Bible 101: Lesson 34

Zephaniah

The book of Zephaniah was written to the kingdom of Judah during the reign of Josiah who initiated spiritual reforms in 621 B.C. It is addressed to a people who are not sure God exists or notices what is going on in the world. To hedge their bets, they worship a few other gods on the side. To them the prophet brings a thundering reminder of the Day of Judgment, the day when all the consequences of man’s sins will be brought together for a final reckoning. Zephaniah paints a grim picture of what that will be like. But God is also painted as a God of hope and mercy. The prophet goes on to assure the people that God will call their enemies to account and restore them to a future of security, peace, and right relationship with Him.

A very interesting prophecy is found Zephaniah 3:9, where God promises that a “pure language” will be restored to them, and they will use it to worship God. It is interesting to note that Hebrew had largely died out as a spoken language by the time of Christ, and was only used for religious services. After the sack of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the people of Israel were scattered around the face of the earth in what is called the diaspora. For 1900 years they continued to retain their identity as a people, though they spoke the language of whatever country they settled in. When Israel was miraculously reborn in 1948 as a sovereign nation, in fulfillment of ancient prophecy, the Hebrew language was restored to use and is spoken today in the streets of Jerusalem.

God is trustworthy! He brings all His promises to pass.

There are no Messianic prophecies in Zephaniah.