Zephaniah Intro
Intro
The reign of King Manasseh of Judah was the time of greatest corruption, injustice and paganism in Judah’s history. But Manasseh’s grandson King Josiah reasserted the nation’s faith and obedience to God and its independence from foreign empires. One reason for this seems to be that a member of his court stood up and warned that Judah’s breaking of the covenant had led it to the brink of destruction. The person who offered this warning was the prophet Zephaniah.
The book’s prologue identifies Zephaniah as the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah. No other prophet’s ancestry is traced back four generations, so this seems intended to associate Zephaniah with the great reforming king of Judah. It is likely that Zephaniah was of royal blood, since he was familiar with particular districts in Jerusalem and with specific activities in the capital.
This collection of prophecies has three main parts. First is a description of the day of the Lord that is coming against Judah and Jerusalem. Next is a call for national repentance, along with oracles of destruction against the Philistines, Moabites, Cushites (Ethiopians), Assyrians and Jerusalem itself. In the final section, Zephaniah promises that God will restore a humble remnant when he returns as a Mighty Warrior among his people.
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Zephaniah Intro: NIV
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Zephaniah Introduction
Introduction
The prophet Zephaniah was active in the late seventh century b.c., most likely just before 621 b.c., when the discovery of a copy of the book of Deuteronomy spurred the religious reforms carried out by the young king Josiah (640–609 b.c.). When Josiah became king in Judah he was only eight years old, and it was just two years since the long and corrupt reign of King Manasseh (687–642 b.c.), who had survived only by being a compliant vassal to Assyria. But in the years of Josiah, Assyria was preoccupied with internal power struggles and civil war (and, as they could not have known, only several decades from their demise in 612). This meant that Josiah had a brief window of freedom to make reforms and clear the temple of images and practices introduced under Assyrian pressure.
The opening verse dates the book of Zephaniah to “the days of Josiah” and then presents the prophet's first oracle in which he announces that “the day of the Lord is at hand” (1.7). When that day comes, he says, it will be a day of judgment on all who are unrighteous, including those who have been worshipping false deities, those who have adopted Assyrian ways and worship, and those who have looted and deceived for personal profit. This punishment will come to Judah, but also to other nations, especially the mighty world-power Assyria (2.13-15). In the first chapter, the day of the Lord is announced with alarming images of God's destructive power, through which all life on earth—people and animals, birds and fish—will be stricken (in the reverse order of their creation; 1.2,3). The prophet says that this severe judgment is coming soon but without warning, and that those who are righteous, who humbly obey God and worship God alone, may survive that day of reckoning. But the conclusion foresees the faithful returning to Judah and Jerusalem in jubilation.
Outline
A Day of Judgment for Judah (1.1—2.3)
A Day of Judgment for Other Nations (2.4—3.13)
A Day of Restoration Is Promised for Judah (3.14-20)
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.