Zephaniah 3.11b-Jesus Christ Will Order the Removal of Proud, Arrogant Unregenerate Sinners From Israel
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday July 26, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 3:11b-Jesus Christ Will Order the Removal of All Proud, Arrogant Unregenerate Sinners From Israel
Lesson # 79
Zephaniah 3:11 “In that day you will feel no shame because of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against Me; For then I will remove from your midst your proud, exulting ones, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain.” (NASB95)
“For then I will remove from your midst your proud, exulting ones” presents the reason for the previous prophetic declaration.
“And you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain” presents the result of the previous prophetic declaration being fulfilled in the future.
Zephaniah 3:11 “During that distinct and unique period in the future, you will no longer experience shame because of each and every one of your actions by means of which of you rebelled against Me because I will cause the removal of your proud boasters from your midst. Consequently, you will absolutely never again cause yourself to enter the state of being arrogant anymore on My holy mountain.” (My translation)
The God of Israel asserts that during a unique and distinct period of time in the future, Jerusalem will no longer experience shame because of each and every one of their actions which they rebelled against Him.
He then presents the reason for this assertion by prophesying that He will cause the removal of Jerusalem’s proud boasters from this city’s midst.
Therefore, God is stating that the reason why Jerusalem will no longer experience shame in the future because of their actions which manifested their rebellion against God is that He will remove proud boasters from her midst.
So God is teaching that Jerusalem will no longer experience shame because of her sinful actions committed against Him because He will cause the removal of this city’s proud boasters.
Throughout the Scriptures, pride is described as a great evil because it involves pretending to a greatness and glory that belongs rightly to God alone.
It is condemned as evil (1 Samuel 15:23; Proverbs 21:4; James 4:16; cf. Mark 7:22-23; Romans 1:29-30; 2 Corinthians 12:20; 2 Timothy 3:1-2; 1 John 2:16).
It is a characteristic of Satan (Ezekiel 28:2; 1 Timothy 3:6; cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4, the antichrist).
Arrogance and pride describe a person who has a distorted view of himself or herself and thus they possess inordinate self-esteem which is not based upon truth.
Arrogance is having an exaggerated view of one’s own worth and importance often by an overbearing manner.
It is the attitude that one is better than others or superior to them because of one’s social status, wealth, possessions or natural gifts.
This attitude manifests itself in sinful treatment of other people.
There are warnings about pride in the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 16:5, 18; cf. Proverbs 3:7, 34; 6:16-17; 11:2; 25:6-7, 27; 26:12; 27:1; 29:23) as well as elsewhere in Scripture (Psalm 119:21; cf. Leviticus 26:19).
God is said to be opposed to the proud (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34).
Since the first prophecy in Zephaniah 3:11 pertains to regenerate Jews living in the city of Jerusalem during the millennial reign of Christ, this causal clause which follows it is referring to Jesus Christ ordering the elect angels to remove from the city of Jerusalem every unregenerate Jew and Gentile at His Second Advent.
As we noted, the first prophetic declaration recorded in Zephaniah 3:11 records the God of Israel declaring that during a distinct and unique period in the future, Jerusalem will no longer experience shame because of her sinful actions which she committed against Him.
Now, God is revealing one of the reasons for this first prophetic declaration.
Every unregenerate Jew and Gentile will be removed from the city of Jerusalem.
The Scriptures teach that the judgments taking place during the tribulation portion of the seventieth week will sweep away proud arrogant sinners, both Jew and Gentile (cf. Isa. 2:12; 5:15).
Also, they teach that every unregenerate Jew and Gentile will be removed from the earth by the elect angels when Jesus Christ gives the order to them to do so at His Second Advent.
During the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel which ends with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, unregenerate Gentiles will occupy the city of Jerusalem.
In fact, Antichrist and his armies of the final stage of the Roman Empire will occupy Jerusalem (Dan. 11:36-45; Zech. 12).
These are some of the “proud boasters” mentioned in Zephaniah 3:11.
Many Jews living in Israel and Jerusalem during this time who are arrogant and proud boasters themselves will be humbled by these events which will transpire against them.
So the events of the tribulation portion of Daniel’s seventieth week will humble the majority of Jews in Israel and in the city of Jerusalem since they will cause them to turn to Jesus Christ to deliver them from Antichrist and the tribulation armies.
These “proud boasters” occupying the city of Jerusalem and Israel during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel manifest their arrogance and pride by rejecting Jesus Christ as Savior.
They manifest this arrogance by worshipping the Antichrist who in turn manifests his pride and arrogance by demanding that the world worship him as God (cf. Dan. 11:36-39; 2 Thess. 2:1-4; Rev. 13).
At His “Second Advent,” the Lord Jesus Christ will terminate the seventieth week and the Times of the Gentiles.
He will destroy the Tribulational armies, have Antichrist and the False Prophet thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:11-19), will imprison Satan for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3) and will establish His millennial reign on planet earth (Rev. 20:4-6).
At that time, the Lord and His armies will orbit the earth before landing on the Mount of Olives, which was the site of His Ascension (Acts. 1:9-11).
There will be a great earthquake when our Lord’s foot touches the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:1-8) and will be a unique day having neither day nor night (Zech. 14:7).
The Lord Jesus Christ describes the Tribulation period in detail and His Second Advent in Matthew 24:29-31 and Luke 21:25-28.
The “Second Advent” of Jesus Christ is taught in both the Old and New Testaments (Deuteronomy 30:3; Psalm 2:1-9; 24:7-10; 96:10-13; 110; Isaiah 9:6-7; 63:1-6; Jeremiah 23:1-8; Daniel 2:44-45; 7:18-27; Zechariah 12; 14:1-9; Matthew 19:28; 24:27-31; Mark 13:24-30; Luke 12:35-40; 17:24-37; 18:8; 21:25-28; Acts 1:10-11; 15:16-18; Romans 11:25-27; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2:8; 2 Peter 3:3-4; Jude 14-15; Revelation 1:7-8; 2:25-28; 16:15; 19:11-21).
The Scriptures teach that there will be two judgments conducted by the Lord Jesus Christ immediately after His Second Advent and just prior to His millennial reign.
In fact, only believers will be living at the start of the millennial reign of our Lord as a result of these judgments.
Those Israelites and Gentiles who reject Jesus Christ as Savior are removed from the earth whereas those who trust in Him as Savior will enter the millennium.
The judgment of those Israelites who survive the Tribulation is referred to in Ezekiel 20:33-37 and Malachi 3:2-6 whereas Matthew 25:31-46 speaks of the judgment of those Gentiles who survive the Tribulation.
The chronology of prophesied events by our Lord in Matthew 24 and 25 indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ will judge Israel immediately upon returning at His Second Advent and then after this He will judge the Gentiles.
The chronology of events listed in Matthew 24 and 25: (1) First three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Matthew 24:4-6) (2) Last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Matthew 24:7-28) (3) The Second Advent of Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:29-30) (4) The elect angels will regather Israel (Matthew 24:31). (5) The Lord Jesus Christ will judge Israel (Matthew 25:1-30) (6) The Lord Jesus Christ will judge the Gentiles (Matthew 25:31-46). (7) Millennium.
A comparison of Daniel 9:27, 12:11 and 13 teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ will conduct these judgments for 45 days.
This is indicated in that Daniel 9:27 teaches that Daniel’s Seventieth Week is divided into two periods of 1,260 days (Daniel 9:27).
Daniel 12:11 speaks of 1,290 days from the time of Antichrist abolishing the sacrifice and setting himself up as God, which indicates that there will be a 30-day interval to cleanse the temple.
Then, Daniel 12:12 says that blessed is the person who attains to the 1,335 days, which gives us an additional 45 days beyond the 30-day interval, giving us a total of 75 days, which refers to the period in which the Lord will judge both Israel and the Gentiles to determine who will enter His millennial reign.
The following is a chronology of judgments that will take place subsequent to the rapture of the church: (1) “Bema Seat Evaluation”: The name “Bema” is taken from the Greek noun bema and this judgment takes place immediately after the rapture and is an “evaluation” of the church age believer’s life after salvation to determine if they merit rewards or not (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 John 2:24). (2) The judgment of “Israel” will take place immediately after the Second Advent and prior to the millennial reign and involves the removal unregenerate Israel from the earth leaving only regenerate Israel to enter into the Millennial reign of Christ (Ezekiel 20:37-38; Zechariah 13:8-9; Malachi 3:2-3, 5; Matthew 25:1-30). (3) The judgment of the “Gentiles” and also takes place immediately after the Second Advent of Christ and prior to His millennial reign and involves the removal unregenerate, anti-Semitic Gentiles from the earth (Matthew 25:31-46). (4) The judgment of Satan and his fallen angels and will take place at the end of the appeal trial of Satan, which runs co-terminus with human history and is execution of Satan and the fallen angels sentence for their pre-historic rebellion against God (Matthew 25:41; 1 Corinthians 6:3; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Revelation 20:10). (5) The “Great White Throne” judgment, which will take place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all unregenerate humanity in human history for the rejection of Christ as Savior (Revelation 20:11-15).