Zephaniah 1:12–15; 2:1–3; 3:11–12

Assistant Professor, School of Christian Studies, University of Mobile

Humility
Zephaniah 1:12–15; 2:1–3; 3:11–12
We know more about Zephaniah than most of the other Minor Prophets. Verse 1 says his great-great-grandfather was the great King Hezekiah from the previous century. We also know from the first verse that Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of King Josiah, who reigned from 639–609 B.C.

Need for Humility (1:12–15)
All Jerusalem will wail. Zephaniah mentions the merchants and traders with their houses and vineyards, but he does not condemn them for their trade. Rather he points to those who are comfortably settled or complacent — those who are self-satisfied and pleased with themselves. These are people who have deified themselves, thinking that their might and the power of their hands have gotten them wealth. The people in Jerusalem are spiritually apathetic and unaffected by God. And people who are unaffected by God implicitly tell the world that God Himself is apathetic. In their smug complacency, they lie about God. They think “the Lord will not do good or evil.” Those who are the most ignorant of true religion are often the most certain of it — certain that God is just like them.

But God declares that He will act. God is not the God that some in Jerusalem in Zephaniah’s day thought He was — indifferent and inactive. The God we worship cares and will act. Because of their complacency and pride, God would bring on them the curses of the covenant: they would not enjoy their wealth, homes and vineyards (Lev. 26:32–33; Deut. 28:15–68). The Lord would indeed demonstrate His activity and agency in the world.

Zephaniah writes that “the great day of the Lord is near.” He describes this coming day of God’s justice with power. In Bible prophecy, we often find a prophecy about the near future mixed together with more distant and final apocalyptic elements. In these verses, Zephaniah looks forward in the Spirit and sees both the fall of Jerusalem that occurred several decades later and a preview of God’s final judgment of the world. The prophecy is sobering. If you read the text carefully, you can hear the desperate shouts, see the looks of anguish and the darkness, smell the dust and destruction, feel the heat of the fire of God’s jealousy and taste the bitterness of the day.

Call to Humility (2:1–3)
God gives this warning to His people because He wants them to hear it, heed it and not fall under His judgment. He wants them to turn and seek Him. Zephaniah attempts to shock the people of Judah into joining the faithful remnant. Jerusalem had become so foreign in its ways that it seemed to belong more to the pagan nations than to God.

Judah should come to its senses before the great day of judgment comes upon the people. The appointed time of God’s wrath would sweep Judah away as the evening wind blows the chaff, the worthless part of wheat. Judah must turn from its God-belittling, God-despising, God-neglecting behavior and wholly follow the Lord. The reference to “chaff” indicates that, unless it repented, the wicked nation would be scattered before the fierce anger of the Lord, as chaff is scattered before the wind.

Repentance must be manifested in works: seeking the Lord and carrying out His commands. The “humble” are commanded to “seek the Lord,” which is defined in the same verse as seeking righteousness and humility. Judah must realize that the only adequate refuge from the Lord’s consuming wrath is to be found in the Lord Himself. Those who seek the Lord with humility demonstrate their dependence on God to care for their every need. The humble would seek God, keep His commands, wait on God and are guided by Him.

Benefits of Humility (3:11–12)
The great news of Zephaniah is that God will save all His people. He will vindicate and gather and exult in His people. This is His plan and our great hope. God will judge rightly but He has also promised His own people that “you will not be put to shame because of everything you have done in rebelling against Me.” How can these blessings be ours? Only in Christ, who has borne our sins.