The Message of Zephaniah: Zephaniah, of noble birth (1:1), apparently helped prepare Judah for the revival that took place under good King Josiah in 621 B.C.
Judgment is the central theme of Zephaniah’s message. The immediate fulfillment occurred when Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar, captured Judah.
Key Passage
Seek the Lord, All you humble of the earth
Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility.
Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger.
Zephaniah 2:3 (NASB)
Available Lessons
- Lesson-01: Judgment on the Household of God
- Lesson-02: Judgment on the Nations
- Lesson-03: The Future Glory of Israel’s Remnant
Content Outline
Setting and Timeline
“Zephaniah’s message on the Day of the Lord warned Judah that the final days were near, through divine judgment at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, c. 605-586 B.C. (1:4-13).
Yet, it also looks beyond to the far fulfillment in the judgments of Daniel’s seventieth week (1:18-3:8).
The expression ‘Day of the Lord’ is described as a day of wrath, trouble, distress, devastation, desolation, darkness, gloominess, clouds, thick darkness, trumpet, and alarm (1:15,16, 18).
Yet, even within these oracles of divine wrath, the prophet exhorted the people to seek the Lord, offering a shelter in the midst of judgment (2:3), and proclaiming the promise of eventual salvation for His believing remnant (2:7; 3:9-20).”
Dr. John MacArthur
“Zephaniah’s major theme is the day of the Lord, that period of time when God will judge the nations and usher in His righteous kingdom.
This theme is found in almost all the prophets, but it is particularly evident in Joel and Zephaniah.
King Manasseh (697-642 BC) had led the people of Judah deeper into idolatry and the adoption of foreign ideas and customs, and Josiah had sought to reverse this trend.
Alas, King Josiah died on the battlefield before his work was finished, and his successors on the throne allowed the people to return to their sinful ways.”
Dr. Warren Wiersbe
“It is true that Zephaniah depends on some of the earlier writings and specifically alludes to a number of them.
But this is not evidence of Zephaniah’s weakness as a poet or prophet.
Rather, it is a deliberate device of one whose work stands as a summation and recapitulation of the pre-exile prophecy.
The day of the Lord is coming, and the message ‘Seek the Lord, … seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger’ is one we also need to take to heart.”
Dr. James Montgomery Boice
“In Zephaniah’s day, complacency had settled over Jerusalem like an invisible fog.
People in the once devout City of David had convinced themselves that the Lord would not intervene, regardless of how they acted. Yet only a generation later, disaster overtook them.
Zephaniah is called the Prophet of the Day of the Lord. He announced the coming of the day of the Lord against Judah, predicted judgments on five other nations, then consoled God’s people with a promise of a future restoration in Jerusalem.”
Dr. David Jeremiah
“The book of Zephaniah contains some of the most intense images of God’s justice and love found in the prophetic books. Zephaniah warns Israel and the surrounding nations that the day of the Lord is near.
God will judge the nations with a burning fire as He purifies them from sin, evil and violence.
God performs this act of justice because He’s passionate about protecting and rescuing His world from evil.
He loves us so much that He must purify us.
Only then can He bring restoration where He removes evil forever and creates a New Jerusalem for His faithful remnant from all nations to gather and flourish in peace and praise Him.
Together, God’s justice and love give the world future hope.”
The Bible Project
About the Author
References
- The Minor Prophets Volume 2 (Micah – Malachi): An Expositional Commentary by James Montgomery Boice
- Be Concerned: an OT Commentary on the Minor Prophets by Warren W. Wiersbe
- The MacArthur Bible Commentary: by John MacArthur
- The Bible Project: Zephaniah