Devotional Commentary on Zephaniah 1
One hardly
starts to read Zephaniah when it is necessary to ask why this lengthy
connection with dignitaries of the past is necessary? His
great-great-grandfather was Hezekiah the king who played a role in Judah
between 727-684 BCE. The date of birth of Amariah was probably ca. 712 BCE and
Gedaliah ca. 690 BCE and Cushi ca. 675 BCE and then Zephaniah ca. 650 BCE so
that he was ca. 30 years old in 620 BCE, the time of Josiah the king of Judah
(verse 1). The answer is
that Zephaniah is of royal blood, blue blood and thus a dignified prophet. God starts to
speak in verse 2 and what is to follow is a description of the Hell-event, the
ultimate judgment of all nations through all generations of earth’s history at one punishing event. “I will totally destroy everything from the
face of the earth”. Delitzsch came
to this verse and said that the way to salvation leads through judgment and he
had in mind the “degenerate theocracy” as well (1884: 126). Adventists saw the
biblical doctrine of the Investigative Judgment of the “house of God” first before the Latter Rain is poured
out to fill up the gap created by those sifted out of the Investigative
Judgment. Only later after the Second Coming and the millennium the Hell event
or final absolute executive judgment will take place. Zephaniah knew all this. Humans,
animals, birds, fish, stumbling blocks and the wicked will all be destroyed
(verse 3). This is contra environmentalism trying to create a safe world
because the picture from the prophets concerning the eschaton is a destructive
one in that glorious day. “I will cut off man from the face of the
earth” (verse 3). Hell will be
totally destructive of all the old earth, man and biology and zoology. All
fauna and flora will come to an end despite environmentalism. A blacklist
follow then set up by God: remnant of Baal, bad priests, astronomy and
stargazers, religion mixers or pluralists “who swear by the Lord and swear in Milkom” (verse 5), the wayward “those who turn away from following the
Lord”, atheists,
secularists and nihilists “those who did not seek the Lord nor
inquire after Him” (verse 6). The Day of the
Lord is announced (verse 7). “For the Lord has prepared a slaughter, He
has invited called out ones, Remnant” (verse 7). This preparation is a very
functional word also used in Daniel 8 for the preparation of a place in the
sanctuary, nikon, mekon. God invited guests to the wedding or heavenly banquet,
Jesus told in one of His parables. This slaughter at the Hell event will be on
the unfaithful princes, king’s sons and “upon those who wear gentile garb” (verse 8). People who wear the wrong
dress for the heavenly banquet. Their fashion style is populist attractiveness
instead of truth. They are not wearing the robe of Christ’s Righteousness. The faithful remnant is
the guest invited. The blacklist
is not finished yet. Landgrabbers by the Third World occupiers with
nationalization pushdrives bewitched by a demonic grab theft fever (verse 9),
people from the west, east and south (verse 10), Canaan and the wealthy (verse
11), God Himself will search Jerusalem with candles and visit men’s hearts and thoughts “I will visit upon the men who are settled
on their lees who say in their heart: ‘The Lord shall do neither good nor harm’” (verse 12). It
shows that the Lord is visiting in the night. That is why candles are
mentioned. Now Zephaniah
wants to give an endtime scenario before the Second Coming of Christ (verse
13): Wealth will
become booty, restlessness, migrations, fleeing, wars in many places. “The great day of the Lord is near” (verse 14). This is indicative that the
Day of the Lord did not come yet it is only near so that the events described
in verse 13 is prior to this Day of the Lord. The last events
will be swift, Ellen White says and that is what Zephaniah is saying too: “the great day of the Lord is near, it is
near and hastens greatly” (verse 14). “That day is a day of wrath” (verse 15). Which day? The Time of
Trouble before the Second Coming of the Lord, before the Hell event which is
the Day of the Lord. Before the Advent of Christ during the little time of
trouble preceding the closing of the Door of Mercy which kick-in the Time of
Trouble or Time of Jacob’s Trouble, “a day of trouble and distress, a day of
ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds ad thick
darkness, a day of shofar and alarm against the fortified cities and against
the high towers” (verses 15-16). It is a day of chaos globally. “And I will bring distress upon men, and
they shall walk like the blind for they have sinned against the Lord” (verse 17). When the four angels at the
four winds are set loose to bring destruction on the earth it will be a fierce
time for the wicked. “And their blood shall be shed like dust
and their flesh like dung” (verse 17). Blind?
Spiritual blindness is a signal of the church of Laodicea. Their silver and
gold will not help them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. Valuables will be useless.
Pension schemes will not help. Stock in China will not help. Dollars in
Swiss-banks will not help. The 98 billion dollars of Facebook owners will be
useless. Bitcoin wealth will not help. It cannot save them from the wrath of the
Lord. The scene of
the wrath of the Lord is described in Revelation 20 and also here in Zephaniah
verse 18 “and the fire
[Hell event] of His passion the entire earth shall be consumed for an end, yea,
a sudden end, He shall make of all the inhabitants of the earth.” Dear Lord
Zephaniah
speaks of our day and his message is so timely. We do not want to sin against
You and we want to be on the right side of this future dilemma. Accept our
consecration, in Jesus Name. Amen.