Zephaniah Chapter Two, Nineveh

Zephaniah 2:12 “You Ethiopians also, you shall be slain by My sword. [13] And He will stretch out His hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness.

In the Old Testament the reference to Ethiopia is not what we modernly refer to in regards to geography. The OT Hebrew and contemporaneous Egyptian referred to this land as Cush, but the Septuagint–a Greek translation of the Old Testament–rendered the term “Aithiopia.” Modern English translations tend to follow the Septuagint, hence the term Ethiopia.

Zephaniah Chapter Two, Restoring The Nations

Zephaniah 2:11 The Lord will be awesome to them, for He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; people shall worship Him, each from his place, indeed all the shores of the nations.

Following the verses contextually, “them,” would refer to Ammon and Moab, who we have been learning about since verse 8. God will be awesome to them, in the sense that He will render all opposing deific contenders moot. Molech, Chemosh, et al., will be revealed as imposters and demonic fronts to mislead the nations.

Zephaniah Chapter Two, Pride & Consequence

Zephaniah 2:10 This they shall have for their pride, because they have reproached and made arrogant threats against the people of the Lord of hosts.

Pride is perhaps the most fundamental sin in Scripture. It was the sin that caused Lucifer, the Light Bringer, to err in regard to his position of importance as a created being, Isaiah 14:12-14. Being the greatest of the angelic hosts God created in the beginning, his wisdom was marred when he considered his position as the covering cherub, Ezekiel 28:14.

Zephaniah Chapter Two, Moab & Ammon

Zephaniah 2:8 “I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the people of Ammon, with which they have reproached My people, and made arrogant threats against their borders. [9] Therefore, as I live,” says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah–overrun with weeds and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation. The residue of My people shall plunder them, and the remnant of My people shall possess them.”

Moab is one of the incestual sons of Lot after he and his daughters fled Sodom, Genesis 19:37. Lot, being the son of Haran, was Abraham’s nephew, Genesis 11:31. Moab became father to the Moabites, cousins as it were to Israel. Yes there was no love between these peoples. Moab, in the book of Jeremiah, is called, “the people of Chemosh,” Jeremiah 48:46.

Zephaniah Chapter Two, Intervention

Zephaniah 2:6 The seacoast shall be pastures, with shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks. [7] The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; They shall feed their flocks there; In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will intervene for them, and return their captives.

In this passage we get a glimpse of what is theologically referred to as the Millennium, or the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ on earth from the throne of David, in the city of Jerusalem after the conclusion of the seven year Tribulation period.