Zephaniah 1 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Zephaniah 1

1:1 The word of the LORD that 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.

The Coming Judgment on Judah

2   “I will utterly sweep away everything
    from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
3   “I will sweep away man and beast;
    I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
    and the fish of the sea,
  and the rubble¹ with the wicked.
    I will cut off mankind
    from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
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 along with the 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,²
6   those who have turned back from following the LORD,
    who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him.”

The Day of the Lord Is Near

7   Be silent before the Lord GOD!
    For the day of the LORD is near;
  the LORD has prepared a sacrifice
    and consecrated his guests.
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   On that day I will punish
    everyone who leaps over the threshold,
  and those who fill their master’s³ house
    with violence and fraud.
10   “On that day,” declares the LORD,
    “a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
  a wail from the Second Quarter,
    a loud crash from the hills.
11   Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
    For all the traders⁴ are no more;
    all who weigh out silver are cut off.
12   At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
    and I will punish the men
  who are complacent,⁵
    those who say in their hearts,
  ‘The LORD will not do good,
    nor will he do ill.’
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.”
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.
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,
16     a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
  against the fortified cities
    and against the lofty battlements.
17   I will bring distress on mankind,
    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.
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 jealousy,
    all the earth shall be consumed;
  for a full and sudden end
    he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Footnotes

[1] 1:3 Or stumbling blocks (that is, idols)
[2] 1:5 Or their king
[3] 1:9 Or their Lord’s
[4] 1:11 Or all the people of Canaan
[5] 1:12 Hebrew are thickening on the dregs [of their wine]

Commentary

v1: Like Habakkuk and Jeremiah, Zephaniah looks at events leading up to the defeat and exile of Judah. The dominant power is changing from Assyria to Babylon. Josiah is the great reforming king, yet the people's hearts still pursued idolatry.

v2-3: Widespread and severe judgment; see Is 24. The plans of the wicked will come to nothing, and their hopes dashed.

v4-6: Judah and Jerusalem to be destroyed; the reason is clear, idolatry, albeit mixed with true worship; Baal, idolatrous priests, the host of heaven, Molech, yet they still "bow down and swear by the Lord." The reality is that they have rebelled against the Lord God; He is jealous and will tolerate no rivals. In the human heart, a mixture of religions is deemed acceptable, by which we avoid any accusation of fanaticism or fundamentalism, but such alloyed religion is an abomination to God.

The judgment upon the people is also a purging, "I will cut off from this place every remnant..."

Back in 1 Sam 5.1-5, God demonstrated the folly of idolatry, but here, some 500 years later, that message is forgotten; the people now know better!

v7: No more excuses, no more arguments, be silent; like Job, we must lay our hand over our mouth (Job 40.4). Judgment is coming, the Day of the Lord is "near," the day of sacrifice.

v8: Zephaniah addresses the princes, the king's sons; Josiah's children, who do not follow the Lord, nor even their father's example. They are clothed in foreign apparel, indicating that they have sought the help of Gentile nations, and have become subject to them.

v9: They leap over the threshold of the temple to commit idolatry; se 1 Sam 55. They continue in violence and deceit, sins previously condemned by Amos and Micah. God sent prophet after prophet to Israel, and also godly reforming kings to Judah, yet these sins returned persistently; the Lord's command, "repent," means to break with such sins. David kept himself from his iniquity, 2 Sam 22.24.

v10-13: Describing the defeat of Jerusalem; compare Mic 3.11-12; riches and complacency, Deut 28.39; Amos 6.1. The people consider God to be impotent, "The Lord will do nothing, either good of bad." A further reason for the judgment is the demonstration that God is both active and powerful.

The reference to searching with lamps refers to the pre-Passover practice of searching a house to find any leaven to be be removed.

It is time for action; elsewhere we read the command to "arise!" to Abraham (Gen 13.17); to Lot (Gen 19.15); to Jacob (Gen 31.13); to Moses (Deut 9.12); to Barak (Judg 5.12); to Gideon (Judg 7.9); to Samuel (1 Sam 16.12); to David (1 Sam 23.4); to Jeroboam's wife (1 Kings 14.12); to Elijah (1 Kings 17.9); Jezebel to Ahab (1 Kings 21.15); to Solomon (1 Chr 22.16,19); to Ezra (Ez 10.4); each time there is a call to urgent action; Joel 1.13-14; 2.15-17.

v14-16: The Day of the Lord is near, as in v7, Amos 5.18. This is a time of fear for many, a time when fortified cities and high towers prove useless.

v17: There is always good reason for God's judgment, because the people have sinned against the great God; these dreadful events described are not simply something awful that happened, but what God appointed.

v18: The riches, accumulated by the people, are useless. The whole land will be devoured, not just parts of Israel (see 2 Kings 10.32).

There is the fire of His jealousy, a fire of purging and judgment. There is a sudden end, for the Lord is acting with urgency and decisiveness; a reminder of previous calls to the people that they act urgently to seek the Lord, which they failed to do.