“ Near is the great day of the Lord, 
Near and coming very quickly; 
Listen, the day of the Lord! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. 

A day of wrath is that day, 
A day of trouble and distress, 
A day of destruction and desolation, 
A day of darkness and gloom, 
A day of clouds and thick darkness,  
A day of trumpet and battle cry 
Against the fortified cities 
And the high corner towers.  

I will bring distress on men 
So that they will walk like the blind, 
Because they have sinned against the Lord; 

And their blood will be poured out like dust 
And their flesh like dung. 
Neither their silver nor their gold 
Will be able to deliver them 
On the day of the Lord’s wrath; 

And all the earth will be devoured 
In the fire of His jealousy, 
For He will make a complete end, 
Indeed a terrifying one, 
Of all the inhabitants of the earth. “ 

- Zephaniah 1:14-18

Zephaniah - IV
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We are back in our studies in Zephaniah. Last time , we tried to answer the question “Who is being judged? “ and the answer netted us a surprising array of peoples and nations, beginning with those of Judah and Jerusalem, and going afar and afield as Ethiopia & Nineveh! 

This time, lets look at the question of “when?” and “how near?” are these events. 

Zephaniah lived/prophesied approximately from 639 BC to 620 BC, during the reign of Josiah, and was a contemporary of Nahum, who prophesied against Nineveh.  

Josiah was a good king , of whom the Word records, “Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.” — 2 Kings 23:25. 

Nevertheless, Josiah met his end at the hands of Pharoah Neco, who killed him at Megiddo. The people of Jerusalem crowned Josiah’s son Jehoahaz king, who turned out to be evil, was deposed by Pharoah Neco, imprisoned at Riblah, and finally died in Egypt. Neco then made another of Josiah’s sons,Eliakim, king, changing his name to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim was an evil king as well, and 2 Kings 24 tells us… 

“In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. The Lord sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets. 

Surely at the command of the Lord it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; —-and the Lord would not forgive. “ 2 Kings 24:1-4

Jehoiakim was succeeded by Jehoiachin ( age 18, evil ) who was defeated after a seige by Nebuchadnezzar himself ( in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign ).

605 BC saw Nebuchadnezzar come down on Jerusalem for the first time, plundering it completely, and he left after installing Jehoiakims uncle Mattaniah, and changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was no angel either, and his reign lasted eleven years, when Nebuchadnezzar came a second time, cutting off food supplies.

2 Kings 25:1–10 (NASB95): “Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it.  So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.  On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.  But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.  

Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

He burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire.  So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. “ 

This event happened in 587 BC, 33 years after Zephaniahs prophecy! 

But the prophecy is not just for Judah and Jerusalem, it is ALSO for mankind….  “For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of —-all the inhabitants of the earth.”

When can we expect that?

The picture is much clearer from our modern day perspective, when we have seen so many day prophecies fulfilled…and others seem to be hastening closer….

1. A day of the Lord when people mourn for Him who they have pierced , when the iniquity of the land is removed in one day. Jesus Messiah!

2. A day of the Lord post-tribulation, when the armies of the earth are gathered in the valley of Megiddo to wage war against the returning Son of God.

3. A 1000 year day ( the Millennium) when humanity is under divine rule, when the promises to Israel are fulfilled.

4. A final rebellion by Satan & mankind, which ends in the earth being completely destroyed by fire!

Days 2,3,4 are not yet, but are approaching nearer each day, and they are telescoped together from the perspective of the OT prophets who saw/spoke of them interchangeably.

The Spirit has given us a 1000+ year roadmap, more than 2000 years ago, and all events, including the fates of kingdoms and the rule of empires, are under the control and governance of God!

Hallelujah!!!