Deeper Commentary

Zephaniah Chapter 2

Zephaniah 2:1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, you nation that has no shame- Although judgment was so closely upon them that it had effectively arrived, Zephaniah calls the people to repentance. He calls those who "had no shame". He means that those who had not repented should gather together and repent. Shame is associated with condemnation; to have no shame means they had not yet been condemned. To repent means that we bear shame for what we have done; we realize that what we have done or been condemns us, we feel that condemnation ahead of judgment day, and repent; and thereby the verdict is changed. Paul develops this idea throughout Rom. 1-8.

Zephaniah 2:2 Before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes on you- Zephaniah had clearly stated that that day had already come; see on Zeph. 1:14-16. But still there was a desperate, last moment opportunity for repentance. This was and is the intensity of the appeal. The day of judgment would be one of threshing and winnowing, when the chaff would be blown away. They were the chaff and needed to become the wheat.

Zephaniah 2:3 Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the land, who have kept His ordinances. Seek righteousness; seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of Yahweh’s anger- As explained on chapter 1, God's purpose is open ended. The day of judgment was being brought closer at an accelerated speed because of their lack of repentance (Zech. 1:14); but the Divine intention was that they would repent. He had planned the cataclysmic destruction of absolutely all people in Judah; see on Zeph.  1:3,4. But "it may be" that the righteous remnant would be spared and hidden. And Is. 26:20 suggests that this possibility was as it were agreed by God. There was to be no assumption that the remnant would be spared destruction; it would be by grace. Although they were already righteous and humble, they were to even more intensively seek those things. A truly spiritual person will never consider they have arrived at a position of enough righteousness or humility. That itself would not be humble.

Zephaniah 2:4 For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation. They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up- "For..." warns God's people that their neighbours were to be judged by the same invaders. And their level of responsibility was far less. There are many word plays here, e.g. between the Hebrew for "Gaza" and "forsaken", "Ekron" and "rooted up", as if Zephaniah intended this to be memorized. In the era of mass illiteracy, such devices would have been necessary. If these four Philistine cities were to be judged, then Judah should be the more aware that they were even more responsible and would be judged the more. Israel should have driven out the Philistines; they ought to have made those cities to be forsaken by the Philistines, they should have desolated and rooted them up. But although they didn't do so, Divine judgment all the same would come upon the Philistines. Judah are also hereby warned not to consider that they were somehow superior to the Gentiles. They had acted as Gentiles, worshipped their idols and intermarried with them; they were no better.

Zephaniah 2:5 Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Yahweh is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines. I will destroy you, that there will be no inhabitant- The "seacoasts" are a very small geographical area. This prophecy has never had such a fulfilment- but God's word will come true. The final victory in the area, however, will be by a "remnant" of Israel, suggesting the majority perish in the last days, just as required in Zech. 14. The fate of Gaza is connected with that of Ashkelon (:4), which is currently in Israeli hands. It would appear that this city must briefly be taken by the Palestinians / Philistines. We note too that the Palestinians / Philistines in Gaza are connected with the people of Cush [:12; North African Moslems, many of whom are attracted to Islamic jihad at this time], Moab and Ammon [Jordan / Kurdistan], and a latter day Assyria [which is reforming in the form of Islamic jihadism]. The connection between these groups and Hamas in Gaza is clearly established. The destruction of the 'coastlands', the Gaza Strip, is prophesied as being due to a direct Divine 'intervention'; and that surely speaks of the return of Christ to save the remnant of Israel. The 'remnant' is a term used in Bible prophecy not merely with reference to a numerical minority within Israel, but specifically to the righteous, repentant remnant. The picture seems to be of Israel being crushed militarily until a remnant remain, who repent and turn to Christ. And then He appears for their salvation and the final destruction of their enemies. It's not good news for secular Israel, whatever short term military victories they may achieve in their own strength.

"The Cherethites" is literally 'the destroyers' or 'cutters'. The root word is used in Ps. 83:5 of how Israel's latter day enemies will cut a covenant to destroy Israel. These people are located by Zeph. 2:5 as being in the Gaza Strip. And this is exactly the location of the Hamas destroyers of Israel. The word is also found in Am. 1:7: "I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it will devour its palaces. I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him who holds the sceptre from Ashkelon; and I will turn My hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines will perish, says the Lord Yahweh". If this has a latter day application, we could expect Ashdod and Ashkelon, currently in Israeli hands, to fall to their enemies in Gaza, who will 'cut them off' but then be themselves 'cut off' by Yahweh's final judgments. They will 'hold the sceptre' in Ashkelon for a brief time, i.e. become rulers there- before being themselves cut off.

Zephaniah 2:6 The sea coast will be pastures, with booths for shepherds and folds for flocks- Instead of the intensive agriculture required by the large urban populations, the land would be used for grazing. This suggests a very sudden change, with the majority of the Philistine inhabitants slain or deported. But this didn't happen under either the Assyrians nor Babylonians; rather did the Philistines only gradually become subsumed into the Persian empire. This then was the prophetic potential, the Divine 'Plan A'; but the whole scenario didn't work out as planned. A remnant in Judah did repent, and so the scenario of mass cataclysm upon the whole area planned by God in Zeph. 1:4 didn't come about, and thereby indirectly the Gentiles within the land were saved from the planned destruction.

Zephaniah 2:7 The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will find pasture there. They will lie down in the evening in the houses of Ashkelon- Again the prophetic potential didn't come about; most of the Jews didn't want to return from exile, most of those who did still wouldn't repent, and so this picture of returned Judean captives pasturing their flocks in the ruins of Ashkelon didn't happen as planned. So much Divine potential is wasted; so much is possible, but human short termist thinking precludes it.

For Yahweh their God will visit them, and restore them- What Judah prayed for by the rivers of Babylon was indeed heard. There they had asked that God would “visit” them and “return” them (Ps. 80:14). The same two Hebrew words are to be found in Jer. 27:22, where we read that God would exile His people to Babylon and then “visit” them and make them “return”. We meet the same two words in Zeph. 2:7, where God would ‘visit and return’ the captivity of the remnant of Judah. But when God did “visit” His people, just as when He ‘visited’ His people in the gift of His Son, they didn’t want to ‘return’ or respond. Those who had desired ‘the day of the Lord’ at that time had been praying for it, when it was ‘to no end’ for them. And we have to ask ourselves whether we really mean our prayers for the Lord’s return.

Zephaniah 2:8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached My people- God is intensely aware of every word said and thought even by Gentiles. And He is particularly sensitive to what is said or felt against us His people. This should stop us in our tracks in any hard thoughts or words against any who are God's children.

And magnified themselves against their border- God had given bounds to the Gentile nations in relation to Israel (Dt. 32:8). Any attempts to break Divinely imposed limits may appear to initially succeed, but will incur His judgment. And again we have here a challenge for all time.

Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of My people will plunder them, and the survivors of My nation will inherit them- The prophetic potential was that the returned, repentant exiles would pasture their flocks in the deserted Philistine cities (:7); Moab and Ammon would be struck with Divine judgment in a form as dramatic as that upon Sodom, and then the Jews would plunder them and inherit their territory. This didn't happen when the exiles returned from Babylon, just as the temple system they could have built in Ez. 40-48 didn't happen. In essence, the possession and judgment of Judah's neighbours will come true in the last days, but perhaps not in every literal detail. We notice the language of nettles, recalling the judgment upon the land for Adam's sin.

Zephaniah 2:10 This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Armies- We likely would have chosen many other reasons for the condemnation of Moab and Ammon before coming to "their pride". But this is typical of the prophetic perspective; God focuses on things like pride and injustice as the worst sins imaginable. And indeed they are. Thinking ourselves greater than God's people is a sin worthy of condemnation. We see these Gentiles being condemned for doing so; but in our church lives we continually interact with God's people. Our attitudes to them are so critically important in God's eyes. We note that the people of God in this context were spiritually weak and under Divine judgment; but all the same, Moab and Ammon are condemned for their attitude towards them.

Zephaniah 2:11 Yahweh will leave them awestruck, for He will starve all the gods of the land- There would be famine which would reveal all the fertility gods and the Baals to be frauds. Most of the idols were connected with fertility, and famine and drought revealed them as powerless and not in fact existent. We marvel at God's saving passion- He wished to convert even those Gentiles who had mocked and abused His beloved people. 

 

Men will worship Him, everyone from his place, even from every border of the nations- Those who had once tried to push back those borders (:8) will now respect them, and worship Yahweh once they accept that their idols were as it were dead. This scenario could have occurred when the captives returned; but it didn't. Most of the exiles preferred to stay in captivity, they didn't repent, and neither did the Gentiles around them. But this will happen in the last days.

Zephaniah 2:12 You Cushites also, you will be killed by My sword- God's sword was Babylon and Assyria (Is. 10:5), and Ethiopia ["Cush"] was destroyed when Nebuchadnezzar attacked Egypt (Jer. 46:2-9; Ez. 30:5-9). Those whom Judah had relied on instead of Yahweh would be permanently destroyed; with the implication that Judah would be left with none but Yahweh to trust in.

Zephaniah 2:13 He will stretch out His hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness- The northern enemy is here clearly defined as Assyria- not Russia. The making of Nineveh so dry would imply God changed the microclimate around Nineveh after the Medes sacked Nineveh. Or the reference may be to the destruction of the complex system of irrigation upon which Nineveh's fertility depended. But Jonah offered Nineveh a way out of this desolation, and for a time they responded. So again we see the openness of God's plan with people and nations. It has been pointed out that "the Hebrew verbs are not in the simple future, but in the imperative or optative mood, "Let him stretch out his hand," etc.; as though the prophet were praying that the enemies of his people might be overthrown". And so we have an insight into the way God takes so many factors into account before acting in this world. The faithful had prayed for Nineveh's destruction, and yet Jonah offered them repentance and some of them prayed for the sentence of destruction to be voided.

Zephaniah 2:14 Herds will lie down in the midst of her, all the animals of the nations- The literal animals who would live in the ruins represented the wild nations. Perhaps in view are the Scythian hordes who also ransacked Nineveh along with the Medes.

Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals- Unclean animals.

 Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for He has laid bare the cedar beams- The desolated thresholds recalls the condemnation of Judah for fearing to step on thresholds (Zeph. 1:9), in that they followed the pagan fear of stepping on thresholds.

Zephaniah 2:15 This is the joyous city that lived carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me- We bear the Name of Yahweh / Jehovah, by reason of our baptism into it. His Name is declared as His character- merciful, truthful, judging sin, patient etc. (Ex. 34:5-7). He who will be who He will be, manifesting His characteristics as He does so, must have His way in us too. Babylon and Nineveh were condemned for having the attitude that “I am, and there is none beside me” (Is. 47:8; Zeph. 2:15). Their self-perception was a parody on the Name and being of Yahweh: He alone can say “I am, and there is none else” (Is. 43:11; 44:6; 45:6,21) and seek to be who He is. He alone can seek to articulate the characteristics that make up His Name onto the lives of others, and onto the things that comprise His Kingdom. We are not to be who we are; to ‘just be yourself’; to ‘just do it’, as foolish slogans and adverts encourage us. We are here to show forth His mercy, truth, judgment of sin, patient saving of the weak etc., not our own personality. We are, in the very end, Yahweh manifested to this world, through our imitation of the Lord Jesus.

The language here applied to Nineveh is used later about Babylon in Isaiah, as noted above. This could simply be because God's judgments have a similar theme and reason to them. But we could also consider that there were different prophetic scenarios which could have come about, as discussed on Zeph. 1:3,4. The intention to destroy Nineveh was as it were reapplied to Babylon. The focus was to move from Nineveh to Babylon. This refocusing and reapplication of Bible prophecy is common, as God's purpose adjusts to human behaviour; especially to repentance or lack of it.

How she has become a desolation, a place for animals to lie down in! Everyone who passes by her will hiss, and shake their fists- Note the confusion of tenses; she "has become...", but the judgment is yet future ("will hiss..."). This is God's perspective, speaking of those things which currently are not as if they are (Rom. 4:17); and the life and thinking of faith adopts that perspective, rejoicing in what is not yet as if it is.