Read Zephaniah 1:14–18
Questions from the Scripture text: What do Zephaniah 1:14a, verse 14b emphasize about the day of YHWH? What does the day sound like (verse 14c–d)? What is repeated at the beginning of each of the next six lines? What sort of day is it (Zephaniah 1:15-16)? What will the Lord do to men (Zephaniah 1:17a–b, d–e)? Why (verse 17c)? What cannot get you out of it (Zephaniah 1:18a–c)? Who will escape it (verse 18d–g)?
What is the day of YHWH like? Zephaniah 1:14–18 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the day of YHWH is coming fast, covenantally faithful, crushingly furious, and completely final.
The day of YHWH is coming fast (Zephaniah 1:14a–b). Things seem to be getting better during the day of Josiah. And Judah has thus far escaped the fate of the northern kingdom. It did not seem like they were about to be destroyed. But they were! Jesus warns us that His return will come like a thief in the night. You need to be ready for it now, as you read this devotional. You must not put it off a moment longer. Just as with His judgment of Judah, the ultimate day of YHWH comes fast.
The day of YHWH is covenantally faithful (Zephaniah 1:15-16). We have already noted the allusion to the flood in Zephaniah 1:2, which established the covenant with Noah. And, YHWH making a sacrifice in Zephaniah 1:7 reminds us of the covenant with Abraham, via the prepared sacrifices, in Genesis 15:9–21. Now, the distress, darkness, gloominess, clouds, thick darkness, trumpet, and fire (Zephaniah 1:18e) all recall Sinai, and God’s covenanting with Israel under Moses (cf. Hebrews 12:18–21). The point is that, when the Lord comes in wrath, it is because He is faithful to Himself, to His character, to His glory, and to the covenant that He has declared and established with men. We may not be faithful, but He always will be (cf. 2 Timothy 2:12–13).
The day of YHWH is crushingly furious (Zephaniah 1:17). Distress, in verse 17a, is at least the eighth synonym from this word family in the passage. And, the giving of blindness in verse 17 (cf. Deuteronomy 28:29) recalls the whole of the curses of that chapter. The blindness would come particularly true in 2 Kings 25:7. Do not take lightly the wrath of God. The furiousness of the punishment corresponds to the greatness of the sin—and the sin is against the glory of YHWH Himself (Zephaniah 1:17c, cf. Romans 1:18–23, Romans 3:23). Do not take lightly the fierceness of the day of YHWH, dear reader—whether as a warning against faking your way through spiritual things, or as a comfort about the vindicating of His justice and avenging of all wrong.
The day of YHWH is completely final (Zephaniah 1:18). Lastly, we see that neither is there any way of escape (verse 18a–c), nor is there any one who will escape (verse 18d–g). The language of devouring fire (cf. Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 12:29), and of speedy riddance, conveys the utter finality of the day. This is especially true of the ultimate day of YHWH, to which the imminent destruction of Jerusalem was pointing. Do not let yourself think that you would be able to endure that wrath.
How have you dealt with the reality of YHWH’s coming wrath? Which of the lies, answered in this passage, do you most subtly tell yourself? In what ways does this passage comfort you?
Sample prayer: Lord, we thank You and praise You for Your faithfulness to Yourself. Truly, Your wrath is awesome—awful, in the fullest sense of that Word. How we thank You for pouring it out upon Christ for all Who believe in Him. Please give us to keep hating our sin, and keep trusting in Him, until we shall see Him in His great day, we ask in His Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP2 “Why Do Gentile Nations Rage” or TPH177 “Before Thee, God, Who Knowest All”
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