Zephaniah, The Prophet's Calling

Zephaniah 1:1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

Zephaniah was called to be a prophet during the reign of Judah’s last godly king, Josiah. His family lineage is traced back to his great grandfather, Hezekiah. This may indicate that Zephaniah descended from the royal bloodline in Judah. Since it is not expressly stated, we do not know. Furthermore, since this Hezekiah is not referred to as King Hezekiah, it seems less likely that this is in fact the case.

We do know that Zephaniah prophesied during Josiah’s reign, which makes him a contemporary of Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 1:2). Both men were called to be prophets during a time of great religious reform, as King Josiah was zealous to serve the Lord God, especially after hearing the Torah read aloud and realizing how far God’s people had strayed from the truth, 2 Chronicles 34:19-21. God promised the tender-hearted Josiah that the wrath Israel deserved for her rebellion would not be visited upon it during his time, 2 Chronicles 34:28. Under Josiah the people served the Lord as they were supposed to have been doing for the last some hundreds of years, but refused to do so since the days of Moses and the Judges, 2 Chronicles 34:33. King Josiah kept the Passover in Judah–along with the remnant of northern Israel–like no other king before him had, 2 Chronicles 35:18. He kept it with all of his heart, and obeyed with all of his might, commanding the priests, the Levites, and the common people to do likewise.

Because of what God told Josiah peace reigned over Israel all the days of Josiah’s reign. Josiah reigned over Judah for 31 years (2 Chronicles 34:1), celebrating the Passover in a manner never before seen since Samuel’s time during the eighteenth year of his reign, 2 Chronicles 35:19. It was into this seemingly blissful and obedient atmosphere, at least externally, that Zephaniah was commanded to prophesy.

Zephaniah 1:2 “I will utterly consume everything from the face of the land,” says the Lord; [3] I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land,” says the Lord.

Chapter one of Zephaniah speaks in detail about the Day of the Lord. In this time of peace and prosperity, when a godly king rules and the people obey, God visits Israel with a message of impending destruction on a scale the likes of which the human mind can scarcely grasp. Yes, there will be the immediate ruination of Judah as a nation for her sins. She sinned against the Lord through wanton, generational disobedience, and so like northern Israel (see Hosea 4:7-10, 2 Kings 17:22, 23), so Judah would fall to Babylon, Isaiah 39:6, 7. But the Jews are God’s people, and Israel is the land He chose to bequeath them. God would purge them of their sinful nature and desire to commit idolatry before He may draw near to them. We read in Malachi 3:5 that when God draws near to Israel anew, He will witness against those who break His covenant and disobey. His unchanging nature demands as much; He cannot change, therefore He cannot abide sin’s presence and what it does to His people. He will cleanse the people of their sin as He promised them in Isaiah (Isaiah 1:18) and deliver to them Messiah, who will reign over them and deliver them from their enemies, Zechariah 14:3-5, Jeremiah 30:7.

God will remove all that offends and those who embrace what is offensive. He will remove man, beast, bird and fish, then referring to the worship of idols and those who embrace them. We know from Romans 1:23 that idolatry is the replacement of the invisible, transcendent God that sits apart from creation with the creation itself; that is, we confuse the Creator with His creation and then insert created things as a representation of God. This is why pantheism and New Age “Oneness” teachings will never homogenize Christianity: the Bible separates God from creation, the Maker’s reflection may be seen in His creation, but the creation is not an extension of or manifestation of God Himself. I write, but my writing is not a part of me; it is an expression of my knowledge, understanding, wisdom and opinions; but it is not intrinsically a part of my being. Rather, it demonstrates my person, so through it people may more accurately judge my invisible character. Such is it with God and creation.

Zephaniah refers to idols as stumbling blocks, and those who embrace them as wicked. Malachi, when addressing the topic of the Day of the Lord, writes, “And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the Lord of hosts,” Malachi 4:1. The essence of idolatry isn’t making a bird or fish into a statue and then worshiping it. No, this is just an external religious expression. No, idolatry is replacing the true God with anything else at all. Satan replaced God with pride; in the end Lucifer worshiped himself and he encouraged our first parents to do likewise. Until we surrender our idolatry we stand before an offended God as sinners deserving of judgment. He offers Christ and we choose enmity, sin, and destruction. So the Lord will purge the wicked and all traces of their wickedness from Judah and all of the earth.