Study Notes
Ed Underwood

Zephaniah: Judgment and Deliverance in the Day of the Lord

  “Be alert before the Lord God, for the Lord’s day of judgment is almost here.” (Zephaniah 1:7)

The seventeen Books of Prophecy record the messages of the writing prophets (those whose messages are preserved in writing) God raised up to speak for him following the ministries of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. The failings of the Divided Kingdom Era prompted God to speak to Israel in the north and Judah in the south. They continued to speak to God’s people for over 400 years, including the exile to Babylonia and the return to the

Promise Land. (1 Kings 12-Esther)
The prophets spoke for God to His people concerning the enforcement of terms of their covenant relationship with God. Each spoke to a specific generation of Israel or Judah to enforce the conditional covenant (Mosaic) in the context of the unconditional covenants flowing from the Abrahamic Covenant. Their message can be summed up in these sentences: You are mine! (Unconditional covenants, Romans 11:29). Walk with me and I will bless you. Walk away from me and I will call you back to myself through loving discipline (Conditional covenant, Romans 9-11).

Zephaniah was the great grandson of godly King Hezekiah of Judah. His name, “Yahweh hides,” probably means that he was one of the descendants of David hidden from the atrocities of evil King Manasseh. As royalty, Zephaniah lived in Jerusalem and spoke primarily to the leaders and the privileged of Jerusalem during the reign of his relative, King Josiah.

The prophet spoke to Judah during a time of relative peace and top-down reform under Josiah. However, the fifty years of enforced idolatry and gratuitous injustice and immorality had entrenched the Judean society in wickedness and rebellion against God. King Josiah’s reforms failed to penetrate the culture, and the Babylonians were emerging as a powerful enemy.

God sent Zephaniah to tell Judah to embrace Josiah’s reforms in their hearts. He warns them of the coming Day of the Lord—a phrase repeated 23 times in only 3 chapters! Obadiah and Joel introduced the concept of the Day of the Lord, but Zephaniah speaks more of the ultimate Day of the Lord when God will destroy His enemies, remake creation, and keep all of His promises to Israel and Gentiles who trust in Him. The Day of the Lord is any “day,” or time, in history when God intervenes dramatically to control human events. “Zephaniah’s purpose was to announce coming judgment on Judah in the Day of the Lord. However, he said that judgment would extend to all the nations of the earth, indicating that the Day of the Lord would also bring deliverance of Israel and the Gentiles.” (Charles H. Dyer, The Old Testament Explorer, p. 809)

This little book is a grim reminder to those who oppose God that He is not ignoring their callous rebellion. But it also offers great hope to all who trust in the God of Zephaniah:

Zephaniah: Rejoice in the assurance of the coming Day of the Lord!

The Lord Jesus alluded to this Minor Prophet on two occasions (Matthew 13:41; 24:29) to connect Zephaniah’s Day of the Lord with His Second Coming.

I. JUDGMENT IN THE DAY OF THE LORD: The prophetical oracle begins with an awesome statement of God’s coming judgment upon all the earth because of the sins of humanity. The Day of the Lord will come with wrath and irrevocability, and God will have the last word. (1:1-3:8)

1. JUDGMENT ON THE WHOLE EARTH AND JUDAH: God vows to make an end to both humanity and the animal world (1:2-3). Zephaniah then concentrates on the judgment of Judah (1:4-18), listing some of her offenses. Judah is poisoned with idolatrous priests who promote the worship of Baal and nature. Her leaders are completely corrupt. However, by His grace, Yahweh appeals to His people to repent and humblethemselves to avert the coming disaster before it’s too late (2:1-3). (1:4-2:3)

2. JUDGMENT ON JUDAH’S NEIGHBORS AND JERUSALEM: Like Amos before him in the north, Zephaniah pronounces God’s coming judgment on the nations that surround Judah (2:4-15). Then he turns his attention to Jerusalem, the city of his ancestor, David (3:1-8). Like the pagan nations around her, Jerusalem

   “is disobedient; she refuses correction. She does not trust the Lord; she does not seek the advice of her God”

(3:2). (2:4-15)

II. DELIVERANCE AND BLESSING IN THE DAY OF THE LORD: Zephaniah assures his readers who trust in His God that the Day of the Lord isn’t all bad news. God’s dramatic intervention in history will bring deliverance and blessing to those who turn to God. (3:9-20)

A. FUTURE BLESSINGS FOR GENTILES: With imagery from humanity’s original rebellion at Babel, Zephaniah looks forward to the time when human language will become a unifying factor and God’s people will gather from all nations to worship Him. (3:9-10)

B. FUTURE BLESSINGS FOR ISRAEL: The remnant of Israel will be gathered, redeemed and restored. They will rejoice in their Redeemer, and He will be in their midst. (3:11-20)

ZEPHANIAH AND YOU: The Day of the Lord is a consistent theme of the Bible. I believe Zephaniah speaks of several “days” of the Lord. The day of judgment when the Babylonians would take Judeans into captivity and the day of blessing when God returned them to the Land. The future day of judgment for Israel during the Great Tribulation and its day of blessing during the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. However, the most specific Day of the Lord Zephaniah pictures and Jesus and the Apostles spoke of is the coming Day of the Lord when God will destroy sin by recreating the heavens and the earth after the Millennium. 2 Peter 3 is the “Zephaniah of the New Testament.”

1. Just as in the days of Zephaniah, doubters and critics will always say that prophecies concerning the Day of the Lord are invalid because God hasn’t intervened in human history as dramatically as the writers of Scripture predict (2 Peter 3:1-10). Don’t make that mistake! Just as He did at His Incarnation, Jesus will show up again. He will fulfill every Biblical prediction concerning His Second Coming.
2. Just as in the days of Zephaniah, God’s people are given something to do until the Day of the Lord arrives. For us, it is to join God in His relentless pursuit of those who need to turn to Him (2 Peter 3:8-9). This is a great motivator for us! We can become part of the answer to our Breakthrough Prayer to bring us 250 more who are folded into our redeemed community. Please pray for the privilege of reaching just one who is outside of the grace and mercy of God in your world by name.
3. Just as in the days of Zephaniah, our society is irreversibly polluted by injustice and rebellion against God. The solution isn’t top-down through reform and legislation. This doesn’t mean we’re not politically astute and active. It means that our hope isn’t in America; it’s in our God. Our sin, the sin of humanity is too severe to be “fixed” by earthly reform. God will have to intervene by recreating everything to erase the impact of our sin.

The only deliverance from sin is through Jesus’ work on the Cross.
The only final solution for sin’s stain on Creation is the Day of the Lord.

  Messiah: Jesus associated Zephaniah’s day of the Lord with His second advent, making it clear that He is the One who will fulfill the great promises of the prophet.