Zephaniah 1: Judgment on the earth in the day of the Lord

[Preliminary Comments: The three chapters of Zephaniah’s prophecies very much need to be seen in their historical setting – see below – but there is a remarkable transition from strong words of prophetic judgment in the first two and a half chapters which give way to amazing words or reconciliation and restoration in the second half of chapter 3. What brings the change? The Lord declares He will purify the nation. Seen in the context of the Exile that comes in a matter of decades, the people were sent out of their land to have their hearts changed so that when the Lord brought them back, they were a changed people. This is what the rejoicing in the end is all about.

v.1 Time & Person identified

v.1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:

[Note: This was probably written about 640 BC just before the time of Josiah’s reforms after the nation had descended into spiritual apostasy yet again under Amon, Josiah’s father [see 2 Kings 21:24-26], hence some of the strong words spoken against Judah and Jerusalem below. The historical context and timing is important to understand the warnings here.]

v.2,3 A Comprehensive Judgment of the whole earth

v.2 ‘I will sweep away everything
    from the face of the earth,’
declares the Lord.

v.3 ‘I will sweep away both man and beast;
    I will sweep away the birds in the sky
    and the fish in the sea –
    and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.’

‘When I destroy all mankind
    on the face of the earth,’
declares the Lord,

[Note: This devastating judgment must, one might think, refer to the very end when the Lord brings the earth to an end to create a new heaven and a new earth, but later in the chapter is seems to be applied to the present [see below]. The warning, we must assume, comes here as a backdrop to current history to remind the king and the people that the Lord is sovereign and will not tolerate sin on the earth [specifically this land] which has only a limited lifetime.]

v.4-6 That Judgment to include Judah & Jerusalem

v.4 ‘I will stretch out my hand against Judah
    and against all who live in Jerusalem.
I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place,
    the very names of the idolatrous priests –

v.5 those who bow down on the roofs
    to worship the starry host,
those who bow down and swear by the Lord
    and who also swear by Molek,

v.6 those who turn back from following the Lord
    and neither seek the Lord nor enquire of him.’

[Note: From the ‘big picture’ of ‘the whole earth’, the prophecy rapidly refocuses on Judah and Jerusalem which [probably because of Amon – see above] have many signs of idol worship remaining and the Lord proclaims a destruction of those idols.]

v.7-10 A specific day for the judgment

v.7 Be silent before the Sovereign Lord,
    for the day of the Lord is near.
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
    he has consecrated those he has invited.

v.8 ‘On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
    I will punish the officials
    and the king’s sons
and all those clad
    in foreign clothes.

v.9 On that day I will punish
    all who avoid stepping on the threshold,
who fill the temple of their gods
    with violence and deceit.

v.10 ‘On that day,’
    declares the Lord,
‘a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,
    wailing from the New Quarter,
    and a loud crash from the hills.

[Note: This part of the prophecy reveals that there is coming a specific time in heaven’s calendar when the Lord’s judgment will come to punish all those idol worshippers.]

v.11-13 It will be judgment on the rich and complacent

v.11 Wail, you who live in the market district;
    all your merchants will be wiped out,
    all who trade with silver will be destroyed.

v.12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
    and punish those who are complacent,
    who are like wine left on its dregs,
who think, “The Lord will do nothing,
    either good or bad.”

v.13 Their wealth will be plundered,
    their houses demolished.
Though they build houses,
    they will not live in them;
though they plant vineyards,
    they will not drink the wine.’

[Note: But it is not merely the king or religious leaders who have this indifference to the Lord for it has spread throughout all the upper part of society to the rich merchants who carry out their business with not a thought for the Lord.]

v.14-16 It will be a day of great wrath

v.14 The great day of the Lord is near –
    near and coming quickly.
The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;
    the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.

v.15 That day will be 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 –

v.16     a day of trumpet and battle cry
against the fortified cities
    and against the corner towers.

[Note: This day of judgment is coming soon, a day of distress and destruction.]

v.17,18 It will be a day of great distress from nothing can save them

v.17 ‘I will bring such distress on all people
    that they will grope about like those who are blind,
    because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
    and their entrails like dung.

v.18 Neither their silver nor their gold
    will be able to save them
    on the day of the Lord’s wrath.’

In the fire of his jealousy
    the whole earth will be consumed,
for he will make a sudden end
    of all who live on the earth.

[Note: This day will include all peoples of the land for their apostasy, a complete destruction and reference to “all who live on the earth”, in this present context, must mean the land of Judah and the surrounding nations. Josiah’s reforms perhaps initially stayed this judgment, but it came, according to the descriptions above, with a series of invasions by Nebuchadnezzar and eventually the destruction of Jerusalem in 587BC.]