Will you please turn to Zephaniah 1? We will read from verses 1 through 7.
The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground, saith the Lord.
I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the ground, saith the Lord.
And I will stretch out My 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 Chemarim with the priests;
And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship, that swear to the Lord and swear by Malcam;
And them that are turned back from following the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for Him.
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 sanctified His guests.
Verse 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 crieth there bitterly.
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,
A day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements.
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 dung.
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 will make an end, yea, a terrible end, of all them that dwell in the land.
Chapter 2, verses 1 through 3:
Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath no shame;
Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.
Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, that have kept His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.
And finally, Zephaniah 3:14-20:
Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, He hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not fear evil any more.
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not; O Zion, let not thy hands be slack.
The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love; He will joy over thee with singing.
I will gather them that sorrow for the solemn assembly, who were of thee; to whom the burden of reproach was a burden.
Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict thee; and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven away; and I will make them a praise and a name, whose shame hath been in all the earth.
At that time I will bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord.
Shall we pray?
Dear heavenly Father, as we continue in Thy presence through the blood of Thy beloved Son and the life that He has given to us, we do ask Thee, Lord, that Thou wilt speak to each one of us through Thy written Word.
We ask that Thy Holy Spirit would breathe upon Thy written Word and make it living to each one of us. Speak to us, O Lord, we ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
The very name Zephaniah means, “the Lord hides,” or “treasure.” We are told that he is the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah, and I think, without doubt, that Hezekiah there is King Hezekiah, that good king.
So, in other words, we find that this man Zephaniah was raised up by God to be His prophet from the royal family. God is sovereign. He is able to raise up prophets from all walks of life, from different social strata.
Wherever He can find someone whose heart is towards Him, God will apprehend him for His purpose. And we do thank God that this man of the royal family is one who seeks after God and is used by God to be His spokesman.
Now, he prophesied in the days of Josiah. As you read this book of Zephaniah, you will find that he denounced the things of Judah—the things that we find prevalent in the days of Manasseh and Amon.
And strangely, you find he did not mention the reformation, the revival, that came in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah. So we believe that, most likely, Zephaniah prophesied in the early days of Josiah, before the reformation.
And because of the Word of God that came through him to the remnant of Judah, it helped towards the reform that King Josiah did in the eighteenth year of his reign.
This man, Zephaniah, prophesied shortly after Habakkuk. In other words, he and Habakkuk were contemporaries. They prophesied more or less the same thing. They denounced the things of Judah, and they also announced the future restoration.
But as you read these two books, you will find that there is a great difference between them. With Habakkuk, we find that his prophecy is more an expression of the deep spiritual exercise of his soul.
As he looked at his circumstances, as he found wickedness among God’s own people, how his heart was troubled and concerned. He was exercised because he was concerned with the justice of God, with the righteousness and holiness of God.
So he cried out to God that God would do something about it. And then we find that when God answered him and said He would raise up the Chaldeans as a rod of chastisement for His people, that created a further problem for the prophet Habakkuk.
He knew that the Chaldeans were more wicked than even the remnant of Judah. He wondered why God used the more wicked to punish the less wicked. So he went to his tower and looked forth for an answer from God.
And we know God answered him and said He would punish the Chaldeans, but:
The righteous shall live by his faith.
So you find that in the book of Habakkuk, it is more of his deep spiritual exercise in view of the judgment of God.
But with Zephaniah, you will find that it is quite different, even though they were talking about the same thing. Zephaniah was more objective than Habakkuk. Habakkuk was more subjective in his view, but Zephaniah is more objective in his view.
In other words, he saw the glory of the justice of God, and then he also saw the great love of God. He is more on the objective side.
And then again, we find that Jeremiah was also a contemporary of both these prophets. It seems to me that Jeremiah combined two different aspects of these prophets.
In Jeremiah, you find the deep exercise of his soul. He was called the weeping prophet, and that is like Habakkuk. Yet, on the other hand, he was the one who revealed the judgment of God and, eventually, the restoration—the new covenant that God would make with His own people.
And this is like Zephaniah. So here you find these three prophets actually worked together.
At the beginning of this book is the word of the Lord that came upon Zephaniah, the son of Cushi. The word of the Lord came upon him. So the whole book reveals the Word of the Lord that came upon him.
Now, brothers and sisters, what is that word? To sum it up in one word, the word is judgment. Judgment.
The great day of the Lord is the day of judgment. Now, brothers and sisters, we do not like to hear the word judgment, because it does not connote spiritual help, and it sounds to us a little bit negative.
But, as a matter of fact, you will find judgment is one of the greatest works of God. Our dear brother Watchman Nee said, aside from the work of creation, judgment is the other great work of God.
Now, we all recognize that the work of creation is a great work. God created the heavens and the earth and all things, and even us, man. That is a tremendous work.
Now, God created man with a purpose. He created man for His glory. He created man that he might cooperate with Him. He created man that man might be used by Him to restore the earth back to Him.
But unfortunately, we find that because of the sin of man, sin entered into this world. Because man was flesh, carnal, and because the devil was able to come back into this world through man, we find that God’s purpose in creation was not able to be fulfilled.
Now, how is the purpose of God in creation, especially with man, to be fully realized? Of course, we know that because of the sin of this world, God sent His only begotten Son into this world.
And with the coming of our Lord Jesus, there is the work of redemption. So salvation is presented to this world in order to rescue man from the fallen state and eventually to restore the whole earth back to the glory of God. That is a glorious thing.
But unfortunately, we find that even though salvation is prepared, not all men will receive the salvation that God has prepared for man. Now, what is God going to do then? How is God going to finish His glorious purpose and fulfill all His glorious purpose?
We find that the last work that will, in a sense, sum up all the work of God for His purpose is the work of judgment. Because after judgment, then you find all the work of God is finished.
You know, you read Genesis 1, and you find that when the earth was in ruin and emptiness, without purpose, the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and light was.
In six days God restored this earth to be habitable, and on the sixth day He created man. After everything was created, on the seventh day God rested.
We do not know how long God rested, because very soon, when you come to chapter 3, you find that God started to work again. He had to come into the garden and cry out, “Adam, where art thou?”
God had to do something to rescue man and, eventually, the world. In other words, you find that even with the great work of creation, sin still entered into this world.
But when the great judgment of God is finished, as you find in Revelation 20, then beginning with Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, you find the new heaven and the new earth, with the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending upon this new earth.
There is no more sin, no more tears, no more darkness. You find that the work is done. Everything is finished.
So, brothers and sisters, do not think that judgment is so terrible. Judgment is a great work of God. Why is judgment necessary? What does judgment do?
Number one: in judgment, God glorifies Himself. God vindicates His own righteousness and holiness.
You know how people misunderstand God. Just as in Zephaniah, people say, “The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil.” In other words, He does not care. But God does care. He is holy. He is righteous.
And by judgment, God glorifies Himself and shows us who He is.
Secondly, by judgment God exposes, reveals, all the hidden things. It exposes the real situation of all things, so that through judgment we may be able to know our real situation.
Without judgment, we will never know our own situation. But with judgment, we are revealed exactly what we are, where we are, and where we stand. All the real situation is exposed.
Thirdly, through judgment God puts sin to an end. Sin has to be judged. And after sin is fully judged, then it has come to its end.
So we believe that judgment is a very great work of God. We do thank God that He does judge, because through judgment He shows us who He is—what a God He is.
It is only through judgment that we come into salvation and recovery. It is through judgment that the world is eventually rid of sin.
Sometimes we think that judgment and mercy, or loving-kindness, are contradictory. But do you remember that in Psalm 101:1 it says:
I will sing of lovingkindness and justice.
In other words, the psalmist was singing of the loving-kindness and the judgment of the Lord together. Why? Because these two things are not contradictory; they are complementary.
God judges because He loves. He loves; therefore, He must judge. And through judgment, He will bring everything back to what He has designed it to be. And this is love.
In this book of Zephaniah, the Word of God that came to Zephaniah is that God will judge. God will judge the whole world. God will judge His own people.
But that is not all. Because with the word judgment, God gives Zephaniah another word together with that word. And that is the meaning of Zephaniah: God will hide.
In the day of judgment, God will hide some whom He considers as treasure to Him. You know, in the midst of wrath there is mercy.
If we think of judgment, if we think of the holiness and righteousness of God, brothers and sisters, we will all be concerned. Who can stand before the judgment of God? Who is so holy, who is so just, that he can stand before the holiness and justice of God?
You know, in our own feeling, sometimes we look at people and situations. Even though we are not so righteous and not so holy, when we look at all the corruption around us, we feel these things ought to be completely wiped out—finished with.
Now, if this is our feeling, and we who are not so holy and not so just think this way, think of God, who is justice itself and holiness itself. How can you imagine, then, when God judges according to His righteousness and holiness, that anyone will be able to stand?
Who can stand before that justice, before that judgment? Who can stand? When God shall judge, who can stand? We will all be consumed.
But thank God, together with the word judgment, there is another word: He will hide. There will be some people whom He will consider as treasure.
And in the days of wrath, He will hide them under His wing. How comforting that word is.
And you know, the prophet Zephaniah is the very Word of God to His people. You remember Psalm 27:5. We sing the song:
For in the day of trouble He will keep me secretly in His pavilion:
In the covert of His tabernacle will He hide me;
He will lift me up upon a rock.
In other words, you find that God does hide His people in the time of trouble. Why does He hide them? Because He considers them as His treasure.
You know, if it is just trash, let it be burned. But if it is treasure, you will keep it, you will hide it during the time of burning.
And you find God says, “I will judge,” but He also says, “I will hide.” “I will judge all the wickedness, but will hide those who seek meekness and those who seek righteousness.”
And that is the word of Zephaniah. We will enlarge upon it later.
Now, this book of Zephaniah has three chapters. Again, we find that these three chapters can be very clearly distinguished:
Zephaniah opens his prophecy by prophesying that God will utterly destroy the world. He will take away everything from off the face of the ground.
God says, “I will take away man and beast. I will take away the birds of the heavens and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from off the face of the ground, saith the Lord.”
In other words, you find there is a general judgment for the whole world because the world is wicked.
Now, as you read these few verses, immediately you remember that God did it once—in Genesis 6. You find that when population began to increase, wickedness began to prevail. Corruption was everywhere upon this earth, and the imagination of the mind of man was continually wicked and evil.
God looked upon man, looked upon this earth, and God repented that He had ever created man. God said, “I will destroy everything.” Why? Because He is holy.
Because what He created did not serve His purpose; because it did not bring Him the glory that He created them for. And God said, “I will destroy everything by water.”
And we remember how God destroyed the world with the flood. But at the same time, you find there was one man who found favor in the eyes of God: Noah, and Noah’s family.
So before the flood came, God hid Noah and his family in the ark. God preserved that family. And through judgment, God was able to bring this world to a fresh beginning. And that is what judgment did.
So here again, you find the world is getting more and more wicked and corrupted. God looks upon this world again and says, “I will destroy everything.”
And from this general judgment, God immediately turns to His chosen people. They were a people chosen by God through Abraham. God chose them to be His testimony—the testimony of His holiness and of His righteousness in this corrupted world.
But you find that the people whom He had chosen were corrupted. They became wicked. They became idol worshippers.
Now only a remnant of the chosen people was left—a remnant of Judah. You remember that Israel, the northern kingdom, was already destroyed. The southern kingdom of Judah was in a very weak state, only the leftovers there.
And even that which was left over was so wicked and corrupted. And God said, “I have to judge.” God will not spare even His own people if they sin against Him. On the contrary, God is even stricter with His own people.
So here God says that He will stretch forth His hand upon Judah. Why? Because they worshipped idols. Some worshipped idols; some worshipped God and, at the same time, swore by God and swore by the idol. Some did not care about God at all.
And God said, “Because of this, I will bring judgment upon this nation of Judah.”
Those in higher society at that time sought for pleasure and luxury. Gold and silver became their gods. They tried to accumulate all these things.
But God said, “I will search Jerusalem with lamps.” In other words, God would destroy completely. And when that came, silver and gold would not help. The houses they built, they could not dwell in.
Now, of course, we know this prophecy was fulfilled not too long afterwards, when the Babylonians came in, destroyed Jerusalem, and took the people into captivity.
But even at that time, we cannot say that God searched Jerusalem with lamps. But do you know that about five hundred years later, in A.D. 70, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, that is what they did?
They went to every house. They searched every cave and basement, found out the people, and destroyed them. So, brothers and sisters, you find that the Word of God is exact. Jerusalem would be destroyed.
And from saying that, you find the prophet immediately speaks about the great day of the Lord. The great day of the Lord is near; it is near and hasteth greatly.
Now, brothers and sisters, the great day of the Lord is the day of wrath. In the Old Testament, as well as in the New Testament, you find this term.
We may explain the term later, but for the present time, let us say that the great day of the Lord is a special term in the Bible. It refers to the day of the wrath of God.
It is applied to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. It is applied to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. It is applied to all the destructions that happen in this world throughout human history.
But all these are preludes. All these are parts. The full fulfillment of the great day of the Lord is still in the future.
In other words, there will be a day called the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord. And when that day comes, the whole world will be fully judged.
So every judgment that we find in human history is a part, a prelude, of the full judgment that will come in the future called the great day of the Lord.
So the first chapter speaks of judgment. Then it comes to the second chapter. The second chapter begins with a call. God is calling His people.
Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath no shame;
Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.
Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, that have kept His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.
In other words, the day of the Lord’s anger is coming. It is coming to His own chosen people. But God still gives His people a chance. So God says, “Gather yourselves together.”
But God knows that these people will not repent. So He focuses now on those who are meek. God called the whole nation to repent, and if they should repent, God would spare them before the day came.
But it seems that it is irreversible, because the people persist in their wickedness. Therefore, God focuses His call upon those in the nation who are meek.
Now, what do you mean by meek? By meekness, I mean those whose hearts are tender towards God. When people’s hearts are hardened, thank God there are still some whose hearts are tender towards God.
And because they are tender to God, God can still speak to them. They can still receive the Word of God. So God says, “You who are meek, seek meekness; seek righteousness.”
Seek meekness is in relation to God. Brothers and sisters, in our relationship with God, meekness is the right attitude.
God is gracious to those who are humble, who are meek. But God is against those who are proud, who are arrogant, who are hard.
We need to seek meekness. In other words, we need to learn to be humble, open, and tender before God. Allow God to work in our lives.
We need to seek righteousness. In other words, we need to do the things that are right before the sight of man. And if we seek meekness, and if we seek righteousness, then God says, “In the day of anger, of judgment, I will hide you.”
This is the way of escape.
Now, brothers and sisters, maybe we can illustrate it. Before Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon, there was a scribe, Baruch.
He was a scribe, and he wrote down all the words of prophecy of Jeremiah. He was a good man, but he was an ambitious man too.
Before Jerusalem was destroyed, you remember in Jeremiah 45, God speaks to Baruch through Jeremiah: “Seek not great things for thyself.” This is not a time to seek great things.
But because he sought the Lord, God said, “I will spare thy life, and I will give thy life unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.” In other words, when destruction came, Baruch’s life would be preserved.
So he was an indication of those who seek meekness, and God hides them.
And another illustration: you remember that the Babylonians came and took the children of Israel into captivity. Actually, you find that there were three stages.
At the second stage, the king of Babylon took away a number of people—King Jehoiachin, the royal family, and many others—and took them into Babylon. He set up Zedekiah to be king.
Those people who were taken away with King Jehoiachin into Babylon were, humanly speaking, the first taken into captivity. But actually, they were preserved by God.
If you read Jeremiah 24, God gave Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs: one basket of good figs and one basket of bad figs.
God said the good figs were those who had already been taken into captivity. The bad figs were those who remained in Jerusalem. These were the bad figs because they were completely destroyed.
But those who were taken into Babylon before would be preserved, and they would return. So God hid them. God hid them.
These are historical illustrations, but we know that the spiritual principle is always true. In the days of judgment, God always hides those who seek after Him.
How does He hide them? We do not know. He may take them off early, or He may preserve them through. We do not know, but God knows how to hide His own in the days of judgment.
Now, that is the Word of God. And, of course, the remainder of the chapter shows that all the people around Judah would be judged.
Those on the west—the Philistines; those on the east—the Moabites and the Ammonites; those on the south—the Ethiopians; and those on the north—Nineveh. God would destroy them one after another.
And God says, since He is going to destroy all these things, do you think you will be spared if you do not repent?
Now, that is chapter 2. All right, you come to chapter 3. Chapter 3 is a wonderful chapter. Why? Because it begins with the word woe, but it ends with the word love.
“Woe to her”—that is, to Jerusalem—“that is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city.” She hearkened not to the voice. She received not correction. She trusted not in the Lord. She drew not near to her God.
Her princes in the midst of her were roaring lions. Her judges were evening wolves; they left nothing until the morning. Her prophets were light and treacherous persons. Her priests profaned the sanctuary; they did violence to the law.
Now think of that. So woe is proclaimed over that oppressing city. So far as the city is concerned, there is nothing good. It should be destroyed.
But suddenly, you find it changes from verse 8—not because of them, but because of the love and faithfulness of God. God says, “I will do something.”
“I will use judgment to purify My people. I will use judgment even to save the world. The whole world will be judged. My own people will be judged.”
So all wickedness will be destroyed, and only the poor and afflicted—that is, those who are humble and meek before the Lord—shall be My people. And I will restore them to be a name and a praise in the world.
At the same time, God, in judging the world, will purify the world of all wickedness. He will give the peoples a pure language.
In verse 9:
For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent.
Now, brothers and sisters, that is what judgment has done. Judgment is not all negative.
Judgment does get rid of all that is wicked, that is not of God, that does not serve God’s purpose. But judgment also brings in that which will glorify God.
So, in other words, you find that one day God will judge the whole world. Of course, we know the fulfillment of this is still in the future.
If you read prophecy—in Zechariah, Daniel, or Revelation—you find that one day the whole nations will be gathered, as it were, in the Middle East. Jerusalem will again be broken into, and there will be the last war, the war of Armageddon.
The Lord will come back, and He will judge the whole earth, purify everything, and bring in the millennial kingdom. Brothers and sisters, you will find that all peoples will have a pure language.
By that pure language, it means that they will all speak of God. They will all glorify God. They will all worship God. This is what judgment will do.
Zephaniah gives us the sweetest love song of God in the Old Testament. Read these verses, verse 17:
The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty One who will save;
He will rejoice over thee with joy;
He will rest in His love;
He will joy over thee with singing.
Now, brothers and sisters, usually when we read about love, singing, or rejoicing, we think of ourselves—how we rejoice in God and sing unto God. That is usually how we think.
But here, Zephaniah is not speaking of us rejoicing in God, resting in His love, or exulting in Him with singing. That should be very natural, right? But here you find it is God.
God says that He will rejoice. He will rest in His love. He will joy over thee with singing. Now think of that.
It is as if God is adopting the position of a mortal being and trying to show His love towards man. He stammers, in a sense; He does not know how to explain it.
And so it says that He will rest in His love. The word rest means He is silent in His love.
Now, we think of love as very audible and expressive. But God says, “I will be silent in My love,” as if He has no words to say. He loves us so much that He does not know what to say. There is too much to say.
And do you experience that? Sometimes when love is so deep, you do not have any words. Just be together, and love just flows. You rest in love.
What kind of rest is that? It is very restful, is it not? It is more than talking, right? Sometimes talking is cheap, but silence is gold.
And you find that God says, “I will rest in My love.” In other words, when He looks at us, He embraces us, caresses us, and looks at us. He thinks about us. He admires us, and He does not know what to say.
He is not saying anything, but He is saying everything in silence. God says, “I will do that. I will rest in My love.” And after a period of rest, He will burst out with singing.
Now think of the love of God. God can love us with such kind of love. My God is so emotional. Praise God for that.
So you find that the book of Zephaniah is not that depressing. Some people think Zephaniah is very depressing.
Even that great expositor, Campbell Morgan, confessed that when he started to study the Minor Prophets, he expected to read all the solemn, severe, hard judgments of God.
And when he started to study, he said he found more—more severe, more solemn. Yet, at the same time, he found the tremendous tender love and compassion of God in the Minor Prophets.
Brothers and sisters, do you see that? Because He judges in love. He loves; therefore, He judges. And through judgment, He brings us back to His love. That is Zephaniah.
Now, the day of the Lord is a very special term in the Bible. You find it in Isaiah 2:12, and in other prophets—for instance, Joel 2:31, Amos, and Malachi. You find this term in the New Testament too.
Strictly speaking, you find it in 2 Thessalonians 2:2: “the day of the Lord.” Now, the day of the Lord is a very special term. It means the day of the wrath of God. Remember this.
Then in the New Testament there is another term called the day of Christ. Now remember: the day of Christ and the day of the Lord are two different days. Do not mix them together.
If I may put it this way, the day of Christ is really related to the church—to us.
You find it especially in two books in the New Testament. You find it in Philippians: Philippians 1:6, verse 10, and Philippians 2:16, I think.
Then you find it in Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 1:8, 1 Corinthians 5:5, and 2 Corinthians 1:14.
You find these terms: “the day of Christ,” “the day of Christ Jesus.” Now, these are very different terms, because the day of the Lord is the day of wrath, but the day of Christ is the day of glory.
What are we looking forward to? We, as the people of God, do not look forward to the day of the Lord. We, as God’s people, look forward to the day of Christ.
And the day of Christ simply means the day when we shall appear before Him. When He returns, we shall all appear before Him. And when we appear before Him, that is the time we shall be glorified.
It is true that in the day of Christ there is also judgment. It is the judgment seat of Christ. But if we want to receive glory in that day, then we need to seek meekness today, and we shall not be put to shame in that day.
So it is a day that the church is looking forward to, that God’s people are looking forward to. We are looking forward to the coming of Christ, when we shall see Him face to face, when we shall appear before Him.
And when we shall be rewarded, if we are faithful to Him. It is a day of our glory.
Now, the day of the Lord, strictly applied, is applied in Revelation to the seven bowls, or the seven vials.
You remember there are seven seals, seven trumpets, and then there are seven vials, seven bowls. In Revelation 16, you find seven angels having seven golden bowls given to them—the seven plagues representing the wrath of God.
Now, brothers and sisters, remember: when the day of the Lord shall come, it is a terrible day. But you and I will not be there. We will already be gone. So it has nothing to do with us.
But woe to the world, and even to God’s chosen earthly people, because there will be judgment upon them in order to purify them.
In 2 Thessalonians 2, you find the Thessalonians were troubled because some people told them that the day of the Lord was already here. They thought, “If the day of the Lord is here, then we have missed the rapture completely.”
They were troubled. So Paul said, “No, no, no, no, no. The day of the Lord has not come yet, because before the day of the Lord comes, the man of sin must first be revealed, and there will be apostasy,” and so forth.
So, brothers and sisters, we are not looking forward to the day of the Lord. We are looking forward to the day of Christ.
And finally, a spiritual application. You know, Israel, as the chosen people of God, is a type of the church.
In this world, God has chosen His church to be His vessel, an instrument to bear the testimony of Jesus in this world—to show the world who Jesus is and to bring salvation to the world.
But unfortunately, the church has not fulfilled its mission.
Even in the time of John the apostle, at the end of the first century, if you read Revelation 2 and Revelation 3, you find that the Lord, as the High Priest, is looking and walking among the seven lampstands, representing the seven churches of Asia.
And He was judging them. In other words, judgment begins with the house of God.
The Lord is judging His church, even from the first century up to our time. But remember, when He judges His church, He judges as a priest.
You know, priestly judgment is very different from kingly judgment. Priestly judgment means He is tending the lamp, trimming, pruning, trying to restore and recover.
Brothers and sisters, throughout church history, you find our Lord is judging His church. He is calling His church to repentance. He is trying to restore His church to be His testimony, His vessel of testimony.
But the church will not listen. So He calls for overcomers. Overcomers are none other than those who seek meekness, who are meek before Him and willing to accept His discipline.
And these He will hide.
Even before the great tribulation—the great tribulation is not the great day of the Lord; it is before the great day of the Lord—even before the great tribulation comes upon this earth, what does He say?
He says, “I will take thee away from the hour of trial, that hour of great tribulation, great trial, that will come upon this earth, if thou keep the word of My patience.” Revelation 3:10.
Luke 21:36 says:
Watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Brothers and sisters, He will hide. He will hide those who keep the word of His patience. He will take those who watch and pray to Him before even the great tribulation comes upon this earth.
And even those who are left behind, He will hide. You remember the woman: after the man-child was taken, God would take care of the woman.
You remember, He sealed the one hundred and forty-four thousand of Israel in Revelation 7, and He will seal them to keep them through the great tribulation. He will hide them.
So, in other words, you find that God will judge, but thank God, He will hide the treasure.
Malachi 3 says that in the days of declension, when there are some who are talking one to another of the Lord, God will observe, will listen, will take it down in His book, and God will remember them.
And in the day of preparation, God says, “I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” He will hide.
So may the Lord help us that we may be a peculiar treasure to Him, and He will hide us in the days of wrath.
Shall we pray?
Dear heavenly Father, we do thank Thee that Thou dost have a word for us today. Lord, we thank Thee that the day of judgment is coming, but Thou wilt hide those whom Thou wilt consider as treasure to Thee.
Lord, we are unworthy, but we do want to humble ourselves before Thee and to seek righteousness and meekness, that we may, by Thy grace, be hidden in the days of wrath.
In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.