The Book of Zephaniah

Lecture Notes from Minor Prophets of the Old Testament

Introduction

I. Who was Zephaniah?

--Son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah—Could Hezekiah be the king of 715-686? Possibly, but one would expect such a pedigree to be made more explicit.

II. When did he preach?

--During the days of Josiah, 640-609.

--Most scholars would place Zephaniah before the reform of Josiah in 621. However, the reform apparently did not have the widespread effect that Josiah certainly desired. This would explain Jehoiakim’s abandonment of the reform policy & Jeremiah’s denunciation of idolatry even during Josiah’s reign.

--Others would place it before 626, when Assyria began to decline, because there would be no immediate enemy to see as bringing punishment. This is overemphasized, however, because prophecy is often imprecise as to enemies & sources of judgment. In fact, the source of judgment in Zephaniah’s eyes could have changed from the Assyrians to the Scythians & to the Babylonians w/o negatively affecting his prophecy.

--The Book of Zephaniah could be dated anywhere from 640-609, although the traditional dating is 627-621, the period between the death of Ashurbanipal & the reform of Josiah. However, his prophecies may well have extended further into Josiah’s reign, since the reform did not reach all regions of Josiah’s control.

III. Where did he preach?

Judah, most likely in Jerusalem, which he mentions.

IV. What was his message?

--Yahweh will judge Judah & Jerusalem for their sins.

--Yahweh will judge the nations.

--A remnant of Judah will survive.

V. The Book of Zephaniah

I. Judgment on Judah & Jerusalem (1:2-2:3

II. Judgment on Foreign Nations (2:4-15)

III. Judgment on Jerusalem (3:1-5)

IV. Judgment on the nations (3:6-8)

V. Restoration (3:9-13)

VI. Sing a New Song (3:14-20)

Zephaniah 1-3

1:2-2:3—Judgment on Judah & Jerusalem

--1:2-3—Warning of Coming Judgment

--The judgment will be complete! Yahweh will sweep away everything—men, animals, birds, & fish. This is apocalyptic type of language (but this is not apocalyptic literature!), describing judgment in graphic language. It’s not meant to be taken literally.

--The wicked are the actual target of the judgment. They will have only rubble.

--1:4-13—Judgment on Judah & Jerusalem

--Who will be judged?

--Judah & Jerusalem

--Baal worshippers—All remnant of Baal worship will be removed. Interestingly enough, this was true. After the exile, idolatry was never a problem for the Jews. All remnant of Baal worship was indeed removed.

--Pagan priests—The Hebrew word used here (µyrim;K]h', kemarim) is the normal word for “priest” in Akkadian, Canaanite, & Aramaic, but in the OT it is used only for pagan priests. Josiah is said to have removed these priests during his reforms.

--Those in Judah worshipping the “hosts of heavens,” i.e. stars, planets, moon, etc. These were deities in Canaanite religion, but entered worship practices in Judah during the reign of Manasseh because it was very popular among the Assyrians. Josiah tried to suppress worship of the “hosts of heaven,” but it was a very popular form of worship.

--Those who worship Yahweh & Molech/Milcom. Milcom was the main Ammonite god, but was worshipped as Molech in Canaan. The worship of Molech sometimes involved child sacrifice. The emphasis here is that Yahweh will not allow His worship to be shared with any other!

--Those who turn away from Yahweh & do not seek Him.

--The princes in foreign clothes. The leaders had ceased to be Yahweh’s leaders. They were indistinguishable from the Assyrians.

--Those “who avoid stepping on the threshold,” see 1 Sam. 5:5. These were following the practices of those who worship Dagon, the Philistine god. This practice became widespread, from the superstition that spirits congregated at the doorway.

--Those practicing violence & deceit.

--The complacent (1:12). They drink the wine to the bottom, sitting in comfort, believing that Yahweh will never come in judgment. In fact, the picture is of a people who do not think about Yahweh at all. They have completely forgotten about Him. (He is a thing of the past, much like many people in USA today!)

--How will Yahweh judge them?

--The “Lord’s sacrifice” on the “Day of the Lord.”

--All through the city of Jerusalem the riches of the merchants will be destroyed.

--Their wealth will be plundered.

--They will be removed from their homes & vineyards, i.e. exile.

--Yahweh will search out all of the guilty. This is like a picture of mopping up actions in war. Every single enemy is searched out & removed.

--1:14-18—The Day of the Lord

--As in Amos, the Day of the Lord is coming. It will be:

--a bitter day of battle

--a day of wrath

--a day of distress and anguish

--a day of trouble and ruin

--a day of darkness and gloom

--a day of clouds and blackness

--a day of battle cries, death, & destruction.

--2:1-3—Seek the Lord

--Zephaniah calls on those who are “humble” to seek the Lord. This suggests that some were still open to seeking the Lord, even if they weren’t living faithful lives.

--Perhaps if they seek Yahweh & obey Him, He will shelter or protect them from the coming destruction, cf. 1:6.

2:4-15—Judgment on Foreign Nations

--The land of the Philistines will be destroyed & given to the “remnant of Judah.”

--The Moabites & Ammonites will be destroyed & plundered by the “remnant of Judah.”

--The Cushites will be killed.

--Assyria will become a wilderness, with only animals for inhabitants.

3:1-5—Judgment on Jerusalem

--Woe to Jerusalem:

--She is stubborn.

--She is rebellious.

--Her leaders are like lions & wolves; they devour everything in their sight. They are never satisfied.

--Her prophets are arrogant. They apparently prophesy falsely & are not ashamed.

--Her priests are guilty of profaning the temple. Those with the responsibility to keep the sanctuary pure have in fact defiled it themselves through ignoring the law.

--Yahweh is in Jerusalem:

--He is righteous. He always does what is right.

--He dispenses judgment.

3:6-8—Judgment on the Nations

--Yahweh has caused the destruction of the nations. Their strongholds & cities were destroyed at Yahweh’s command.

--v. 7—Yahweh expected them to turn to Him in the judgment. Is this addressed to Jerusalem or to the nations? “The city” of NIV is not in the Hebrew. Either could be correct, but I take it to be the nations as in v. 6 & 8.

--They chose corruption, so Yahweh destroyed them.

--v. 8—Now Yahweh will gather all the nations for judgment. This hearkens back to that eschatological, messianic view of all the nations, causing them to turn to Yahweh (Micah 4 & Isaiah 2).

3:9-13—Restoration

--The peoples will come to Yahweh & serve Him together, “shoulder to shoulder.”

--The remnant will be purified.

--The proud will be removed from Jerusalem.

--Only the humble will remain, those who trust in Yahweh.

--Those remaining will speak only words of truth. Deceit will be removed.

--There will be no fear. This once again points to the same eschatological plans seen in Micah 4 & Isaiah 2.

3:14-20—Sing a New Song

--This is a concluding song of celebration for the restoration of the remnant.

--The Lord has won the victory & defeated all of Judah’s enemies.

--Yahweh has rescued the weak & oppressed.

--He has restored the fortunes of Judah!