2012
The great day of YHWH is near; it is near and rushing greatly, the sound of the day of YHWH. Zephaniah 1:14 (J. P. Green, literal translation)
Day Of YHWH – Did you see the movie “2012”? A typical disaster flick, it works off the supposed end of the world predicted by the Mayan calendar. But we don’t have to go to the Mayans to recognize prophetic announcements of the end of life as we know it. All we have to do is turn to the prophets of Israel. Yom YHWH isn’t a description of days of peace and prosperity. It’s the arrival of judgment coming like a thief in the night. Amos (October 2) and Zephaniah are on the same page with this one. Yom YHWH makes men shudder, especially when the prophet says that it is near and rushing toward us.
Is yom YHWH the end of the world? Could Steven Spielberg use Amos and Zephaniah’s phrase for a new box office hit? Well, he could, but it probably wouldn’t need all the special effects of most movies. Why? Because yom YHWH is a real event. It happens every time men begin to think they can live without God. YHWH’s tolerance for such arrogance lasts only so long. There is a good reason the rabbis pray, “Lord, allow your mercy to outweigh your wrath.” This prayer is an attitude of contrition, humiliation and hope. Contrition because we deserve what might befall us in His judgment. Humiliation because we recognize our frail grasp on the life He has given us. Hope because there is always the possibility that He will turn aside judgment in favor of compassion.
But why should He? What makes God even imagine that we deserve a second chance? Any one of us would have lowered the hammer long ago. How many deaths, how much violence, how much misery must human beings perpetrate upon His creation before He calls a halt to the madness? Rather than praying for the salvation of men, perhaps we should be praying that men would receive just a glimpse, a tiny taste, a morsel of wrath. Perhaps what men lack most is not forgiveness but fear. After all, if I live in a world without judgment, does it really matter what I do?
We are approaching the season when believers contemplate the announcement of “peace on earth.” It doesn’t matter if the date is wrong; the sentiment isn’t. But this shocking announcement is completely paradoxical because there has never been peace on earth. In fact, before the angelical song and ever since that choir in the sky, earth has been a nightmare of ferocity, a blood-soaked quest for power, a testimony to the prince of darkness. Even the Son knew the enormity of the evil of men. Yes, fear is more than necessary. It is imperative. When Yeshua said that no man comes to him unless the Father drags him, He used the right expression. Men who seek themselves must be dragged to the place of humility. They rarely, if ever, come willingly. The place of humility is the end of the world as they know it. It arrives on the back of the angel of death. It has the smell of the grave. Most men would rather breathe the rarified air of being like gods then choke on dust in a tomb. But there is no resurrection without that place under the ground.
If yom YHWH is a day in your life, feel blessed to be breathing at all. But if that day seems as if it happened oh so many days ago, then get closer to Zephaniah. Feel the air chill and the wind accelerate as the mighty storm approaches. Feel the earth tremble and the stars shake as His glory pushes back the night. Feel the shivering of every living thing and the monstrosity of men who pretend to oppose Him. And fall on your face – afraid. Rejoicing comes later. Now the day is near.
Topical Index: yom YHWH, Zephaniah 1:14, Amos 5:18, fear
Amos (October 2)? Is that a prediction?!
No, that’s a reminder that on Oct 2 we looked at a parallel passage in Amos. Just go back to Oct 2 and see.
No offence intended, Skip. I just didn’t understand it. I thought it was a mistake.
Yeah, I should have made it a hyper-link. My fault.
Skip, You are along with my own studies and prayer,and the Holy Spirit’s unction leading me like Cornelius to become a Messianic “Christian” Jew! Pray for me, I already have problems with some in my circle of friends.
A faithful follower
Pastor Paul
“Shabbat shalom.” “Grace and peace to you from G-d our Father and from the LORD Jesus (who is the) Christ.” “Know Jesus, know peace.” “No Jesus, no peace.”
Good News!! -We (sinners) may be reconciled with (the now living) G-d. You came from heaven to earth to show the way. From the earth to the cross my debt to pay. From the cross to the grave. From the grave to the sky- “Lord I lift your name on high.”
(Matthew 1:21) “She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save his people from their sins.” (Acts 10:43) “All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 13:26) “Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.” “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Acts 4.12) “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Isaiah 45:23 “By Myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.” (Philippians 2.10) “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;” “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry,”Abba! Father!” (Romans 8.15) “For if, when we were G-d’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! (Romans 5.10) Therefore, we are the Messiah’s representatives, as though G-d were pleading through us. We plead on the Messiah’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God!” (2 Corinthians 5.20) “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (for us).
Shalom?- “and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:47)
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
Naught of this world’s delusive dream;
I have renounced all sinful pleasure;
Jesus is mine, there’s nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favor,
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between.
Nothing between, like worldly pleasure;
Habits of life, though harmless they seem,
Must not my heart from Him e’er sever;
He is my all, there’s nothing between.
Nothing between, like pride or station;
Self-life or friends shall not intervene;
Though it may cost me much tribulation,
I am resolved; there’s nothing between.
Nothing between, e’en many hard trials,
Though the whole world against me convene;
Watching with prayer and much self-denial,
I’ll triumph at last, with nothing between.
“to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to G-d, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’ (Acts 26.18)
Shabbat Shalom to all today!
Thanks Skip for sharing the message of the prophets with us, it is a message we need to hear/obey/respond to! Especially here in the United States of America; the prophets Zephaniah and Amos must ring out! You wrote Skip:
Rather than praying for the salvation of men, perhaps we should be praying that men would receive just a glimpse, a tiny taste, a morsel of wrath. Perhaps what men lack most is not forgiveness but fear. After all, if I live in a world without judgment, does it really matter what I do?
Hebrews 10:30-31, For we know him who said “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living G-d.
As I have pondered some of my decisions of the last few years………. I have felt the heaviness of my choices; in realizing how significant they affect me and the people of my life and heart around me (and the generations to come). The deepest of regret and sorrow has been mine……….. Yes, it is fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living G-d. Yet, there is no other hands I would rather fall into.
WE must not dismiss the Judgments of G-d, if he did not Judge; he would not be a good and just G-d! At the same time, we do not need to fall into the trap of John the Baptist, who was proclaiming the imminence of judgment the Messiah would bring: Holy Spirit and fire (fire used in Hebrew Scriptures as a picture of G-d’s judgments) his winnowing fork is in his hands…… Matthew 3.
We must proclaim the message of the kingdom that the Messiah brought! In Luke 4 at the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus proclaims the message/essence of the kingdom, verse 18-19; “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has annointed me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppresed. to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” This is taken from a passage in Isaiah 61:1-2, He OMITS from his reading of this passage; “and the day of vengeance of our G-d.” I believe he also uses a passage from Isaiah 42, or 35 concerning, “recovery of sight to the blind”
This proclamation was to his own hometown Nazareth, who rejected his message that day!
Yes, “judgment must begin at the house of G-d.” There are consequences to our actions in the here and now, and an ultimate day of reckoning before the true King and Judge.
Jesus proclaimation was a balance of these elements. Judgment, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Also the Kingdom message of deliverance, Luke 4:18-19. Jesus exemplified and carried this balance to completion. He is our Example! Let us follow.