Zephaniah 1:14 Commentary and Bible Study

‘The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly.’ The final end is in view. Every expression addresses some false consolation which Judah tells itself in order to minimise its alarm. ‘Yes, maybe judgment is coming, but it is a long way off, and we can carry on as we are for now without taking much notice of the prophet’s warnings.’ No, you cannot. The day is near, very near, and it is hurrying to meet you. It will be with you sooner than you can imagine. God brings about a change in our circumstance which takes us completely by surprise.‘Even the voice of the day of the Lord.’ The day of the Lord, the day of judgment, is pictured as a voice, perhaps the voice of a lion roaring, which announces that the time has come. It will not be possible to escape. Who does Jerusalem look to in its distress? Naturally it looks to its strongest warriors, its mighty men. But what consternation will grip the heart when even these fail and are terrified, and cry out bitterly? The defences we build allow us to set our concerns to one side, but when they fail, those concerns rush in again with renewed vigour. What does man trust in today? Materialistic explanation for everything, human ingenuity, technology, the stability of the heavens and the earth? God will cause those strongholds to fail visibly, filling men’s hearts with anguish, before the final destruction comes. It is to be ‘a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness.’ Nobody quite describes this as Zephaniah describes it. There will be no exceptions. When society begins to disintegrate under the judgment of the Lord, man’s worst fears will be realised. He will not be able to shut his ears to it, for the judgment will press in upon him, leaving him nowhere to flee.The whole land is under attack, but then back comes Zephaniah to Jerusalem, and both are in view. The trumpet sounds in the heat of the battle, giving signals to the attacking forces, or to those defending the city. It is a day of chaos and confusion as fenced cities fall one after another. The enemy has weapons which are able to bring down their high towers and seek out every refuge. The prophet strains to represent the horror of this situation. He is not ashamed of the God who judges mankind, and who judges with great severity. Preachers must speak of the judgment to come, and at times they must do so in vivid language in order to bring people to their senses.God tells us in graphic language what it will be like to experience his judgment. This faithful warning is an act of kindness, for we are to use the imaginations he has given us to take seriously those words, and peer into the future which he has opened for us, and consider what will be the severity of his judgment if we do not repent.