Coffman on Zephaniah 1:18 Verse 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovahs wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yea, a terrible end, of all them that dwell in the land. Neither their silver nor their gold ... All of the material things upon which men set their hearts are worthless in any eternal sense. The great judgment of God will not be conducted upon the basis or what any man has, but upon the basis of what he is, and whether or not he loves and serves God. Whole land shall be devoured by fire ... The apostle Peter elaborated this description of the earths destruction by fire in 2 Peter 3:10-13, a thing that the apostle most surely would not have done without the certain knowledge that what he wrote was in full harmony with the will and teachings of the Saviour of all men. End ... of all them that dwell in the land ... Our version (American Standard Version) is weak in this passage. The Revised Standard Version is surely correct in the rendition, In the fire of his jealous wrath, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full, yea, sudden end, he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. It is thus clear that the final judgment is in view, for the totality of men will be involved in it. It is a marvel to some that Zephaniah seems to confuse the end of Judah and the end of the world; but, as Carson noted: The near and the distant often merge as the prophets survey the horizon of events. Events which are historically separate are often seen in a timeless sequence. [38] The powerful message of these final verses of Zephaniah 1 should be heeded by all men. Gods eternal judgment will most certainly occur. There will be a time in history when the Son of Man shall suddenly appear in the vault of heaven with ten thousand of his angels, taking vengeance upon them that know not God and obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will a time of bad news for Adams rebellious race. All the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him when they see the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven in power and great glory (Matthew 24:29,30). All of the smooth infidels who have scoffed at holy religion will dramatically discover their fatal error, and the mightiest of all the earth shall scream for the rocks and mountains to fall upon them and hide them from the face of the Lamb and from him that sitteth upon the throne, a throne which they would not believe even existed! Yes, preaching on the theme of Eternal Judgment has been grossly abused; and, as Edgar said: Fear that we may be classed with those melodramatic preachers who delight to portray the tortures of the damned have too easily made us forget this whole dimension of Biblical preaching.[39] Nevertheless, our fears of human disapproval ought not to interfere with loyalty in regard to what Jesus Christ himself plainly taught. There can be no faithfulness to Christ without preaching the doctrine of Eternal Judgment. The thunders of the Great Assize most certainly reverberate throughout the dramatic chapters of Zephaniah.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 15:24:30 +0000
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