Zephaniah 1:12-18-The great day of the Lord

1:12,13

Searching with lamps implies that God will be meticulous in bringing people to justice. One of the common misconceptions of God and the gospel is that it is all about a God of love, with no place for a God of judgement. But the Bible, old and new testaments, repeatedly talks about God’s justice and judgement, and this is good news. At the time of writing there is a programme on BBC about human trafficking from Europe to Scotland. This is a terrible trade, ruining people’s lives. We should pray fervently that God will bring judgement, and we should praise God that He will do such a thing, for He is a God of justice, and His judgement is good news.

As well as the overtly wicked, the complacent are singled out. We all need to watch ourselves on this one. It is so easy to think I don’t murder, steal or rape, but God does not like the complacent either. Here it is those who probably made a reasonable living out of the corrupt society they lived in. Their wealth will be taken away. We really do not need to watch ourselves over the complacency issue.

1:14-16

We now get a dramatic picture of the “great day of the Lord”. The Lord will come in wrath. We need to face up to a fundamental fact. The world has rebelled against God, this sin has brought in all sorts of trouble. It is because of our sin that so much evil and wickedness exists in the world, it is why there is so much suffering. and we are all guilty. Any “theology” that seeks to ignore this fact, or to belittle it, is deeply flawed. Sadly, most “Christian” thinking is deeply flawed. But on that day no one will be able to withstand the judgement of God, and no one will be able to argue against it.

1:17,18

We find similar tales of the torment of people in Revelation and Isaiah (Rev 6:16; Is 2:19). Why? Because they have sinned against the Lord. We try to hide from this truth, but a day will come when we can hide no longer. It is far better to repent and confess our sins now, than to wait for that fateful day. No wealth that man has accumulated will be able to save him. People think they are secure because of the wealth they have, but a moment’s thought should show that on the day we die none of our wealth is of any use whatsoever.

The judgement is universal. The message of a complete end to this world is found throughout the Bible.