Zephaniah Chapter One, Sinning Against God

Zephaniah 1:17 “I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like refuse.” [18] Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to save them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy, for He will make speedy riddance of all those who dwell in the land.

The Day of the Lord is about the end of God’s patience with rebellious mankind. For thousands of years God has generously and copiously warned about the impending wrath to come; but He is not a puppet master. God will not decide for each of us if we will accept or reject the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we accept and believe our destiny is Heaven and reconciliation. If we reject our destiny is the Lake of Fire and eternal torment.

Furthermore, God has made it abundantly clear that He will not endure man’s ways forever; there will be a moment–already decided upon by Him but unknown to us–when He will finally choose to act. Hence the imminence of the Day of the Lord, and the singular event of the Rapture being all that keeps that day from erupting onto the world stage.

We are informed that God will bring distress upon men, who will be akin to blind men, not knowing where they are going. There is no safe place at this point; there is no destination. There are no ports or bastions. There is only wrath poured out upon all men as the judgments of God begin. The book of Revelation details the particulars regarding the nature and number of these intense judgments, which I will not be explaining in detail presently. Suffice to say, the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments increase in intensity, killing animal and plant life, loosing demonic armies and dashing the celestial bodies. So much intention is contained in that minute word, “distress,” that it would be utterly comical if it wasn’t so entirely horrifying. For those who do not subscribe to Revelation being a historical account of events that unfold on planet earth, but rather an allegory replete with obscure symbolism, when God’s wrath finally does come to fruition, it will be a day most shocking and distressing indeed.

This distress occurs because men have sinned against God, the prophet states succinctly. When we reject the payment for sin that is found in Jesus Christ there is only one fate that awaits us: death. Not physical death. Physical death finds both believers and unbelievers alike. No, spiritual death. It is the curse Adam wrought for his progeny when he chose to sin and disobey the Lord in Eden, choosing to do what he knew was wrong, 1 Timothy 2:14. But when the Day of the Lord begins, when the seven year Tribulation period commences, physical death will be a terrifyingly frequent occurrence. Jesus our Lord warned that unless such days were cut short, no flesh would be saved, Matthew 24:22. Generations of rebellion, fence straddling, rejection and spiritual torpor culminate in this event. Their blood will be poured out, and their flesh left as refuse, see Revelation 6:4, 8:9, 11, 9:18, 11:13, 19:21, etc.

This of course largely focuses upon the concluding battle that terminates Daniel’s final week: the battle in the Valley of Megiddo, or the battle of Armageddon. This term, mangled by popular media, is a geographical term and not one that expresses finality. The battle (if one may call it that) which occurs between the newly returned Jesus Christ in power and glory, and the armies of the Antichrist, results in the annihilation of said armies. Then the Antichrist and False Prophet are cast alive into the Lake of Fire. In similar language Isaiah writes, “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it…I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and lay low the haughtiness of the terrible,” Isaiah 13:9, 11.

The Hebrew word, “jealousy,” is, “qinah,” derived from the root term, “qana.” “Qinah,” means ardor,, zeal, jealousy,” while, “qana,” its root form denotes God’s holiness and His intolerance toward idolatry (spiritual competition) and those who sin against Him.

Money, in which men trust (Ecclesiastes 10:19) will prove ineffectual as a remedy for the coming doom. God cannot be bribed or bargained with; all wealth is ultimately His wealth, Haggai 2:8, see also Psalm 50:10. There was one remedy clearly given to mankind so we might avoid this terrible end. If we reject it then there is no recourse. Emphasizing the scale of this day, God warns that the whole land will be devoured. In verses 10 and 11 Jerusalem was targeted especially, and we know that the city will endure calamity, Revelation 16:19. But here the whole land targets the ends of the earth. God’s fire, representing wrath, will, in His own words, “make speedy riddance,” of rebellious humanity. As in verse 14, wherein celerity was heavily implied, it is further intimated that judgments will be both severe and rapid. For those who dwell on the earth and have followed Satan rather than God (see 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12), there will not be time to catch your breath, so to speak.