Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests.
Zephaniah opens with an order to be quiet. The Lord Himself has stepped forward, and His day is near. He has prepared a sacrifice and invited guests, though the prophet never says who they are.
Silence Before the Lord GOD
This silence is not the quiet of worship. It is what happens when God rises up to act.
Edward DennettThe prophet sees the Lord rising up, as it were, out of His holy dwelling. He comes out in judgment to carry out the purposes just announced. Thinking of what this will mean for people, the prophet cries, "Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord." For when the day of His wrath comes, who will be able to stand? … All flesh may well fall silent before Him. He comes out to strike the earth in judgment, and also to deliver His people.
Which Day Is Near
Which day does Zephaniah mean? One writer places it in the future, and warns against confusing it with a phrase that sounds much like it.
Arend RemmersThe day of Jehovah plays an important part in Zephaniah's prophecy. It is not the time of the then imminent destruction of Jerusalem but the time of the Messiah's reign which is still to come. This day will start with the Messiah's appearing to judge the nations and will include the following time of the millennial reign of peace. The New Testament calls it "the day of the Lord." Do not mix this up with the "first day of the week." Revelation 1:10 calls that day "the Lord's day" (the day belonging to the Lord).
If the day was near then, why has it still not come?
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe prophet said "is at hand"; but God's long-suffering deferred its full execution, and defers it still.
The Sacrifice and the Guests
The Lord Himself prepares this sacrifice and calls the guests. The ESV says He "consecrated" them; older translations read that He "bid," or invited, them. One writer points to where the New Testament shows the scene.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe Lord has prepared His sacrifice and invited His guests. It is the supper of the great God, to which He invites His guests. Read in connection with this Revelation 19:17-18.
Revelation 19 holds a second supper too, and the two could not be further apart.
J. G. BellettRevelation 19 sets two suppers before us — the supper of "the Lamb," and the supper of "the great God." The supper of the Lamb is a scene of joy in heaven. Those called to it are blessed. It is a marriage supper. The supper of the great God comes out of the solemn, terrifying judgment that ends the history of the earth as it now is. It is the judgment of this present rebellious world, when the birds of the air feed on the bodies of the Lord's allied enemies.
What Zephaniah Leaves Unsaid
Zephaniah names the sacrifice and the guests, then moves on. One writer sees in that silence how Scripture holds together.
J. G. BellettHe does not go into the scene, as Ezekiel and John do. He never tells us what the sacrifice or the feast is, or who the guests are. For the perfect harmony of Scripture has its main voices and its quieter undertones. Here and there it gives certain truths and mysteries the leading part; at other times it only assumes the same truths, or touches on them in passing. All this gives us the welcome, unforced harmony that lives in every part of the book. It shows us that one hand sweeps all the chords.
Holding the Truth Honestly
One writer ties our willingness to speak of that day to how we live.
William KellyWhere truth is high and practice is low, no one can testify honestly to the day of the Lord. It then does not hold the place in our daily service that it has in the word of God. That day deals with the world by God's removal of evil here below. Put it in the place of our proper hope, and the heart is not satisfied. We must not live in it or on it, because it is not the right food for the soul. Still it is a solemn and necessary truth to hold up before our own eyes and before everyone else's.
Summary
- Silence — The hush is not devotion. It is what happens when God rises out of His holy dwelling to judge.
- Near — The day is not Jerusalem's fall. It begins when the Messiah appears to judge the nations, and opens into His reign of peace. It stays near because God's patience keeps putting it off.
- Prepared — The Lord has already made the sacrifice ready and invited the guests. Revelation 19:17-18 shows the scene Zephaniah only names.
- Two suppers — The same chapter holds two meals: the Lamb's marriage supper, a scene of joy, and the supper of the great God, which ends this world's history.
- Honest — Where practice is low, no one testifies honestly to that day. Hold it before your own eyes and before everyone else's.