seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Zephaniah 3:1 Woe to the city of oppressors,
rebellious and defiled!
2 She obeys no one,
she accepts no correction.
She does not trust in the Lord,
she does not draw near to her God.
3 Her officials within her
are roaring lions;
her rulers are evening wolves,
who leave nothing for the morning.
4 Her prophets are unprincipled;
they are treacherous people.
Her priests profane the sanctuary
and do violence to the law.
5 The Lord within her is righteous;
he does no wrong.
Morning by morning he dispenses his justice,
and every new day he does not fail,
yet the unrighteous know no shame.
rebellious and defiled!
2 She obeys no one,
she accepts no correction.
She does not trust in the Lord,
she does not draw near to her God.
3 Her officials within her
are roaring lions;
her rulers are evening wolves,
who leave nothing for the morning.
4 Her prophets are unprincipled;
they are treacherous people.
Her priests profane the sanctuary
and do violence to the law.
5 The Lord within her is righteous;
he does no wrong.
Morning by morning he dispenses his justice,
and every new day he does not fail,
yet the unrighteous know no shame.
6 “I have destroyed nations;
their strongholds are demolished.
I have left their streets deserted,
with no one passing through.
Their cities are laid waste;
they are deserted and empty.
7 Of Jerusalem I thought,
‘Surely you will fear me
and accept correction!’
Then her place of refuge[a] would not be destroyed,
nor all my punishments come upon[b] her.
But they were still eager
to act corruptly in all they did.
8 Therefore wait for me,”
declares the Lord,
“for the day I will stand up to testify.[c]
I have decided to assemble the nations,
to gather the kingdoms
and to pour out my wrath on them—
all my fierce anger.
The whole world will be consumed
by the fire of my jealous anger.
their strongholds are demolished.
I have left their streets deserted,
with no one passing through.
Their cities are laid waste;
they are deserted and empty.
7 Of Jerusalem I thought,
‘Surely you will fear me
and accept correction!’
Then her place of refuge[a] would not be destroyed,
nor all my punishments come upon[b] her.
But they were still eager
to act corruptly in all they did.
8 Therefore wait for me,”
declares the Lord,
“for the day I will stand up to testify.[c]
I have decided to assemble the nations,
to gather the kingdoms
and to pour out my wrath on them—
all my fierce anger.
The whole world will be consumed
by the fire of my jealous anger.
9 “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples,
that all of them may call on the name of the Lord
and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush[d]
my worshipers, my scattered people,
will bring me offerings.
11 On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame
for all the wrongs you have done to me,
because I will remove from you
your arrogant boasters.
Never again will you be haughty
on my holy hill.
12 But I will leave within you
the meek and humble.
The remnant of Israel
will trust in the name of the Lord.
13 They will do no wrong;
they will tell no lies.
A deceitful tongue
will not be found in their mouths.
They will eat and lie down
and no one will make them afraid.”
that all of them may call on the name of the Lord
and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush[d]
my worshipers, my scattered people,
will bring me offerings.
11 On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame
for all the wrongs you have done to me,
because I will remove from you
your arrogant boasters.
Never again will you be haughty
on my holy hill.
12 But I will leave within you
the meek and humble.
The remnant of Israel
will trust in the name of the Lord.
13 They will do no wrong;
they will tell no lies.
A deceitful tongue
will not be found in their mouths.
They will eat and lie down
and no one will make them afraid.”
14 Sing, Daughter Zion;
shout aloud, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.
16 On that day
they will say to Jerusalem,
“Do not fear, Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.
17 The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”
shout aloud, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.
16 On that day
they will say to Jerusalem,
“Do not fear, Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.
17 The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”
18 “I will remove from you
all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals,
which is a burden and reproach for you.
19 At that time I will deal
with all who oppressed you.
I will rescue the lame;
I will gather the exiles.
I will give them praise and honor
in every land where they have suffered shame.
20 At that time I will gather you;
at that time I will bring you home.
I will give you honor and praise
among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes[e]
before your very eyes,”
says the Lord.
all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals,
which is a burden and reproach for you.
19 At that time I will deal
with all who oppressed you.
I will rescue the lame;
I will gather the exiles.
I will give them praise and honor
in every land where they have suffered shame.
20 At that time I will gather you;
at that time I will bring you home.
I will give you honor and praise
among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes[e]
before your very eyes,”
says the Lord.
a. Zephaniah 3:7 Or her sanctuary
b. Zephaniah 3:7 Or all those I appointed over
c. Zephaniah 3:8 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew will rise up to plunder
d. Zephaniah 3:10 That is, the upper Nile region
e. Zephaniah 3:20 Or I bring back your captives
This is from the easy English site.
Now God says what will happen to Judah. The Hebrew Bible does not say that these verses are about Jerusalem. But Bible students are sure that they are about Jerusalem. In verse 1, the words ‘not obey’, ‘dirty’ and ‘cruel’ mean a lot in the Hebrew Bible:
- ‘not obey’ means ‘fight against’;
- ‘dirty’ means ‘very bad’ or ‘unclean’;
- ‘cruel’ means ‘rich people make poor people work for them. And they give them very little for their work’.
These people do not trust their LORD. Remember this: LORD is a special word that only God’s servants should use. ‘Trust’ means ‘believe that he (the LORD) will do things. He will do what he has promised to do’. These people in Jerusalem do not think that God will make them safe from their enemies. So they do not ‘come near’ (or pray) to their God. But he promised to do this if they obeyed him. They neither believe nor obey God. Instead, they trust their leaders. But their leaders are like wild animals. They make a lot of noise, like lions. Lions are very large wild cats. Also, the leaders are like wolves. Wolves are wild animals. They eat every animal that they find, including people. Bible students think that this means, ‘the leaders promise to do a lot for their people. But they only take away everything that their people have.’
Here we read about what God will do to all the countries near Judah and also to Judah itself. These are the countries in Zephaniah 2:4-15. But it also includes Judah. ‘Cut off’ here is another word for destroy. In the Hebrew Bible, ‘strong buildings’ is ‘corner *owers’. These were tall buildings at the corners of their cities’ walls. Verse 7 is about Judah. God wanted them to love and to obey him. But they wanted to do bad things very much. So, they got up early to do them! In verse 8, to ‘say what I have seen’ is from the Greek Bible. The Hebrew Bible says, ‘to attack’. Most translations think that the Greek Bible is correct. The ‘fire of my jealousy’ is the love that God has for his people. He wanted them to love him only, but they wanted to work for other gods also. This made God jealous. He punished the people that would not obey him, (verse 7). But he also punished foreign people that hurt his own people, the Jews. This was because some of the Jews still loved him. And they still obeyed him.
Here God spoke (by Zephaniah) to all the people in the world. Our translation of verse 9 explains the Hebrew words. It does not really translate them. The Hebrew Bible says, ‘Then I will change the peoples to one pure lip, to call on the name of the LORD. And they will serve him with one shoulder.’ ‘Change’ means ‘make a change’. ‘Pure’ means ‘only one material in it’. ‘Call’ means ‘shout out’. And ‘serve’ means ‘be the servant of’. ‘One pure lip’ makes Bible students think about the story about the Tower of Babel. It is in Genesis 11:1-9. Everybody spoke the same language until God confused their words. Now we have about 6000 languages in the world. But Zephaniah says that it will change! One day we will all speak the same language again. But we do not know when we will do so. Many Bible students think that this is another eschatological part of Zephaniah’s book. It will happen when Jesus comes back to the earth. In verse 11, ‘rebelled against me’ means ‘fought against me’. Or it means ‘they did not obey me’. The ‘holy mountain’ is Zion in Jerusalem. The Temple was there. The Jews believed that God lived in the Temple. So that made the place like God. Because God was holy (very, very good) the place was holy too.
The Book of Zephaniah has a happy end! God will bring back the remnant of his people from exile. If they are poor, they will ask the LORD for help. They will not tell lies (words that are not true). Their tongues will speak what is true. Our tongues in our mouths help us to speak. Because they are not afraid, verse 13, they will sing. And they will shout for joy. ‘Joy’ is when you feel very, very happy deep inside you. The LORD has sent the enemies of the Jews away, and he ‘will do something’ to them. This means that he will punish them. He will beat them, or he will kill them. The Jews will not be ashamed any longer. They will be famous and people will say good things about them. The LORD will give them back all the good things that they lost in the exile.
All this will make the LORD God very happy too! He will live among his people as King of Israel. Because he is so happy, he will dance. And he will shout (or sing) for his people. ‘It will be like a big party’. Bible students ask, ‘When did, or when will, all this happen?’ Maybe there are two answers:
- it happened when the Jews came back from exile in Babylon, in 536 B.C.
- it will happen again when Jesus comes back to the earth. Bible verses that are about that time are called eschatological verses.
Here's a chapter prophesying Israel's restoration. You will notice from the wording of this chapter that we're not talking a mere return to their land which began in 535 B.C. under the Persians (Ezra 1). We're talking about the world being ruled from Israel, and specifically Jerusalem. Notice verse 9, "For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent." It's impossible to make a valid case that this is not a world-wide worship of "the LORD."
Then there are references to a pure remnant and complete destruction of the enemy. That can only be millennium talk. There can be little question that this passage is Messianic and millennial. Verse 15 seems to seal this conclusion, "The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more." There is no time in history that fulfills this scenario. And verse 20 is the capper, "At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD." Yup, definitely Messianic in the yet-future millennium!
So...in summary, the fall of chapters 1 and 2 is obviously that of Jerusalem and the region to the Babylonians in the 6th century B.C., but the restoration of chapter 3 looks to the yet-future millennium under the Messiah.
Meek.... the word means quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive. The way people are fighting over toilet paper..... I would say that there are some people who are not so meek making life a little difficult these days. My guess is.... in times like this... people are blaming God for bringing the corona virus and shaking their fists at Him. The meek, however, are praying that God will take care of those who are dear to them.
My guess is.... if streaming news had been available in the days of Zephaniah and the rest of the prophets..... it would have been just as scary. The Assyrians and the Babylonians were powerful armies. They didn't want to take a bunch of prisoners to have to care for.... they only wanted those who were strong and healthy to enslave.... the rest were to be put to death so they wouldn't be a problem any longer.
The meek.... the regular guy who still believed that God is the One True Living God..... who went to work every day except the Sabbath... when he went to Temple to show God his gratitude..... in spite of the disease, famine, captivity, and death around him.... the meek guy is the regular guy that God loves. That's the one God will take care of.
Yep.... Zephaniah says all the meek and humble will be protected. Zephaniah says when this is all over.... there will be a party.... we'll know the words to all the songs.... and the steps to all the dances..... and God will be happy!
I don't know how many toes will be stepped on.... but I gotta ask..... are you a blowhard or are you meek? The meek are the regular guys who have the faith in the right God to get them through it all.
