Zephaniah Summary

         To sum up Zephaniah, I think I would say that this is a book about where our security comes from.  Do we look to false gods?  Do we look to money? Do we look to ourselves and no one else?  There are two types of people mentioned in Zephaniah: the arrogant and the humble.  Here are some characteristics of each.  The arrogant are idolatrous, violent, fraudulent, weighing out silver, complacent, shameless, prideful, taunting, boasting, having false security, rebellious, defiled, listening to no voice, accepting no correction, not trusting the Lord, not drawing near to God, roaring lions, evening wolves, fickle, treacherous, profaning what is holy, doing violence to the law, proudly exultant, haughty.  Meanwhile, the other group is described as humble, doing His just commands, calling upon the name of the Lord, worshipping, serving God, humble, lowly, doing no injustice, speaking no lies, and not afraid.  The fate of these two groups is also vastly different.  Some examples of what will happen to the first group are they will be swept away, cut off from the face of the earth, come to a full and sudden end, etc.  For those people the day of the Lord is a day of wrath, distress, anguish, ruin, devastation, darkness, gloom, clouds, and distress.  The other group has a much better fate.  On the day of the Lord, they will be hidden.  They will be given the seacoast, their fortunes will be restored because the Lord their God will be mindful of them.  They will plunder Moab and possess them.  their speech will be changed to a pure speech, they will not be put to shame, their judgments will be taken away, God will be in their midst, He will rejoice over them with gladness, He will quiet them with His love, He will gather them to Himself, He will save the lame, He will gather the outcast, their shame will be turned to praise and renown.  This all ultimately comes because the love and mercy of God allows a remnant to survive his just judgements.  What is our responsibility in all of this?  This all seems out of our control doesn't it?  Zephaniah 2:3 is what our responsibility is.  "Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord."  As we read Zephaniah let us humble ourselves call on the name of the Lord, the just judge, for mercy and safety.  Let us rely on Him for our salvation.  Let us worship and serve Him and offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him.  Let us hold to the hope of His promise to save us and rejoice over us with gladness and quiet us with his love.  

Zephaniah 3

        Zephaniah 3 picks up right where Zephaniah 2 left off, but instead of naming another nation, the prophecy turns back to Judah.  Jerusalem is described as rebellious, defiled, oppressing, listening to no voice, accepting no correction, not trusting in the Lord, and not drawing near to her God.  Her officials and judges are predators not protectors.  Her prophets are fickle, her priests profane and violent.  The Lord within her, however, is righteous and just but the unjust know no shame.  We see in this description of Jerusalem that the city was not how it should be.  They were stubborn and rebellious, and didn't listen to correction.  Apparently judges who should protect were devouring and attacking.  The prophets who were supposed to be firm were being fickle.  The priests who were supposed to be holy protectors of the law were profaning the holy and doing violence to the law.  In the midst of all of this role reversal though, we see that God was still in the city and He was still righteous and just.  God describes how He has judged the nations in the hope that it would cause Judah to fear Him and accept correction.  Instead they were even more eager to make all their deeds corrupt.  Because of this, the Lord promises to judge the nations and pour out His jealous anger on the whole earth.  

      

        At this point though, we now see the mercy of God interacting with His justice.  I feel like there is a tension between the justice of a Holy God and the mercy of God.  I believe this tension is resolved in the remnant of people He will keep.  We already saw that there would be a remnant left of Judah, but we now see that this remnant is bigger than just Judah, this remnant will be global.  In verse 9 we see that God "will change the speech of the people to a pure speech that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve Him with one accord."  A couple of thoughts about this.  These people are in contrast with those who rely on their own strength, or their money, or other gods.  These people believe that God is active in the world.  These people call on the Lord and serve Him.  They understand where they stand compared to God and it compels them to call on His name.  They worship Him and serve Him and give an offering to Him as we see in verse 10.  These people will come not just from Judah, but from beyond the rivers of Cush.  These people are not shameless and have rebelled against the Lord, yet He promises that on that day they will be not be put to shame because of the deeds by which they have rebelled against God.  We see His justice here in that He will remove the proudly exultant and the haughty.  He is purifying His people.  The humble and lowly He will leave and they will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.  They will be just and honest and will have peace.  

      

        Zephaniah then finishes with a song of praise and joy because of the restoration of Israel.  The Lord will have taken away judgements against them and removed their enemies.  He will be in their presence and they will not need to fear.  Why won't they fear?  Verses 16 and 17 give the answer. "On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."  This is amazing!  The same God who the people rebelled against will not only come and be in their midst, but He will save them.  He will delight in them.  He will love them.  How does a just God show mercy and keep a remnant?  It is because of His intense love and desire for our affections.  It is important to remember that not only is God our saviour, not only is He our judge, but He delights in us and loves us and is mighty to save and restore us.  In verse 19 we see that God will save the lame and gather the outcast and change their shame to praise.  They are in a position of exclusion and it has caused an inward focus on their shame.  God will restore and gather them to Himself and give them the community and inclusion they had been denied.  This will change their inward focused shame to outward focused praise.  God will gather His remnant to Himself and make them into a people who will be renowned and praised.  He will restore their fortunes.  

       Zephaniah begins very negatively.  The people are trusting in themselves and in other gods and ignoring the one true God.  God's will eventually judge them which means they will be destroyed.  However, God will keep a remnant of people who He will restore to Himself.  These people will not rely on their own strength, but rather on the name of the Lord.  They will call on His name and He will restore their fortunes.  We see a people at the end of this book completely opposite to the people in the beginning of the book.  Zephaniah ends up being a promise of restoration and mercy and love.  It is a beautiful promise from God that if we humble ourselves and turn to Him and seek Him and rely on Him, He will save us and delight in us and gather us to Himself. 

Zephaniah 2

      Zephaniah 2 changes the focus from Judah to other nations.  Before doing this, He urges Judah, who he calls a shameless nation, to gather together before the anger of the Lord comes upon them.  He urges the humble of the land to seek the Lord, seek righteousness, seek humility.  This may allow them to be hidden on the day of the Lord.  This shows that there are those in Judah who follow His commands and who are humble.  This is also the main point of this entire book.  This prophecy is designed to show Judah their sin and to cause them to humble themselves and turn back to God, seeking Him and His righteousness.  I believe that this is also the message we should get from Zephaniah.  God is the only God we should seek and follow.  The only God we should trust.  If we have lost sight of that, we need to turn back to Him.  This is similar to 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says, "if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  It should also be noted that this judgement will still happen.  They cannot stop God from judging Judah, but they can separate themselves from others in Judah who have turned away from God.  This is also the only command in this book.  Zephaniah mostly consists of warnings and promises.  

      

      The book then begins describing what will happen to other nations on the day of the Lord.  The section begins with the word "for".  This shows that the coming warnings back up the call to repentance.  This is why they should repent.  These are mostly neighbors and enemies of Judah.  In many ways, this section is good news for Judah and they would have been happy to hear it.  Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron were four city states of the philistines, also known as the Cherethites.  God says he will destroy the philistines and give their land to the remnant of Judah.  The idea of a remnant is interesting.  It implies two things.  It implies that all that will be left of Judah is a small remnant, but it also implies that God will be merciful enough to leave a remnant to be His people.  His justice and mercy are both required when He promises to give the land to the remnant of Judah.  Verse 7 says the "The Lord their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes."

      God then turns his attention to Judah's east to Moab and Ammon.  He will make the Moabites and ammonites like Sodom and Gomorrah.  This is because of their taunting of God's people and their boasting.  Once again, God's remnant will plunder them and possess their land.  This is because of their pride; because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.  I like verse 11. "The Lord will be awesome against them; for He will famish all the gods of the earth, and to Him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations."  As it was with Judah, ultimately the nations will be judged for serving other God's than the true God.  On the day of the Lord, He will put their gods in their place.  They will all bow down to Him.  

 

       The focus then turns to Cush and Assyria.  Cush was Northeastern Africa.  It could include Ethiopia and Egypt. Assyria was north of Judah.  It was Assyria that conquered Israel in 2 Kings 17.  God promises to destroy Assyria and their capital of Nineveh.  Only animals will inhabit Nineveh.  Nineveh's sin is laid out in verse 15.  They lived securely and said in their heart "I am and there is no one else".  This phrasing is essentially claiming divinity.  Nineveh denies the existence of a God and have made themselves their god.  Their security was in their own strength.  For this reason, God will destroy them as well.  

      Ultimately, I think chapter 2 is very interesting because it lays out the reasons why the nations will be destroyed and it is very similar to the reasons Judah will be judged.  Israel and Judah may be the people of God, but God is the God of all nations.  Anyone who turns from Him and follows other gods or money or their own strength will be judged by Him for that.  There is no use trying to run away.  This judgement is global.  the Philistines to the west, the Assyrians to the north, the Moabites and Ammonites to the east and the Cushites to the south are all being judged for the same thing.  God is promising there will remain a remnant.  This chapter also shows why it is crucial to humble ourselves.  We see what God's justice demands happen to the arrogant.  This entire chapter, and honestly book, are summed up by Zephaniah 2:3.  "Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do His just commands, seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord."

Zephaniah 1

       I am studying some of the minor prophets right now.  Why?  Because I believe that the minor prophets can teach us a lot about the character of God.  What is important to Him, what do we do that needs to change, what should we do.  What is a proper attitude of worship?  The way I have approached Zephaniah is I have read it several times, I have researched it, I have thought about it, I have listened to John Piper's sermon from 1982 on it.  I am sitting down with it and going through it verse by verse summarizing it.  When I come to a point that I have a thought on what is going on, I will give it.  These are all my thoughts, but they have been influenced by Piper's sermon. If you want to listen to it yourself, the audio and the transcript are both at http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/the-lord-will-rejoice-over-you

       This prophecy occurred in the days of Josiah.  This was a time when Judah was turning back to the Lord. The prophecy begins with God promising to sweep away man and animal from the face of the earth.  He then specifies that He will also judge Judah and Jerusalem.  He specifies that he will cut away the remnant of Baal along with idolatrous priests and those who bow down on roofs to the host of the heavens.  He also calls out those who bow down and swear by the Lord and also swear by Milcom.  Zephaniah 1:6 summarizes the sins of Judah which the Lord is judging.  He says He will cut off from this place...those who have turned back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of Him.  This is the primary issue for Judah.  They do not seek the Lord.  They don't inquire of Him, they don't follow Him.  They basically pay Him lip service while also following and worshipping other gods.  They have relegated the one true God to a status equal to the lesser gods of the nations around them.  This is something that I feel like I am susceptible to myself.  I very often pay God lip service but I don't honestly seek Him.  My first thought is not to inquire of Him.  I ultimately am not following Him.  While I don't have an issue with worshipping Baal or Milcom, or the stars and moon, I do tend to worship myself.  I follow my will, I inquire of myself when I need to make a decision.  I want God's will to submit to mine instead of vice versa.  It is important to remember how serious it is to God when we choose to follow anything other than Him.  

        The chapter continues about the day of the Lord.  This is very similar to Joel 2:1-2 which says "Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!" (Unlike the prophecy in Joel, God does reveal how the people have sinned in Zephaniah.)  God is going to prepare a sacrifice and consecrate His guests.  I first thought of the sacrifice as referring to Christ, but my notes say it is referring to sinners.  That is consistent with what He says next.  He begins listing who He will punish.  I won't go into a ton of detail, but I will list who He lists.  He will punish the officials and the king's sons, all who array themselves in foreign attire, everyone who leaps over the threshold (Leaping over the threshold was to show respect for a god. 1 Samuel 5:4-5 says, "But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day."), those who fill their master's house with violence and fraud (I think this refers to the temple.  2 Kings 21:3-9 describes how Manasseh built altars and idols in the temple itself).  He lists different parts of Jerusalem which will wail on that day.  He specifically lists traders and those who weigh out silver as being cut off.  Verse 12 seems to once again give a more general reason why God is judging Jerusalem.  The people were complacent.  They say in their hearts that God will not do good nor will He do ill.  They basically don't acknowledge that God is active in their lives at that point in time.  This justifies their following other gods.  God says that they will build houses and plant vineyards but they won't inhabit them or drink wine from them.  The day of the Lord is described in terrible terms.  It is a day of wrath, distress, anguish, ruin, devastation, darkness, gloom, clouds, thick darkness.  A day of trumpet blast and battle cry against fortified cities and lofty battlements.  He says mankind will walk like the blind because they have sinned against the Lord.  Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them.  (That seems to show something else the inhabitants of Jerusalem had been following instead of God) God will consume the earth in the fire of His jealousy.  

         This chapter is very much a warning to Judah which should teach them a lot about who God is and what He is passionate about.  He is a jealous God who wants us to follow Him.  He wants us to trust Him and seek Him.  He wants us to understand that He is active in our world.  He will not let us get away with turning away from Him and following other gods or money.  I think it is interesting that the reliance on money and foreign gods is very much tied to their complacency regarding the true God of the universe.  This was true of God's character then and it still is. He is jealous for our affections and our worship.  That sounds bad, but God is the only one who deserves our worship and affections.