1THE 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:
2“I will sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,”
declares the LORD.
3“I will sweep away both men and animals;
I will sweep away the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea.
The wicked will have only heaps of rubble
when I cut off man from the face of the earth,”
declares the LORD.
4“I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all who live in Jerusalem.
I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal,
the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests—
5those 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 Molech,
6those who turn back from following the LORD
and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him.
7Be 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.
8On the day of the LORD’s sacrifice
I will punish the princes
and the king’s sons
and all those clad
in foreign clothes.
9On that day I will punish
all who avoid stepping on the threshold,
who fill the temple of their gods
with violence and deceit.
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.
11Wail, you who live in the market district;
all your merchants will be wiped out,
all who trade with silver will be ruined.
12At 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.’
13Their wealth will be plundered,
their houses demolished.
They will build houses
but not live in them;
they will plant vineyards
but not drink the wine.
14“The great day of the LORD is near—
near and coming quickly.
Listen! The cry on the day of the LORD will be bitter,
the shouting of the warrior there.
15That 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,
16a day of trumpet and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the corner towers.
17I will bring distress on the people
and they will walk like blind men,
because they have sinned against the LORD.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their entrails like filth.
18Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the LORD’s wrath.
the whole world will be consumed,
for he will make a sudden end
of all who live in the earth.”
Original Meaning
THE PROPHECY OF the dark “day of the LORD” was spoken against Yahweh’s own beloved people. Chapter 1 begins and ends without compromise. God says, “I will sweep away everything” (1:2–3), and the prophet concludes, “He will make a sudden end of all who live in the land [NIV earth]” (1:18). The offenses that demand this harsh judgment are listed as indictments against the people of Judah. Corrupt worship is at the top of the list, including syncretism—the worship of Yahweh alongside the worship of many other created things (1:4–6). The wealthy leaders of corrupt worship themselves will become the consecrated sacrifice on the day of Yahweh (1:7–9). Believers who trust in commerce and wealth are also indicted, as the complacency of Jerusalem’s better neighborhoods is noted and described (1:10–13). Finally, the prophet describe a “great day of darkness” and graphic death in Jerusalem.1
The Prophet Zephaniah (1:1)
ZEPHANIAH WAS THE “son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah.” He belonged to a faithful and believing family, if the naming of the children is any indication. All of his ancestors except his father had names that include the “LORD” (Cushi means “my Ethiopian”; perhaps his grandmother was from Ethiopia). Hezekiah means “the LORD is my strength.” Amariah means “the LORD speaks.” Gedaliah means “the LORD is great.”2 Zephaniah’s name means “the LORD hides,” “protects,” or even “treasures.” If his great, great grandfather Hezekiah was indeed the King Hezekiah, he may have been in danger at the time of his birth.3
Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of King Josiah (meaning “the LORD supports”). Josiah came to the throne as a boy after the fifty-five-year reign of evil Manasseh and the futile two-year reign of Amon (which ended in assassination by servants). Josiah’s good and productive thirty-one-year reign was guided by the discovery of the book of Deuteronomy in the eighteenth year of his reign during a remodeling of the temple (2 Kings 21:24–23:30; 2 Chron. 33:25–35:27). His reform of the corruption of wealth and worship in Jerusalem (also Zephaniah’s subject matter) delayed Yahweh’s judgment pronounced by Zephaniah. Hulda the prophetess confirmed Zephaniah’s word that the day of Yahweh (the Babylonian onslaught) would come indeed, but it would be delayed because of Josiah’s humility before God (2 Kings 22:20).
Zephaniah’s words are related to that reform in some way. Perhaps his preaching preceded the reform and called people to participate: “Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation” (Zeph. 2:1). His words may also have been unwelcome by some in the reform movement, for his radical message of destruction did not explicitly offer a reprieve through repentance (see, e.g., 1:2–3). Reformers usually offer the hope of a better (immediate) future as an incentive to reform, but Zephaniah offers none of this. He only offers hope for a future generation (“daughter of Zion,” 3:14; cf. also 3:10).
“I Will Sweep Away Everything” (1:2–3)
CHAPTER 1 IS a word of severe warning against God’s chosen in Judah. The first verses (1:2–4) introduce the broader theme of a radical house cleaning (“sweeping away”) of the whole known world. In Zephaniah’s day that world included the civilized and politically powerful “known” world of the ancient Near East’s “Fertile Crescent.”
When Yahweh says, “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” the word translated “earth” (Zeph. 1:2, 3) is ʾadamah, which means “tilled land, earth as owned property, earth as arable soil.” The sweeping away is a clearing of the human control of the agriculture, a reversal of Genesis 2:15. Sweeping the earth means cleansing the food-producing earth of people.4
The Fertile Crescent (of semi-arable land) stretched from Ethiopia (“Cush”) in Judah’s southwest to northeastern Assyria (northern Iraq). The extent of “everything” (cf. Zeph. 1:2, 3, 18; 3:8) is identified in the biblical text as Judah and all who live in Jerusalem (1:4), Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron (2:4), Canaan, Philistia (2:5), Moab, Ammon (2:8), Cush (2:12), and Assyria (2:13). The absence of the Babylonians in this description is interesting. Although they were known to Zephaniah, they may be missing because they were not a political factor when Zephaniah wrote, but also because they were to be Yahweh’s agent in the destruction of “all the earth.” They are not included in the ones to be destroyed. The nations on this list of “everything” on the face of the land are conquered and ruled for about seventy years by the neo-Babylonians (612–539 B.C.). As Yahweh’s agent, they “swept away” everyone in Judah to captivity and destroyed any means of surviving in the land with land-destroying policies.
Zephaniah also describes what is not destroyed in the cleansing of the land. That includes the gold that endures the fire of destruction and purification, the “land by the sea,” “shepherds” and “sheep” (2:6–7); “the remnant,” “the survivors,” “their land” (2:9); “the nations on every shore” (2:11); “flocks,” “herds,” “creatures of every kind” (2:14); “peoples,” “worshipers,” “scattered people” (3:9–10); “the meek and humble,” “[those] who trust” (3:12); and “all the peoples of the earth” (3:20). It is a comprehensive list.
What should we make of this? Is the earth to be destroyed or not? Not in Zephaniah. A good summary of Zephaniah’s perspective is offered in the words of 3:8b–10. “The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger. Then will I purify the lips of the peoples.… From beyond the rivers of Cush … my scattered people will bring me offerings.” In the same paragraph Zephaniah declares the purification of the whole world through Yahweh’s consuming fire and speaks of the actual scattered people and geography of his day. We can assume that the “consuming fire,” then, is not for annihilation but purification. It is for the destruction of the societal structures of corruption, rebellion, and false worship.
“I will sweep away everything” is a shocking beginning to any book. Yahweh speaks directly, as throughout most of chapter 1 (1:2–6, 8–17). Zephaniah is opposed to arrogance and complacency and desires humility before Yahweh, but these opening verses have no hint of any nuances in the judgment to come. He makes no mention of a separation of the humble from the arrogant. Nor does he present an eventual return of a humble worshiping remnant. Even the animals, birds, and fish will be swept away.
The image “sweep away” refers to the wind that “sweeps” chaff away from grain during threshing. The verb is doubled in Hebrew for emphasis (“utterly sweep away”), indicating that the coming wind is no ordinary wind that will separate the grain and chaff. Rather, it is a storm wind that will “sweep away everything,” the chaff mixed together with the grain.
“I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble” (1:3b). This part of the verse is difficult to translate, as the NIV indicates in a footnote. It can also be translated, “I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, and that rubble—the wicked.” The uncertainty is whether the former verb (“sweep away”) or an implied verb (“will have”) should be used. In any case, the second possibility helps us to understand the meaning of the NIV translation and the point of Yahweh’s devastating action: The wicked will be disposed of and swept away.
So why does Zephaniah begin with such an absolute statement as, “I cut off man from the face of the earth” (1:3b)? This dramatic beginning has a strong rhetorical effect in Zephaniah’s preaching. The book’s prophecy is dark, and this beginning prepares the hearer for the difficult words to come and inclines them to listen for hope. It is more than rhetorical, however, for it tells the truth about the horror that will indeed descend on the whole known earth. Babylon will obliterate the land.
Against Judah (1:4–13)
THESE VERSES DECLARE the offenses of Judah and especially Jerusalem, the capital city (1:4).5 The long list addresses issues of worship and trust in wealth: Baal, idolatrous priests (1:4), worship of the starry host and Molech (1:5), turning back from Yahweh (1:6), corrupt government (1:8), violence and fraud (1:9), trust in commerce and wealth (1:10–11), and complacent wealthy believers (1:12–13).
I will stretch out my hand against all who live in Jerusalem (1:4–6). “I will stretch out my hand” is a Hebrew expression that indicates the use of power, usually to punish offenders by means of other governments (Isa. 14:26–27), but sometimes by natural events (Ex. 7:5). As the capital of Judah, Jerusalem in 640 B.C. represented the faith and trust of the whole country of Judah. Judah was already a remnant of Israel since the Assyrian wars that culminated in the loss of the ten northern tribes (722 B.C.). By this time Yahweh’s people had experienced more than seventy years of prosperity, but a quiet corruption had taken hold. In Zeph. 1:4–6 five offenses will be “cut off” by Yahweh:
1. “every remnant of Baal”
2. “pagan and … idolatrous priests”
3. “those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host”
4. “those who … swear by the LORD and … by Molech”
5. “those who turn back from following the LORD and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him.”
The list of offenses moves from the obvious worship of other gods (Baal, starry host) to syncretistic worship of Yahweh (with Molech), to the very heart of the matter, a lack of trust in and ignoring Yahweh.
Baal was a Canaanite household god of prosperity and fertility. The local Baals and the nationalized Baal were gods or a spirit that controlled the fertility of people, land, and animals. Good fertility of land and animals meant prosperity and wealth. Baal was incited to give the gifts of fertility and prosperity through ritualized public sexual acts. This worship of sexuality and wealth was a threat throughout Israel’s history, beginning in Numbers 25:1–3.
The “pagan and idolatrous priests” are the Israelite kohen (Ex. 28:1), priests leading the people in worship of other things even as they worship Yahweh. These priests are syncretistic and corrupt (Zeph. 3:4), leading the people astray and confusing their pure worship of Yahweh.
“Those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host” followed the old mistake of worshiping a beautiful creation rather than the Creator. Worship of the stars occurred in Canaan, Babylon, Assyria, and Egypt. It was a prevalent and growing problem in Judah as well (Deut. 4:19; 2 Kings 21:3, 5; Jer. 8:2; 19:13; 44:17–25). Zephaniah includes them all with a generic description of their worship. No idols are used, but incense is burned and libations are poured out on the flat rooftops with the stars and moon in view. The biblical counter to these “starry hosts” is the claim that Yahweh is “the LORD of hosts” (Zeph. 2:9, 10, NRSV).
The fourth offense that will be cut off by Yahweh is “those who … swear by the LORD and … by Molech.” Several variations of “Molech” are found in Scripture, including Milcom/Milcam/Malcam (“their king” or “their Molech”).6 The most heinous practice of the Molech cult was child sacrifice (prohibited in Lev. 18:21; 20:2–4; 1 Kings 11:7). Late in the monarchy, even in Israel people sacrificed a child as a means of securing their prosperity (1 Kings 11:5, 33; 2 Chron. 28:3; Jer. 49:1, 3). Jeremiah especially conveys Yahweh’s condemnation of this practice, common in the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem (Jer. 32:35). King Josiah in Zephaniah’s day tried to put a stop to it physically (2 Kings 23:10, 13).
The final condemned offense is committed by “those who turn back from following the LORD and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him.” This is “practical atheism” by those who know Yahweh.7 To follow Yahweh is to trust in him enough to seek his presence (Hos. 5:15; 10:12) and inquire of him concerning important life decisions (Amos 5:4, 14; “seek” and “inquire” are synonyms in Hebrew). In Zephaniah 1:6 Yahweh’s desire to be in relationship to the created is heard, almost plaintively.
The list of offenses moved increasingly toward the average believer, from the chaff to the grain. It begins in the extreme with Baal worship and idolatrous priests (Zeph. 1:4) but ends with the same fate for those who simply do not bother to inquire of Yahweh concerning their decisions. Yahweh will cut off all of them in Jerusalem (1:4) but calls for the humble to seek him (2:3).
The day of Yahweh’s sacrifice (1:7–9). Verses 7–9 present an image that can cut in both directions. In verse 7 Zephaniah tells the people of Jerusalem to be silent (lit., “hush”; cf. Hab. 2:20) before Yahweh, “for the day of the LORD is near.” This is the first mention of “the day of the LORD” and its nearness.8 The people are not asked to prepare a sacrifice or to consecrate themselves because Yahweh himself has done these things. They are simply invited to participate. Yahweh speaks again in verses 8–9, however, revealing that the “sacrifice” that Zephaniah announces will be a sacrifice of Jerusalem’s leaders.
This prophecy is made darker by the worship sacrifice context. It begins quite innocently with a call to worship before “the Sovereign LORD” (lit., “Lord Yahweh”), who has prepared the sacrifice and even consecrated those he has invited. This seems appropriate to the prophecy since the problem in 1:4–6 was one of false worship. Taken by itself, this verse would be innocuous, but in the context of 1:8–9, it is clear that the invited are consecrated as the sacrifice itself and not simply as the guests. The consecration of guests, also to be the sacrifice, occurs with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:19–40; 2 Kings 10:20–27). The “guests” here, however, are the people of Jerusalem (Zeph. 1:4–6).
Especially mentioned among the guests-sacrifice are the wealthy duplicitous leaders of Jerusalem (Zeph. 1:8). Yahweh declares his punishment of the “princes” (probably officials and administrators of Assyria ruling in Jerusalem), “the king’s sons,” and “all those clad in foreign clothes.” The mention of foreign clothes likely refers to those who have adopted the culture of Assyria, with whom Judah has been allied. Clothing was a symbol that people were adopting the cultural and religious values of Assyria at the expense of the worldview and faith revealed to them by the true God. The second group especially mentioned for punishment is “all who avoid stepping on the threshold, who fill the temple of their gods with violence and deceit” (1:9). Avoiding stepping on the threshold was a ritual custom of avoiding the power of a god that resides in the doorway (1 Sam. 5:4–5).
The intensity of Yahweh’s desire for relationship with a faithfully worshiping people is demonstrated in his willingness to sacrifice even the beloved city of Jerusalem. In doing so, he shows that his kingdom is not a political kingdom but a kingdom of steadfast love and faithfulness between him and his created and delivered people.9
Those who trust in wealth (1:10–13). These verses continue the theme announced in 1:4: “I will stretch out my hand against Judah.” Verses 4–6 began with the issue of trust in and worship of things other than the Creator. Now Yahweh turns to secular kinds of trust and worship, especially images of material wealth: the Fish Gate, the New Quarter, “hills” (1:10), market district, merchants, silver trade (1:11), wine resting on its sediment (1:12), wealth, houses, and vineyards (1:13).
Verse 10 describes the sounds of the day of punishment. A “cry” for help “will go up” from the Fish Gate—the food market of Jerusalem. From the New Quarter will come “wailing”; this quarter was the newest neighborhood. The “loud crash” (lit., “breaking”) from the hills is probably the sound of the destruction of the Baal pillars (see Deut. 12:2; 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 17:10; Jer. 2:20). These idols were typically raised on the highest hill in or near a town. When people faced life decisions or uncertainties, they would take a small offering, climb the hill, pray, and leave the offering in hopes of a good outcome to their petition. The crash of these pillars sounds the dramatic end of the Baal’s influence (baʾal means “master, owner”). These three sounds (cry, wail, crash) along with the “wail” of the market district (1:11) constitute a comprehensive representation of the whole city life: grocery source, neighborhood, hillside, and downtown businesses. The whole city, Yahweh says, will resound with their anguish.
Verse 11 takes up the theme of the security of wealth in earnest. The market district (called “the Mortar”) with all its merchants and money market traders “will be ruined” (karat).10 Yahweh calls on them to “wail” (yalal) in anticipation of the day of the Lord. The word yalal is usually used for (and sounds like) animals “howling.” This kind of “wail” implies that these traders share some characteristics with animals. Merchants (same root as “Canaan”) and money traders in general are not judged negatively, but those in Jerusalem at that time are condemned.
Yahweh says, “I will punish” three times in Zephaniah 1 (1:8, 9, 12). Each time he moves closer to the average citizen. The first group mentioned for punishment includes the rulers who capitulated to Assyria (1:8). The second group includes those who entered into the violent and deceptive worship of false gods (1:9). The third group includes complacent believers, “who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad’” (1:12b). The list moves from the most heinous offenders to believing Israelites who are simply “complacent.”11 Searching “with lamps” (1:12) means that no one will be able to hide in the darkness, including those who are complacent and even those who are religious (Amos 9:2).
“Who are like wine left on its dregs” (Zeph. 1:12) is a metaphor for complacency. The metaphor is of aging wine that must rest undisturbed in order to grow richer. The “dregs” or “lees” are the natural sediment that settles to the bottom during this process and must not be shaken up if the wine is to age well. The metaphor is neither positive nor negative until it is applied to the inactivity of a believer’s faith. Inactivity is good for aging wine. For Yahweh’s chosen, who in their fiscal security think that he will not act, inactivity is complacency.12 It is particularly jolting to hear the Lord repeat the thoughts of the people. He knows that they have been thinking “the LORD will do nothing” (cf. Mal. 2:17).13
These complacent people have replaced their belief in an active Lord with a preference for the stability and security of their wealth. They have stopped believing Yahweh will act at all. Their wealth, the source of their complacency, “will be plundered, and their houses demolished” (Zeph. 1:13). Their attention and confidence have turned toward their own accomplishments—the building of houses and the planting of vineyards. These are the things that Yahweh will cut off. Verse 13 is the first indication that the coming judgment of “the day of the LORD” will take the form of military violence against Jerusalem (“plundered,” “demolished”). This military action is confirmed in the verses that conclude the first chapter (1:14–18).
A Great Day of Darkness (1:14–18)
THE DESCRIPTION OF “the day of the LORD” as “great” (1:14) introduces the actual day that Judah is attacked by Babylon. The day is “great” in its intensity and extent. The sights and sounds described intensify the image of “the day” of the enemy warrior presence in Jerusalem: “near and coming quickly … cry … bitter … shouting … warrior” (1:14); “day of wrath … distress … anguish … trouble … ruin … darkness … gloom … clouds … blackness” (1:15); “trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities … corner towers” (1:16); “distress … walk like blind men … blood … poured out like dust and entrails like filth” (1:17); “wrath … fire … consumed … sudden end of all who live” (1:18).
This description leaves no doubt about the horror that will come to Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Verse 17 brings the day’s description close to home. The physical suffering and death of the people during the Babylonian attack is described (compare with the description in Lamentations). On this day of clouds and blackness, the people “will walk like blind men” (1:15, 17). The civilian population will be dazed and shocked in their defeat, for they will lose their orientation to Yahweh (see Bridging Contexts section). The central phrase of the verse “because they have sinned against the LORD” leaves no doubt that the sins described in 1:4–13 are the cause of this devastation. The word for “sin” in 1:17 (ḥaṭaʾ ) means “to miss [God’s] mark.”
Anyone who truly believes this word from Yahweh will be very motivated to participate in Josiah’s reform, in hope of avoiding its fury. This “great day of the LORD” is said to be “near and coming quickly.”14 The first wave of judgment came on Jerusalem in 597 B.C. If this prophecy was given in 630 B.C., Zephaniah’s message was heard for about thirty years.
The themes of chapter 1 are summarized in 1:18:
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 world will be consumed,
for he will make a sudden end
of all who live in the earth.
The totality of the consuming fire (1:2–4), the theme of impotent trust in wealth (1:10–13), and the suddenness of the end (1:14–17) are each mentioned in this verse.
The offense of false worship (1:5–9) is gathered in the cryptic word “jealousy” (1:18b). In Scripture the jealousy of Yahweh is not simply an emotion but a comprehensive concept, focused on the Creator/creation and Deliverer/delivered relationships. The two main biblical settings for understanding God’s jealousy are the first part of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1–7) and the golden calf incident (read Ex. 32:7–8 with 34:5–9, 14). God’s jealousy is easily misunderstood. God is “jealous” not because he is lacking in himself (a common human form of jealousy), but in the positive sense of being zealous for his precious creation that is in danger of corruption and death. When the human creation turns away from the source of its life (Creator/Deliverer), it is on a path toward death. God’s “jealousy” is a prejudice toward life for his created and delivered people (see the introduction, “Jealousy and Wrath of Yahweh”).15
God’s jealous consuming of the “whole world” is for the expressed purpose of establishing a remnant of the faithful—in a sense to rescue or preserve the faithful from the corruption of all life. This verse has in view the historical events of 587 B.C., when the whole world was “consumed” by the Babylonians. The Babylonians did “swallow up” everything for a time (612–539 B.C.; see the introduction, “Historical Context”). God’s “jealousy” for a future remnant to live in the freedom, innocence, and justice of the world he intended required a cataclysmic act against his own people. The only hope for their rescue as a faithful people was in the suffering of exile and captivity (Isa. 37:32). It is this same “jealousy” or “zeal” (Heb. qanaʾ ) that leads to the announcement of a coming King who will be a “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,” bringing an end to warfare (Zech. 9:6–9).
“The day of the LORD” as a day of judgment is mentioned many times in Zephaniah (Zeph. 1:7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 18; 2:2, 3; 3:8). In Israel’s early history, that “day” referred to Yahweh fighting with elements of creation against Israel’s enemies (Ex. 14:20; Judg. 5:4–5; 1 Sam. 7:10). The historical referent in Zephaniah, however, is the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. For this reason Amos also said, “Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD” (Amos 5:18). The later prophets announced that Yahweh would use creation’s forces and enemy forces against his own unfaithful people.
Zephaniah shares this tradition with Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others. A biblical survey of the expression “day of the LORD” reveals consistent characteristics: The day is near, it is God’s anger against the wicked, it is dark and gloomy, it is God’s battle, but he uses real armies. It is a day of impotence and dismay for a rebellious nation. The day of the Lord is the day of God’s search and destruction of enemies. In that day, wealth is useless to save and human pride is destroyed. Zephaniah stands squarely in this broader biblical tradition.16
At Zeph. 3:9, however, Yahweh declares an important short expression with the word “then.” After the word “then,” the expression “the day” refers to “a new day.” After that reference, the expression “that day/time” always refers to the return of the remnant to the city of Jerusalem (3:11, 16, 19, 20). It denotes significant hope for the humble remnant (described in 2:3, 7, 9; 3:12–13).
Bridging Contexts
ZEPHANIAH SPOKE DURING the reign of Judah’s King Josiah, who tried to reform the extensive corruption in Jerusalem. His prophecy offered no hope that general reform would be successful, but it probably aided Josiah’s national effort by drawing attention to the deep-seated problems. The king’s reforms, which were too little, too late, gave way to destruction within twelve years of his death (609/597 B.C.).
The seeds of Judah’s self-serving religiosity and self-indulgence had already taken root. The people believed that catastrophe would not come near their door. Professing faith in God, they trusted in the things they made to secure their lives. Many also believed they were immune to destruction because of Yahweh’s previous blessings and his dwelling in the temple. Zephaniah forms a warning, not just for Judah at the beginning of the sixth century but for any country at any time. He warns that cataclysmic destruction may come to any country that lives without reference to the God who has given it prosperity and success.
Future and eschatological (end-time) interpretations. Zephaniah has rightly been interpreted in historical “layers.” The warning of the destruction it delivers is against Jerusalem at the end of the seventh century, but its significance did not end with the destruction of Jerusalem. Although this is its primary meaning, Zephaniah is open to a much wider application. Using Jerusalem as a paradigm, God will, by the end of time, expose all false gods and false hopes.17 What was historically true for Judah is also universally true for every country and culture. They will be tested by fire and exposed.
Zephaniah suggests this broader application in several ways, beginning with universal language (“I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” Zeph. 1:2). Even though the book shows this to be hyperbole (since many in Judah do survive), the prophet begins with this comprehensive expression before moving to the specifics in Judah (1:4–18a). This progression opens the way for interpretations in later historical settings and for end-time interpretations. It has a worldwide range.18
Zephaniah also opens the way to wider interpretation by not mentioning which army God will use. Although we know from 2 Kings that it is the Babylonians, Zephaniah remarkably never mentions them by name. This leaves open the possibility of future applications. Chapter 1 ends with expansive language that continues to address the imagination of the reader: “The whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth” (1:18b).
The fulfillment of the positive promises in Zephaniah’s prophecy would have been expected by the postexilic community (see 3:9, 13, 20). They were disappointed that they did not live to see its fulfillment. At the time of Jesus (about six hundred years later), God’s personal righteous judgment of the earth and the advent of the righteous remnant were still expected. The prophetic texts had been discussed during these centuries to attempt to understand how and when God would intervene in the world political situation. The discussion led to a reinterpretation of these expectations toward a messianic hope. Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God and extended, by his gospel, the offer of forgiveness for sin to all the cultures of the world.
Even Jesus did not, however, bring the day of wrath and final judgment to bear upon the world. He brought the good news of God’s love in the flesh and died to accomplish the victory over sin, death, and the devil for all people. Yet he spoke of that final Day of Judgment, when eternal justice will be done for all (Matt. 24). The early church expected it to arrive soon (Acts 2:20; Rom. 2:2–9; 1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2; 2 Peter 3:10; Rev. 6:17). Today Jews and Christians still look forward to the day when the Lord will fulfill his promise and establish purity of worship, heart, and speech, freedom from fear, and honor of God’s people by all nations.
The New Testament uses the images of Zephaniah in an expansive way. Paul wrote to Christians in Rome concerning the day of the Lord’s wrath using language similar to Zephaniah’s warnings:
Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?…
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.… For those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil. (Rom. 2:2–3, 5, 8–9, italics added)
These conclusions of judgment are based on the exposure of sin in the previous chapter (Rom. 1:22–2:1). Paul lists the foolishness of serving created things, including sexuality and lust, greed, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, atheism, insolence, arrogance, boasting, disobedience of parents, faithlessness, and heartlessness. He ends by adding those who also judge these sins. This list includes everyone. Who is free of every sin on this list?19 Those who do these things will suffer the same fate as the people of Jerusalem in Zephaniah’s day. They will experience the day of the Lord’s wrath. No one will escape “the Day.” The best one can hope for is shelter on that Day (Rom. 5:9).
Zephaniah does not offer a way of escape from “the day of the LORD.” He only offers the possibility of “shelter” by seeking Yahweh, gathering together in righteousness and humility (Zeph. 2:3). In the light of the resurrection and Jesus’ teaching, the “escape” takes on eternal significance. Paul describes the possibility of eternal life through God’s kindness, tolerance, and patience to those who repent and persist in doing good (Rom. 2:4–7). It is given not as a reward for faithfulness but as a gift of God’s grace through faith in Jesus’ sacrificial death (“they are justified freely by his grace” [3:20]).
It may be tempting, in light of this gift of redemption and forgiveness of sin, to dismiss the “day of wrath” as something in the future for “those outside the faith,” but neither Zephaniah nor Paul allows this move. Both are writing to the insiders, the believers of their times. Both offer detailed lists of sins common to people “of faith.” Believers are to be included among those who are at risk and threatened by the day of wrath in both Zephaniah and Romans. E. Achtemeier reminds us that “there is no guarantee that the cross will shield us from similar condemnation.”20 The warning is clear even to us, who claim the cross of Christ: If we persist in the actions and attitudes condemned by Paul and Zephaniah, we claim it falsely and share the syncretism of their days.
In the book of Hebrews, the Day of the Lord’s wrathful judgment is also a subject for believers to consider (Heb. 10:19–31). The writer uses the shorthand “Day” in its full sense of the end of life and time, when all will be judged guilty except for those who trust in the mercy of God. Like Paul, he encourages and warns believers. The fear of that Day is not removed but shielded by faithfulness (cf. Zeph. 2:1). That Day itself will certainly be full of “fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire.… For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:27, 30–31).
Hope is found in the shield we have in Christ’s friendship, priesthood, and forgiveness. “‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.’ … We have confidence … by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through … his body” (Heb. 10:17, 19–20). The author of Hebrews then describes in detail how we may live freely in that grace, even though that fearful Day of death and destruction will come (10:22–25). Drawing near to God in Christ is possible because of Jesus’ assurance given in the cleansing of our conscience and because of our participation in his death and resurrection through our baptism. “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (10:22). Clinging to our hope of shelter in that Day, we are called by the preacher to encourage each other toward love, good deeds, and meeting in worship.21
The alternative to clinging to Christ, with the confidence and shelter that come from his forgiveness, is for the believer to disregard Jesus’ blood and to insult the Spirit of grace. To neglect the One who has delivered and will deliver us is to abandon one’s shelter. It is to trample the Son and to insult the Spirit. It will result in a more severe punishment for the believer (Heb. 10:29). As in Zephaniah, God’s day of wrath will expose those who have and those who have not wholly trusted the Lord with their hearts and actions.
There is no escape or human shelter on the Day of Judgment. Total exposure and death are the unifying theme of Zephaniah 1 and of its New Testament eschatological applications. (1) Both Old and New Testaments (Zeph. 2:1–3; Rom. 1–3; Heb. 10) offer the possibility of God’s shelter, but they do not offer escape from physical death. (2) The Day exposes the fallacy of home, savings, and business (career and commerce) as shelters against it. (3) The Day exposes the fallacy that all life ends with physical death. In each case, God is the unaccounted-for factor.
The Day will certainly come and bring exposure to death. Universally, it will expose the denial of our mortality. The great modern illusion is that we will not die, or perhaps that when the time comes, we will persist vaguely as spirits beyond the grave without any help from anywhere. “Who knows?” becomes “Who cares?” The Day of the Lord in Scripture confronts this attitude as fallacious. No one will be able to hide (Zeph. 1:12). Whether it was in Zephaniah’s day, in the final judgment, or sometime between, death has and will have its day.
Many “days” of God’s wrath have come and gone in the history of the world. The faithful in Jerusalem also died or were deported in 597/586 B.C. In A.D. 70, when the city fell to Rome, faithful people of God, including Christians, died. Many others have endured days of wrath faithfully in the conflicts of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The book of Revelation acknowledges the death of the saints in the days of God’s wrath (Rev. 7:13–17). It is a necessity in every age to trust God when facing death. Every time someone dies of disease, violence, or failed flesh, it is an extension of God’s judgment in Eden, removing humanity’s access to the tree of life. Only a life lived in reconciliation with God can be sheltered in that day. Every day has a “small d” day of wrath. Zephaniah’s call is for us to act on that reality before the Day arrives.
“The day of the LORD” in Zephaniah also exposes the fallacy of a career or commerce as shelter against it. Believers through the ages have often lived a “practical atheism” that acknowledges that God is in heaven “but not here in daily life.” They think, “The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad” (1:12). The practical atheist-believer believes in the value of his bank balance, home, and employment above all.22 The Day exposes the transience and insubstantiality of money and property (see Lev. 26:14–39; Deut. 28:15–68).
The Day also exposes the fallacy that life ends at death. The judgment of death is not the end for anyone. This is suggested in Zephaniah by God’s promises to establish a pure remnant in Jerusalem, bringing them home from every land after sweeping everything away (Zeph. 3:9–20). Those who have entirely relied on Yahweh, seeking “righteousness and humility” (2:3), will also be revealed. In the New Testament it is those who have trusted the grace of Christ by drawing near through honoring his law and gospel who will be rescued at the judgment. Those who have drawn near to the God of history and those who have not both will be revealed.
The Day will also expose the guilty conscience and hidden deeds (Heb. 10:22, 26). Those who say, “The LORD will do nothing either good or bad” (Zeph. 1:12b), believing that there is no final consequence for their actions, will be exposed as “supreme” idolaters. This is the sin of the Garden of Eden.23 They have made themselves gods by making themselves the judge of right and wrong. These believers live as though God sees nothing and does nothing (Ezek. 9:9), though they may not say it. The exposing universal Day described in Zephaniah ought to fill us with the fear of Yahweh. “For a church as conformed to the world as we are, that pronouncement from Zephaniah is a fearful and terrible word from God.”24 It ought to drive us to Christ and a life within his righteous mercies, for judgment begins with the household of God (1 Peter 4:17).
Contemporary Significance
GOD’S ANGER. God sounds angry in Zephaniah 1:1–18. It is perhaps the most graphic description of his anger in the Bible. The intensity of language, its magnitude, and its detailed descriptions of Jerusalem’s demise demonstrate that God is more than angry; he is enraged. The intensity of that anger is a measure of how much he cares about the human subject. In Zephaniah we encounter God’s ultimate concern for us.
Zephaniah 1 is specific about the source of his anger. It is not the outsider or unbeliever but the hypocrisies and betrayals of his own created, chosen, and redeemed people. The greatest intensity of his anger is reserved for those for whom he cares the most and for those in whom he has invested everything.
God is so angered by the sins of his created, redeemed, and prospering people that he is going to turn the creation on its head. He will reverse it (1:2–3). He is so angered by the sins of his people that his hand, which was often extended for their salvation, will be stretched out against his people for their destruction (1:4–6). He is so angered by the betrayal of his covenant people that he will turn the blessings of sacrifice on their head. His people will become the sacrifice (1:7–8). The Lord’s fury is so great that he will reverse deliverance and redemption. The Day of Yahweh will not be a day of deliverance for his people but a Day when his people are delivered into bondage (1:9–18a). Creation, salvation, sacrifice, and deliverance all will be turned on their head.
That God has been consummately angered is also communicated by the sheer weight of the graphic language of chapter 1: “I will sweep away both men and animals … birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble … cry will go up … wailing … a loud crash from the hills … wail … wiped out … ruined … I will search … with lamps and punish … their wealth will be plundered … houses demolished … Listen! The cry … will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior … a day of wrath … distress and anguish … trouble and ruin … darkness and gloom … clouds and blackness, a day of trumpet and battle cry … I will bring distress … they will walk like blind men … their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth.”
Sources of God’s anger. What makes God this angry? The source of that anger is the same today. It is the response of One who has cared, loved, and invested deeply in people who have prospered under his care but have turned away. His people have either rebelled or ignored the One who provided everything for them. His people and religious leaders have tried to combine lukewarm faithfulness to the Lord with allegiances to a variety of other created things.
(1) The first kind of turning away that is common among the redeemed who are prospering is a preoccupation with their general fertility and capacity for production. The misuse of sex and money angers the Lord. The acquisition of fertility was the object of Baal worship in the Old Testament. Fertility is a broad concept that means “production power.”25 People turn toward whatever helps them produce power (usually money) and pleasure (usually sexuality). Preoccupation with fertility in our culture takes similar forms to those known in every age: the acquisition of wealth and sex.
When the pursuit of either of these forms the substance of the identity of a person or a culture, the Baals of old have returned. Sex and wealth have both been created, of course, by God for good purposes. That is part of the source of God’s anger. When they are misused or treated as a fountain of life by his people, God’s anger and jealously are kindled. Prosperity and sexuality, given by God, are meant to honor him, but too often they are used selfishly. This is the case in every age, including ours.
(2) The second source of God’s anger is the combination of the worship of the Lord with the secular worship of created things, such as the “starry host” in the night sky (1:5). The starry host of our time is whatever is considered “awesome.” In the present culture consider the everyday exaltation of vacation experiences, image-making cars, status clothing, or the latest technology. The worship status of these wonder-filled things can be measured by how much money is sacrificed to them. Preoccupation with any created thing may compete for the time and financial resources that the Creator has provided and expects to be used according to the system of values laid out in the commandments given at Sinai. These values are clarified in the teachings of Jesus on covetousness (cf. Mark 10:17–22).26
(3) The third source of God’s anger toward the prospering redeemed is the neglect of child-raising. Believers combine a reliance on God with a reliance on the back-up plan of “doing whatever it takes” to secure one’s wealth or career. This is the meaning of worshiping Molech alongside Yahweh (Zeph. 1:5). In order to secure one’s position of safety or financial security, the ultimate (and appalling) sacrifice of a child’s life was offered in ancient times. In our contemporary world, through major and minor neglects, children are still being sacrificed for the sake of parents’ careers and security by God’s people. In some cases, the unborn are destroyed. Whenever believers engage in unethical business practices or life-denying personal habits, they rouse the wrath of God described in Zephaniah 1:9.
(4) The fourth source of God’s anger toward the prospering redeemed is that they do not speak to him concerning their daily lives (1:6). In Zephaniah, God targets complacent wealthy believers (1:12–13). These are sometimes called “practical atheists.” They believe in God only abstractly but live without reference to his acts. God has sought and bought the redeemed, not with silver or gold but with his personal intervention. When God’s people live as though they have not been sought and delivered by the Creator of the universe, and when they turn away to consult with themselves as if they were their own protectors, God becomes angry. He knows they have turned toward their own destruction and his good creation is lost. They have turned to their own counsel just as Eve and Adam did in the Garden. They have returned to the original sin of reaching and taking and eating, without reference to the words of God.
God’s desire for us is not that we rest and get richer in peace (1:12–13). Of course, God is not against building homes or planting vines. He is not against wealth per se or against secure houses. He is against the complacent attitudes of those who are so fortunate, especially those whom he has blessed. Because of their complacency, the Israelites’ wealth was not for retirement; it was “for plunder.” Their homes were not for a legacy; they were for “devastation.” They built but did not dwell; they planted vines but did not drink the wine.
God has clearly told his people that he wants his law honored with the blessings of wealth. He gives security and prosperity through the intelligence, opportunities, and energies he has given us, and he cares deeply how and with what motivations they are used. But achieving financial or career success all too often turns a believer away from God rather than in thanks to him. This phenomenon is warned against in Deuteronomy 8:10–14, 17–19:
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God.… You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.
At first, our turning away from God in our successes begins in slight ways: forgetting to thank God or not acknowledging, even to ourselves and those closest to us, that our opportunities, talents, and daily strength come from God. The greater our security appears to be, the more our perspective becomes warped in relation to God. The greatest practical atheists are those who act as though they are “self-made” people. We may claim to believe in God, but the word “God” is often a cipher for “my luck,” “my ingenuity,” “my hard work,” “my security,” or “my successes.” These “false gods” that we call “God” become obvious in mentoring. When we guide others toward their success by advising them how to be made in our own image, our true beliefs are exposed.
Repentance. This warped view of reality and the sources of our successes may be reformed through repentance and by returning to the biblical view of wealth presented in Deuteronomy 8. (1) Wealth is dangerous, even when it is a gift from God. God knows and wants us to know how vulnerable we are to following its power instead of his. Discipline is required to keep generations from believing in its lie of security. (2) The power and strength required to attain wealth (intelligence, opportunity, and daily energy) are directly from God. We are cautioned to remember this, as should be done in daily prayer. (3) God expects that wealth will be used according to his commands. Many of the commands of Sinai concern wealth, and many of Jesus’ teachings address its use. Jesus vociferously reminds the religious people of his day not to neglect the tithe and to practice justice, mercy, and faithfulness (Matt. 23:23; Luke 11:42).
In Scripture, the phrase “justice and mercy” is an expression that means helping the poor and unfortunate. Some are poor through birth, lack of opportunity, guidance, lack of intelligence, or unpredictable circumstance. As Jesus reminds us, the poor are always with us. God expects, as a matter of our allegiance to him, that we will side with them. God gives some of us more than we need so that we can participate in giving to those who have less than they need. In this unnatural and uncommon discipline, we participate in God’s work.
This may also serve to keep us from becoming practical atheists. God must find it frustrating to deal constantly with people who trust in him and acknowledge him and live by his word only until he blesses them with financial success or fame. His greatest successes become his worst failures because of their success! The fact is, as Zephaniah shows, nothing makes him angrier.