The Day of the Lord: Judgment and Hope in Zephaniah

Awake to the Things of God

There is a rhythm to life. Childhood, school, family, and work become our routine. In the midst of these we sometimes fail to remember that life is more than this. Our Creator wants us to be alert and awake. He desires us to think about eternity and our place in it.

The thing we know in the deepest parts of us is that God is the Maker of all that we see (Romans 1:19-21). We can be fully awake to the demands of everyday life and still be asleep to the things of God. There will come a time when we will answer for our decision to sleep or be awake to the spiritual nature of our lives. The Day of the Lord is coming.

We may think that that phrase refers to Sunday as the day of the Lord but it does not. In the book of Zephaniah this day is both a warning of impending judgment and a final future judgment. It is the day God judges sin.

Zephaniah's Warning About Spiritual Complacency

The book of Zephaniah opens with a dire prophecy. This is one of the most vivid and disturbing descriptions of the wrath of God in the Bible. All of the earth and its inhabitants will be judged. The Lord will demand silence. It will be His day, the Day of the Lord. Idolatry will be judged. The Lord will search out "with lamps" in every corner to find those who have decided that life can be lived without Him, those who have not sought Him. The people He is judging have settled into an apathetic indifference toward Him.

“And it shall come to pass at that time

That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

And punish the men

Who are settled in complacency,

Who say in their heart,

‘The Lord will not do good,

Nor will He do evil.’" - Zephaniah 1:12

They believe that God cares nothing one way or the other about their lives. They are complacent, satisfied with the routine of their lives, unable to see what is about to befall them. Their riches will not save their world or themselves from destruction. Judgment was coming and Zephaniah's warning was a troubling one. A warning that never disturbs us may be a warning we haven't really heard.

This Day of the Lord in the Old Testament describes historical acts of God's judgment as well as judgment associated with the end of the age. The New Testament writers center it around the Second Coming of Jesus. For Christians this is the fulfillment of our hope.

Jesus Warns Us to Stay Awake and Pray

Jesus Himself warns us in Luke 21:36 (ESV),

"But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

Jesus calls us to prayer. We need communication with our Father to have strength. We don't just assume we will be strong enough, we ask God for strength. How important this must be since it comes from our Lord. Jesus' warning calls for watchfulness, prayer, and readiness.

The Day of the Lord Is Near

This destruction will come suddenly. It will feel as though it is without warning, but it is not. Those who endure it have been spiritually asleep and unprepared for the coming judgment. They must awake, to avoid God's righteous anger. We cannot live careless, thoughtless lives. We cannot just continue like the world. As Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5:14, the sleeper must awake!

How often do we pray this prayer that we would escape all these things? Have we fallen into a routine of life that doesn't stop to think about what may come? Romans 13:11-12 says it is "high time to awake out of sleep" because "the night is far spent, the day is at hand." Paul warns again in 1 Thessalonians 5:6, "Let us not sleep as others do..." You can feel the urgency in Paul's words. Don't wait, because it may be too late if you do.

Even Christians Can Become Spiritually Complacent

We see the same theme of suddenness and wakefulness in the pages of John's book of Revelation. When the angel speaks God's message to the church in Sardis, he tells them,

"Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you." Revelation 3:3 (ESV)

Remember that Paul's words and the message to the church in Sardis in Revelation are addressed to Christians. Spiritual complacency is not merely a problem outside the church. Christians, too, can become distracted by routine, neglect obedience, and fail to live in light of Christ's return. Scripture has stern words about complacency, calling the complacent fools (Proverbs 1:32).

God's Warning Comes With Hope

These warnings also come with hope. In Zephaniah the prophet reminds the people they can still repent and turn from their sin. They still have time to wake up, even though it may be short. God will preserve a faithful remnant of those who have awakened and turned from their sin. They are people who seek the Lord and turn to Him.

Zephaniah 3:11-17 describes a people with a heart rekindled for God. Prideful people are gone, replaced by "meek and humble" people. These people "trust in the name of the Lord," not in themselves or other gods. Zephaniah proclaims that they can rejoice in the Lord because their enemy is gone. Their mighty God is in their midst and "He will rejoice" over them with gladness.

The Danger of Ignoring Our Need for God

It is so easy to give in to the complacency of sin. We may be alert to the dangers we see in the world while remaining indifferent to the spiritual danger of sin. Many voices we hear today may try to frighten us about impending disaster but rarely do they warn us about the disaster of choosing sin over righteousness. The world thinks it can save itself in its pride and arrogance.

More often than not the God we are shown by the world is an indifferent one. We are told we are just a meaningless speck in the universe and by inference if there was a God He cares nothing for us. People can believe God is real, or even talk about Him, while living as though He has no meaningful involvement in human affairs. Do we view our existence as if we have no ultimate accountability? Or do we see the biblical revelation of a Creator who knows us, judges sin, and has acted to save us through Christ?

Our God sent His Son Jesus to earth in the form of a man to become the sacrifice for our sins. Our sins can never be paid for by our good works. That is our pride at work, trying to make us believe we can save ourselves, but we are called to respond to God's grace in repentance and faith. The Day of the Lord will come and when it does He needs to find us prayerfully ready.

Today Is the Day of Salvation

What will it take to wake us up? What will it take to make us realize that our time of decision is now? The Lord is patient with us because He wants everyone to come to Him and repent (2 Peter 3:9). He wants the whole world to hear His Word and be told of His love. Those of us who are awake have a duty. We are to share this Word with others, to warn them, to shake them from their sleep, to say, today is the day of salvation. God's judgment is real and His offer of salvation is real—be alert.

Pray with me today,

Heavenly Father,

Keep me spiritually awake, alert to sin, and faithful in warning others.

Help me recognize my sin, turn from it in repentance, and live in the light of Your truth. Thank You for sending Jesus Christ to bear my sin through His death and resurrection.

I place my faith in Him, not in my own righteousness.

Keep me alert to Your coming judgment and faithful in sharing the hope of salvation with others.

In Jesus' name, Amen.