Read Zephaniah 1:1–3
Questions from the Scripture text: Whose Word is this (Zephaniah 1:1)? To whom did it come? From what lineage? In whose days? What will He do to what (Zephaniah 1:2a)? From where (verse 2b)? How does He emphasize the certainty of this (verse 2c)? What will He consume (Zephaniah 1:3a)? And what other creatures (verse 3b)? And what other creatures (verse 3c)? And what two things, especially (verse 3d–e)? How does He emphasize the certainty of this (verse 3f)?
Why this word at this time? Zephaniah 1:1–3 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God sends us flying to His grace by reminding us that He still hates sin.
Zephaniah means treasured or hidden treasure. The Lord here comes by His word to call His people to repentance, because they are His hidden treasure. As we get into the content of the book, we are going to see several places where extended phrases and clauses are almost identical to parts of the book of Deuteronomy. By sending this Word through Zephaniah, and causing the book of Deuteronomy to be found in the temple, during the same time period, the Lord doubly emphasized the danger of sin and the hope of grace to Josiah.
This book was written just before or in the early days of Josiah's reforms, sometime in the earlier portion of Josiah's reign. Zephaniah and Josiah were related. Hezekiah was not a common Hebrew name. In fact, unless this refers to someone else, the only Hezekiah mentioned in the Old Testament is the king who was the father of Manasseh. You may recall that it was late in Manasseh’s reign that the prophecy of Nahum was written against Nineveh, during a time of great wickedness in Judah. According to 2 Chronicles, Manasseh eventually repented at the end of his life, but the damage had already been done. The people were wicked, and his son was also wicked. When his son Ammon came to the throne, he followed the example of his father for most of his life, not the repentance that God granted his father at the end of his life.
Therefore, when Zephaniah writes, there is a great danger and a serious threat from the Lord against His people. We see a hint of this at the end of Zephaniah 1:1, where he identifies Josiah as king of “Judah.” This reminds us that the kingdom had been sadly split, and that the northern kingdom has already been lost. Judah was all that remained—yet the people had not repented.
When wickedness persists for a long time, there is a danger that it would become the new normal among God’s people. There is a danger when compromise in the church continues for a long time, that it becomes the new normal in the church. We must remain close to the Word of God, because His standard and His grace are unchanging. What we need is for Him to come near through His Word: “the Word of YHWH” (Zephaniah 1:1), “says YHWH” (Zephaniah 1:2), “says YHWH” (Zephaniah 1:3).
The God of the Flood. When He says, “I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land” (Zephaniah 1:2a–b), it reminds us of Genesis 6:7. God has not changed His mind about sin, since the flood. Yes, for the sake of His plan to save, God promised that He would not destroy the whole world again in that way. But here, as it were, a mini-flood is threatened against the land of Judah. It will come through the Babylonians, not by water, but with the same wrath, for the same reason. God has not changed His mind about sin today.
The Judgment on the Whole Creation. This is the meaning of the first half of Zephaniah 1:3a–c. He begins at the end of creation on the sixth day and moves backward, as it were, uncreating.
Because man was the purpose of creation, on account of his wickedness, the entire creation is subject to corruption and decay, groans under the burden, and is under the curse and the wrath of God (cf. Romans 8:18–25). Therefore, we should not be surprised when manifestations of God’s wrath appear in history. The horror of war’s destructiveness defaces creation, because humanity—created in the image of God—has itself been defaced.
It is significant that He says He will consume the stumbling blocks along with the wicked and remove humanity from the face of the land. The term “stumbling blocks” is difficult for translators. But Jesus says something very similar in Matthew 13:40–41: “things that cause offense” translates a word meaning “stumbling blocks.” There are those who are stumbling blocks. And humanity as a whole is a stumbling block to creation, for it is the source of wickedness in the world. But God will not allow His church to endure forever those who are stumbling blocks. There are those who are genuinely converted, and He will sanctify them until they can no longer be a stumbling block. And there are those who are like tares, unconverted, and He will destroy them.
So the destruction of Judah that Zephaniah is warning about in his prophecy has even broader, cosmic implications. As he alludes to the flood and the undoing of creation, he foreshadows that the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of Judah point to the last day—the day at the end of the age. Therefore, we should listen carefully, for God is the same today, and the day of judgment still stands before us. His wrath still breaks out into history against nations, and the Lord Jesus, in His wrath, disciplines churches.
Whether it is the warnings against the nations in the first part of chapter two, or the judgment pronounced against Judah in the first half of chapter one and the second part of chapter two, or even the restoration offered and held out to His people in the latter part of chapter three, we should heed this word. For it is not only a word especially for those upon whom the edge of the ages has come, but it is also a word that particularly touches the place where we find the church today and the place where we find our nation today.
May the God of creation and of the flood, who sent revival in the days of Josiah through the pen of Zephaniah and the recovery of the book of Deuteronomy, be pleased to bless this word to us. May He make us take sin seriously, as He does, and may He make us ready to respond with thankfulness and joy to His offer of restoration, to hide us as His treasure.
What are some reasons why you might not take sin seriously enough? What does God give you to help you with that?
Sample prayer: Father, we thank You for Your mercy in sending Your word to Your people. We thank You for what You did through it in the days of Josiah. We pray that You would do the same for us in our days, that this might be a season of reformation and revival in Your church. Grant that it would be so in our own personal lives. We ask through Christ, Amen!
Suggested songs: ARP2 “Why Do Gentile Nations Rage” or TPH177 “Before Thee, God, Who Knowest All”
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