hidden on THE DAY in Christ

Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,

who do his just commands;

seek righteousness; seek humility;

perhaps you may be hidden

on the day of the anger of the LORD.

Zephaniah 2:3

There is a call to repentance made in this stern passage about the day of God’s wrath yet to fall on planet earth. Both the Old and New Testaments are very clear on this fact: God has prepared a day when He will, in righteous anger, judge all the peoples of the earth. No nation is beyond His ability to bring them to nothing before Him. No person will escape His scrutiny. It will be a global event judging the entire world. It will also be a personal judgment unique for each individual. God will pour His wrath on a rebellious planet. God will indeed be merciful to those who are truly seeking Him. This is an unpopular doctrine today, but scripture is clear: to reject the Day of the Lord is to reject God.

This verse sets the criteria for what will help a person thrive and survive on that day of God’s fierce anger. There are four things mentioned here that lead to survival and they are all provided for in Jesus by trusting the gospel:

1) Seek the Lord. Those who honestly want to know God… who believe Him, who trust Him, who cry out to Him, and who want to know His ways will be heard by Him. God comes to those who truly seek Him and then reveals further what they need to be saved.

2) Obey the Word of God. God will spare those who “do his just commands”. They respect and obey scripture. They know the Bible as God’s Word and His truth and they commit to following it as best they can in their day-to-day choices.

3) Seek righteousness. Survivors want to do what is right. God’s holiness motivates them. They find out how to do so by following what God says in His Word and obeying it. They trust the God Who supplies the ability to be forgiven and made holy in Christ.

4) Seek humility. This characteristic is mentioned twice in this verse. Those who reject the exaltation of self, who abhor the sinful arrogance of human pride, will find mercy from God and grace to live in dependence upon all God gives. Humility orders a person under the Lordship of Christ, the King of Kings.

By the way, all four of these characteristics are perfectly found only in Jesus. We MUST believe Him, find salvation in Him, submit to His rule, and be delivered by faith in the gospel in order to confidently be hidden in Christ during that day of God’s wrath. He is our Deliverer. Jesus already took our judgment on the cross. Faith in Him saves us in the Day of the Lord.