What’s the Hold Up?

One of the issues with combing through prophetic writings is that a very large amount of them deal with disaster and destruction.  Today’s reading from Zephaniah is again one of these apocalyptic writings:

The great day of the Lord is near-
Near and coming quickly.
Listen!  The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter,
The shouting of the warrior there.
That day will be a day of wrath,
A day of distress and anguish,
A day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and blackness,
A day of trumpet and battle cry
Against the fortified cities
And against the corner towers (Zephaniah 1:14-16).

Oh boy.  So does the Holy Spirit have something to talk about with this stuff?  You bet he does!

Before those three verses of doom and gloom comes a more specific warning:

At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
And punish those who are complacent,
Who are like wine left on its dregs,
Who think, “The Lord will do nothing,
Either good or bad.”
Their wealth will be plundered,
Their houses demolished.
They will build houses but not live in them;
They will plant vineyards but not drink the wine (Zephaniah 1:12-13).

The Lord will search out and punish those who are complacent.  Which, by my accounting, is pretty much everyone (believers excluded from the count via salvation).  Once we passed the millennium and December of 2012 the world at large decided that the end wouldn’t be coming any time soon.  I mean, it has been a pretty long time since these prophecies were made and we’re still here, aren’t we?

God knows that folks have all but given up being afraid of the world’s end.  And, in some respects, that’s the plan.  After all, the Bible teaches,

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).

Jesus justified this method when he taught,

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.  So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him (Matthew 24:42-44).

If a thief gave advanced notice before a robbery, he’d end up quickly in the hands of police.  If the Lord told everyone when the end would come then everyone would prepare- but God wants to see how we behave when we feel safe and secure.  Will we become complacent?

But the end will come, my friend.  And, considering the times and attitudes, it very well could be coming soon.  The Bible warns,

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?  Ever since out fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”  But they deliberately forgot that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.  By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.  By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men (2 Peter 3:3-7).

As the world grows complacent and forgets about God and the apocalypse, the Lord’s timer continues to tick down.  Will it come in our lifetimes?  Only God knows.  But that’s the point.  Since you don’t know when the end will come you should live each day as though the curtain will drop tomorrow.  Don’t assume your longevity or the stability of this world.  Trust the Lord and live a righteous life- so that you aren’t caught with your pants down when Jesus does return with fire.  Everyone acts better when they are being watched; but how do you act when you think you are safe?  That’s the real heart the Lord cares about.  Take care, for the end may be sooner than you think.

Related articles

• Zephaniah in Focus (laymansbible.wordpress.com)