Zephaniah: An Inconvenient Truth
The Introduction and Chapter 1 can be found on the menu bar on the right.
Zephaniah 2 The Day of the LORD and the nations
In chapter 1:7 we read an ominous warning:
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD [is] at hand
As I said, this suggests that it was too late for repentance and reformation to save them from the coming judgment. Nevertheless this chapter begins with a note of comfort.
1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;
2 Before the decree bring forth, [before] the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you.
3 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.
O nation not desired, before the day of the LORD come upon you, Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness.
This is a call to repent and turn to the LORD. The best part of this call is, He told them how to seek Him. Seek the LORD all ye meek of the earth, or perhaps land. All you lowly and humble folk, seek the LORD, in prayer, looking to and trusting Him to protect and care for you.
which have wrought his judgment – they may be humble, but they are the righteous remnant.
seek righteousness – ah, don’t simply pray, continue to live right, do right, and treat your neighbor with chesed or lovingkindness.
seek meekness – this word is translated humility three times, gentleness once, and meekness once. In Proverbs we read, Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility and By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. Seek to be righteous and humble, meek and caring.
And this call comes with a promise: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.
“The sword has not a commission against you. Ask God, and he will be a refuge to you from the storm and from the tempest.” (Adam Clarke)
From the beginning of the Book to the end, this is a pattern with the Lord: –
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:12-13)
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (Rev 7:2-3)
God’s way has not been removal from the situation, but protection through it. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were young men in Judah at the time of the Babylonian captivity. They were righteous and meek young men, who sought the LORD. They still went to Babylon, but they were hidden (kept and protected) by the LORD. As our Lord Jesus prayed for us, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. (John 17:15)
Now Zephaniah speaks to the nations surrounding Judah
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD [is] against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings [and] cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.
Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast – this is the west coast of Israel, what we call the West Bank, the land of the Philistines; the day of the LORD will also come upon them. This was part of the promised land, the territory that Israel was to conquer and occupy. They did not to do this in Joshua’s day (Joshua 13) and the Philistines were still around in Zephaniah’s day. And still powerful. Now this day of the LORD, this tidal wave of Chaldeans, will destroy them too.
the remnant of the house of Judah – Zephaniah is still prophesying the day of the LORD, but he slips in the restoration of the Jews; for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity. This is like a secret that can't be kept, like trying to hold water in your hand, it just leaks out! The day of the LORD will come upon them, they will be carried away into Babylon, but God will turn away their captivity!! Isn't he done with them? Isn't this judgment? How can it be that God will turn away their captivity? Because God made a covenant with them, he will not, he can not, utterly forsake them! Hallelujah!
8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified [themselves] against their border.
9 Therefore [as] I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, [even] the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified [themselves] against the people of the LORD of hosts.
11 The LORD [will be] terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and [men] shall worship him, every one from his place, [even] all the isles of the heathen.
Moab and Ammon were on the east border of Judah. They had historically reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts. The day of the LORD will also be upon them, as a result they shall be a perpetual desolation and the remnant of my people shall possess them.”
The LORD [will be] terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and [men] shall worship him, every one from his place, [even] all the isles of the heathen – could this be Zephaniah seeing the last days?
12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye [shall be] slain by my sword.
I don’t know why the LORD skips over Egypt to speak of Ethiopia; we know from other prophets that Egypt also shall be included in this day of the LORD.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, [and] dry like a wilderness.
14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; [their] voice shall sing in the windows; desolation [shall be] in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.
15 This [is] the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I [am], and [there is] none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, [and] wag his hand.
Assyria had been a major world power. In fact it was Assyria that had carried the 10 northern tribes of Israel into captivity. They had become so powerful that they dwelt carelessly, they said of themselves, I am, and there is none beside me. Now the great Nineveh shall become a desolation, dry like a wilderness, a place for beasts to lie down in. It is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!
Zephaniah is prophesying of the day of the LORD and the impact it will have on Judah and the surrounding nations. This will be a day of judgment. God will raise up the Babylonians who will sweep into Assyria, Israel, Philistia, Ammon, Moab, and down into Egypt and Ethiopia. As these dark and dangerous days are approach, God speaks this word of promise and hope: 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.
How do we apply this to our lives and our day? We live in trying times, filled with temptation, apostasy, trouble, AND we may be on the very brink of the last days, yea, the final hour, but God knows how to hide, protect, and keep us. As we read in 2 Peter 2:4-9:
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly;
7 And delivered righteous Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
Yea and amen! Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior, said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24) Hallelujah!
The Apostle Paul declares in Romans 5:8-10
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Not only is Jesus the Savior from coming judgment, but it is by His grace
that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.” (Luke 1:74-75)
Glory to God!
Let us commit the keeping of our souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
Click here and let’s sing to the Lord: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.
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