Wenstrom Bible Ministries Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom Thursday May 19, 2016 www.wenstrom.org Zephaniah: Zephaniah 2:11a-Zephaniah Presents Two Reasons Why the Lord Will Be Worshipped Lesson # 52 Zephaniah 2:8 I have heard the taunting of Moab and the revilings of the sons of Ammon, with which they have taunted My people and become arrogant against their territory. 9 Therefore, as I live, declares the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be like Sodom and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah A place possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of My people will plunder them and the remainder of My nation will inherit them. 10 This they will have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the LORD of hosts. 11 The LORD will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place. (NASB95) The LORD will be terrifying to them is composed of the following: (1) masculine singular niphal passive participle form of the verb yārēʾ א),(י ר will be terrifying (2) masculine singular proper noun yhwh,(יהוה) the Lord (3) preposition ʿal,(ע ל) to (4) third person masculine plural form of the pronominal suffix hēmâ ה),( ה מ them. The writer is employing the figure of asyndeton in order to emphasize the first prophetic declaration contained in verse 11. The proper noun yhwh (Yahweh) Lord is the covenant-keeping personal name of God and is usually used here in connection with His covenant relationship with the Jewish people. However, here in verse 11, the word is not emphasizing the covenant relationship between God and the people of Judah as has been the case many times in our study of Zephaniah. Rather, it is used of God s sovereignty over the people of Moab and Ammon. 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1
The verb yārēʾ is in the niphal stem and means to be awesome, dreadful, to be held in awe, to be reverenced in the sense of inspiring awe. Here it is used of course with the Lord as its subject and in relation to the people of Moab and Ammon. The third person masculine plural form of the pronominal suffix hēmâ means them referring of course to the people of Moab and Ammon. It is the object of the preposition ʿal, which means because of since it is functioning as a marker of cause expressing the reason for a subsequent event. This would indicate that the people of Moab and Ammon are the reason why the Lord would be held in awe or reverenced. He would be held in awe or reverenced as a result of fulfilling His promise recorded in Zephaniah 2:9 to destroy the people of Moab and Ammon like He did Sodom and Gomorrah. Therefore, the verb yārēʾ denotes that the Lord would be reverenced by people of the world in the sense that He will inspire awe among the nations of the earth by fulfilling His promise through the prophet Zephaniah to destroy Moab and Ammon like He did Sodom and Gomorrah. The participle form of this verb yārēʾ is used for imminent action indicating that the Lord was about to be reverenced by the nations of the earth as a result of fulfilling His threat through Zephaniah to destroy the people of Moab and Ammon like He did the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. For He will starve all the gods of the earth is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kî י),(כ for (2) third person masculine singular qal active perfect form of the verb rāzâ ז ה),(ר He will starve (3) object marker ʾēt ת),(א which is not translated (4) collective singular construct form of the noun kōl,(כ ל) all (5) masculine plural construct form of the noun ʾĕlōhîm ים),(א לה the gods of (6) articular feminine singular form of the noun ʾereṣ ( א ר ץ ), earth. The conjunction kî means because, for since it is functioning as a marker of cause meaning it is introducing a prophetic declaration which presents the second reason why the Lord was about to be held in awe by the people of the earth. 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2
This word introduces a prophetic declaration which asserts that the Lord will surely destroy all the gods worshipped by the people of the earth. Therefore, this conjunction indicates that the Lord was about to be held in awe because He will surely destroy all the gods worshipped by the people of the earth. The verb rāzâ means to destroy since it pertains to causing pagan gods to wither away to nothing. Here it speaks of the God of Israel destroying the pagan gods worshipped by people on the earth. They will be destroyed in the sense of constricting the land and people over which these gods have dominion and which action demonstrates the God of Israel s superiority. So the idea with this word is that the Lord would be held in awe by the people of earth when He destroys the gods they worship which demonstrates His superiority over these gods. The perfect conjugation of this verb is a prophetic perfect expressing the certainty that this destruction of all the pagan gods of the earth will take place in the future. The noun ʾĕlōhîm means gods referring to the heathen gods and is modified by the collective singular construct form of the noun kōl means all since the word denotes totality. The noun ʾereṣ means the people of the earth since it pertains to the various groups that live on the surface of planet earth. Zephaniah 2:8 I heard public insults from Moab s people as well as sarcastic insults from Ammon s citizens. They showed public contempt for My people. Indeed, they triumphed over their territory. 9 Consequently, I existing eternally, the Lord ruling over the armies, the God ruling over and in a relationship with Israel declares: Moab s people will be like Sodom s people likewise Ammon s citizens like Gomorrah s people. A place overrun by weeds as well as salt pits, indeed, a desolation forever and ever! The remnant from My people will plunder them. Specifically, the survivors from the nation will 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3
inherit their territory. 10 This is against them because of their pride, because they displayed contempt publically, yes boasting against the people in a relationship with the Lord ruling over armies. 11 The Lord is about to be held in awe because of them, because He will surely destroy all the gods worshipped by the people of earth. (My translation) Zephaniah 2:11 contains three prophetic declarations which assert that the God of Israel will be worshipped by the people of the earth and contains three reasons why this will be the case. The first prophetic declaration recorded in Zephaniah 2:11 completes the prophecy regarding the Lord s threat to judge the people of Moab and Ammon for their unrepentant sinful lives and which prophecy began in Zephaniah 2:9. It asserts that the Lord, the God of Israel will be held in awe or reverenced because of the people of Moab and Ammon. This of course is shorthand by the prophet since it clearly implies that the God of Israel will be worshipped by the people of the earth when He fulfills His threat through the prophet Zephaniah in Zephaniah 2:9 to destroy the people of Moab and Ammon like He did the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. The second reason why the Lord will be worshipped is that He will surely destroy all the gods worshipped by the people of earth. He will destroy these pagan gods in the sense that He will constrict the land and people over which these gods have dominion and which action demonstrates His superiority and sovereignty over the people of the earth. So in other words, the Lord would be held in awe by the people of earth when He destroys the gods they worship which demonstrates His superiority over these gods. The first prophetic declaration which predicts that the Lord was about to be held in awe because of fulfilling His threat in Zephaniah 2:9 to destroy the people of Moab and Ammon like He did the people of Sodom and Gomorrah was fulfilled in history through the Babylonian invasions of the Mediterranean world. These invasions either killed or enslaved the people of Moab and Ammon. 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4
Others were exiled, never to return the Mediterranean coastal plains. Consequently, those who trusted in the God of Israel worshipped Him for fulfilling this prophecy especially those who survived the Babylonian exile and return to the land of promise. The second prophetic declaration in Zephaniah 2:11 which predicts that the Lord was about to be worshipped because He will surely destroy all the pagan gods which people on the earth worship was fulfilled in a near sense through the Babylonian invasions in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. The remnant of Judah and those Gentiles who trusted in the God of Israel worshipped the Lord for destroying the gods of the Moabites, Ammonites, Babylonians and other nations in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions of the world. By destroying these nations, He destroyed the gods they worshipped. In other words, these gods were no longer worshipped when these nations no longer existed. In the sixth and seventh centuries B.C., if a nation was conquered by another nation, the conquering nation s god was considered superior to the gods of the nation which was conquered. The remnant of Judah which survived the Babylonian invasions and exiles knew that their God was superior to the gods of these other nations when these other nations no longer existed and their nation still remained in existence. All those who worshipped the God of Israel who trusted in Him worshipped Him as a result of this being the case. This second prophetic declaration in Zephaniah 2:11 will be fulfilled in a far sense during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ since He will be the sole object of worship on the earth during this period. The millennial reign will be marked by the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ (Is. 12:1-6; 25:1-26:19; 56:7; 61:10-11; 66:23; Jer. 33:11, 18, 21-22; Ezek. 20:40-41; 40:1-46:24; Zech. 6:12-15; 8:20-23; 14:16-21). 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 5