ZEPHANIAH. - Zephaniah is the first of three prophets who preached to Judah alone.

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1 ZEPHANIAH Introduction: - Zephaniah is the first of three prophets who preached to Judah alone. - This followed the downfall of the Northern Kingdom at the hands of the Assyrians in 722BC. - His book is ninth - in sequence of the twelve minor prophets. - Zephaniah's name means - "He whom Jehovah has hidden." - According to 1:1 - King Hezekiah was his great-greatgrandfather. - This has prompted some - to call him the "royal prophet." - Zephaniah traces his ancestry back four generation - and is the only prophet to do so. - It is often thought - that the prophet lived in Jerusalem because of his detailed knowledge of conditions there which are reflected in his book. The Date of the Book: - According to 1:1 he prophesied in the days of Josiah, King of Judah. - Josiah ruled from B.C. He was the last good king to reign over Judah. - Zephaniah's public ministry - was probably around 630 to 625 B.C. 1

2 - He probably prophesied after Josiah's reforms (or his attempts to reform the people.) - Josiah came to the throne at the age of eight - and in his 18th year, with the discovery of a copy of the law, carried out a sweeping reform. He reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 34:1) - But the effort proved vain. - The king lost his life in a futile attempt to prevent Pharaoh Necho from aiding Assyria in its struggle against rising Babylon. (2 Kings 23:28-30) - Zephaniah calls the people - "The remnant of Baal." (1:4) - What do you suppose this means? This includes all who worship Baal, whether few or many, who dwell in Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be cleansed of these. (The term implies that God would exterminate it so entirely that no trace of it should remain.) - Zephaniah vigorously condemns - the contamination of the pure worship of the Lord with elements of Canaanite, Ammorite (Milcom), and Assyrian (host of the heavens) religions. Background to Zephaniah's Message: A. World Politics in Zephaniah's Day. 1. Back in 722 B.C. - Assyria had destroyed Samaria. 2. Now - it was about a hundred years later, and Assyria is on the way out. 2

3 a. From 627 B.C. - little is known about the kings of Assyria because it was a time of turmoil and unrest for the nation. b. In 625 B.C. - Nabopolassar established Babylon as a separate nation and began to battle against Assyria. c. About 13 years later - in 612 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar, Nabopolassar's son, defeated the Assyrians, effectively ending their power among the nations when Nineveh was conquered. 1. In 609, Assyria will be defeated at the city of Haran. a. It was during this time that King Josiah of Judah was killed when he got involved in the world politics of the day. b. He was killed when he went to prevent Pharaoh Necho from assisting Assyria against Babylon. c. Judah had become a small pawn in the hands of the powerful kings of the land. 1. Briefly, Judah became servants of Egypt, but Egypt was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar with the Assyrians. 2. So Judah became servants to Babylon for the rest of her existence before captivity. 2. In 605 B.C. Assyria will cease to exist - when they and Egypt are defeated by Babylon at the city of Carchemish. 3. No doubt - it was this rise of Babylon to power that gave occasion for Zephaniah's prophecy. 3

4 B. National Politics of Judah in Zephaniah's Day. 1. After the good king Hezekiah was succeeded by his son Manasseh, a boy of twelve, things went bad. a. Manasseh - undid all the good Hezekiah his father had done (Read 2 Chronicles 33:1-9; see also 2 Kings 21:10-16) The nation was once again led to rebel against God. - 2 Chronicles 33: Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had broken down, and erected altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 And he burned his sons as an offering in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and practiced soothsaying and augury and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 7 And the image of the idol which he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever; 8 and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land which I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses. 9 Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel RSV. b. The Chronicles account - tells us that later in life after being carried off by the Assyrians to Babylon, Manasseh repented so God reinstated him as king (2 Chronicles 33:10-13.) 4

5 - 2 Chronicles 33: The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they gave no heed. 11 Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks and bound him with fetters of bronze and brought him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in distress he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 He prayed to him, and God received his entreaty and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God RSV 2. Amon - who followed Manasseh, was also wicked (2 Chronicles 33:21-25.) 3. Josiah was the last good king of Judah. He came to the throne at the age of eight and sought God at age 15. He began to reform the land at age 20, and completed the reform at age It was after Josiah's reforms that Zephaniah prophesied. Read 2 Kings 23:26-28 for a summary of the situation from God's point of view. - 2 Kings 23: Still the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city which I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. 28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? RSV C. Religious and Moral Climate in Judah in Zephaniah's Day Chronicles 35 & 36 - contain the account of Josiah's sweeping reforms. 5

6 2. However - even though Josiah's reform restored the rituals of worship, the people's devotion was only external. 3. Social and moral corruption - was widespread. 4. Luxury and extravagance - were seen on every hand. a. Question: Why is it that prosperity and extravagances almost always bring about apostasy? b. Question: What is the lesson to us? 5. Zephaniah proclaimed the coming "day of the Lord" (1:7, 14-16) a. So vivid are his descriptions that George Adam Smith* wrote: "No hotter book lies in all the Old Testament." (*Scottish preacher and scholar ) b. And yet it ends on an encouraging note about the future... Therefore its overall message is: "Though Judgment to Blessing." THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH Chapter 1 1 The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, says the LORD. 3 I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. I will overthrow the wicked; I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth, says the LORD. 6

7 Look Within - God's Wrath is Coming Upon Judah - The prophet announces a universal and all-consuming judgment. - The judgment - is portrayed as comparable to that of the "great flood" in its universal scope. - "I will consume": sweep away, make an end of man and beast, birds and fishes, and the wicked who stumble over them. - "I will overthrow the wicked" - Rendered stumblingblocks in the KJV - are the idols and incentives to sin that accompany idolatry - all will be swept away. - "I will cut off mankind" - for it is man who is responsible for the condition that brings about the judgment. - It is on man's account that this judgment is sent - a truth which the prophet reinforces by repetition. 4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests; 5 those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens; those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom; 6 those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him. - Special mention and attention is given Judah. - Judah and Jerusalem are the objects of Jehovah's wrath - for they had known better. 7

8 - "The remnant of Baal" - includes all who worship Baal, whether few or many, who dwell in Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be cleansed of these. - Verse 5 mentions - "those who bow down on the roofs to the host of heaven." - Worship - of the "the host of heaven" had been specifically forbidden by Moses; it included the sun, moon, and stars. - Deut. 4: Therefore take good heed to yourselves. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. 19 And beware lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. RSV - These were worshiped from "the house tops" by burning incense on altars erected on the flat roofs. (From this vantage point they had a clearer view of the stars and felt nearer to them.) - Next we have - "those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Malcam." - These were of a divided loyalty - swearing partly by Jehovah and partly by Malcam. (Malcam was one of the Baalim - whom they reckoned as their king - not an earthly king, but a king among the deities.) 8

9 - They did not give Jehovah - their undivided heart and worship. - A third class of worshippers are also introduced here - " those who have turned back from following the LORD." - These are utterly indifferent to Jehovah. They have not sought nor inquired after Him. They could not care less for His favor or disfavor. - This judgment - will span many, many years and will culminate in the establishment of Christ's kingdom. The "Day of the Lord" is at Hand 7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is at hand; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. - Because Jehovah is to be present - silence is commanded. - "The day of the Lord" - always refers to a day of judgment against the wicked. - He says it is "at hand" - nearby. - The sacrifice to be offered is - Judah. - The "consecrated guess" - are the nations whom Jehovah has called to witness and execute His judgment. 8 And on the day of the LORD S sacrifice I will punish the officials and the king s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. 9

10 - Members of the royal family are threatened; they are to share in a special way the knowledge of Jehovah's wrath, "in the day of the Lord's sacrifice." - "The officials" (Princes - KJV)- the offspring and descendants of former kings, and the sons of Josiah, although young at the time, will all come under the rod of judgment. - These of royal blood - are held responsible for the conditions in Jerusalem. - Josiah - the king, is not named in the group to be judged because he was one of Judah's most God-fearing rulers. - Those "clothed with foreign attire" - are the rulers, the wealthy, and the socially elite - who by their dress indicated their leaning toward Egypt or Babylonia an the ways of those heathen nations. - They had forsaken the customs of their own divinely appointed kingdom - and had adopted those of a heathen people. 9 On that day I will punish every one who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master s house with violence and fraud. - The following clause explains the meaning which the Latin version intimates; all those who, carrying out their masters' wishes, violently invade the houses of others and pillage them of their contents. The expression, "to leap over the threshold," seems to have been a common term for burglary and stealing with violence. Which fill their masters' houses. These retainers plunder and steal in order that they may increase their masters' treasures. (The Pulpit Commentary on Zephaniah) 10 On that day, says the LORD, a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second Quarter, 10

11 a loud crash from the hills. - The second group denounced are the merchants. A great cry is heard from "the fish gate," thought to have been located somewhere in the northern wall toward the east. This is the direction from which the destroyers would come. 11 Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off. - The part of the city identified as "the Mortar" or Maktesh is unknown; but as indicated by the context, it was probably a section where the merchants plied their trade in Jerusalem. - Both the merchants and the money changers - those "laden with silver," the bankers of that day, would be cut off. 12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are thickening upon their lees, those who say in their hearts, The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill. - A third class, the depraved and indifferent, is next brought under the judgment. None should be spared, for Jehovah would search Jerusalem as one would take a lamp and search carefully and minutely through every corner of a small and darkened room. "To thicken upon their lees" is a metaphor from the treading of wine. In making the best wine the liquid is poured from vessel to vessel, separating the wine from the drags or settlings. In the stupidity of their hearts they ignored Jehovah and were indifferent to Him. They looked on Him as one would an idol who possessed power to do neither good nor bad. 11

12 13 Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them." - Because they had ignored God and lived in the lusts of their depraved hearts - God would demonstrate His divine power. Their wealth would become a spoil for others - their houses would be made desolate. Though they would build houses or plant vineyards, they would not dwell in the houses or drink the wine from the vineyard. These would be devoted to destruction, to the sacrifice determined by Jehovah. 14 The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter, the mighty man cries aloud there. - Again Zephaniah stresses the nearness of the day of Jehovah. It is hastening speedily toward its realization; it is nearer than the people realize. The day of Jehovah is the day of His "voice" as His judgment fell like mighty thunders and the roaring of the lion. It will be a bitter day, a day of such complete defeat that the strong men who have fought violently to defend their city and homeland will weep bitterly at their failure. 15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 12

13 - Zephaniah's description of the day is vivid and electrifying. It is a day overflowing with divine wrath which the prophet stresses and emphasizes through these five highly descriptive verses. Homer Hailey said - These verses need little comment; they should be read with all the feeling of the prophet's soul as he sought to describe it and to warn the indifferent nations by its terror. 16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. - "That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm," which would be directed against the fortified cities. The description makes one feel that he is present - beholding the clouds of smoke as they billow heavenward, hearing trumpet blasts from various parts of the city, and seeing the utter desolation when it is all over. 17 I will bring distress on men, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. - The distress is brought upon them by Jehovah - in consequence of their sins. - They would stagger as if blind - not knowing which way to go. - Their lifeblood would be poured out and destroyed as dust - and their flesh would be flung to the soil as dung. 13

14 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. In the fire of his jealous wrath, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full, yea, sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. - They would be unable to bribe the enemy even with all the silver and gold they had accumulated and laid up - and there would be no escaping the judgment against their sins. - With a fresh declaration of the complete destruction of the land and the people - Zephaniah closes the description as he had begun it... vs.2ff I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, says the LORD. 3 I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. I will overthrow the wicked; I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth, says the LORD. - This destruction would be accomplished by the fire of Jehovah's jealousy - for He is a consuming fire. - Jehovah's jealousy is His righteous resentment and indignation - at being supplanted (To usurp the place of) in the affection of His people by empty idols and having His righteousness exchanged for pagan wickedness. Milt's outline added this: - Commenting on " 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. 14

15 1. The Hebrews are being told that they cannot buy their way out of trouble. They cannot spend their way to happiness. 2. This is a malady of present day life in America. For many years we have been trying to solve our problems by throwing money at our problems, and it is not working. It will not work in the future. a) Public school education in America... is not educating our children... is the answer more money for the schools? b) No, the answer is more discipline, more God, more morality which allows teachers to teach. c) Israel learned that you cannot spend your way to success. 1) Just before Israel (the northern kingdom) fell (722 B.C) never were the people more prosperous. 2) Now in Judah (the southern kingdom) as the end nears, never have the people been more prosperous. d) The following comment is obviously dated. Under the leadership of President Clinton the U.S. has sank lower morally than in its history, but we also are enjoying some of the most prosperous times of our existence. 3. The Lord in our lives is the answer... not more money. 15