Zephaniah 1
BBCZephaniah 1:1
I. GOD’S DETERMINATION TO EXECUTE JUDGMENT (Chap. 1) A. On All the Earth (1:1-3)It is usual for prophets to name their father, and sometimes their grandfather, as the Jews were very “roots”-oriented, as we would say today. But Zephaniah the son of Cushi traces back four generations of his ancestors, doubtless to let us know of his regal forebear, King Hezekiah. The chapter as a whole describes the destruction of the whole land, then specifically of Jerusalem and Judah. God will make the whole land . . . utterly desolate.
Zephaniah 1:4
B. On Judah and Jerusalem because of Idolatry (1:4-6)The inhabitants of Judah will be punished for their idolatrytheir Baal-worship, their star-worship, and their worship of Milcom, the god of the Ammonites.
Zephaniah 1:7
C. The Day of the Lord under the Figure of a Sacrifice (1:7-13)
- GuestsJudah’s Enemies (1:7)The LORD has prepared a sacrifice; Judah is the victim, and the Babylonians are the guests.
Zephaniah 1:8
- VictimsWicked People of Judah (1:8-13)God will punish Judah for their idolatrous apparel and practices, and for their violence and deceit. Howls will go up from such various sections of the capital as the Fish Gate, the Second Quarter, and the hills, as the invaders slaughter and take booty.
Zephaniah 1:14
D. The Terror of the Day of the Lord (1:14-18)The most vivid picture in the Bible of the day of the LORD is given here; it is the day of God’s wrath on men because of their wickedness, the men of Judah in particular. It is a day of war, distress, and slaughter. A classic Latin hymn is based on verses 15 and 16: Thomas of Celano in 1250 wrote his famous judgment hymn from verse 15, “Dies irae, dies illa,” meaning “That day is a day of wrath.” The day is one of wrath, trouble, distress, wasteness, desolation (the Hebrew words for wasteness and desolationsho’ah and umesho’ahare alike in sound to convey the monotony of the destruction), darkness, gloominess, clouds, thick darkness, trumpet, alarm against fortified cities and high towers. God is jealous of the affections of His people and will punish all rivals.