Minor Prophets 9: Zephaniah

Sermon Outline

2. Zephaniah decries the grievances that will bring judgment at the Day of the Lord.

1. But he also offers hope of salvation in the Day of the Lord for everyone for whom God has taken away his punishment.

With Zephaniah, We’ll Actually Delight in the Day of the Lord.

Sermon

The great day of the Lord is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;

the mighty man cries aloud there.

A day of wrath is that day,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and devastation,

a day of darkness and gloom. (Zeph 1:14–15)

Suppose you were asked this question: “If you could turn back the clock and spend a day with anyone from the past, who would it be?” For me, I think it would be my dad. I’ve been thinking about him quite a bit lately. Some of his tools, his books, a recording of his voice on my phone. We used to talk and argue and ponder things together. And I could always call him when I needed help or advice. He’s been gone over five, six years now. How I miss my dad!

I bet no one would say that, if he or she could turn back the clock and spend the day with someone from the past, it would be Zephaniah. Zephaniah does not come across as an approachable guy. He’s a pretty typical doom-and-gloom minor prophet who doesn’t have much nice to say about anyone—although he does hold out hope for humble people who seek the Lord. So there’s plenty of Law in Zephaniah, but there’s also some Gospel. Thank God for that!

2.

Who was Zephaniah anyway? Well, he was a royal himself, a great-grandson of King Hezekiah. He wrote his little book—it’s only three chapters long—a few years before the kingdom of Judah was destroyed, during the time of good King Josiah. This would be in the 600s BC.

But apparently, good King Josiah hadn’t put in place his reforms yet. Maybe it was Zephaniah’s prophecies that gave Josiah—shall we say?—a divine kick in the pants to get moving on that. This was when Assyria was still the main power in the region, although it was in decline, and Babylon hadn’t yet crushed them; but it soon would, and Judah too.

So this was the twilight time for Assyria, just before the full dawning of Babylon. It’s a time when God’s people of Judah aren’t taking their covenant relationship with Yahweh seriously at all. In fact, they’re living as if there will never be a day of accountability. But there will. And it would be coming soon.

Zephaniah calls it the Day of the Lord. What’s Judah been up to that has Yahweh’s prophet Zephaniah so upset? If his list of grievances sounds like what you’ve already heard, you have. Other minor prophets are upset about these same things:

God’s people are worshiping false gods like Baal, Molech, and the stars.

God’s people are thinking they can serve the Lord and other gods at the same time.

God’s people are no longer seeking the Lord or inquiring of him.

They are filling the temple with false gods, violence, and deceit.

The king’s sons have become fashionistas, wearing foreign clothes to imitate the pagans.

The people are even making sure not to step on thresholds. (This seems a bit odd. I remember hearing as a child, “Don’t step on a crack; you’ll break your mother’s back.” But this, apparently, was also imitating a pagan superstition; 1 Sam 5:5.)

They apparently were thinking the Lord wouldn’t do anything about the unfaithfulness of his people.

Judah and Jerusalem are the covenant people, but they seem to have no shame about any of their ungodly behavior. Surely, they should know better and behave better. But they seem no different than the nations around them. This is what so upsets Zephaniah.

But Zephaniah is also upset with neighboring nations—Judah’s traditional enemies like the Philistines, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Cushites, and the Assyrians. The Lord is angry with these nations for insulting and mocking the people of God. Nothing is going to save them. Nineveh, for example, is going to become a wasteland of weeds and salt pits forever, and a haunt for wild animals.

1.

That’s the local and regional angle. But there’s a worldwide angle as well. The whole world is going to burn with the fire of God’s wrath. No one will be spared in the Day of the Lord. So when will this Day of the Lord be? That’s the million-dollar question. It actually seems to have more than one fulfillment. Here are some of them:

It’s the imminent destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by Babylon.

It’s the wrath of God Jesus experienced on the cross when he bore our sins.

It’s the day we die and depart to be with Christ—or an unbeliever is forever cut off from his grace.

It’s the day when Jesus comes again in power and glory at the end of the world.

It may sound as if absolutely everyone will feel the fire of God’s wrath on the Day of the Lord. But that’s not really what will happen. There’s more than just judgment and wrath in Zephaniah. There is also the hope of salvation. Who experiences that hope? Here’s the list of those who are spared:

Those who humbly seek the Lord and do what he commands

Those who fear the Lord and accept correction

Those who call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder

Those who speak no lies

Those for whom the Lord has taken away their punishment

The last phrase is where we find Gospel, Good News, not in the other things. That’s because even if we humbly seek the Lord and try to obey his commandments, we fail. Sometimes we accept the Lord’s correction, but at other times we stubbornly refuse. Sometimes we call on the Lord’s name and serve him faithfully shoulder to shoulder with his people, but sometimes we don’t. And sometimes we’re not entirely truthful.

So, while Zephaniah holds out hope for those who do these things, often we don’t. And since that’s true of all of us, there’s really no consolation in this list except for that last line. There’s hope, there’s salvation in the Day of the Lord for everyone for whom God has taken away his punishment. Who might that be? That’s all for whom God’s Son, Jesus Christ, has died and taken upon himself their sin and punishment. It is everyone who repents of her sins and trusts that Jesus has borne in his body on the cross the full price of our redemption.

When by faith we receive the redemption of Jesus, it shines forth in our lives in all those ways that Zephaniah mentions. We seek the Lord. We do what he commands. We accept his correction. We serve shoulder to shoulder with his people.

I began by asking, “If you could turn back the clock and spend the day with anyone from the past, who would it be?” I said it probably wouldn’t be Zephaniah. But even if Zephaniah wouldn’t be our first choice, we’re going to spend the Day of the Lord with him anyway, and then eternity with him after that.

And you know what? I can’t imagine that when sin and death are finally put away, and God has ushered in the new heavens and new earth, Zephaniah is still going to be a grumpy old prophet. In fact, none of us will be grumpy. We’ll be too busy loving and rejoicing in the presence of our Savior, Jesus, to be grumpy about anything. Yes,

With Zephaniah, We’ll Actually Delight in the Day of the Lord.

We pray: God in heaven, when the Day of the Lord comes, let me be among those you gather, those you bring home, those you honor and praise forever, by faith in your Son, Jesus. In his name. Amen.