IT MAY BE YOU MAY BE HIDDEN (Zephaniah Part 5)

 

    "The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers. 'I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the LORD; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse.' Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the LORD's wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance Of all those who dwell in the land.  

    "Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, Before the decree is issued, Or the day passes like chaff, Before the LORD's fierce anger comes upon you, Before the day of the LORD's anger comes upon you! Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the LORD's anger."

Zephaniah 1:14-2:3, NKJV

 This is a long section, but allow me to deal with two issues.

First, judgment is coming. The term "Day of the LORD" deals with judgment, and often corresponds to the seven year Tribulation period. At times, it also includes the millennial kingdom, but in this case it deals with wrath.

We need to remember God judges sin. Each sin is against God (Ps. 51:4). Jesus died for our sins, and that's proof that sin is not a trivial matter. In 1 John 3 and 5, sin is equated with lawlessness. In other words, you can call sin treason against God.

The other issue is God will forgive if we turn from our sin. The first three verses of Zephaniah 2 is a call to repentance. That theme is throughout the Bible. Isaiah 55:7 states that if a wicked man turns from his ways and an unrighteous man from his thoughts, God will pardon. 2 Peter 3:9 says that He is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance. Ezekiel 18:32 informs us that God does not delight in the death of man, and so calls us to turn and live.

The final promise is precious. It may be that God will hide us in the day of His wrath. This is why some believe in a rapture. And note - in Scripture it doesn't mean we will be free from tribulation and/or persecution - John 16:33 and 2 Timothy 3:12 informs us otherwise. But we will be saved from eternal wrath (John 3:16; Romans 6:23), and it may be that we're saved from God's wrath on the wicked world as well.

SETTLED IN COMPLACENCY? (Zephaniah Part 4)

 

        "And it shall come to pass at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And punish the men Who are settled in complacency, Who say in their heart, 'The LORD will not do good, Nor will He do evil.' Therefore their goods shall become booty, And their houses a desolation; They shall build houses, but not inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine."  Zephaniah 1:12-13, NKJV

For those who have been following this series, you may noticed I jumped from verse 6 of the first chapter of Zephaniah to the twelvth. The reason is I want to focus on verse twelve. But allow me to catch you up, especially since its been two weeks since I posted in this series.

You may recall that Zephaniah was a descendant of King Hezekiah, and prophesied during the days of Hezekiah's great grandson, Josiah. The first words of the message was that God will utterly consume everything from the land. Why? The first point he made was that there were idolatrous priests who worshiped the heavens, swore by gods in addition to the true God, and have turned from following God nor have sought Him.

Verse seven reads, "Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD; For the day of the LORD is at hand, For the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has invited His guests." The Day of the LORD, which will be dealt with later in the chapter, is a day of judgment, and normally connected to what is known as the Seven year Tribulation.

Verses eight through thirteen look at judgments on four groups of people. Let me introduce the first three groups:

1. The princes and king's children who are clothed in foreign (KJV reads "strange") clothing;
2. Those who leap over the threshold and fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit; and 
3. Merchants and moneyhandlers.

Some of these groups are not clearly identified, and I doubt most of my blog readers fall into any of them. In our country and especially in the church, the fourth group is the biggest problem.

Who is that fourth group? Those settled in complacency. The notes in my Bible say it's litterally the dregs in the wine barrel. I'm not familiar with wine dregs, but I'm very familiar with the dregs at the bottom of a cup of hot chocolate. And if you leave them for a while, they can be tougher to clean.

Verse twelve gives a concise definition of what complacency is like - it is saying that God won't do good and that He won't do evil. He won't bless us, and He won't judge us. In other words, we're on our own. It is like the mindset of Deism, that God wound this world up and then sat back and watched what would happen. Or as the classic song "From A Distance" says, God watches us from a distance. He's not nearby, He's not actively involved.

Both extremes are evident today. On the one hand, there are those who quote that verse from 3rd Hezekiah or The Acts Of The Apostates or another non-existent Biblical book that says "God helps those who help themselves." For example, they claim that our Presidents aren't raised up or appointed by God (Dan. 2:20-22; Rom. 13:1), but are elected by the people. Or they prescribe activism because that has more results than prayer.

On the other side, we have a God who one professor I heard said has love more like a grandfather than a father. This God is a god of love, not of wrath. This God's definition of evil is pretty consistent with our society. If we have no problem with a behavior that is described as sin, then God's not concerned about it and we've probably misinterpreted the Bible.

We need to realize God will bless the righteous and punish the wicked. Sometimes, it seems the reality is the opposite, but that's because we're looking at the temporary things which we can see rather than the eternal things that aren't seen (2 Cor. 4:18). 

One can look at Zephaniah 1:7-13 and say it was more for the people of the prophet's day, and the coming judgment was accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. But there is an application for us today. Plus, God has promised there will be in the future a resurrection of all - some to eternal life, and some to eternal contempt (Dan. 12:2; John 5:28-29).

In your life, do your actions reflect that you expect God to do good when you're obedient? Do they show you expect His chastisement when you sin or judgment when a society or God's people reject Him? Or are you settled in the complacent mindset?