rapid fire end

Neither their silver nor their gold

shall be able to deliver them

on the day of the wrath of the LORD.

In the fire of his jealousy,

all the earth shall be consumed;

for a full and sudden end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zephaniah 1:18

Spending time in the minor prophets quickly slaps me to the reality of human vulnerability and culpability before a holy God. He has appointed a day in which His fire will burn in total judgment. And it will be unlike anything we can imagine or this planet has every seen.

Some features of judgment from this verse:

• It is inescapable. Nobody can buy a reprieve, no matter how wealthy or influential or powerful.
• It is a display of God’s wrath upon sin. It is all poured out.
• The fire of God’s judgment is fueled by the lack of His worship. He deserved human worship and so jealous judgment is unleashed.
• It is a global event with nothing spared. The entire earth is consumed to cinders.
• It is instant. A full and sudden end comes quickly to everything.

But this bleak day is mitigated by one other reality: God sent His Son, not to condemn, but to save the world (John 3:16-18). Those who are kept by faith in the saving work of Jesus are delivered to a new heavens and a new earth, the home of righteousness.