SUMMARY
The book opens with the announcement of the Day of the LordThe Day of the Lord, in prophetic writing, is the day of judgment when God will intervene directly in world affairs. As described in Zephaniah, for instance, God will sweep everything away. In Matthew’s gospel God is described as gathering the elect on the day… More, which is characterized as a day of massive, even total, destruction. It is a day that reverses creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and… More; humans, animals, birds, and the whole world will be swept away (1:2-3; 17-18). Officials (1:8), people of means (1:13), and other subgroups are mentioned, but the chapter does not limit the devastation to specific groups within Judah. A possibility of being protected through the destruction is mentioned at the start of chapter 2 (2:1-3), but it is not promised. The bulk of chapter 2 contains oracles against nations and shifts to destruction outside of Judah. Chapter 3 returns to Judah. Threats against Judah and its capital city, Jerusalem, are intermingled with references to a surviving remnant (3:12-13). They will rejoice and sing in concert with God’s own rejoicing over them as restored people.
SO WHAT?
In three chapters Zephaniah ranges through the major prophetic themes of judgment and salvationSalvation can mean saved from something (deliverance) or for something (redemption). Paul preached that salvation comes through the death of Christ on the cross which redeemed sinners from death and for a grace-filled life. More. The book announces judgment in comprehensive terms matched only by the extensiveness of God’s transformation and restoration. The book prompts consideration of the communal consequences of sin and squarely focuses any future beyond judgment on God’s removal of the judgments and reconstitution of a faithful people.
WHERE DO I FIND IT?
Zephaniah is the 36th book in the Christian Old Testament, falling between Habakkuk and Haggai. It is the ninth of the 12 Minor Prophets. (“Minor” means “shorter,” not “less important”).
WHO WROTE IT?
The superscription (1:1) attributes the book to Zephaniah and traces his genealogyGenealogy involves the study and tracing of families through the generations – in short, family history. One genealogy in Genesis traces the nations descended from Noah. In the New Testament Matthew traces the ancestry of Jesus back to Abraham, while Jesus’ genealogy in Luke goes… More back to Hezekiah. The Bible does mention other individuals named Zephaniah, notably a priestA priest is a person who has the authority to perform religious rites. In New Testament times priests were responsible for daily offerings and sacrifices in the temple. More in Jeremiah (21:1; 29:25, 29; 37:3; 52:24), but there is no other linkage to the Zephaniah named in the superscription. It is often claimed that Zephaniah had a royal background based on his ancestry. The superscription, however, does not call Hezekiah a king. It is best to admit that besides having the name Zephaniah, we know nothing else about the author.
WHEN WAS IT WRITTEN?
The superscription places Zephaniah in the reign of Josiah, whose reign extended from 640 to 609 B.C.E., but the book itself does not directly provide additional information to fix the date more specifically. Josiah’s reform and Judean expansion are not mentioned, though Zephaniah is certainly interested in far-reaching changes to Judean society. Assyria and Nineveh are mentioned, but Babylon is not. The combined effect of these factors has led most interpreters to assume the book is set in the early part of Josiah’s reign.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
The book announces the destructive “Day of the Lord” (Heb: yom adonai) directed against both Judah and the nations followed by God’s transformation of the people into a faithful and rejoicing community in harmony with God.
HOW DO I READ IT?
The Book of Zephaniah employs standard styles of prophetic speech. The announcement of judgment that opens the book can only evoke repentance, though without the repentant being promised deliverance (see the “perhaps” in 2:3). As a rule, the book assumes a communal scope of guilt and judgment. A gracious future, if it is to exist at all, is on the other side of the destruction of the community and is God’s act of transforming the community into a faithful one. To read in concert with the book (that is, to be addressed by the book), contemporary readers need to step outside of an individualistic understanding of guilt, innocence, and graceGrace is the unmerited gift of God’s love and acceptance. In Martin Luther’s favorite expression from the Apostle Paul, we are saved by grace through faith, which means that God showers grace upon us even though we do not deserve it. More, recognizing themselves as part of a larger social matrix in which the acts of each affect all. It can be tempting for Christian readers of the Old Testament to point to Christ as the answer to any difficulty in its pages, but Zephaniah has its own movement through judgment to joy and hope. This judgment is real, profound, and sweeping but it does not get the final word in life with God–joy and comfort found in God’s work to renew and restore does.
