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"That day is a day of wrath"

Text: Zephaniah 1:15

A GRIM DESCRIPTION OF THE DAY OF THE LORD

Zephaniah minced no words when he described the day of the LORD so graphically. He would do anything to help his brethren to realise the danger they were in!

“That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of devastation and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
A day of trumpet and alarm
Against the fortified cities
And against the high towers.”
Zephaniah 1:15-16

1. Much grimness described

a) “A day of wrath”

God’s wrath is to be borne in mind.

b) “A day of trouble and distress”

i) For Judah.

ii) There will be high distress.

iii) God will not deliver His people from certain defeat.

c) “A day of devastation and desolation”

i) This describes the aftermath of war with the Babylonians.

ii) The Babylonians would virtually destroy the country.

d) “A day of darkness and gloominess”

i) This could be a description of how the Babylonians would set whole cities on fire.

ii) The smoke that would arise would block the sun’s bright rays.

iii) It could also be a description of the dark times that would befall the nation of Judah.

iv) The whole nation would be exiled to Babylon for the next 70 years.

e) “A day of trumpet and alarm”

i) Trumpets were sounded to give alarm to the inhabitants of the cities.

ii) But the trumpets would fail to rally a nation given to complacency.

2. The fortified cities and the high towers

a) Every city felt more secure if there was fortification.

b) High towers were manned by military personnel who would sound the alarm.

c) But these fortified cities would be conquered by the Babylonians in the great day of the LORD.