Through the Bible - Zephaniah

The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah... in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD. (Zephaniah 1:1–3)

God's final warning to Judah before exile, and a window into the great and terrible day of the Lord still to come.

Where Zephaniah Stands in the Prophets

The book of Zephaniah is only three chapters long, and we are now near the end of the Old Testament, with only Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi remaining. When you read through the minor prophets, they divide into two groups: the pre-exilic prophets and the post-exilic prophets. The children of Israel were carried away captive to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, as we read in Daniel and Ezekiel. Zephaniah is the last of the pre-exilic prophets; next week we move into the prophets who spoke after Israel returned from their seventy years in Babylon.

Zephaniah speaks specifically to the nation of Judah. Remember that Israel had divided into two nations: the northern ten tribes, called Ephraim, with their capital at Samaria; and the southern two tribes, Judah, with their capital at Jerusalem. By Zephaniah's day the northern tribes had already been taken captive by the Assyrians. The Assyrians even tried to destroy Judah, but God defended His people—an angel destroyed 185,000 of Sennacherib's army outside Jerusalem in a single night.

God's Judgment Has a Purifying Purpose

God still had an issue with the southern tribes, because they had rebelled against Him. He continually called out to them through the prophets, whose underlying theme was always the same: repent. God used various judgments to speak to His people, like a loving father disciplining his children. He allowed nations to come against them, but the whole purpose was to bring them back and to preserve a remnant.

As we see the judgments of God in the Old Testament, we must always remember that God's judgment has a purifying purpose. He allows trials, tribulations, and hardship to discipline His people, ultimately to bring forth a remnant. It is the same when you discipline your own children—you do it to bring about the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Sometimes we discipline out of anger, but never our God. He does not discipline His people out of anger. He is not like us in that. As you read Zephaniah's three chapters, you see this message of judgment and wrath—and it is almost a last-ditch effort, God speaking one more time before the destruction comes.

A Prophet of the Royal Line

The historical setting is found in 2 Kings 22. The first verse traces Zephaniah back through his father Cushi to Hezekiah. Who was Hezekiah? He was a good king of Judah. So the first thing we learn about Zephaniah is that he was of the royal family—Hezekiah was his great-great-grandfather.

Hezekiah saw God defend Jerusalem and watched Him kill 185,000 Assyrians outside the gates. He began his reign well and followed the Lord, but his life didn't end the right way. It's always nice to start good, but it's important to finish well. It's like running a mile in school—some people start at a dead sprint but don't finish well. Hezekiah started at a dead run, but he didn't finish well.

In Isaiah 39 we read about Hezekiah after God healed him from a sickness. God had told him he would die, but Hezekiah cried out and God granted him fifteen more years. Yet it was not God's perfect will—it was His permissive will. From that extra time came his son Manasseh, who came to power at twelve years old and turned out to be the most wicked king Judah ever had. Manasseh undid everything his father had done, tearing down the restoration his father built. Because of Manasseh's wickedness, Judah would be judged by the Babylonians.

Speaking in the Days of Josiah

Down the line came Manasseh's son Amon, and Amon's son Josiah, who became king at eight years old. We might think an eight-year-old leading a nation could be almost as bad as a twenty-eight-year-old leading a church—but you never know. At first the princes led for him, but according to 2 Kings 22, ten years later, when he was eighteen, Josiah brought about a great restoration and return to the Lord. He was the last good king before the exile.

Zephaniah lived during Josiah's days—very likely in the early years, when Josiah was between eight and eighteen, because that restoration had not yet happened. The nation was still walking in ungodliness, still impenitent. So Zephaniah comes to speak one last time on behalf of God before the exile, calling them to repentance, and he speaks much about the judgment of the Lord and what we call the great and terrible day of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord

Tomorrow is Sunday—the Lord's Day—but that is not the same as the day of the Lord. The early church met on the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, but the day of the Lord in Scripture is something different. It's like the difference between a cowboy and a boy cow. The day of the Lord is any time in history when God reaches into man's world and acts, and it is normally associated with judgment.

There were many such days in the Old Testament, but the Bible looks forward to one called the great and terrible day of the Lord, spoken of by Old and New Testament writers alike. It has not yet come, but it certainly will, just as the earlier days of the Lord came exactly as the prophets foretold. God speaks of coming judgment because He desires that His people turn to Him; He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. As Amos 3 says, "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." God always sent prophets first to call His people to repentance—but they would not turn. And because He is just as well as loving, He will not clear over guilt.

Judgment General and Specific

We saw this last week in Habakkuk, where God promised Judah would be judged by the Babylonians, and Habakkuk objected, "Why use a more wicked nation than us?" God's ways are much different than ours. Here in Zephaniah 1:2–3, God speaks a general prophecy to all mankind: "I will utterly consume all things from off the land." This is the same word God spoke through Isaiah in Isaiah 24—there is coming a day when God will judge all mankind. In the Old Testament we usually see God judging individual nations—Philistines, Canaanites, Persians, Babylonians, Assyrians—and His own people, Israel and Judah. But there is coming a day when He will judge the entire earth.

God always moves from the general to the specific. In verse 4 He says, "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." Baal was a false god of the surrounding nations. God's very first commandment was, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," and not to make graven images. Yet as soon as Israel entered the promised land, they bowed to the gods around them. Even the priests had mixed the worship of the one true God with the worship of false gods.

Idolatry, Astrology, and Apathy

Verse 5 adds, "And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops." The people were involved in astrology, looking to the stars—and we're doing the same thing today, even though we like to think idolatry doesn't happen in America. They worshiped the host of heaven, and they swore by the Lord while also swearing by Malcham. They served God and false gods at the same time. So God says He will judge them, along with those who turned back from the Lord and those who never sought Him at all.

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. (Zephaniah 1:7)

What does it mean that the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and bidden His guests? This has two fulfillments. In the short run God speaks to Judah and Jerusalem. But in the wider scope, He speaks to the whole world. Two passages unlock this: Ezekiel 39 and Revelation 19.

The Guests at God's Sacrifice — Revelation 19

In Revelation 19 the same imagery appears as the nations gather against God at Armageddon, when His wrath is poured out. Verse 11 shows heaven opened and a white horse, and He who sat on him is called Faithful and True, who in righteousness judges and makes war. This is Jesus, coming to judge the ungodly. His eyes are a flame of fire; on His head are many crowns; He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God. Isaiah 63 uses the very same language—His robe is dipped in blood because He has trodden the winepress of the wrath of God.

The armies of heaven follow Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean—that is you and me, for 1 Peter calls us a royal priesthood, and linen is the clothing of the priests. Out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, for as Hebrews 4 says, His word is living and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. On His robe is written: KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Then verse 17: an angel standing in the sun cries to all the birds, "Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God," that they may eat the flesh of kings, captains, and mighty men. So when Zephaniah 1:7 says God has prepared a sacrifice and bidden His guests, the guests are the carrion birds called to clean up after the great battle, where Revelation 14 says the blood will run to the horses' bridles throughout the valley of Megiddo.

The Same Picture in Matthew 24

Matthew 24 speaks of the end of days and the great and terrible day of the Lord. Verse 27 says, "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." When Jesus comes, it will be no secret event—all humanity will see Him. Verse 28 adds, "For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together"—the same birds called together in Zephaniah 1:7 and Revelation 19:17.

After the tribulation, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light, the stars will fall, and the sign of the Son of Man will appear; all the tribes of the earth will mourn and see Him coming in the clouds with power and great glory. He will send His angels to gather His elect from the four winds. Correlate Matthew 24:27–35 with Revelation 14, and you see the same picture that Zephaniah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and all the prophets look forward to. The judgments on individual nations in the prophetic books are just foreshadows of Isaiah 24, when God judges all humanity at the great and terrible day of the Lord.

Judgment on Jerusalem's Materialism

Zephaniah also speaks of the near judgment on Judah for its idolatry. Verse 10 describes a noise of crying from the fish gate, a howling from the second quarter, and a great crashing—the city surrounded by enemies. "Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh," for the merchant people are cut down. Maktesh was the central, commercial part of the city, given over to materialism—those who bore silver and gold. I don't know if you can see this in our own nation.

God says He will search Jerusalem with candles and punish the men settled on their lees, who say in their hearts, "The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil." The people were complacent and apathetic, certain God would never judge them. Many today say that if God is real and loving, He will never judge mankind. But the Scriptures make clear: He will judge humanity.

The Lamb Who Returns as a Lion

I've been talking with many people about the emergent church—a movement toward liberalism and a gospel that says Jesus will not judge anyone for sin, that all roads lead to heaven. It's the same old liberalism in new packaging. They emphasize that the Jesus of the Gospels is meek, mild, and loving—and He is. But they forget that the last revelation we have of Jesus is the book of Revelation, where He comes as a Lion. He came the first time as a Lamb to die for the sin of the world; He will come again as a Lion, a Judge, and a conquering King.

The first time He came lowly and meek, riding on a donkey. The second time He comes on a white horse with a robe dipped in blood. The picture of Jesus in Revelation is a fearful one, and it should be. We must see Him in all His glory—the King of kings and Lord of lords, full of grace and truth and mercy for thousands, yet also One who does not clear over guilt. God would not give us so many calls to repentance throughout the Old and New Testaments if He were not serious about His law.

Apathy and the Coming Spoil

So God will search Jerusalem with a lamp and punish those settled on their lees, the apathetic. There's an old line: what's worse, apathy or ignorance? The answer is, "I don't know and I don't care." That was the mindset of the people in Jerusalem, and it's the mindset of many in America today. They were apathetic and complacent, saying God would do nothing to them.

Therefore, verse 13 says, their goods would become a booty and their houses a desolation. They would build houses but not inhabit them, plant vineyards but not drink the wine. Note Amos 5:11, which uses the same words, and Deuteronomy 28:30, where God promised this very curse for disobedience. It is a clear sign that these people had rebelled, and just as He promised, judgment was coming.

The Day of Wrath

In verse 14 the focus shifts back to the great day of the Lord. It is near and hastens greatly; even the mighty men shall cry bitterly. Those who think they are great will not stand. Joel describes it: you flee from a lion and a bear gets you; you escape the bear, reach your house, put your hand on the wall, and a serpent bites you. There is no escaping the day of the Lord.

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, a day of the trumpet and alarm... (Zephaniah 1:15–16)

In verse 17 God says, "I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD." He doesn't do this as a cosmic killjoy; He loves us and created us to walk with Him in spirit and truth. But when we depart from Him, distress comes. Their blood will be poured out as dust—again, the blood to the horses' bridles of Revelation 14.

The Two Sickles — Revelation 14

In Revelation 14, John sees a white cloud, and upon it One like the Son of Man with a golden crown and a sharp sickle—used for harvesting. An angel comes out of the temple in heaven, from the presence of the Father, crying, "Thrust in thy sickle, and reap... for the harvest of the earth is ripe." Jesus reaps His elect from the four corners, just as Matthew 24 said.

Then another angel with a sharp sickle comes out, and another from the altar with power over fire, crying, "Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth." The grapes are cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God, trodden outside the city, and the blood flows to the horses' bridles for 1,600 furlongs. So the Father tells Jesus to reap His elect; another angel gathers the men against the Lord into the valley of Megiddo—the winepress—and Jesus treads it. According to John 5, only Jesus has the authority to judge the earth.

He Treads the Winepress Alone

Isaiah 63 asks, "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?... Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel?" The answer: "I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me." He treads them in His anger; their blood is sprinkled on His garment. "For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come." He harvests His redeemed, then treads the winepress alone, none to help.

On the cross, the Father poured out His wrath upon Jesus; on the great and terrible day of the Lord, Jesus will pour out the wrath of God upon a Christ-rejecting world. Every prophet sees it as a day of thick darkness and gloom. Joel says, don't long for that day. Even as God's people, our posture is not "get them, God"—it is awe and reverence at the power of our mighty God.

Zephaniah 1:18 adds: "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath." You cannot buy your way out. As Peter says, we were not redeemed with corruptible silver and gold, but with the precious blood of our Lord. That is the only way to escape this great and terrible day.

A Call to Gather and Repent

Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired... Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger. (Zephaniah 2:1–3)

"Gather together" is another word for repent—Israel gathered for two things: repentance and worship, or war. So God calls them to repent before the day of His anger comes. Turn to the Lord while there is still time, in the valley of decision, "that it may be ye shall be hid." Can we be hidden from the anger of the Lord? Amen, we can—Hebrews tells us we flee for refuge to Jesus Christ. He is our refuge.

Judgment on the Nations and on Jerusalem

In chapter 2, verses 4 through 15, God speaks judgment to all the nations surrounding Israel: the Philistines to the southwest, the Moabites and Ammonites to the east, the Ethiopians and Egypt to the south, and the Assyrians to the north. He tells His children, "I'm going to judge all your enemies—now consider how I judge them, and repent."

Then in chapter 3 He turns back to His own people: "Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!" The fourfold indictment in verse 2 is sobering: she obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God. What keeps people from drawing near to God? Pride—for James says God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. James also says if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us.

Her princes are roaring lions, her judges evening wolves who leave nothing till morning, her prophets light and treacherous, her priests polluters of the sanctuary. Every level of leadership was ruined. In verses 6–7 God says He cut off the nations as an example, "saying, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction"—but they rose early and corrupted all their doings.

The Promise of Restoration

Yet as in so many prophetic passages, the judgment is always followed by a promise of restoration and a remnant. From chapter 3:8 to the end, God speaks of a great coming restoration. After the exile to Babylon, God brought them back to the land; after the Roman dispersion in AD 70, He brought them back again in 1948. He has been gracious to them.

Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD... for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation... For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent. (Zephaniah 3:8–9)

God will deal with their sin and take away their pride. He will leave in their midst an afflicted and poor people who trust in the name of the Lord—a remnant that will not do iniquity nor speak lies. They will feed and lie down, and none will make them afraid. This points to the time after the battle in the valley of Megiddo, the glorious thousand-year reign of Christ, the millennial reign we read of in Revelation 20, 21, and 22.

God in the Midst of His People

Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. (Zephaniah 3:14–15)

Verse 17 is glorious: "The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." God promises to gather the sorrowful, undo all that afflict His people, save and gather the driven-out, and give them praise and fame in every land where they had been put to shame.

We don't look forward to the day of judgment when God pours out His wrath upon a Christ-rejecting and sinful world—but it is going to come, just as surely as the day of the Lord came upon Judah twenty-five hundred years ago. And let me tell you: look up, for your redemption draws nigh. The events in the world today are lining up just as God said they would through the prophets. When you see what is happening in Iran, it is prophetic. God is doing a work; help us to listen to what He is saying.

Closing Prayer

God, I thank You so much for the truth of Your word. We pray, Lord, that You would help us to understand these things. We have covered so much ground tonight in these three chapters, jumping all over the Bible; I pray You would help us to remember them and to study to show ourselves approved as workmen and workwomen, not ashamed, rightly dividing Your word of truth. Lord, You have told us beforehand exactly what is going to happen, because You have spoken and You want us to know—You don't want us to be ignorant. So help us to search the Scriptures like the Bereans and to understand what You are speaking. We ask this all in Jesus' name. Amen.