The Noise of a Cry Zeph.1:10-14 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The prophecies of Zephaniah are primarily fulfilled at the Second Advent of Jesus. When he comes, there will be the noise of a cry. The mighty men will be howling and crying when they see him coming. Why is there the noise of a cry? They are crying because:
The merchants are cut off – Zeph 1:11 – we have a consumer economy that is built on merchandising. Merchants inventory, display, advertise, sell and deliver merchandise [Rev 18:11]. When you get to his pocketbook, you can make a grown man cry [Rev 18:17-18]. They are going to go broke [Is 23:8-11]. When you pride yourself in your merchandise, God abases you. God is going to destroy this world-wide economy of merchants [Ezek 27:12-36].
Complacent men are surprised – Zeph 1:12 – men are sitting on their lees. They are at ease [Jer 48:11]. They think the Lord is not going to intervene. They have no fear of God. It surprises them that God shows up to destroy them. This is just like the surprise destruction of Belshazzar in Dan 5.
Their goods are spoiled – Zeph 1:13 – the Lord comes through with his candle so that the enemy can see the spoil and take all the spoil that he desires. This is just like the destruction and spoiling of Jerusalem and Judah under Nebuchadnezzar [Is 39:3-6].
Their houses are desolate – Zeph 1:13 – you have seen the desolation that results from whirlwinds, tsunamis, earthquakes, wildfires and other natural disasters. They cry out because of the desolation.
Others inhabit their houses – Zeph 1:13 – after the Jews are killed and removed from their houses, the enemy comes in and takes up residence in their houses [Deut 28:30]. We see no possibility in the United States that something like this could happen here. Yet we are a consumer economy just like you see described here. We could face the same destruction and desolation in this country that you see in this passage.
The voice of the Lord – Zeph 1:14 – when they hear his voice, it is so scary, they cry out in shock. It’s like someone jumping out from behind a door to holler and scare you. When the Lord spoke from Mt Sinai, the people who heard it were scared [Ex 19:18-19; Deut 18:16]. They heard him speak like a trumpet and that’s the sound that he makes when he returns. They fear that voice, whether he speaks, a prophet speaks or the written words of God speak [Deut 5:23-29]. When they hear him coming, they will hide and cry [Rev 6:15-17].
Conclusion: It’s easy today for scientists, legislators, judges, and teachers to mock and blaspheme God. But they will cry out when he comes as you see in this prophecy.