AUTHOR

Zephaniah received his prophetic message from the Lord during the reign of Josiah, king of Judah (640–609 BC). Possibly Zephaniah’s great-great-grandfather was the famous Hezekiah, the reformer king of Judah (1:1). Hezekiah and Josiah were the two kings of Judah who made the greatest effort to purify worship from its pagan elements, making it conform to the law of Moses. However, Zephaniah denounced the mixing of pagan worship with true worship that still existed in Judah, showing that even the efforts of these two great reformers were not enough to make a lasting impression on the nation.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ZEPHANIAH

Josiah carried out a religious reform that was unmatched in the history of Israel since the days of Hezekiah. Just as Hezekiah’s righteous reign was followed by the evil reign of his son Manasseh, so Josiah’s reforms were soon undone by his sons Jehoahaz (2Kg 23:29-33) and Jehoiakim (2Kg 23:34–24:1) and Zedekiah (successor to Jehoiakim’s son; 2Kg 24:18). The wickedness in Judah was so great that even Josiah could not affect lasting reform.

Zephaniah denounced the way the Judeans mixed the worship of the Lord with the worship of idols (1:4-5,9), and he criticized the religious and political leaders in Jerusalem (3:1-4). Josiah started his religious reforms early in his reign (2Ch 34:3-7), but he carried out his major reforms only after Hilkiah the high priest discovered the book of the law in the temple in the eighteenth year of his reign (2Kg 23; 2Ch 34:8-33). It seems likely that Zephaniah delivered his messages prior to 622 BC, Josiah’s eighteenth year. Zephaniah also predicted the destruction of Assyria and the fall of Nineveh, so he must have prophesied prior to 612 BC, when Nineveh fell.

THE MEANING OF ZEPHANIAH’S MESSAGE

Like Joel, Zephaniah talked at length about the “day of the LORD,” and there are some striking similarities in wording between the two books (see 1:14-16 with Jl 1:15; 2:1,30-31). The day of the Lord, said Zephaniah, would have severe consequences for the sinners in Judah, and Zephaniah exhorted the people to repent by seeking the Lord in humility (2:1-3).

Not only would the Lord judge Judah, but he would also destroy Judah’s neighbors (2:4-11) as well as all the nations of the world (3:8). Zephaniah tied together the theme of judgment on Judah and the nations by focusing on the cities of Nineveh and Jerusalem (2:13–3:7).

Following worldwide judgment, there would be a new era of blessing for the nations and for Israel. Zephaniah’s picture of the people’s new relationship with the Lord is one of the most beautiful in all of Scripture: “[God] will rejoice over you with gladness” (3:17).

From Zephaniah we learn that God cannot tolerate the worship of other gods alongside him, nor can he tolerate violence, fraud, complacency, haughtiness, lying, or deceit. God has absolute power to judge and destroy because he created all things, but he does not use this power in an arbitrary way; he uses it to respond to evil and injustice or to idolatry and false worship. We also learn from Zephaniah that God responds to true and sincere repentance. God loves his people who serve him humbly.