Are you ready for the judgement day?
Date 15 01 23 Text Zephaniah 1:1-6 Place CHilds Hill Baptist Church
As I'm sure you know, if you pick up a Christian Bible it is in two unequal parts - Old Testament and New Testaments. The last 12 books of the Old Testament are what we call the Minor Prophets. They are called this because the Old Testament writing prophets who wrote them wrote shorter books than the major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel). The word doesn't mean minor in the sense of unimportant but of size. The longest of the minor prophets are Hosea and Zechariah (only 14 short chapters each). Obadiah has only one chapter and Haggai two. Because the books are only short it was possible to write all twelve on one big scroll – hence The Twelve.
Over the years we have looked at most if not all of these books but there are some that perhaps we have not looked at or have not looked at for a very long time. I would like to turn our attention this evening to one of them, to the Book of Zephaniah. It was probably written some time in the seventh century, certainly before 587 BC and the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians.
One reason why people shy away from the minor prophets is that they are full of words of judgement. Zephaniah begins, after the briefest of introductions, "I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the LORD. People are often slow to look at the subject of judgment. However, I am assuming that all of you here tonight are believers and so there is no reason for you to be afraid of the judgment. On the other hand, it is good to look at the subject in case we are mistaken about supposing we are going to heaven and in order to remind ourselves of what is going to happen to all those around us who refuse to repent.
So this week we'll look just at the opening verses of the book, Chapter 1:1-6. I want to say three things to you.
1. Who is the author of this prophecy and when did he prophesy?
The opening verse of the book reminds us that this is The word of the LORD. It is The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, who was the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, presumably the great and good king. If so, Zephaniah was of royal blood. He may have left one generation out in his genealogy, otherwise Hezekiah was his great great grandfather. We know almost nothing else about Zephaniah.
He prophesied, he says, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah to whom Zephaniah must have been related in some way. Amon was assassinated around 641 BC. Josiah, in contrast to his father and grandfather (Manasseh) was one of the good kings of Judah. He began reigning when he was 8 years old and reigned for the next 30 years. In the twelfth year of his reign, there was a great revival and so the question arises as to when Zephaniah's prophecies were given. If they come from the period before the revival, perhaps they were one of the instruments that God used to bring revival about. If it was in the latter half of Josiah's reign that Zephaniah prophesied then presumably it was because it was not long before people began to fall away again, despite the reformation that had come about. The prophecies could have been given in both parts of the reign, of course.
This is the period when the power of Assyria was beginning to wane and the Babylonians were on the rise. It is the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar who eventually carried Judah off into exile.
So some lessons to begin with
1. Be thankful that we have here the word of the Lord. God speaks and he speaks in the Bible, including in this book of Zephaniah.
2. Recognise that throughout the Bible God speaks through human beings, including Zephaniah. As is often the case, we do not know much about the human writer but we know he was a real human being and that he was used by God in his generation to convey his word. God revealed secrets to his servants the prophets and we have those words today. The same Holy Spirit who spoke through Zephaniah then will illumine those words so that we understand them today.
3. Remember that plain, honest preaching is always needed, whether times are good or bad. We need to hear the Word of God.
2. Hear this word about the universal judgment that is going to come on this earth
In verses 2 and 3 Zephaniah plunges straight into the prophecy proper. First, God announces what he is going to do, the judgment he is going to bring about on this earth. Just as he once judged this earth by means of a worldwide flood so he will bring other judgments including a final judgment on all. Four questions
1. Who is going to bring about this judgment?
Verse 2 "I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the LORD. It is the LORD himself, the true and living God of Israel. It says that at the beginning of verse 2 and again at the end of verse 3. This is God speaking, this is indeed the word of the LORD and that is why we must sit up and listen. He is the God with whom we have to do.
2. What will be its chief characteristic?
You notice the repeated idea of sweeping away. It begins "I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the LORD. Then there is some itemisation "I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea - and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble." If there is any doubt about what such sweeping away by God entails, the phrase "When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth," declares the LORD makes it clear.
Just as when someone takes a brush and sweeps the rubbish up across the floor so God will come one day and he will sweep away all unrighteousness. It's a great clean up.
When I was a child, my mother would have a big clean up in the house, which was fine but sometimes there were things that I treasured that she would throw away because they were cluttering up the house. It is something like that when God is at work.
In doing what he says he will do God will destroy the whole earth including the unrighteous, consigning them to hell. The New Testament speaks of this (2 Peter 3:10) But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
3. What will be swept away?
In verse 3 Zephaniah enumerates who will be swept away. It is like Genesis 1 in reverse. There we read of the creation of man and before that of the beasts and before that the birds and the fish. Here he says I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea …. All of creation is going to be swept away when this great day of judgment comes. He adds - and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble. On the fourth day God made the sun, moon and stars, which people have made idols of. But they also will be destroyed.
These idols that cause the wicked to stumble really are stumbling blocks. They get in the way of true worship and cause people to fall into sin. When someone trips over something in the street we say he has hit a stumbling block. That literal thing is a picture of the way idols get in the way and cause people to fall. But they will not last.
It all reminds us of Jesus's own words in Matthew 13:40, 41 As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.
The whole thing may sound negative but in fact it is very positive for this will mean the end of idolatry and all the wickedness associated with it when God judges all the earth. This drive against idols has already begun but it will be completed when Jesus comes again.
4. How ought we to react to such a fact?
It is very clear that a great judgment is going to come on this earth and we need to be ready for it. If we are given to idol worship then what hope is there for us? We need to put our faith rather in Jesus Christ before it is too late. As Peter says (2 Peter 3:11-13) Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
We know there is going to be a judgment – our consciences tell us so and even if we do not know the Ten Commandments we have an innate sense of right and wrong and of God's justice. Paul says of unbelievers at the end of Romans 1 that they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, yet sadly they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
3. Hear this word about the judgment of Judah which anticipates it
The last thing in verse 4 is this - "When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth," declares the LORD …. It is really the beginning of the next sentence - When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth, declares the LORD I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem etc so we will take it as part of verse 5 and we will look at it along with the final two verses. We ask the same four questions.
1. Who is going to bring about this judgment?
Through into verses 4-6, it is still God who is speaking, it is still the LORD. He is the one who is going to destroy all mankind on the face of the earth and who in particular will stretch out his hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. When judgement comes it is God who is behind it.
2. What will be its chief characteristic?
This time God speaks about stretching out his hand against certain people - stretching out his hand no doubt to grab and to punish. Certainly the word to destroy is here again - I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place, the very names of the idolatrous priests ….
Picture God then and his outstretched arm – an arm that os strong to save but that can also destroy when it is turned against a person.
Zephaniah is speaking both of a premature judgment on Judah that anticipates the final judgment and how the final judgment will affect the professed people of God.
In 2 Kings 23:4-8 we read about how The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem - those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the LORD, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah. Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate.
What Zephaniah speaks of here is what had happened or would happen, but there is more to come – a compete overthrow of idolatry lay ahead. We have seen how since the coming of Christ idolatry has been in reverse everywhere. The final phase of that will soon be here with the judgement.
3. Against who will God's hand be stretch out?
Here things narrow down. 4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who live in Jerusalem God says. This time it is not just all the earth but specifically the professed people of God. It reminds us of what Peter says reflecting on the way Christians suffer in this life, in 1 Peter 4:17, 18, For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" Jeremiah 25:29 is similar. God says to the nations this time See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you indeed go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword on all who live on the earth, declares the LORD Almighty.
All are judged. As Jesus puts it in one place (Luke 12:47, 48) The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Privileges bring responsibilities. All will be judged but professing believers first and most severely.
He goes into some detail itemising this time every remnant of Baal worship ... the idolatrous priests - those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host, those who bow down and swear by the LORD and who also swear by Molek, those who turn back from following the LORD and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him.
This allows us to draw some more distinct conclusions about the judgment and who in particular will suffer at that time.
1 Firstly, we must underline the fact that a mere profession of faith will save no-one. That will not ever be enough for anyone.
2 God says I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place, the very names of the idolatrous priests - those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host. Baal worship and other idolatries were everywhere in Jerusalem at this time. The people would go up onto the flat roofs of their houses from where they could see the stars and planets and they would bow down and worship them. All idol worshippers and those who worship the starry host God says will all be destroyed in this judgment. The very names of the idolatrous priests will be destroyed. Just as no-one remembered the names of the builders of the Tower of Babel, despite all their efforts, so the names of these idolatrous priests are forgotten and will not be brought to mind again.
3 This will include those who engage in what we call syncretism. Those who bow down and swear by the LORD and yet who at the same time also swear by Molek, the detestable god of the Ammonites. These too will be destroyed.
4 You do not have to be an idolater to know God's judgment, it is enough that you are one of those who turn back from following the LORD and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him. Such people are what we call apostates.
It is clear then that this worldwide judgment includes those who profess to belong to God's people and indeed begins with them. Merely to have the name that you belong to God is not enough. There needs to be more.
4. How ought we to react to such a fact?
Again it is a warning. The judgment is coming. Are you ready? Are you living as a person ought to be who belongs to the Lord? Is your profession of faith matched by a life of living to God's praise? It must be.
Do you know the phrase nominal Christian or Sunday Christian? The authors of Operation World suggest that there are 1.2 billion of these nominal or non-practising Christians alive today. The evangelical Lausanne Movement defines a nominal Christian as "a person who has not responded in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and Lord" … [he] "may be a practising or non-practising church member. He may give intellectual assent to basic Christian doctrines and claim to be a Christian. He may be faithful in attending liturgical rites and worship services, and be an active member involved in church affairs." Jesus tells us that on the day of judgement (Matthew 7:21-23) Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' What a sobering statement.
