Zephaniah 2:4-15. In yesterday’s reading we saw a warning from Zephaniah that God is gong to deal with disobedience and disrespect toward him (sin). The warning focused mostly on Judah, the southern half of the nation of Israel.  The Northern half of the nation, the Kingdom of Israel, had already been conquered and dispersed by the Assyrian Empire almost a century before Zephaniah wrote these words.  Although the focus was on Judah there was warning (and some encouragement too) to the rest of the world.  The warning seemed to include judgment or punishment that would happen in the near future and also a time called “the great day of the LORD” that is probably referring to a time more distant.  From our vantage point in history, and with the New Testament, we can more clearly see that the “great day of the LORD” is still future.

Yesterday’s reading ended with Zephaniah encouraging people to turn back to God.  I said it “continued the whole world language” which I believe it does (Zephaniah 2:3) but it starts out by addressing the “nation”, probably referring to Judah.  So the focus in the first part of Zephaniah seems to be Judah with the rest of the world still in the picture but more in the background.  In today’s reading the other parts of the world become the focus.

Israel occupied land on the eastern Mediterranean coast or near it.  Actually they had been promised all the land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River, and from the Nile Delta to Damascus (Deuteronomy 1:7, 11:24; Joshua 1:4).  During the time before the nation was split into two kingdoms they came close to holding this much land but it was always a struggle.  When they originally took the land under Joshua they were supposed to eliminate the Canaanite and other peoples who lived in it but they didn’t (If you want to know more about this read the posts on Joshua and Judges).  In the western part of the land along the seashore their greatest foe were the Philistines.  Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron were main Philistine cities in the area.  The Cherethites were evidently another people group in this same region.  Zephaniah 2:4-7 describes God removing these people from the land.

You may think that this is cruel or unfair but these people groups were a constant distraction for the people of Israel; encouraging the Israelites to be unfaithful to God.  Some people think that the idea of a god is something that mankind made up for one reason or another, but the fact of the matter is that God is a reality.  The universe and all that is in it was clearly made by an intelligent powerful being; God (See Romans 1:19-20).  The Bible tells us that the focus of God’s creation of the universe was mankind.  God wanted to make us and a place for us.  It is clear from the total story in the Bible that God did this in order to have a relationship with him forever; a relationship based on free will, trust, and respect, God wanted us to choose him.  Unfortunately we didn’t choose him and the result was that that forever relationship was broken, we were forever separated from Him, which was the consequence.  You see, eternal separation from God (Hell) isn’t because God is a tyrant but it is because he loves us enough to respect our choice.  But since the consequences are eternal and severe God is also serious about making all of that clear, so when people tried to distract the Israelites from their relationship with God he used the situation to teach the seriousness of the situation.  Remember that the Israelites were chosen by God to be an example to the world; to help the world understand all of this truth.

But there was another part of all of this truth that God wanted the world to understand too.  God knew that Adam and Eve would make a bad choice, God knew that the Israelites would not be very faithful, God knows we are weak, so he had a plan; a way to deal with the consequences of our weakness and a way to help us be stronger.  But first God wanted a little history to play out so we would understand (See “The Old Testament Connection”).  Jesus was the answer to the consequences he paid the infinite consequence that we owed and the Holy Spirit is the answer to our weakness, he comes into our lives when we give our life back to God and helps us be more faithful.  So in the end we need to remember that God loved the world enough to become a man and die for the sins of all mankind (John 3:16, 1 John 2:2).  But his love and respect for us also means that he will not force himself on us and if we choose to walk away he will let us go.  It is all very serious though and God would not allow the people around Israel be a spiritual distraction to them without consequences.  And remember if those people had already rejected God they were already headed for an eternity without him.  One last point and we will move on, there are many examples in the Bible of people from these groups individually turning to God and God accepting them, Rahab and Ruth are two example that come to mind.  And in our reading in Zephaniah we see God concerned for all people who would humbly seek him (Zephaniah 2:3 see also 1 John 2:2).

So the destruction of the distracting people to the west is predicted in Zephaniah 2:4-7.  But also notice that there are some from Judah who are faithful to God (called a remnant in verse 7).  They are given a place to live, they are cared for by God, and God gives them good fortune.  It you read a King James translation verse 7 says, “God will turn away their captivity”.  If we put it in positive terms God will set them free (check out John 8:31-36).

In verses 8-11 Zephaniah’s prediction turns to the east of Jerusalem to two people groups living in the desert, the Moabites and the Ammonites.  Again we see people being disrespectful and distracting, threatening the Israelites.  In the description of their actions we see that they are prideful “against the territory of Israel”.  In ancient cultures land the security of your property was seen as a reflection of your god, in the case of Israel the land was certainly promised by God, but remember that God is about the bigger picture, not just here and now but eternity.  To be sure, the Israelites kingdom had shrunk but it was not because God is weak or impotent.  The Moabites and Ammonites seemed to saying just that though.  Zephaniah assures the people of Judah (and warns the people of Moab and Ammon if they were listening) that these people will be the ones who lose their land (land that ultimately was supposed to belong to Israel anyway) and that the “remnant of Judah” would take their land over.  So again we see God’s love and faithfulness but also his truthfulness and purity.  Verses 10-11 keep the big picture in focus but showing a contrast between the people of God and those who make fun of them.  He ties the actions of those people with their gods, gods who are weak.  Bowing down is a sign of respect and in the end the whole world will respect the one true God, but for many it will be too late.

Verse 12 turns to the south, the Ethiopians will be destroyed too.  No explanation just the prediction.  Perhaps the people of Jerusalem had some history with the Ethiopians that we don’t know about.  A couple interesting thoughts on Ethiopia though. First, Ethiopia (the actual word in Hebrew is Cush and refers to the descendants of Cush who lived around the southern part of the Nile River) would have been considered the end of the earth at least to the south.  And second, at one point in the recent past (recent for the Zephaniah’s time) Egypt had had an Ethiopian king.  Egypt was a strong force in the region and so this may be a hint at Egypt.  If you read the “Intro to Zephaniah” you might remember that Josiah is ultimately killed in a battle with Egypt.  The Egyptian army was on their way to aid the Assyrian army in a fight with the Babylonians and King Josiah had basically blown off Assyrian authority over Judah.

The next prediction moves from the south to the north and is against Assyria.  The description of God’s dealing with Assyria is one of total desolation.  It is interesting that the buildings remain but are filled with wild animals, no people.  The result is that people will pass by and see, the once great empire is no more.  Hopefully they will make the connection back with the true and powerful God who made it happen.  Notice in verse 15 the slight hint at the big picture, Ninevah, the capital of the Asyrian Empire said in her heart, “I am the only one”.  Remember God wants us all to see him for who he really is so we can have a chance at restoring our relationship with him.

Remember that Zephaniah is written in a poetic style.  In Hebrew poetry isn’t so much about rhymes as it is about structure. Hebrew poetry uses things like parallel statements that either repeat an idea or contrast it.  They also use more complicated forms like “chiasms” which reflect parallel or contrasting ideas often around a central of focal point.  Here in Zephaniah you might have noticed that the four predictions are about the four points of the compass, west, east, south, and north.  That may be one reason for the brief prediction about Cush or Ethiopia, to give the balance.  There also may be some contrast between powerful Egypt and powerful Assyria.  Certainly naming the four main directions gives the idea of completeness and by using Cush we start pushing the boundaries to the ends of the Earth.  Of course there were people living beyond theses areas they are pretty close to Israel when all things are considered.  And God knows all of that, but remember this was written originally to the people of Judah so it speaks in language that would communicate to them.  That is why we have to be careful when we study our Bibles to get the background, so we can get the real idea.  Then we can make better application to our own lives.

The big ideas here are that God is the God of the whole world.  The whole world is under his control and is subject to his rules.  We also need to see that Judah is special to God.  This is not because Judah is any better than the rest of the world, after all Judah is part of the judgment too.  What we see here is God being faithful to the promises he made to Judah’s ancestors centuries before.  Also we have seen so far that the whole world has the opportunity to have a part on the good things God is offering (Zephaniah 2:3).  All in all those are some great ideas.  God loves the whole world, God is serious about evil and will deal with it in the whole world, God is faithful to his promises.

God thank you for taking the time to lay down the law.  Thank you for making the consequences clear.  Thank yo for making it clear that we are all incapable of following the rules on our own (see “The Old Testament Connection”).  Thank you for being merciful and providing a way out.  Help me humbly bow before you now.  Help many in the world see the truth and turn to you now.  God I know many will miss out on eternity with you but make that number as small as possible.  Help me be a good picture to the world of all your truth.  Thank you for Jesus and thank you that someday there will be an end to all this madness.