Zephaniah Chapter Three, Corrupt Leadership

Zephaniah 3:3 Her princes in her midst are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning. [4] Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people; her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.

Zephaniah looks to the leadership in Jerusalem, both secular and religious. His indictment begins with the princes of Judah, born from the lineage of David. Though Josiah was a godly king, his successors would not be. There were four kings that reigned after Josiah’s demise, beginning with Jehoahaz.

Jehoahaz reigned a mere 3 months in Judah after Josiah’s death, 2 Chronicles 36:2. Why? When Necho killed Josiah he deposed Jehoahaz and made Jehoiakim, or Eliakim, king in his stead, 2 Chronicles 36:3, 4. From this point things degrade in Jerusalem and Judah, as it is written that Jehoiakim did evil for the eleven years that he reigned, until Nebuchadnezzar took him captive to Babylon, 2 Chronicles 36:5, 6. The chronicler does make it a point to make a footnote that Jehoiakim did “abominations” during his reign as king, 2 Chronicles 36:8. His son, Jehoiachin or Jeconiah, reigned for exactly three months and ten days, 2 Chronicles 36:9. To be fair, he was only 8 years old at this point, but was said to have done evil in the sight of the Lord, 2 Chronicles 36:9. His father’s parenting and legacy adversely impacted Jehoiachin, perhaps also influenced by the current queen mother, who would have been Jehoiakim’s wife.

Finally, after the turn of the year Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin away and replaced him with Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s uncle and Jehoiakim’s brother, 2 Chronicles 36:10. Zedekiah reigned another 11 years like his brother, also doing evil in God’s sight like the other kings after Josiah’s demise, 2 Chronicles 36:12. This culminated in a sweeping indictment of the whole of the leadership in Israel at this point, where we read, “Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the Lord which He had consecrated in Jerusalem,” 2 Chronicles 36:14.

Here we witness ecclesiastical and secular authorities conspiring to foment rebellion, leading the populace into apostasy, with Josiah’s fervent but surface level and ultimately ineffectual reforms being cast off in favor of the abominations of the nations. What nations? The nations that comprised Canaan before Israel’s conquest; the same abominations that God warned Israel was the reason the nations of Canaan were being judged and removed from the land. Those same abominations that God further warned Israel not to involve themselves in, lest they, like the Canaanites before them, be cast out of their land, Deuteronomy 12:1-4, 29-32, etc. In fact in this passage from Deuteronomy, God informs Israel that the nations of Canaan did abominations to their gods, and so His people were not to follow suit.

Yet the princes are construed as roaring lions and the judges as evening wolves, attacking and devouring without pity or restraint. Those raised up to lead and guide the people are the worst of the offenders, abusing authority to gain advantage. Micah says of these men, “The prince asks for gifts, the judge seeks a bribe, and the great man utters his evil desire; so they scheme together,” Micah 7:3. Yet the prophet warns, “The day of your watchman and your punishment comes,” Micah 7:4. The leaders of Judah’s power led the people astray, and Zephaniah states that the priests fared no better. The prophets were insolent and treacherous: prophesying peace when God had not spoken, Jeremiah 23:16, 17, 26. Clearly this warning is against the false prophets who had risen throughout Israel’s career, proclaiming falsehood and the dictates of their own imaginations and vanity. Zephaniah says of such men, that they are insolent and treacherous. 

They are insolent in the sense that they lack the reverence for God that characterizes a true prophet. Their message does not align with God’s person or word. Many modern “prophets”, especially the type whose pulpit is a TV screen, fall into this category. They are beyond reproof and will not receive correction because they (in their own estimation) are the sole conduit of God’s revelatory will on earth, and how dare anyone attempt to correct the Lord’s anointed, even with Biblical truth? They are treacherous in the sense that they peddle lies to ingratiate themselves into the general public’s favor. Hearing good news rather than bad news tends to make one feel better, yes. But the bad news is meant to provoke a response that will preserve life. The bad news is like getting a cancer diagnosis when there is still ample time to receive treatment and live a long life after the treatment ends. The false prophets would tell the patient that there is no cancer, or even that cancer isn’t real, so no treatment is necessary. That sounds like good news, but we would be swallowing sweetened poison which would inevitably kill us.

The priests pollute the sanctuary and do violence to the law. Eli’s sons are an excellent example of this. In 1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22 we learn that Eli, one of the last Judges of that era, had two sons that polluted the offering and treated the women who congregated at the tabernacle like ritual harlots. Because of this, “men abhorred the offering of the Lord,” 1 Samuel 2:17. Even as far as Malachi’s day the priests persisted in corrupting the Law and misleading the people, Malachi 2:8. The priests departed from the right way and their departure caused the overthrow of many followers who looked to them for spiritual leadership, Malachi 2:7. In short, Zephaniah laments that the priests, who should keep knowledge, have instead practiced violence to God’s revealed word.