Zephaniah 1 -- Rapture: the Lord's bidden guests to the sacrifice He has prepared
1 The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord.
This is the judgement that has been declared for the Day of the Lord. This is the purpose of the Great Tribulation, to “utterly consume all things from off the land”.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.
This will be a major extinction event. We know that much of this extinction is due to man himself, he is the problem. So God is going to take the same strategy that evil men used with “the stumbling blocks of the wicked”. For example we tried to exterminate the Buffalo since the Indians depended on them. In the same way we have tried to come up with sensible laws that would protect the rainforest from being burned down to feed cows, or keeping fowls locked up in cruel sheds or overfishing of the ocean. Wicked men have ignored and violated these laws. Not because they aren’t necessary, but because if everyone else keeps the laws they can get rich while everyone else pays the price to keep the world from disaster. So guess what happens when those who are paying the price to keep the world from disaster are taken away in the rapture? It will be like a mad man driving a car without brakes.
4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; 5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham; 6 And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for him.
Here is the second issue that will be dealt with. People have forsaken God for idol worship. The great tribulation will cut that off. The NBA playoffs saw a 70% drop in ratings. Hollywood has had to stop the release of movies since the theaters were closed due to the Pandemic. The Oscars saw a huge drop in their ratings. Likewise with live shows like Broadway and TV shows like Saturday Night Live. Now, what do you think happens when things get real bad? Imagine a world with hyperinflation, over 20% unemployment, fires, floods, pandemic, riots, looting, and blackouts. Do you think they’ll say “let’s take a break from all this and go to an NFL game”? If the power goes out will anyone be watching the TV, or listening to the radio, or using the internet? The mainstream media surely represents many who have not sought the Lord nor enquired of Him.
7 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.
The day of the Lord refers to the Great tribulation. God has prepared all of these things, these idol worshippers, and all these who boast against the Lord, mocking Him, for His sacrifice. He also has bid his guests. What exactly is the rapture? All those who loved the Lord and Loved His appearing are bidden to attend the Lord’s coronation and wedding. There is a great feast, a great celebration. How do you feed such a great banquet? Well something or someone is going to have to pay, to be sacrificed. When those who love the Lord are raptured, those who aren’t will be left behind to be sacrificed.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
Today we see corruption and want it to be punished. It will be on this day. When you see some of these people and the things they are wearing the only way to describe it is "strange apparel".
9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.
We are seeing many protest “abuses of power” and “corruption”. But we are learning as we dig down deeper that this has been full of violence and deceit. Trump claimed that he would “drain the swamp”. Then for four years while president there was a never ending string of accusations against him and investigations to impeach him. Many of these claims have been completely unfounded, others have been shown to be fabricated by his political opponents. Then we had a story hit from a major media outlet that provided physical evidence that Biden’s son received millions of dollars from both Russian and Chinese sources as a way to buy influence with his father, the Vice President. This story was based on emails from Hunter Biden and these various sources. However Twitter and Facebook censored the stories. Their rationale was completely hypocritical in light of their history of running anti Trump stories. There can be no more illusion that these major media outlets censor and manipulate news stories based on their own biases. The country has been filled with deceit and this deceit has led to violence.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. 11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
We have not got to that day yet. That day will take place after the rapture, after He has bid his guests. But you can get an idea today. This is when the merchants of the world cry who will buy our stuff. This is the judgement that comes on the Great Babylon in one hour when the Earth goes through the meteor shower from the tail of the Dragon.
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.
No one properly considered the implications of the rapture. Instead they have stupid ideas about cars crashing and planes falling from the sky. The rapture will make a very clear distinction between those who are enjoying the Lord’s banquet feast and those who are paying for it. Instantly you will have those who are in heaven and those who are in hell. Not the “real” hell yet, simply a glimpse of how really horrible hell can be. There are many Christians who are "settled on their lees" who say the "Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil".
13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
Again, we have just seen a glimpse of what is about to happen. Watch the fires in California. There was a vineyard burned down, the owner standing on the ashes said “everything they had built up over the years was gone”. There were houses burned up, again people saying everything they had built over the years was gone. Unless you repent and turn to the Lord this is what the Great Tribulation will be for you.
14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Once again, we have seen a glimpse of this as well. We have seen coaches of NBA and NFL teams as well as players crying bitterly on the news.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
They will be treated as dust and dung. Take away the breath of the Lord and that is all that we are. All these people have tried to take away the breath of the Lord. So, fine, without the word of God you are nothing but dust and dung. The whole “circle of life” thing that you embrace. With what judgement you judge you shall be judged.