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.

Zephaniah Chapter Two, The Fate of Philistia

Zephaniah 2:4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon desolate; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be uprooted. [5] Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you; so there shall be no inhabitant.”

The resultant Day of the Lord’s lens turns to the coastland and the inveterate enemies of Israel, the Philistines. The Philistines are said to have hailed originally from the land of Caphtor, and were previously referred to as Caphtorim, see Genesis 10:14, Deuteronomy 2:23. Caphtor is most commonly believed to have been the island of Crete. This I find to be an interesting revelation, and does something to reveal to the reader a little about the Philistines’ culture from an outside perspective.