Zephaniah 1.17-Unrepentant Sinners Will Be Killed in War During the Day of the Lord
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday March 17, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 1:17-Unrepentant Sinners Will Be Killed in War During Day of the Lord
Lesson # 31
Zephaniah 1:17 I will bring distress on men so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; And their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung. (NASB95)
“I will bring distress on men” presents the reason for the previous prophetic description of the day of the Lord which is recorded in Zephaniah 1:14-16.
“I will bring distress on men” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction w (וְ), which is not translated (2) first person singular hiphil active perfect form of the verb ṣārar (צָרַר), “I will bring distress” (3) preposition l (לְ), “on” (4) articular masculine singular noun ʾādām (אָדָם), “men.”
The verb ṣārar is in the hiphil stem and means “to bring distress, to cause someone to experience distress” since it pertains to pain or suffering affecting the body or mind implying an external and usually temporary cause of great physical or mental strain and stress.
Therefore, this word indicates that the God of Israel will bring distress on mankind in the sense that He will cause them to experience pain and suffering which will affect their bodies as well as their minds, causing great physical and mental strain or stress.
The perfect tense of this verb is a perfect of certitude or prophetic perfect which expresses the certainty that the Lord will cause mankind to be in distress.
The noun ʾā∙ḏām is used in the generic sense meaning, “humankind, human race, mankind” since it pertains to a class of being created by God without regard to gender with emphasis as a class of creature, which is distinct from the animal and bird kingdoms and all aquatic and plant life as well as the angelic race.
“So that they will walk like the blind” presents the result of the previous statement in which the Lord asserts that He will certainly cause the human race to experience distress.
“They will walk like the blind” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction w (וְ), “so that” (2) third person plural qal active perfect form of the verb hālak (הָלַךְ), “they will walk” (3) marker of comparison k (ךְּ־), “like” (4) masculine plural noun ʿiwwēr (עִוֵּר), “the blind.”
The verb hālak means “to behave, to conduct oneself in a particular manner” since it pertains to going about doing certain actions in a regular, more or less, consistent manner so possibly constituting a lifestyle, as an extension of the act of walking as regular or patterned.
Here the word speaks of the behavior or conduct of members of the human race as a result of the Lord causing them to experience distress in their lives.
The perfect tense of this verb is a perfect of certitude or prophetic perfect which expresses the certainty that members of the human race will behave like the blind as a result of the Lord causing them to experience distress in their lives.
“Because they have sinned against the LORD” presents the reason for the previous prophetic declaration that the Lord will certainly cause the members of the human race to experience distress so that they will surely behave like the blind.
“And their blood will be poured out like dust” presents the result or consequence of the previous causal statement which asserts that members of the human race have sinned against the Lord.
“And their flesh like dung” is an addition to the previous prophetic declaration and speaks of the internal organs of members of the human race.
Zephaniah 1:17 “For I will certainly cause the human race to experience distress so that they will surely behave like the blind because they have sinned against the Lord. Consequently, their blood will certainly be poured out like the dust and their internal organs like dung.” (My translation)
The prophetic declaration recorded in Zephaniah 1:17 presents the reason for the previous prophetic descriptions of the day of the Lord which are recorded in Zephaniah 1:14-16.
So this indicates that the day of the Lord is characterized by imminency, anguish, battle cries, God’s righteous indignation, terror, agony, devastation, desolation, darkness, gloom, cloudiness, yes thick cloudiness “because” the Lord will cause the human race to experience distress.
The Lord then presents the reason for this judgment by asserting that the human race has sinned against Him.
Consequently, the Lord declares that their blood will certainly be poured out like the dust of the ground and their internal organs just as human excrement is disposed of.
The reference to blindness in Zephaniah 1:17 would sound an alarm to those living in Judea in Zephaniah’s day and it will for the Jew living during the seventieth week since it is harkening back to Deuteronomy 28:28-29 and Isaiah 59:10.
The Lord is stating that both Jew and Gentile have sinned against Him.
The nation of Israel sinned against God in the sense that they were guilty of disobeying the various commands and prohibitions in the law which were given to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The Gentiles sinned against God in the sense that they were guilty of disobeying the Ten Commandments which are written into the soul of every human being according to Romans 2:14-15.
When the Lord declares that He will cause the human race to experience distress, He is speaking of causing them to experience pain and suffering which will affect their bodies as well as their minds, causing great physical and mental strain or stress.
This first prophetic declaration that the Lord will cause the human race to experience distress was fulfilled in a near sense through Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon sacking Judah and her neighbors in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions of the world during the sixth and seventh centuries B.C.
However, this prophetic declaration will ultimately be fulfilled in a far sense during the tribulation portion of Daniel’s seventieth week.
This is indicated by the prophetic declarations which appear in Zephaniah 1:18 which is connected to the prophetic declarations in Zephaniah 1:17.
The former asserts that the entire earth will be devoured by the fire of the Lord’s jealousy during the day of the Lord and it also asserts that the Lord will make a complete terrifying end of all the inhabitants of the earth.
This has never taken place in history but Matthew 24 and Revelation 6-19 reveal that this will take place during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel.
The prophetic declarations recorded in Zephaniah 1:17 express God’s righteous indignation against unrepentant sinners.
We must remember that those whom the Lord is angry with and whom He will cause to experience distress because they sinned against Him are in fact unrepentant sinners, whether regenerate or unregenerate.
The unregenerate living during the Babylonian invasions of the sixth and seventh centuries B.C. faced God’s wrath because they failed to change their mind and trust in the God of Israel.
The regenerate in apostasy who lived during the Babylonian invasions faced His wrath in the sense that they were severely disciplined because they did not confess their sins to be restored to fellowship with Him and maintained that fellowship through obedience to His Word.
The unregenerate living during the tribulation period of the seventieth week of Daniel will face God’s wrath because they failed to change their mind and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior who is the king of Israel.
The regenerate in apostasy who will live during this time will also face His wrath in the sense that they will be severely disciplined because they did not confess their sins to be restored to fellowship with Him and maintained that fellowship through obedience to His Word.
The Lord makes two comparisons in Zephaniah 1:17.
Both comparisons make clear that during the day of the Lord the sanctity of human life will be rejected and emphasize that people will lose their lives through war with great frequency and both reveal the utter disdain armies will have for their enemies.
This again was fulfilled in a near sense through the Babylonian invasions of the Mesopotamian and Mediterranean regions in the sixth and seventh centuries B.C.
The Babylonian army had total disdain for the lives of their enemies and those whom they conquered.
Zephaniah 1:17 will ultimately be fulfilled in a far sense during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel in which the Armageddon campaign will take place and will end with the Second Advent of Christ.
The armies of the tribulation will have total disdain and absolutely no regard for the lives of their enemies.
The second, fourth and fifth seal judgments recorded in the book of Revelation also speak of God judging the human race and bringing distress upon it through war.
These judgments reveal that war will be the reason why the blood of human beings will be poured out like dust during the tribulation period and their internal organs like human excrement.
The seventh trumpet judgment recorded in Revelation 11:15-19 results in the Second Advent of Christ which will also bring distress upon the human race through war.
This judgment reveals that the Second Advent of Christ will be another the reason why the blood of human beings will be poured out like dust during the tribulation period and their internal organs like human excrement.