERTAIN that those whose faith is in Him WILL be safe for eternity.
It appears that, even in Jerusalem, the very city where Jesus reigned, there will be those who are NOT of His house. He will search out AND FIND those who think He will simply sit back and watch what happens. “At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do ill’” (verse 12).
One thing that interests me is that Jesus says of the Great Tribulation, that there has never been nor will ever be a terrible time such as that. Because ALL MANKIND will be wiped from the face of the earth in the Day of the Lord, we know these two ‘days’ are not the same. I wonder if the main difference will be the absence of the Anti-Christ. Satan will certainly be free to influence man in the time of judgment God is bringing, but he will NOT sit as its ruler; as far as I can tell. But people WILL be worshiping other gods. We see that God will plunder and lay waist to the false gods. The people will see firsthand that those gods CANNOT save them. Once again, Satan will be proved the liar that he is and was from the first encounter in the garden with Eve.
God’s focus on the FINAL judgment here does NOT mean that He was any less focused on Judah’s soon to come judgment. We will see the results of that focus, both on Judah and the nations who oppressed her, in the coming days with Zephaniah. God is INTIMATELY involved in EVERY DAY with man. He has NEVER been disengaged, and NEVER will be. We may not recognize EVERY DETAIL of what He is doing at any given moment, but we can be CERTAIN that HE KNOWS EXACTLY what He is doing. Our task is to trust Him. To give Him our hearts and lives FULLY and COMPLETELY. Only then can we be ASSURED of His safety.
I am NOT saying that we will never fall. But that, when we give Him our whole hearts, He can, and does, restore us to right relationship when we bring our failures to Him. There is NO ‘safety’ outside of God.
If you ever wonder if this prophecy will come true; EVERYTHING being wiped from the face of the earth, look back at all the other promises God made. They ALL have come to pass, just as He promised. EVERY word He has EVER uttered WILL be fulfilled.
Just a couple of lingering questions I have. Not one of doubt but one of, ‘How will they know’. During Jesus’ millennial reign, will He tell them of what is to come at the end of that time? Will He clarify prophecies such as this one at that time? And how long will the time after Jesus’ reign will it be before the FIANL judgment? How long will Satan have to turn man against God again?
Father God, there is so much I don’t know, and probably don’t ‘need’ to know. That doesn’t prevent me form asking and wondering. But the ONE thing I DO KNOW is that there is NO safety or salvation apart from You. I have HOPE and a SURE future because of You; NO MATTER WHAT THIS WORLD throws at me, I’m SAFE IN YOUR ARMS!
