"Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests." - Zephaniah 1:7

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Zephaniah - 2

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The day of the LORD. 

This is a phrase that is to be found in 9 OT books ( Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Zephaniah, Zechariah ) and 4 books in the NT (1 & 2 Corinthians, Thessalonians, 2 Peter). 

What do you think it signifies?

a. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians

b. The birth and ministry of Jesus

c. The Great Tribulation period before Jesus' return

d. Armageddon, and the return of Jesus

e. The Millenium (when the promises to Israel are fulfilled)

f. Post Millenium (when Satan is forever banished to the lake of fire)

Just to muddy the waters some more, ... Our lord Jesus, in one of his parables, uses the imagery of a person throwing a big dinner as well (like our text this week). 

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 

But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. " - Matthew 22:2-7

Note that in the parable, the King does not take the murder of his servants lightly... the city of the murderers is destroyed! 

There are some characteristics of this day, which will help us disambiguate between multiple references to it in different contexts which can be confusing.....

1. It is a day of reckoning for the adversaries of the LORD

Isa_2:12:  For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is --proud and lofty--, and upon every one that is --lifted up--; and he shall be brought low:  [ remember Satan's sin ]

Isa_34:8  For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

Jer_46:10  For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the ---north country by the river Euphrates---. 

2. It is a day of darkness and gloom

Isa 13:10-13  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: --the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine--. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 

I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.Therefore I will --shake the heavens, and the --earth shall remove out of her place--, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. 

Eze_30:3  For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a --cloudy day--; it shall be the time of the heathen.

Amo 5:18  Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 

Amo_5:20  Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. [ Please note: The Lord is coming to GATHER his elect not to wreak vengeance at this time ]

3. There is a great slaughter & destruction.

Joe_1:15  Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

Joe_2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

Joe_2:11  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Joe_3:14  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

Zephaniah_2:2  Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you.

Zephaniah_2:3  Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the ---day of the LORD'S anger---.

4. Lastly, in the NT, there is a day when this earth is suddenly destroyed!

1Th_5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

2Pe_3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  

[ 2 Peter is unique in describing the complete destruction of the earth, confirmed in Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. ]

So now you can understand where the confusion lies.... 

a. There was immediate fulfilment of these prophecies in the time of the prophets speaking them, in terms of the doom that fell on Israel and Jerusalem/Judah.

b. These prophecies looked out much further than that, to assure the people that the there would be ONE DAY... ONE DAY, when the LORD would rouse Himself to show mankind His true strength, no longer hiding quietly, but bringing the full hammer of His wrath down for all (Heaven and Earth) to see... and we see that in the 7 bowl/vial plagues described in the book of Revelation.

Finally, the wicked world system is judged.

" And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the ----judgment---- of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. ............ 

.............Therefore shall her plagues come in ---one day---, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. " (Rev 17:1, 18:8)

And good old Zephaniah has this as well... 

 Zep 3:8 " Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy." 

Once this day is done, there is another day that is ushered in!

A day of blessing, a day of peace of quiet, and joy, a day that everyone can be in comfort under his/her own vine/fig tree, and the prophet Zephaniah sees that as well.....

Zep 3:14 -20 

"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. 

In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. 

The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.  I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. 

Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. 

At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD. "

We start in gloom and darkness, and end in LIGHT!!

This is a consistent pattern from Genesis to Revelation... "the evening and the morning were the first day". The Jewish day begins at sundown and moves towards darkness. The elect must go through a period where there is no LOVE on the earth, no FAITH, and there is TRIBULATION... but there is GLORY & LIGHT, a New Heaven, a New Earth, and a New City established instead of Babylon, at the end of that road!

Hallelujah!