Zephaniah 2

Zephaniah 2

Judgment on Judah’s Enemies

  Gather together, yes, gather,
    O shameless nation,
  before the decree takes effect
    —before the day passes away like chaff—
  before there comes upon you
    the burning anger of the LORD,
  before there comes upon you
    the day of the anger of the LORD.
  Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,
    who do his just commands;
  seek righteousness; seek humility;
    perhaps you may be hidden
    on the day of the anger of the LORD.
  For Gaza shall be deserted,
    and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
  Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
    and Ekron shall be uprooted.
  Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,
    you nation of the Cherethites!
  The word of the LORD is against you,
    O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
    and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
  And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,
    with meadows for shepherds
    and folds for flocks.
  The seacoast shall become the possession
    of the remnant of the house of Judah,
    on which they shall graze,
  and in the houses of Ashkelon
    they shall lie down at evening.
  For the LORD their God will be mindful of them
    and restore their fortunes.
  “I have heard the taunts of Moab
    and the revilings of the Ammonites,
  how they have taunted my people
    and made boasts against their territory.
  Therefore, as I live,” declares the LORD of hosts,
    the God of Israel,
  “Moab shall become like Sodom,
    and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,
  a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
    and a waste forever.
  The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
    and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
  This shall be their lot in return for their pride,
    because they taunted and boasted
    against the people of the LORD of hosts.
  The LORD will be awesome against them;
    for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
  and to him shall bow down,
    each in its place,
    all the lands of the nations.
  You also, O Cushites,
    shall be slain by my sword.
  And he will stretch out his hand against the north
    and destroy Assyria,
  and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
    a dry waste like the desert.
  Herds shall lie down in her midst,
    all kinds of beasts;
  even the owl and the hedgehog
    shall lodge in her capitals;
  a voice shall hoot in the window;
    devastation will be on the threshold;
    for her cedar work will be laid bare.
  This is the exultant city
    that lived securely,
  that said in her heart,
    “I am, and there is no one else.”
  What a desolation she has become,
    a lair for wild beasts!
  Everyone who passes by her
    hisses and shakes his fist.

(ESV)


Zephaniah 2 Commentary

by Brad Boyles

Urgency. Do you sense it? Are you living it?

There are two massive truth bombs that come from this chapter. The first is that God will repay all evil done against Him outside of repentance through Jesus Christ. Sometimes we fall into the negative pattern of believing God is letting sin slide. He is not. Just consider the words spoken to all these pagan nations who had dwelled carelessly in His world.

I have heard the taunting of Moab…

…the insults of the Ammonites…

This is the self-assured city that lives in security, that thinks to herself: I exist, and there is no one else…

All of this did not go unseen or unheard. This should bring both a conviction and relief to those of us who are saved by the blood of Jesus. On one hand, we understand the debt that was paid for us. On the other hand, we rejoice knowing that evil will not prosper. God sees it all.

The second truth to consider is that in His mercy, God spares the remnant. We find this with Lot. We read of it with Rahab. The life of Joseph is a prime example of how God goes before in the middle of a crisis.

For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.  7  God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.

Genesis 45:6-7 HCSB

Here in Zephaniah, God offers a way out to those who were humble and repentant.

Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth, who carry out what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the LORD’s anger.

Zephaniah 2:3 HCSB

This is no different than Jesus’ words to the believers today who have an opportunity to respond to His message. In fact, through Jesus, it is no longer a “perhaps” but an assurance of being (not just concealed but raised up!) on the Day of the Lord.

Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out.  38  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  39  This is the will of Him who sent Me: that I should lose none of those He has given Me but should raise them up on the last day.  40  For this is the will of My Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:37-40 HCSB

The entire chapter speaks of our reasonable response to what God has revealed to us. So, again I ask…

Urgency. Do you sense it? Are you living it? Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.

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