Zephaniah Chapter Three, Give & Take

Zephaniah 3:10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, the daughters of My dispersed ones, shall bring My offering. [11] In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against Me; for then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall no longer be haughty in My holy mountain.

God’s dispersed ones would be Israel, who, according to Joel have been, “scattered among the nations,” Joel 3:2. But also on this day it will be more than just Israel that seeks the Lord. Zechariah wrote, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you,” Zechariah 8:23.

Zephaniah Chapter Three, One Language

Zephaniah 3:9 “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord.

Verse nine’s context is predicated upon the prior verse. Verse eight has God telling Israel to wait for Him. He will come bodily, He will judge the nations for their cruel treatment of Israel, and He will pour out His wrath upon them.

Zephaniah Chapter Three, Indignation Against Kingdoms

Zephaniah 3:8 “Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord, “Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations to My assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation, all My fierce anger; all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy.

“Therefore,” in this verse, may be rendered “because of these things,” as is the case in so much of Scripture. Because of what things? Because of God’s faithful witness concerning His unfailing justice, and the peoples’ apathy toward spiritual truth. 

Zephaniah Chapter Three, Zeal For Corruption

Zephaniah 3:6 “I have cut off nations, their fortresses are devastated; I have made their streets desolate, with none passing by, their cities are destroyed; there is no one, no inhabitant. [7] I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me, you will receive instruction’–so that her dwelling would not be cut off, despite everything for which I punished her. But they rose early and corrupted all their deeds.

God reminds Israel of the former nations (including Samaria) that had fallen in times past. Even Israel’s introduction as an established nation began with the displacement of seven kingdoms that comprised Canaan after they were led out of Egypt.

Zephaniah Chapter Three, Righteous God

Zephaniah 3:5 The Lord is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails. But the unjust knows no shame.

Zephaniah reveals some prevalent truths about the nature and person of Yahweh to Israel. The first is a compounded reality: that God is righteous; in fact the prophet states unequivocally that He cannot do unrighteousness.