Lesson 4 - Zeph. 1:1-11 - GOD HATES FALSE RELIGION
OVERVIEW: Today, in Zeph. 1:1-11, we'll hear a message from the pre-exilic, minor prophet Zephaniah. Zephaniah was a prophet of Judah during the reign of King Josiah (640-609 B.C.), a good king of Judah who is best known for leading a revival of faith and instituting strict measures against the pagan practices that had corrupted Judah. The central theme of Zephaniah's message is Judgment, which he announced will come as the "Day of the LORD (YHWH)." In general, the prophet declares God's forthcoming judgment on the entire world, and specifically (in the near term), against Judah, the city of Jerusalem, and all the nearby nations. In terms of relevance, Zephaniah could stand in our church pulpits today and delver the same warning: That any nation that refuses to follow God or (like the U.S. and the western democracies) has turned away from Him, will face certain judgment.
Read Zeph. 1:1 - THE WORD CAME TO ZEPHANIAH
1 The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah:
v. 1a: "The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah," - Zephaniah's introduction of himself is unusual in that, unlike other minor prophets, he reveals to us both his time and his genealogy: he spoke the prophesy during the reign of Josiah and was very possibly the great-great grandson of king Hezekiah, who ruled Judah during Isaiah's time, though scholars aren't 100% sure of this. Notice also that this prophecy came to him in the form of "the word" (as contrasted with a vision), which God gave him, in effect, to repeat word-for-word.
v. 1b: "in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah:" - King Josiah ruled Judah from 640 to 609 B.C., taking the throne at the tender age of eight after the assassination of his father, Amon. Most scholars believe Zephaniah's prophecy was in the early years of Josiah's reign, 640-630 B.C., prior to his revival of Temple worship and religious reforms, and was used by God to bring even further revival. The name Zephaniah literally means "hidden by YHWH" in Hebrew, and implies that the prophet was hidden from the authorities during this time for his own protection.
OBSERVATION: All of Zephaniah's prophecies are about the "Day of the LORD," an eschatological (end-time) event that will bring judgment to the guilty and deliverance to the faithful, but as we will also see, some of them will unfold in partial, near-term fulfillment. Zephaniah's pronouncements are particularly ominous, but, like many OT prophecies, he will end on a note of encouragement (Ch. 3).
Read Zeph. 1:2-3 - JUDGMENT ON THE WORLD
2 "I will completely remove all things From the face of the earth," declares the LORD. 3 "I will re-move human and animal life; I will remove the birds of the sky And the fish of the sea, And the ruins along with the wicked; And I will eliminate mankind from the face of the earth," declares the Lord.
v. 2: "'I will completely remove all things From the face of the earth,' declares the LORD." - This is one of the most explicit announcements of the total devastation of the planet earth in all of the OT. It literally says that YHWH will completely remove everything from the face of the earth. While there may be some exaggeration in this statement, the judgment he foretells will be general-on the whole world, and the phrasing, "From the face of the earth," reminds us of the Noahic flood (Gen. 6:7-17).
v. 3: "I will remove human and animal life; I will remove the birds of the sky And the fish of the sea, And the ruins along with the wicked; And I will eliminate mankind from the face of the earth," declares the LORD" - This verse particularizes in some detail the general statement, "completely remove all things," made in v. 2. In effect, it's a reversal of creation. The Lord will remove all animal life from the planet. This includes human beings, land animals of all types, birds, and fish-all life whether on land, in the sky, or in the sea. Plant life will probably die, too. And as to "ruins along with the wicked," God will remove all evidence of civilization-scrape the world clean. Modern Bible scholars believe these events refer either to the time during the Tribulation (Rev. 6-18) or at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:11-15).
Read Zeph. 1:4-6 - THE CAUSE FOR JUDAH'S JUDGMENT
4 "So I will stretch out My hand against Judah And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will eliminate the remnant of Baal from this place, And the names of the idolatrous priests along with the other priests. 5 And those who bow down on the housetops to the heavenly lights, And those who bow down and swear to the Lord, but also swear by Milcom, 6 And those who have turned back from following the LORD, And those who have not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him."
v. 4a: "So I will stretch out my hand My hand against Judah And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem." - As God's covenant people, maybe the people of Judah and Jerusalem thought they might somehow be exempt from the judgment of vv. 2-3; however, the prophet assures them that God would "stretch out His hand" against them, too, which implies a distinct work of discipline.
v. 4b: "And I will eliminate the remnant of Baal from this place, And the names of the idolatrous priests along with the other priests." - King Josiah had inherited a corrupt nation almost completely given over to idolatry. As used here, the term "Baal" was a figure of speech for any form of idol worship. God would not only purge the priests of Baal but would also include the unfaithful priests of YHWH (Levites) who had permitted all this corruption to creep in and take over in the first place.
v. 5a: "And those who bow down on the housetops to the heavenly lights," - This refers to people who worship the sun, the moon, and the stars-God, who made the heavens, would judge them,too.
v. 5b: "And those who bow down and swear to the LORD, but also swear by Milcom," - God will likewise judge those who worship the pagan gods of other nations together with YHWH. This is syncretistic religion that violates YHWH's First Commandment to His people: "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Ex. 20:3). God really hates this.
v. 6: "And those who have turned back from following the Lord, And those who have not sought the LORD nor inquired of Him." - Finally, God will not allow the backslidden to escape judgment. These people may not have participated in idolatry or worshiped pagan gods, but they had departed from loving and following YHWH, and had stopped praying to Him. They had allowed their love for God to grow cold and had become indifferent to the moral collapse in their nation. They were accountable to God, too.
OBSERVATION: How does this promise harmonize with the earlier prophecy in vv. 2-3 that God would destroy the whole earth? This is an example of a prophet's foreshortened view of the future in which he could not discern the difference in time-millennia in this case-between events he was predicting. God judged Israel when the Babylonians overran Judah and destroyed Jerusalem in 587 B.C. God will also judge the Israelites during the end-time Tribulation (Jer. 30:7; Rev. 6-18).
Read Zeph. 1:7-11 - THE DAY OF THE LORD IS NEAR
7 Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the LORD is near, Because the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, He has consecrated His guests. 8 "Then it will come about on the day of the LORD sacrifice That I will punish the princes, the king's sons, And all who clothe themselves with foreign garments. 9 And on that day I will punish all who leap on the temple threshold, Who fill the house of their lord with violence and deceit. 10 And on that day," declares the LORD , "There will be the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate, Wailing from the Second Quarter, And a loud crash from the hills. 11 Wail, you inhabitants of the Mortar, Because all the people of Canaan will be destroyed; All who weigh out silver will be eliminated.
v. 7a: "Be silent before the Lord GOD!" - In other words, shut up and listen! Here, God calls every person in Judah to cease every type of opposition to His word and will (i.e., the idolatry, syncretism, back-sliding specified in vv. 5-6) and submit to their Covenant God in unconditional surrender and loving service. And this principle is equally applicable to Christians in the 21st Century church. Amen?
v. 7b: "For the day of the LORD is near, - The "day of the LORD " may be defined as a day when God works in human affairs. As used by prophets, the "day of the LORD " is that time when God, for His glory and for His purposes, intervenes in human history in judgment of sin or for deliverance of the faithful. In this verse, the prophet announces such a day is "near." Notice that the prophet doesn't propose a remedy. There is no call to repentance-judgment is certain.
v. 7c: "Because the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, He has consecrated His guests." - This verse is heavy with irony because the circumstances are backwards: It is the people who are supposed to prepare a sacrifice to the LORD. Yet, it is the LORD who has prepared the sacrifice, and the sacrifice is the people of Judah and Jerusalem. The guests at their table will be Judah's enemies.
v. 7d: "He has consecrated His guests." To "consecrate" means to set apart for a holy purpose. In this instance-another ironic twist-God will now consecrate Judah's enemies for the holy purpose of disciplining His covenant people. We, who have the advantage of Biblical hindsight, know that the prophet was predicting the Babylonian exile.
v. 8: "Then it will come about on the day of the Lord's sacrifice That I will punish the princes, the king's sons, And all who clothe themselves with foreign garments. " - When the LORD offered Judah to its enemies like a sacrifice, he would punish the king's sons who adorned themselves in foreign clothing to hide their national identity. The king's sons, the future rulers of the nation, bore special responsibility for the conditions in their land, and they did in fact suffer YHWH's punishment: Jehoahaz was taken captive to Egypt; Jehoiachin was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar and died in Jerusalem; and, Zedekiah, Josiah's last son, was blinded and taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24-35).
v. 9: "And on that day I will punish all who leap on the temple threshold, Who fill the house of their lord with violence and deceit." - The phrase, "leap on the temple threshold," could have multiple meanings, all of which related to corrupt forms of worship in the Temple of God: people who brought pagan customs and practices into the Temple; or who brought gifts into the Temple that they had acquired by dishonest means; or the common superstition of jumping over a threshold in order to avoid bad luck. All of these things insulted God.
v. 10a "And on that day," declares the LORD, "There will be the sound" - God's judgment would not only be seen on that day: it would will also be heard-the sounds of a marauding army, along with the screaming and crying of people all over the city. A nightmare.
v. 10b: "of a cry from the Fish Gate, Wailing from the Second Quarter, And a loud crash from the hills." - The "Fish Gate" was an opening on Jerusalem's north wall that was normally used by fishermen coming into the city to bring in their daily catch to the nearby fish market (2 Chron. 33:14). It was probably through this gate that Nebuchadnezzar entered Jerusalem when he invaded it from the north. The "Second" (or New) "Quarter" was a district of Jerusalem northwest of the Temple area (2 Chron. 34:22). The "hills" could refer either to the hills on which Jerusalem stood or the hills that surrounded the city. In any case, the Babylonian army would have created a virtual uproar of loud crashing noises as they laid waste to the countryside in their approach to Jerusalem-the sound of doom. And once they got into the city, they tore everything down to the ground, including the walls and Solomon's Temple. The destruction was total. The city of David was no more.
v. 11: "Wail, you inhabitants of the Mortar, Because all the people of Canaan will be destroyed; All who weigh out silver will be eliminated" - The prophet called the in-habitants of "Mortar," the business district to wail now (not later) because judgment was coming. This section of Jerusalem is though to have received the name Mortor (Heb. bowl) because it was situated in the geographically depressed Tyropoeon Valley. The Canaanites (traders) who lived there would perish, too, and those who paid in silver would be eliminated. In short, the entire economy of Jerusalem would cease to exist.
APPLICATION-The Day of the LORD is approaching.
Any nation that refuses to follow God or has turned away form Him will face certain judgment. Almost 232 years ago, the United States of America was formed as "One Nation Under God" and guided by the moral principles found in the Bible. But in recent times, the last 60 years in particular, this nation has turned the opposite direction. Therefore, a return to both faith and the moral standards expressed in the Bible is our nation's only hope, and this will only come from revival, a great awakening that will sweep across America from shore to shore. As Christians, we can't force our nation to change, but as revived churches we can spearhead this event by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in our cities, towns, and communities. Bottom Line: It's up to us. Do you see that? Say Amen if you agree.
PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, as we studied this powerful warning your prophet Zephaniah issued to the people of Judah all those centuries ago, we are reminded of the moral decline we have seen in these United States over the past 60 years. And as Your people-the church-we have allowed it to happen...little by little. So, I ask Lord God, that You would revive us again as a church and as the people of God. That You will come down and use the power of Your Holy Spirit to bring us up. We must depend on You. Help us make a difference in this community. In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.
