Zephaniah: the day of the LORD and the remnant
Zephaniah announces the day of the LORD on Judah and the nations, and promises that a humble remnant will be sheltered. A book that opens with judgement closes with God singing for joy over his people.
About the book
The book opens with "the word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah" in the days of King Josiah (Zephaniah 1:1). His name means ‘the LORD has hidden’, that is, has kept safe. The heading traces his family back four generations to a Hezekiah. Prophets' genealogies are rarely given at such length, so many take this to be King Hezekiah of Judah, as John Wesley did Wesley.
The church has received the book, as its heading says, as the word Zephaniah received under Josiah, and many scholars agree. Josiah reigned from 640 to 609 BC, and Jeremiah too was called in his days (Jeremiah 1:2). Because Zephaniah condemns the worship of Baal and of "the host of heaven" on the rooftops (Zephaniah 1:5), many place him before Josiah's reform of about 622 BC. Some scholars think the promises of restoration at the end of chapter 3 were added after the exile. The map under the Jesus tab sets Zephaniah in the era of the divided monarchy (930–586 BC).
How it unfolds
| Chapters | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1:1–2:3 | The day of the LORD on Judah; seek the LORD, you humble |
| 2:4-15 | Judgement on the nations all around: Philistia, Moab and Ammon, Cush, Assyria |
| 3:1-8 | Jerusalem, which accepts no correction |
| 3:9-20 | The nations purified, a humble remnant, and God rejoicing over his people |
Key passages
Zephaniah cries out the day of judgement:
The great Day of the LORD is near — near and coming quickly. Listen, the Day of the LORD! Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter.
Zephaniah 1:14
The day of the LORD is the day when God comes in person to judge evil and to save his people. Zephaniah warns that it falls on Jerusalem before the nations: God will search the city with lamps and "punish the men settled in complacency" (Zephaniah 1:12), who think he will do nothing. His words "That day will be a day of wrath" (Zephaniah 1:15), in their Latin form, became the opening of the medieval hymn of judgement Dies irae, ‘day of wrath’.
Yet within the warning a way opens: "Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility" (Zephaniah 2:3). God will leave "a meek and humble people, and they will trust in the name of the LORD" (Zephaniah 3:12). And the book ends in God's own joy:
The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
The book and Christ
Zephaniah promises, "Israel’s King, the LORD, is among you" (Zephaniah 3:15). In Christ the Word "made His dwelling among us" (John 1:14), and Nathanael confessed him: "You are the King of Israel!" (John 1:49). When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, John quoted "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion" (John 12:15), and many hear in it Zephaniah 3:16 as well as Zechariah 9:9. Of the one "mighty to save" Matthew Henry writes, "he will be Jesus; he will answer the name" Matthew Henry: the name given because "He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).
Zephaniah also sees the nations given pure lips, "that all may call upon the name of the LORD and serve Him shoulder to shoulder" (Zephaniah 3:9). In the New Testament the name they call on is Jesus' name: Paul writes to "all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:2).
Reading it
Three chapters make one sitting. Begin with the dreadful day of Zephaniah 1 and read on to the song of chapter 3, so that you see judgement give way to joy. For the background, read the story of Josiah's reform in 2 Kings 22–23. Then go on to Haggai.
Practice
- Practice 1 of 6
In which king's reign did Zephaniah receive the word of the LORD?
- Practice 2 of 6
What is true of the day of the LORD as Zephaniah announces it?
- Practice 3 of 6
According to Zephaniah 2:3, how may people be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger?
- Practice 4 of 6
In Zephaniah 3:15, who is "among you"?
- Practice 5 of 6
What does Zephaniah 3:17 say God does over his people?
- Practice 6 of 6
What does Zephaniah 3:9 promise?
Reading to the end marks it read; tap to switch it.
Related topics
Lessons from the Bible, the church's creeds and classic commentary. Each book's author and date are given as the church has received them, and scholars who see them otherwise are presented fairly. Scripture quotations: BSB.