Zephaniah Lesson 1 - Introduction

THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH
INTRODUCTION

Holy Lord,
Strengthen our faith in You and graciously lead us in our study of the Book of Zephaniah, opening our minds to the truth of Your words. Without You, in our mortal frailty, we can do nothing. Grant us the help of Your grace that in obeying Your commands, we may please You by our resolve to do good deeds and our willingness to share Your message of repenting our sins to be open to renewed fellowship with You and Your gift of eternal salvation. We pray through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

Yahweh your God is there with you, the warrior-Savior. He will rejoice over you with happy song, he will renew you by his love, he will dance with shouts of joy for you, as on a day of festival. I have taken away your misfortune, no longer need you bear the disgrace of it. I am taking action here and now against your oppressors.
Zephaniah 3:17-19a

The Book of Zephaniah is the 9^th book in the Minor Prophets in the Christian Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible, following the Book of Habakkuk (c. 605-597 BC) and coming before the Book of Zechariah (c. 519-480 BC). The Book of Zephaniah offers a reply to Habakkuk's Psalm at the end of his book, calling on God to intervene in the central subject of Zephaniah's day of Yahweh's judgment.

Zephaniah's name in Hebrew means "Yahweh hides" or "Yahweh has treasured." It is also a proper name in Jeremiah 29:29, 52:24, and Zechariah 6:10 and 14. The title or heading in verse 1 names four of Zephaniah's ancestors, which is highly unusual for a prophet. The reason may be to demonstrate his royal lineage as the great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah, making him a distant relative of King Josiah.

The Historical Setting for the Book of Zephaniah

In Zephaniah's time, Assyria, the dominant empire for more than a century, entered a period of decline aggravated by the rise of the Neo-Babylonian empire. In 612 BC, the Babylonians conquered the Assyrian capital of Nineveh and ended Assyrian dominance. Zechariah's mission was centered on ministering in Jerusalem (cf., 1:10-11) during the reign of King Josiah, who became the king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah when he was only eight years old (2 Kng 22:1-23:30). Josiah's name (Hebrew = Y'osiyyah or Y'osiyyah) means "may Yahweh give." He became the king of Judah in 640 BC after his father's assassination by his entourage. Josiah's father had continued the religious perversions of Josiah's grandfather, Manasseh. They served and worshipped idols (2 Kings 21:21-24). Josiah's father and grandfather had introduced foreign religions into Judah (cults of Canaanite gods, the Ammonite god Molech/Milcom, and the cult of the "host of heaven," etc.).

Josiah ruled for 31 years from 640-609 BC (2 Kings 22:1). Zephaniah 2:13 suggests that the destruction of Ninevah by the Babylonians in 612 BC had not occurred; therefore, his book can be dated to before Nineveh's destruction. Since Zephaniah lists the sins of Judah that were prevalent before Josiah began his religious reforms (1:3-13, 3:1-7), his ministry can be dated to between 640 BC when Josiah became king and 624 BC when he began his religious reforms and before the destruction of Nineveh in 612 BC. Zephaniah's prophecies may have been a factor in the reforms instituted by King Josiah.

Zephaniah's grim prophesies warned about the coming Day of Yahweh's fierce judgment against the covenant people of Judah and Jerusalem for the sins they committed during the reigns of Josiah's grandfather Manasseh (687-642 BC) and his father, Amon (642-640 BC). Zephaniah's poetic oracles appear to originate from the early years of Josiah's reign when he was still a minor and had not launched his religious reforms. Later, as a young adult, Josiah initiated many reforms to restore the people of Judah to a renewed relationship with Yahweh.

2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chronicles 33-34 list Josiah's religious reforms. Those reforms began with repairs to the Jerusalem Temple and culminated in rejecting all forms of foreign cult influence. The reforms were based on the "Book of the Law" discovered in the Temple by the High Priest Hilkiah during repairs to the Temple (2 Kings 22:8ff). It was probably the original Book of Deuteronomy. Josiah renewed the covenant Yahweh formed with Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24; 2 Chronicles 34:29-33) and reinstituted the celebration of the Feast of Passover according to the terms of God's commands in the Book of the Law (2 Kings 23:21ff; 2 Chronicles 35:1-19). 2 Chronicles 34:3-7 records these reforms occurred in the 8^th year of Josiah's reign when he was 16 years old (631 BC), undoubtedly under the influence of the High Priest, Hilkiah. Concerning Josiah's reign, He did what Yahweh regards as right, and in every respect followed the example of his ancestor David, not deviating from it to right or left (2 Kings 22:2, NJB).

The Focus of Zephaniah's Book

The coming "Day of Yahweh" is the central theme of Zephaniah, which he describes in descriptive, eschatological language (1:7-18). Yahweh visits His divine judgment on Judah and Jerusalem as well as on Judah's Gentile neighbors who have oppressed the covenant people. Sin is the reason for God's sentence of judgment against Judah and Jerusalem. Despite the warning of His prophets, they have continued to engage in idolatry (1:4-6), violence, fraud (1:9; 3:3), and moral and religious indifference (1:12), the sin of atheism. Zephaniah condemns their rulers (civil and religious) who have adopted the pagan practices of their neighbors and have exploited the people (1:8; 3:3), including unjust judges and officials (3:3), false prophets, and priests who have broken Mosaic Law (3:4). He accuses them of their transgressions that have roots in the sins of pride, deceit, and rebellion toward God (3:1, 11, 13). The nations that take part in plundering and oppressing the covenant people will also suffer punishment for their abuse and pride (2:8-13, 15).

God's day of divine judgment has two parts: judgments resulting in the destruction of Judah by foreign enemies and restoration and hope for the faithful remnant of God's covenant people, bringing salvation history to a close. The book ends with oracles of universal salvation (3:11-13). The divine presence of God on Zion will bring purification, restore righteousness and humility (2:3; 3:13), and bring hope (3:12-13). The exiles will return to the Promised Land (2:7-9; 3:18-20), Israel will rejoice over Yahweh's works, and the Lord will rejoice in His restored people (3:14-18) and reign over them (3:15). Their oppressors and other nations will be cleansed and converted to worshipping the One true God (3:9-10). Zephaniah presents Yahweh as the Lord God, who is the just judge of all peoples and nations.

The New Testament alludes to only one phrase from Zephaniah: They will do no wrong, will tell no lies; nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths (3:13), found in Revelation 14:5, No lie was found in their mouths and no fault can be found in them. Also, the tone of the oracles of consolation in 3:9-20 appears to be present in the Infancy Narratives of St. Luke's Gospel (Luke 1:5-2:52), and the description of the "humble and lowly" remnant (3:13) is reflected in the Virgin Mary's life, the life of the parents of John the Baptist, and the joy the prophet describes is like the joy the angel Gabriel announces to Mary in Luke 1:26-38.

Zephaniah's theme of the Day of the Lord is revisited in the Book of Revelation (Revelation Chapter 21) and in the liturgical hymn, Dies Irae, which was inspired by Zephaniah 1:14-15 in response to the Office of the Dead. These are the prophet's most lasting contributions to the Book of Revelation and to Christian spirituality.

SUMMARY OF THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH
BIBLICAL PERIOD	#8: After the Assyrian conquest and exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and before the Babylonian conquest of the Southern Kingdom of Judah
FOCUS	Yahweh's Day of Judgment		Yahweh's Day of Salvation
COVENANT	THE SINAI COVENANT
SCRIPTURE	1:1-------------------2:4----------------------3:1------------------3:9-----------------20
DIVISIONS	Oracles of Universal Judgment	Prophesies Against the Nations	Oracles Against Judah and Jerusalem	Promises of Redemption
TOPIC	Day of Wrath			Day of Joy
LOCATION	The Southern Kingdom of Judah during the reign of King Josiah >(ruled 640-609 BC)
TIME	Between 640 BC and 624 BC

All Bible verses in the lesson are from the New Jerusalem Bible unless listed as NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition) or IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English). Yahweh is God's Divine Name, which appears in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and is the name by which God declared, "This is my name for all time, and thus I am to be invoked for all generations to come" (Exodus 3:15b). Modern translations replace the Divine Name with LORD in capital letters.

See the chart of the prophets in Handout 2.
See chart on the kings of Judah.
See chart on the Kings of Judah and Kings of Israel.