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| Photo by Jim Tracy |
Zephaniah was a descendant of King Hezekiah and probably prophesied at the beginning of Josiah’s reign, the early 500’s BC. He decried the great sins of his people and told of the coming judgment and needed reforms. Josiah did institute these reforms.
1 The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
God will punish everything. Nothing will escape His wrath.
4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
Judah had slid into idolatry. Even their priests were idolatrous (“chemarims” appears to mean “evil priests”) This angers God and He will punish them.
5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;
6 And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired for Him.
It is just as much a sin to ignore God as it is to worship other gods. Ignoring God is saying you don’t need Him and you can take care of yourself. It is self-worship.
7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, He hath bid His guests.
“The Day of the Lord” means “The Day God has Appointed.” This can be a good thing (like the coming of Christ) or it can be a very terrifying thing (like the destruction of Israel and Judah).
The guests He has bid in this verse would be the Assyrians, who were fixing to enter the region in a war campaign, followed by Babylon.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
Idol worship required special clothing.
God accomplished this verse when Babylon invaded Judah and carried all the royal children (including Daniel) away into captivity.
9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their master’s houses with violence and deceit.
The priests of Dagan wouldn’t step on the threshold, but would leap over it because of the idol falling on the threshold in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 5:5).
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.
The Fish Gate was on the north side of the city, the direction the Babylonians approached from.
11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
Maktesh was part of Jerusalem (evidently either the place where grain was ground or a corner near the fish Gate. We don’t have the translation quite figured out yet).
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, “The LORD will not do good, neither will He do evil.”
Again, these people were simply ignoring God. They were saying that He didn’t interfere with human affairs. This is a popular belief today, too.
13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
This indifference to God is why He will wipe them out. It is really idolatry; worship of one’s self as the supreme being of the universe.
14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
The disaster of Babylon’s conquest will be so horrific as to cause the strongest of grown men to cry.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
The day of conquest will have nothing good to say about it.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
The Babylonians totally destroyed the land, including the Temple. They only left the very poorest there to keep farming it. The rich couldn’t buy their freedom. In fact, their riches caused them to be the main targets.