Zephaniah 1.18a-The Wealth of Unrepentant Sinners Will Never Deliver Them From God's Wrath
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday March 22, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 1:18a-The Wealth of Unrepentant Sinners Will Never Deliver Them From God’s Wrath
Lesson # 32
Zephaniah 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the LORD’S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth. (NASB95)
The prophet Zephaniah is employing the figure of asyndeton in order to express the solemn nature of the first prophetic declaration in verse 18 which is directed at the inhabitants of the entire earth in Zephaniah’s day and ultimately those living during Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
This figure is designed to get these individuals living during these two distinct time periods to meditate upon this prophetic statement in verse 18 that the wealth of unrepentant sinners will have no ability whatsoever to rescue them from God’s righteous indignation.
The purpose of such meditation is personal application which would be repentance.
Zephaniah 1:18 “Neither their silver, nor their gold has any ability whatsoever to rescue them during the period characterized by the Lord’s righteous indignation. For the entire earth will be consumed by means of His jealous anger because He will cause all the earth’s inhabitants to experience destruction, indeed, a terrifying one.” (My translation)
In Zephaniah 1:18, the God of Israel whom the New Testament identifies as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit issues three more solemn prophetic declarations through the prophet Zephaniah under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
These three prophetic declarations are a continuation of the prophetic declaration issued in Zephaniah 1:17 which is a direct quotation from the Lord.
The first prophetic declaration asserts that neither the silver, nor the gold of the earth’s inhabitants will have any ability whatsoever to rescue them during the period characterized by the Lord’s righteous indignation.
The reference to the wealth of the earth’s inhabitants and in particular unrepentant sinners indicates that these people placed their trust and security on their wealth or possessions rather than the Lord and thus, they were idolaters.
As we have been noting this period is a reference to the day of the Lord.
In a near sense, it refers to a period of time in which the God of Israel judged the kingdom of Judah and her Gentile pagan neighbors by means of the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar.
In a far sense, it speaks of the God of Israel judging Israel and all the nations of the earth during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel.
Therefore, the first prophetic declaration recorded in Zephaniah 1:18 was fulfilled in a near sense during the sixth century B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army destroyed Judah and her pagan Gentile neighbors in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions of the world.
However, it will ultimately be fulfilled in a far sense during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel.
That the first prophetic declaration recorded in Zephaniah 1:18 will be ultimately fulfilled during the tribulation portion of the seventieth week is indicated by the next two prophetic declarations which follow it.
The second prophetic statement is a causal clause presenting the reason why neither the silver, nor the gold of the human race will have no ability whatsoever to rescue them during the period characterized by the Lord’s righteous indignation.
The reason their wealth will never deliver them is that the entire earth will be consumed by means of His jealous anger.
Then the prophet presents the reason why the entire earth will be consumed by His jealous anger.
The reason is that the Lord will cause all the earth’s inhabitants to experience destruction, indeed a terrifying one at that.
In a near sense, this has taken place in the sixth century B.C. in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions but never has all the inhabitants on all seven continents experienced this.
However, Matthew 24 and Revelation 6-19 reveal that every area of the globe will experience God’s wrath during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel.
Like Zephaniah 1:14-17, Zephaniah 1:18 describes the God of Israel’s wrath or we can say His righteous indignation.
God’s wrath or righteous indignation refers to His legitimate anger towards evil and sin since both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature.
In fact, God’s righteous indignation expresses His holiness, which pertains to the absolute perfection of God’s character.
His holiness is expressing the purity of His character or moral perfection and excellence and means that God can have nothing to do with sin or sinners.
He is totally separate from sin and sinners unless a way can be found to constitute them holy and that way has been provided based upon the merits of the impeccable Person and Finished Work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross.
The Scriptures plainly teach that the wrath poured out during the Great Tribulation period originates with God and is therefore a time of God’s wrath upon a Christ rejecting a world that is deceived by the devil (See Isaiah 34:1-2; Joel 1:15; Obadiah 15; Revelation 15:1, 7; 16:1; Revelation 19:11-21).
God’s wrath is an expression of His holiness.
“Wrath” in the Greek New Testament is the noun orge, which refers to God’s attitude of “righteous indignation” in response to any thought, word, or action of His moral rational creatures, whether mankind and angels, that is opposed to His holiness and manifests itself in actions that judge and punish the guilty.
Every unbeliever will experience the righteous indignation of God forever in the eternal Lake of Fire.
In Romans 1:18, Paul teaches that the wrath of God is being revealed “at the present time” in human history but in Romans 2:5, he declares that the wrath of God is “eschatological” meaning that it is “yet future.”
This speaks of the Great White Throne Judgment of every unbeliever in history that will take place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all unregenerate humanity in human history for their rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior (Rev. 20:11-15).
The difference between righteous indignation and anger is that the former is based upon concern for the holiness of God whereas the latter is emotional, selfish, self-centered, vindictive and intent on harming another.
Normally, anger expressed by human beings is emotional and selfish but sometimes human beings manifest righteous indignation as in the case of the Lord Jesus Christ who displayed righteous indignation towards the moneychangers in the Temple whose actions stood in opposition to the holiness of God (Jn. 2:13-17).
In fact, in Ephesians 4:26-27, the apostle Paul commands believers to display righteous indignation towards injustice, sin and evil and to reject the emotional, selfish, self-centered, vindictive and revengeful form of human wrath and anger.
God’s righteous indignation is the legitimate anger towards evil and sin since both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature and in fact, God’s righteous indignation expresses His holiness.
The holiness of God pertains to the absolute perfection of God’s character or expressing the purity of His character or moral perfection and excellence and means that God can have nothing to do with sin or sinners.
He is totally separate from sin and sinners unless a way can be found to constitute them holy and that way has been provided based upon the merits of the impeccable Person and Finished Work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross.
The presence of evil, sin and injustice is totally absent in the character of God, thus God does not tolerate evil or sin because it is contrary to His character, i.e. His inherent moral qualities, ethical standards and principles.
God’s holiness refers to the absolute perfection of His character, expressing His purity of His character or moral perfection and excellence and intolerance and opposition and rejection of sin and evil, thus God is totally separate from sin and sinners.
Thus, God’s holiness is related to all of His divine attributes or in other words, it is simply the harmony of all His perfections or attributes.
Therefore, God’s wrath, which is in reality, righteous indignation is an expression of His holiness, righteousness and love in opposition to sin and evil.
God’s wrath or righteous indignation is used of God’s settled opposition to and displeasure against sin meaning that God’s holiness cannot and will not coexist with sin in any form whatsoever.
It is not the momentary, emotional, and often uncontrolled anger to which human beings are prone and does not refer to an explosive outburst but rather it refers to an inner, deep resentment that seethes and smolders, often unnoticed by others as in the case of God’s wrath.
The only way to avoid God’s righteous indignation is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:36).
Also, the seven bowl judgments, like the seven sealed judgments and seven trumpet judgments demonstrate the righteous indignation of God.
The reference to the wealth of these unrepentant sinners living during the seventieth week indicates that they were involved with the monetary system promoted by the city of Babylon which will be rebuilt so as to be existing during the seventieth week.
The destruction of the rebuilt city of Babylon at the end of the seventieth week is recorded in Revelation 18.
Revelation 18 describes the destruction of political and commercial Babylon as it is embodied in the city of Babylon, the headquarters of Antichrist.
Revelation 17 describes Babylon in its mystery form, as a religious system or spirit of false worship whereas Revelation 18 describes Babylon as a political and commercial system embodied in a city, the city of Babylon of the future.