Bible Study - Zephaniah - Part 4

Last week, we heard very strong language of judgment in Chapter 1 of Zephaniah for God’s people of Judah and Jerusalem, because of their sin and rebellion against their Lord. Days of “darkness and gloom” were coming, which did happen during the Babylonian captivity (Zephaniah 1:4-16). This judgment was a prelude and picture of ultimate judgment on the last day for all “blind, sinful” unbelievers and the “consuming” and passing away of heaven and earth as we know it (Zephaniah 1:17-18).

As Zephaniah Chapter 2 begins, the “shameless nation” of Judah is called to gather together before “the day of the burning anger of the Lord comes” and they pass away “like chaff” (2:1-2). They are called upon to “seek the Lord” in humility, being humble ones of the land, who “seek righteousness” and seek to “do the Lord’s just commands.”
Maybe He will keep them “hidden on the day of His anger” (2:3). (Remember how King Josiah did repent and return to His Lord and sought to make reforms and was spared much trouble for a time, for himself and Judah.)

Then, the Lord directed His attention to four of the five main cities of the Philistine enemies of Judah. The fifth, Gath, had already been defeated earlier. (See 2 Chronicles 26:6.) These cities are listed in Zephaniah 2:4 - Gaza (the same area that we hear so much about today), Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron. (If you have an ESV Bible, you can find these cities on one of the colored maps at the beginning of the book. They are in the Southwest of the Land of Judah, along the coast of the Great Sea, the Mediterranean.) The words in 2:4 indicate that they would all be destroyed. Ashdod, for example, would be defeated at “noon,” in broad daylight, an unusual time for an attack, and Ekron would be totally uprooted, with nothing left there. The Philistines had been perpetual enemies of God’s people, even from the days when the land was still called Canaan. These people are also called Cherethites (Cretans) because many of them had originally come from the island of Crete (2:5). They had often attacked Israel and often led Israelites to worship their false gods and do evil in the eyes of the Lord. (Goliath was the Philistine giant that David defeated with a slingshot, long before, in 1 Samuel 17.)

Now, though, some words of hope come for God’s people in Zephaniah 2:6-7. This seacoast area would become pasture land for shepherds of “the remnant of the house of Judah.” “For the Lord their God would be mindful of them and restore their future.” See the prophecy also in Isaiah 37:31-32 for the “remnant” of Judah and Jerusalem. This would not happen until much later, after the Babylonian captivity, but those who were humbled before the Lord (Zephaniah 2:3) and trusted Him would receive the land again.

The prophetic words of God through Zephaniah then move from the southwest of Judah to the East, where more continual enemies of Israel were, the people of Moab and Ammon (Zephaniah 2:8-11). The Moabites and Ammonites had often made trouble for God’s people and “taunted” and “reviled” them and sought to lead them astray, away from the One True God (Zephaniah 2:8,10). We also heard, for example, of people of Judah who worshiped the Lord but also worshiped Milcom, an Ammonite god, in Zephaniah 1:5, and were in big trouble with the Lord. On the other hand, Ruth was a Moabite woman who came to follow and believe in the Lord, married Boaz, and became an ancestor of King David and of Jesus Himself. And Jesus died and rose again to be the Savior of all people, not just His own Jewish people, of course. At this point, though, because of their opposition to God’s faithful people, the Moabite and Ammonite lands would become “like Sodom and Gomorrah’ and their people defeated (2:9).

These people who worshiped false gods would offer food to their gods to feed them. Since their worshipers would be defeated and gone, the Lord makes fun of these gods and says that they will become “famished” and starve (2:11). This is prophetic of the end of this age when everyone will have to realize and admit that there is only the One True Triune God and that no other gods were ever real (Philippians 2:9-11).

I will stop here for this week. Next week, we will see more condemnations and trouble for other nations, warnings again for Judah and Jerusalem, and finally, more words of great hope in the coming Savior. The Lord’s continued blessings, as you keep searching the Scriptures.