Zephaniah 1

The prophet Zephaniah ministered in the days of the remarkable king Josiah. Josiah was the son of Amon and the grandson of Manasseh, both of whom did much evil in the sight of the Lord, and brought much trouble upon Jerusalem. Josiah's grandfather Manasseh apparently repented later in life. His father Amon was only 22 years old when he began to reign, and there is nothing particularly good said about him in the Scriptures. He reigned for only two years, and his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house. 2 Kings 21:22 plainly says of Amon, "He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD." 2 Chronicles 33:23 adds this regarding Amon, "He did not humble himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more."

Josiah was only eight years old when his father was murdered and he became King of Judah. The Bible tells us that it was the people of the land who made young Josiah king after they put to death the conspirators who had killed his father. Josiah reigned for 31 years, and he instituted great reforms in Judah, reforms which seem to coincide with the indictments of the prophet Zephaniah against the people of Judah. His reign was the final positive moment in the history of the Davidic kings prior to the birth of Jesus, the final promised king in the line of David born some 600 years after the death of Josiah. With the sons and grandsons of Josiah we have the sad conclusion to the recognized monarchy in the Promised Land as the nation is brought into exile, a conclusion that demands yet another future chapter in order for the Lord's promises to David to be fulfilled.

Despite the ways in which this small book of prophesy fits so tightly into the history of Judah, the message of the prophet goes far beyond the time and place in which he lived. God has a Day of Judgment that is coming upon the entire earth. Even the birds of the earth and the fish of the sea will be swept away, and all mankind will be cut off from the face of the earth. It seems plain that nothing but the final judgment that is coming upon the entire earth at the return of Christ will have a sufficient scope so as to capture the plain meaning of the words given to us in the opening and closing sections of this chapter.

It is within this context of final judgment that the particular wrath of the Lord against Judah is to be understood. The description of the Lord's devastating discipline of His covenant people and their rulers borrows language and imagery from the Lord's final judgment of the entire earth. The inhabitants of Jerusalem and the larger region of Judah are plainly guilty before the Lord. Though they are the covenant people of God, they are guilty. They even have idolatrous priests who lead people in the worship of Baal. There are others who swear by the Lord and by Milcom, an Ammonite god who was supposedly honored through the death of small children. Others within their number have entirely turned away from seeking the Lord. Many were simply complacent about the most significant questions of the Lord's engagement in their lives, concluding that God would not do anything to them one way or another. The situation was one that apparently demanded divine action.

We are all capable of much talk. We have many opinions, and we can move quickly in various directions that are mutually inconsistent. We claim to be part of the people who have been chosen by God, and we may even have truly called upon His Name. Yet somehow we have become ensnared in deadly thinking, foolish ritual, and immoral murder and thievery. There is a day coming when we will stop all our talk, for we will see the imminence of the Lord's judgment in our own lives or in the lives of those near to us. Divine judgment, as it is specifically expressed in this place of mortal life that we call earth, has its limit in the loss of our lives. This is the place and age of mortality, and the ultimate sanction here is death. This is no small sanction, for the lives that we live now in the covenant community have been given to us on this earth, and they are given with God's commandments and God's purpose. As those who confess that our hope is in the Lord, our lives here are His. Of what use are they when we deny Him by our words, our worship, and our lives? It is serious thing for our lives here to be brought to an end.

Yet there is something more dangerous still that we must consider. Where do we stand concerning the eternal purposes of Almighty God beyond this present earth? Has the atoning blood of the Lamb of God been shed for us? In what company shall we spend the ages and ages of eternity to come? Jesus took the fullness of the Day of Judgment upon Himself in His death on the cross. That bitter day came swiftly upon the greatest King of the covenant people of God. His life was very short and very difficult. The horror of His death is beyond our ability to fully understand. It was a day of the greatest distress and anguish when He poured out His blood on the dust of this earth for His elect who were formed from that dust. He faced the fire of His Father's jealous wrath and justice, so that we could know the blessings of God's jealous love for His children. The wrath of Almighty God against us was consumed. Let us consider well what Jesus Christ has done with His brief life, and let us use our few moments here in this important place of testing with a more earnest and sincere recognition that we must use these days well, for it is in the power of our God to determine when the time of our service here has no further purpose.