Zephaniah: The Wrath of God

Introduction

Opening Illustration: Not long ago I was at a funeral, for a very faithful Christian woman that had passed away. And the preacher, who had often visited her in her senior home, got up to give the message portion of the funeral. And he delivered a true Southern fire and brimstone message about the Day of the Lord’s wrath. And he pleaded with every person in the room, to turn from their sin, and to escape the wrath of God that is coming upon man. I sat there listening to him, and two thoughts crossed my mind. 1) This is the kind of sermon that caricatures are drawn from, the kind of preacher who television mock. 2) Every word of his sermon was dead accurate.

Personal: We live in a day where it is uncommon to speak of the wrath of God, and it is uncommon to speak of the Day of the Lord’s justice. Preachers are largerly expected to speak of the joy and comfort of God, but to stay away from the anger of God. But it must be done. The Biblical writers always returned to this theme, because as sure as you and I are sitting here today, that great day of Christ’s return, is fast approaching. And each person in this room is either safely secured underneath the blood of Christ, or they are awaiting the fire and brimstone of Christ’s perfect judgment. Which one are you today?

Context: Today, we continue our sermon series through the Minor Prophets and we come to Zephaniah. The big theme of Zephaniah is the Day of the Lord, we had an entire sermon about that topic a few weeks back when we studied the prophet Joel. Today, we are going to look at a nuance of that topic, a doctrine called the Wrath of God. In Zephaniah, the wrath of God against all sin and all evildoers is on full display

Zephaniah 1:14–16 “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, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.”

But Zephaniah is not solely about the wrath of God. In the last half of the final chapter of Zephaniah, we have what is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and striking images of God’s tender love in all of Scripture. And so in Zephaniah we discover that God’s wrath and God’s love are intricately bound together. In order to understand his love, we must understand his wrath, and vica versa.

Structure: Today, we will consider three truths about God’s wrath. I’ll lay all four of these out for you before we begin, so you know we’re headed today

Doctrinal Meaning & Application

I GOD’S WRATH IS JUST

Opening Illustration: Court Room: Let us begin with the first truth [the lengthiest]. God’s wrath is just. Many people who have not thought about this topic well, often think of God’s wrath as somehow unjust, as somehow overly punitive. But consider for a moment a court of law. Imagine that a man is standing trial for a cold blooded murder of a husband and father. The wife and the children are in the courtroom awaiting the sentencing, awaiting justice to be served. And imagine if that judge after such a wicked crime as had been committed, looked at the murderer and said, “It’s not a big deal, you’re free to go.” Would you not have anger at that judge, and come to the defense the family who lost their father and husband.

Image of God: That inner desire for justice that resides within every human heart is part of your being made in the image of God. You desire justice, because God is just, and he has made you as a justice desiring person. Just as crimes have a just penalty in this world, so do sins have a just penalty in spiritual world in which we live. A good spiritual judge can no more overlook sin, than a good earthly judge can overlook a crime. If our spiritual judge overlooked sin, he would not be good, he would be wicked.

Book of Zephaniah: In the book of Zephaniah we discover a number of clear reasons why God’s wrath is poured out. I’ll give you three of them in order to understand the justice of God.

1 False Worship: First, God justly pours out his wrath against all false religion. We read in Zephaniah 1:4 that,

Zephaniah 1:4 ““I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,”

Remnants of Baal & Idolatrous Priests: Baal was a false god that was worshiped by many in the days of the Old Testament. Among the surrounding nations to Israel, Baal worship and the entire cult system, including priests and religious ceremonies acts of sacrifice, was common. All throughout the Old Testament we discover God’s people coming in contact with Baal worshipers. Perhaps the most famous of these encounters is the story of the prophet Elijah on Mt. Carmel when he challenged the priests of Baal to a duel, a duel in which by the end of it the Lord had put hundreds of Baal priests to death for their sins and crimes.

Why is Baal Worship so Bad?: The question many have today, in our pluralistic society, is why is Baal worship so bad? I have heard many today ask the question, “What is the big deal if you worship God through Christianity, and someone else worships God through Islam? Why is God concerned with punishing people for worshiping God in their own way?” Permit me to give you two reasons.

God is a Jealous God: The first reason worshiping false gods is so wicked is because God is a jealous God. God says,

Zephaniah 1:18 “…In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed…”

This exact phrase is repeated in Zephaniah 3:8 as well. God is not jealous because he wants or needs something that he is unable to get. God is not jealous because he takes a petty dislike to the accomplishments of others. The great JI Packer talks about God’s jealous in this way,

“[God’s jealous] is his holiness reacting to evil in a way that is morally right and precious…; it is a praiseworthy zeal on his part to preserve something supremely precious.”

God is infinitely glorious, and his jealousy for our worship is rooted in the reality that he is the only proper object of worship, and that worship aimed at any other person, god, or thing will only lead to human misery. His jealousy is his desire to preserve that which is right, and good, and true. Just as a master of a museum is jealous to protect its finest piece of art, because it is of immense value and unable to be replicated, so is God jealous for his glory.

False God’s Demand Wicked Worship: The second reason worshiping false gods is so wicked is because false gods are far more wicked than most tend to admit or know. Many people, especially in the West where we are so blind to the wickedness of the world, mistakenly believe that all the gods out there are basically the same thing. People who say this have never taken the time to read the Quran, or Hindu literature, or humanistic literature. Baal demanded child sacrifice in order to be appeased. They would kill their infant children in sacrfice to him. No, God does not receive that as worship unto himself, because that is wicked. And today, around the world, the false gods of the nations are just as wicked. Allah commands violence and death to spread, we saw that recently when Hamas (which literally means “violence”) murderously attacked, raped, and tortured Israelite citizens. The Hindu gods have propagated a caste system that has destroyed the lives of millions, and have provided the basis for why rape is so heavily practiced among Hindu cultures as a religious good.

Application: And so, God’s wrath is justly poured out against all false religion. Any and all who do not bow down and worship the trinitarian God of Scripture will face the full wrath of God on the day of their judgment.

All fallen spirits who pose as false gods (from Baal to Allah) will face the wrath of God.

Those who worship Baal will face the wrath of God.

Those who worship Allah will face the wrath of God.

Those who worship the gods of Hinduism, and Pantheism, and Buddhism, and Humanism, and Atheism, will face the wrath of God.

Those who worship the modern gods of money, success, and fame, will face the wrath of God.

God’s wrath is justly poured out on false religion.

2 Divided & Complacent Worship: Second, God’s wrath is justly poured out on all divided & complacent religion.

Zephaniah 1:5 “those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom,”

Here we have a situation, where out of one side of the mouth, God’s people were worshiping YHWH, their God, but then in other areas of their life, they worship Milcom. Milcom was the god of the Ammonites. And so God’s supposed people were double minded, unstable in their worship. They treated God, as one of the many gods to appeased. Then a verses later we read,

Zephaniah 1:12 “At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.’”

Notice here, that this verse is condemning those who are believing in the God of the Bible, referred to as “The Lord,” but their faith is complacent. They have paid him lip service, but their life reveals that they don’t really believe he is involved in the affairs of man. Their lifestyle does not accord with God’s design for our life, because they don’t believe that the God they say the worship cares much about their lifestyle. They are spiritually complacent.

First Commandment: God says that his wrath is coming upon them. Why? Because as a good judge, God has laid down the law with great clarity. He has not left us wondering what is expected of us. The very first of the 10 Commandments explicitly warns that God will not share worship with any other god.

Exodus 20:2–3 ““I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.”

That language means, “You shall not have any other gods in my presence.” In other words, I will not receive half of your heart, or three quarters of your heart. I will receive the whole thing or none at all.

Experiential: How common is this in our modern day, how easy is it to slip into a lifestyle that serves God on Sundays, and many other gods throughout the week. Jesus teaches us that we cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24), and that if our faith is lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, he will spit us out (Revelation 3:16).

God’s wrath is justly poured on divided and complacent religion.

3 Immorality: Third, God’s wrath is justly poured out against every infraction of God’s perfect and holy law, against every injustice.

Zephaniah 3:3–4 “Her officials within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning. Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men; her priests profane what is holy; they do violence to the law.”

These verses speak about those with official positions in the Kingdom of God.

Officials are roaring lions. This means that those who have some kind of authority over others domineer over them. They abuse them. They are not kind and tender and gentle with them, but mistreat and abuse their position. They have an angry murderous spirit. That is breaking the sixth commandment “Do not murder.”

Judges are evening wolves. This means those who are supposed to carefully judge the truth have become liars. Their lying causes justice to be perverted. This is breaking the ninth commanment “Do not bear false witness.”

Her prophets are fickle. Those who are supposed to represent God correctly to the world, and speak his truth, speak of God with a disparaging tongue, and represent him incorrectly. This is breaking the third commandment “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.”

Priest profane what is holy. This can refer to any number of things. They could be worshiping God in a way that God has said was forbidden. It could also clearly refer to breaking the fourth commandment to “Keep the Sabbath day holy.”

This verse and many others like it show us that God has established his law, and those who break it will justly experience the wrath of God.

God’s wrath is just. I urge you now, flee the wrath that is to come!

II GOD’S WRATH IS TO BE FEARED

Second, God’s wrath is to be feared. I try very often to put on display for you the great love of God, and I fear that I can never do such a topic the justice it deserves. In the same way, God’s wrath is far more terrible than I could every properly convey.

Illustration Evangelism: This week I was evangelizing at Lalapalooze, downtown. As I was speaking with a young man who was stuck in the false religion of Scientology I said to him, “Tell me friend, based on what we have discussed on God’s law, and the way you’re living your life, if you were to die today, where would you go?” And many people will look me straight in the eye and say, “Probably hell.” And I’ll say, “Doesn’t that concern you?” And they’ll look at me with calm eyes and say, “Not really.” There is no fear in them. O, but I tell you, they will care when that day comes, because the wrath of God will be overwhelming and inescapable.

Zephaniah: Let me to you a few verses from Zephaniah that speak of the wrath of God that is coming upon all unrighteousness.

Zephaniah 1:14–17 “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, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.”

Consider the words of the prophet Zephaniah. God's wrath when it comes is like an overwhelming flood. There is no escaping it. Our money cannot purchase a way out. Our strength cannot endure it. Our comforts can make it no softer. When the day of gloom comes, when the day of darkness comes, it will come in full. Woe to the arrogant who have deceived themselves into believing God will not find them.

Illustration: Thought on Hell: Some time ago, I had an experience that shook me to my core. I woke up in my bed with thoughts of hell. I would not call it a vision, it was simply overwhelming thoughts of the reality of eternal pushishment for my sin. This had never happened to me before, but as I lay there in my bed, I was overwhelmed with anxiety and fear.The thoughts were too horrifying to repeat to you now. I can only describe it as the greatest moments of fear in my entire life. The only means I had available to me to lower my anxiety was to lay in my bed and repeat the tender promises of God to myself over and over, until the Lord granted me the peace of assurance of my salvation in Christ!

Plea: O Church, the Scriptures remind us regularly that the consequences for sin is death. And I plead with you with the words of the prophet.

Zephaniah 2:2–3 “before the decree takes effect —before the day passes away like chaff— before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.”

III GOD’S WRATH IS SATISFIED ONLY IN CHRIST

But Zephaniah makes a turn in the third chapter. He begins to speak about this remnant that would be spared from God’s wrath.

Zephaniah 3:9–11 ““For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. “On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.”

Illustration: Manicheeism: This entire passage was Zephaniah foreshadowing the work that Jesus Christ would do. In the early days of Christian history there was a heresy that brewed within Christianity called Manicheism. The Manichees looked at the Old Testament and the New Testament and said that the God of these two parts of the Bible are different. The God of the Old Testament is full of wrath, but the God of the New Testament is full of love. They are different Gods. Today, that belief is prevalent in Christianity, as many attempt to distance themselves from passages in Zephaniah which speak of the wrath of God. But this is a fundamental misunderstanding, particularly on the topic of God’s wrath.

Jesus: If I were to ask you, where in the Bible is the section where you see the most amount of God’s wrath being poured out. It is not in Zephaniah or Joel. It is in the Gospels. It is in on the cross. You see God has not changed at all. God is just. Each and every one of us has fallen short due to both Original Sin inherited from Adam, and actual sin we have committed. Had God not intervened, we would be left on our own underneath the wrath of God. But God did intervene. Jesus, the incarnate one, is the only one who ever perfectly obeyed God’s law. He is the only one who did not earn the wrath of God.

He neither inherited Adam’s sin, because he was immaculately conceived, nor did he ever commit a sin in heart or action. Yet, he suffered the wrath of God on the cross. In that moment, all of God’s just wrath that is due you and me, was poured out on a substitute, Jesus Christ. We cannnot begin to fathom what that experience was like. Because while physical crucifixion was terrible, the suffering Christ underwent spiritually as the wrath of God was poured down on him in our place, was far more excruciating.

Illustration: Court: If you go back to my earlier courtroom scene. If you can imagine, that murderer standing before the judge, knowing he was guilty. And as the judge delivers the sentence of guilt, the penalty is read a life for a life, capital punishment. But imagine if that judge did something unexpected. What if he looked at that murderer in the eye, and said, “What I do now, I do so that you can live.” And then he took off his robes, stepped down from his chair, and permitted the bailiff to place him (the judge) in handcuffs instead of the guilty party. And permitted the bailiff to walk him down death row, instead of the guilty party. The punishment would be paid in full, but the guilty would get life. This is what Christ for done for us!

But Its More (14-20): But its so much more than that! Christ paid the penalty for our sin. But then, to all those who place their faith in him, he does something new in their heart, and he makes them a child of God. Zephaniah records a degree and kind of love that God will have for all those whom he died for that is breathtaking.

Zephaniah 3:14 “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” This kind of love can only be responded to by singing, by rejoicing. Not with a divided heart, or a complacent heart, but with “all of your heart.” That is a sign that you have received his love, that all of your heart rejoices in Christ.

Zephaniah 3:15 “The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.” No judgment is now held out against you. Even though we continue to struggle with sin, the judgments have been paid in full. And Christ himself is now in our midst. In Christ we have a relationship with God where he is with us, to lead us, comfort us, guide us, protect us.

Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Not only do we rejoice, but Christ himself rejoices over us in gladness. His love is extraordinary. When our anxious hearts cause us to doubt or to waver, he will quiet us by love and sing over us. When my daughter was months old, she used to wake up in the middle of the night crying, and I would go over her crib, and rub her forehead gently and sing with the love of a father over her. I was not angry that she woke me up. I would do anything for her. Christ will exult over you with loud singing. In Christ you are forgiven and adopted into his family as a son or daughter and his love is that of a rejoicing father over his children.

Conclusion

If I could summarize how Zephaniah it would be that God will ultimately exececute his fiery wrath on every injustice and on every sin and on every wickedness. And as he does so he will safely secure those whom he loves for life with God eternally. And while that life will be lived in full in the life to come, we experience it now through faith in Jesus Christ.

Flee from the wrath to come! And find life in Christ our Savior.

Transition to Song: The song we are about to sing begins this way, “In the darkness we were waiting without hope without light. Till from heaven you came running there was merchy in your eyes.” This is your story