Zephaniah Chapter 1

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  1. v1: “The word of the LORD that came …” the same opening were also used by Hosea, Joel and Micah. This book, just like all the books in the bible, was written by the Holy Spirit through His chosen vessel, the prophets of God
  2. v1: Zephaniah was the only prophet whose lineage is traced by to four generations. Probably because he was great grandson of King Hezekiah
  3. v2: “I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth” Judgment on the whole earth
  4. v3: The judgment is in reverse order from Creation. Men, animals, birds and fish will be swept away.
  5. v3: “The wicked”, the judgment will only for the wicked. All men are sinners, but those who put their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ will be clothed with righteousness (Rom 3:23-24).
  6. v4: change from judgment to the world to judgment to Judah and Jerusalem
  7. v4: Baal was the Canaanite god of fertility whom many in Israel had worshiped in the time of the judges (Jud 2:13), King Ahab (1 Kings 16:32) and King Manasseh.
  8. v4: Two kind of priests are mentioned:
    1. 1) pagan priests are non-Levitical priests who worshipped idols, King Josiah did remove pagan priests in 2 Kings 23:5.
    2. 2) Idolatrous priests are Levitical priests who workshop idols.
  9. v5-6: Three kinds of people are mentioned
    1. those who worshipped starry host
    2. those who worshipped the LORD and also worshipped Molech
      1. Molech was the chief god of the Ammonites (1 Kings 11:33). The Jews were sacrificing children to Molech (Jer 32:35, 2 Kings 16:3, 21:6)
    3. those who neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him
  10. v7: “the day of the LORD” this is the first of 19 references to the day of the LORD in this book
  11. v7: “prepared a sacrifice” meaning the Jews
  12. v7: “consecrated those he has invited” meaning the Babylonians
  13. v8: The princes and clad like the latest fashions from Nineveh and Babylon. Their outward appearances also reveal their heart. They had absorbed foreign values and practices.
  14. v9: “stepping on the threshold” could mean one of the following:
    1. followed the Philistines’ superstition (1 Sam 5:5)
    2. suddenly leaped into others’ homes to steal and offered the plunder to their gods
  15. v12: God will search the city, no one does not believe in Him (the LORD will do nothing, either good or bad) will go unpunished.
  16. v13: They will not live long enough to enjoy their houses and vinepards
  17. v14: “The great day of the LORD” is a day of judgement
    1. 605 BC first exiles to Babylon
    2. 597 BC second exiles to Babylon
    3. 586 BC finial exiles to Babylon
  18. v16: Attacks will come to Jerusalem and the other Jew’s cities
  19. v17: The reason of this judgement: “They have sinned against the LORD”
  20. v18: money cannot save us from God’s judgment, only the blood of Jesus Christ could save us
  21. v18: “the whole world will be consumed” prophesy changed from near term to end times.

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