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Introduction (1:1-6)

Superscription (1:1)

This is the standard introduction to a prophetical book, giving details about the prophet, his family, and the period of his ministry. The prophecy of Zephaniah is unique in giving four generations, tracing Zephaniah’s family back to Hezekiah. It is likely that Zephaniah’s great-grandfather was the godly king Hezekiah, meaning that Zephaniah was part of the royal family of Judah and a distant cousin of the current king Josiah.

Before Josiah, Hezekiah was the most recent godly king, who remained faithful to God and the covenant. Hezekiah had brought in great religious reforms, restoring the worship of the one true God, Yahweh, including re-instituting the Passover (2 Chr 29-31). It was also during his reign that God miraculously delivered Jerusalem from Sennacherib of Assyria in 701 BC because Hezekiah had trusted God, encouraged by the prophet Isaiah (2 Kg 18:13 - 19:37, 2Chr 32:1-23, Is 36-37).

Zephaniah’s father is named as ‘Cushi’ which could suggest that he was an Ethiopian. However, Zephaniah’s Israelite heritage is made clear with the naming of Hezekiah. Also, all the other names end in ‘iah’ which is a form of ‘Yahweh’, showing all them to be Israelites.

Zephaniah prophesied during reign of the godly king Josiah (640-609 BC), who also instituted great reforms to return the nation to the covenant and worship of Yahweh (2 Kg 22-23, 2 Chr 34-35). Josiah had become king at the age of eight, after his father, Amon, had been assassinated (2 Kg 21:23).

The Day of Yahweh

Zephaniah is often referred to as the ‘prophet of the Day of the LORD’ as this is the main theme throughout the book. On that day, the physical world will be swept away, and God’s people, as well as the nations, will be judged.

Section 1: General and specific judgement (1:2-6)

Zephaniah begins the words of his prophecy with an oracle of total judgement on the whole of the created world (v2-3), before narrowing down his words to Judah and Jerusalem (v4-6).

Using dramatic hyperbolic and apocalyptic language to open his words, Zephaniah declares God’s judgement on the entire physical creation on ‘the day of Yahweh’, normally translated ‘the day of the LORD’. The repeated key phrases in this oracle are ‘sweep away’ and ‘cut off’. In a reversal of the creation account (Gen 1), starting with humans, then animals, birds of the air and then the fish of the sea, God will sweep away everything from the face of the earth (v2). This will include both humans and animals, as he did in the great flood (Gen 6:7). The animals may be included as they had become stumbling blocks, as objects of idolatrous worship (v3).

The words of judgement are then focussed down to his main audience, the people of Judah and Jerusalem (v4-6), condemning their continued idolatry. These are God’s chosen people, who are particularly being held to account for breaking the Mosaic covenant.

He declares that he will cut off every remnant of Baal (v4), the Canaanite fertility god who was claimed to control the rain and the storms. Worship of Baal involved sacred prostitution on the high places (bamoth), which stimulated Baal to mate with his female consort, resulting in fertility in the land. Worship of Baal (or master) had been a continuing problem for several centuries, first in Israel and then in Judah, particularly since the time of Ahab and Jezebel in the northern kingdom. The Assyrians also had a deity named Bel, or Baal. While dominated as a vassal state of Assyria, Judah would be expected to worship this god. Although the worship of Baal was suppressed during Josiah’s reforms, it was quickly resumed following Josiah’s death.

He also condemns the idolatrous priests condemning three of their actions: pagan worship, syncretism and apostasy (v5-6). These priests bow down to host of heavens, by worshipping the sun, moon and stars, and particularly Ishtar, as the Assyrians did. They are also guilty of syncretism, swearing to Lord as well as to Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. Finally, they are guilty of apostasy, because they had turned away from the Lord, not sought him or enquired of him (v6).

The problem of idolatry in Judah had become far worse during the reign of Manasseh, who built shrines to Baal and Asherah, worshipped the stars, and even sacrificed his own son to Molech (2 Kg 21:3-6, 2 Chr 33:3-7). By sacrificing his son, he was not only killing his successor as king of Judah, but most significantly the next in the line which would lead to the Messiah.

In these words Zephaniah is affirming and encouraging the actions of King Josiah in his reforms, “The king, commanded the high priest Hilkiah, the priests of the second order, and the guardians of the threshhold, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. He deposed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who made offerings to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the constellations, and all the host of the heavens.” (2 Kg 23:4-5).

Long before, in the days of Jeroboam, the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, an unnamed man of God predicted that a son of the house of David named Josiah will offer the bones of idolatrous priests on the altar at Bethel (1 Kg 13:1-2).

Section II: The Day of the LORD (1:7 - 3:20)

The day of the Lord announced (1:7)

Because the day of the LORD is at hand, all have to be silent. A sacrifice has been prepared. The guests will the people of Judah, but the guests will also be the sacrifice because of their disobedience and idolatry. The day of the LORD will be a judgement within history (2:5-15), but it is also eschatological, at the final judgement (1:14-15, 3:8-13).

A. A day of judgement (1:8 - 3:8)

1. A day of judgement on God's people (1:8-13)

On the day of sacrifice, God will punish the officials and king’s sons (princes) (v 8-9). The king’s sons would be the sons of Josiah, each of whom will become kings of Judah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. They are condemned for making treaties with foreign nations, described as dressing in foreign attire, which also involves worshipping foreign gods, and wearing pagan cultic garments. They are also condemned for their violence and fraud.

God will also punish those who leap over the threshold (of the temple), joining in acts of pagan superstition. This looks back to the time when the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant and put it in the temple of their god Dagon. The following morning Dagon had fallen down broken. Because both his hands were lying on the threshold of the temple, the priests of Dagon never step on the threshold (1 Sam 5:1-5).

On that day there will be cries and wailing in different areas of Jerusalem (v10). The invasion will first be seen coming from the north. The Fish Gate, the Second Quarter (Mishneh) and the Mortar (Maktesh) were probably all on the more vulnerable northern side of the city. Zephaniah does not identify the invading forces, which will be the Babylonian army.

Also on that day God will punish those who are complacent, resting on their dregs, like wine which has been standing a long time (v12-13). This is a metaphor for spiritual complacency and apathy (Jer 48:11). They claim that God will not do anything, good or harm, effectively acting like atheists. This is in contrast to the living God of Israel, who had brought them out of Egypt, and into the promised land. The wealth of the complacent will be plundered, and they will not experience the benefits of their work and wealth.

2. A day of judgement on the whole world (1:14-18)

The terrible day of Yahweh is coming fast and very soon, a dreadful day of wrath, distress, anguish, ruin, devastation, darkness and gloom, as God reverses the act of creation (v14). The oracle now moves from a local message to Judah alone to a universal warning to all people. Amos showed the misconception that they Jews had of the day of the Lord (Amos 5:18-20). They expected a glorious day of blessing for themselves giving them supremacy over the whole world, simply because they were chosen by God. What they did not understand was that God’s election demands responsibility (Amos 3:2). Zephaniah uses language similar to the description of the appearance of God on Mount Sinai (Ex 19). The day will not be what they expect, but will be a horrible surprise. The invasion from the north will sweep across the whole land, destroying every city (16). What happens to Jerusalem will also happen to the entire world (v18), as God’s judgement includes all the inhabitants of the earth. The promised judgement is again widened to include all of mankind because they deserve it. He predicts that they will walk like the blind, perhaps predicting the blinding of King Zedekiah by the Babylonians (2 Kg 25:6-7) (v17).

The oracle ends with a comment by Zephaniah describing God with the third person pronoun. The wealth of the people will not be able to save them from the day of the wrath of God, when the whole earth will be consumed (v18).

3. Plea to repent (2:1-3)

The threatened judgement could be averted if the people genuinely repent and turn to God. An appeal is given for the people to gather before the Lord, to seek him in humility, before the terrible day of the Lord’s wrath, by which time it will be too late to repent. Judah called a shameless nation, using the Hebrew word ‘goy’ (v1), the same word used to describe a pagan nation. God’s covenant people are behaving like pagans, not acknowledging or being obedient to God. If people seek the LORD, seek righteousness and seek humility, then they may be hidden on the day of wrath.

4. Judgement on the nations (2:4 - 3:8)

As found in several of the prophets, Zephaniah has a series of oracles against pagan nations. Nations in four different directions receive condemnation. These serve as a warning to Judah and Jerusalem, who receive the last of the five oracles. Most of these nations were conquered and plundered by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar.

1) Philistia (2:4-7) - west

Four of the five cities of the Philistines are named, omitting Gath which had been seriously damaged by Hazael of Syria in the 9th century BC (2 Kg 12:17) then destroyed by King Uzziah of Judah about 100 years later. The Cherethites (v5) where associated with the Philistines (Ezek 25:16), which most probably means Cretans, from Capthor (Deut 2:23, Jer 47:4, Amos 9:7). The seacoast will be desolated and occupied by the faithful remnant where they will pasture their flocks. The faithful remnant in the OT are those in Israel or Judah who remain faithful the God while the rest of the nation was unfaithful and involved in idolatry. They will be preserved when judgement destroys the rest.

2) Moab and Ammon (2:8-11) - east

Moab and Ammon were the descendants of Lot through his daughters (Gen 19). Their pride and perpetual taunting against Judah throughout history (eg 2 Sam 10:1-6) will be punished by desolation like Sodom and Gomorrah and then plundered by the faithful remnant. Their gods, Chemosh of Moab, and Milcom (or Molech) of Ammon, will also be destroyed (v11).

Again, Zephaniah concludes with his own comment, that judgement is coming because of their pride (v10-11). Following the judgement, the coasts and islands belonging to the nations will worship Yahweh. The prophets often predicted worship of Yahweh by all nations. According to the NT, this was fulfilled when Gentile nations believed the Gospel (Phil 2:1-11).

3) Ethiopia (2:12) - south

Ethiopia, or Cush, was the most southerly of Israel’s enemies, and received a very short oracle, that they will be killed by God’s sword. They were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in 568 BC, and by Cambyses of Persia in 525 BC.

4) Assyria (2:12-15) - north

Assyria was the major power to the north, which had previously taken the northern kingdom into exile, and had been a major threat to Judah, particularly in 701 BC. By the time of Zephaniah, Assyria was declining. The great proud (v15) city, Nineveh, will become a desolation occupied by wild animals. This happened after Nineveh was defeated by the Babylonians in 612 BC, after which the site of Nineveh was lost for many centuries.

5) Jerusalem (3:1-8)

First the neighbouring nations are dealt with. The audience would agree with the prophet, who then turns on his own nation, creating a climax, but also a shock for the original listeners. This is similar to the technique Amos employed in his oracles to the nations (Amos 1-2).

The identification of the city is not clear at first, so the hearers would continue to think Nineveh is being spoken about, but it becomes increasingly clear that the city is Jerusalem, particularly when it states that the LORD is within it (v5).

The sins of the city are listed (v1-5), particularly not listening to their God, not receiving God’s correction and not trusting and worshipping its God. Zephaniah condemns the unrighteous leaders, particularly the officials and judges are like lions and wolves devouring the citizens, and who are only interested in making money. Like Jeremiah, Zephaniah also condemns the prophets who only preach what people want to hear. The priests profaned the sacred place and worship of God (v3-4). These are contrasted with the righteous character of God, who still dwells in the city (v5).

The warnings of the demonstration of God’s judgement against the nations (ch 2) are ignored (v6-7). God hoped for a better response from his people (v7), but they were more eager to make their deeds corrupt. The only thing left is to wait for the dreadful day of Yahweh.

5. Climax - the day of wrath on the whole world (3:8)

Because of their rebelliousness, on the day of wrath God will gather the nations for judgement, for all who deserve it. Only the faithful remnant will be excluded.

B. A day of hope for the faithful remnant (3:9-20)

The day of the LORD is also a day of hope for the faithful remnant, but also for the nations. After the oracles of judgement, there is a sudden change to hope. Many of the books of the OT prophets end in hope.

1. Purification of the nations (3:9-10)

The fiery judgement is for the purification of the nations, rather than for their total destruction. God will act as saviour and change their speech to pure speech, so they will worship him in unity (v9). This has happened at least in part in the new covenant, with the nations come to worship Jesus. The complete fulfilment is still in the future.

2. Cleansing to leave the faithful remnant (3:11-13)

The faithful remnant will remain after the sin and rebellion has been removed. The haughty, proudly exultant ones will be removed, leaving the humble and lowly who are the remnant of Israel. They will seek refuge in the name of the Lord, and not in idolatry.

3. Psalm of joy (3:14-17)

Then follows a song of rejoicing for the ‘daughter of Zion’ (v14), perhaps referring to the City of David, which is below the summit of Mount Zion. This is a call to God’s people to rejoice in God’s grace. It takes the form of a Psalm of praise. The remnant of Israel are called to celebrate God’s salvation, his forgiveness and the promise of no more judgements. There is nothing more to fear as “The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst” (v15, 17), and he will rejoice over his people.

4. Blessings promised by God (3:18b-20)

The words of Zephaniah conclude with God speaking, promising six times ‘I will’, promising relief from disaster, healing, joy, gathering and prosperity ‘at that time’. The shame of oppression in exile will be changed to honour and praise among all the peoples of the earth (v20).

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