Zephaniah 3 · NIVAC

Original Meaning

The City of Arrogance and Corruption (3:1–5)

AFTER THE WOE against Jerusalem’s neighbors (2:5–15), Zephaniah’s second “woe” is against Jerusalem. The change in subject from Assyria to Jerusalem is unannounced. It begins ambiguously, “Woe to the city of oppressors” and continues with a description of arrogance, “She obeys no one, she accepts no correction” (3:2). The original listener may have been confused as chapter 3 begins. Which city? The obvious first response might be “Nineveh” or one of the cities of the other nations mentioned in chapter 2. Slowly the city is revealed by implication, as Jerusalem and the listener are caught in the descriptive judgment. In this masterful way the reader is drawn into the “woe.” Jerusalem is gradually recognized by the phrases: “does not trust in the LORD,” “her God” (3:2), and “the LORD within her” (3:5). Everything else mentioned in these verses could have referred to Nineveh, and the comparison is not flattering.

The prophet presents Jerusalem’s twelve sins in a list (3:1–4):

1. oppressors

2. rebellious

3. defiled

4. she obeys no one

5. she accepts no correction

6. she does not trust in the LORD

7. she does not draw near to her God

8. her officials are roaring lions

9. her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning

10. her prophets are arrogant; they are treacherous men

11. her priests profane the sanctuary

12. her priests do violence to the law

The first seven sins are sins against God. “Oppression” results in sin against the poor, but God always claims this as a personal offense (Ex. 22:21–27). These believers are also obstinate in their rebellion (Deut. 21:18; Ps. 78:8) and defiled by mixing worship of the Creator with the worship of created things (Isa. 59:3; Mal. 1:7; Neh. 7:64). Like Nineveh, “she obeys no one” (Zeph. 2:15), including the commands given at Mount Sinai. When God gives discipline and wisdom to correct their path, Jerusalem refuses it (Deut. 11:2–7; Prov. 1:2, 7; 15:33; 23:23). Not trusting in Yahweh meant that they trust in other things for their security and safety. As a result, they are not inclined to “draw near” in worship (Deut. 5:24–27).

The eighth and ninth sins are directed against the population. Her officials are roaring lions, like the Ninevites (see Nah. 2:11). “Officials” (śarim) is the same word translated “princes” in 1:8—a reference to those who govern and administrate (taxes) for Assyria.3 The “rulers,” who are like “evening wolves,” are the court judges (šopet) who pervert justice for economic gain, devouring the resources of defenseless citizens.4

The last three sins of the believers in Jerusalem are against God and the people. The keeping of the sanctuary and the law have been commanded by God, but they are for the benefit of the people. False “prophets” at the temple were a constant problem in Israel; they were the preachers of that time, who used their position and preaching to secure their own power. “Arrogant” (paḥaz) carries connotations of “wanton, haughty, extravagant, and reckless.” Their treachery implies cloaked dealings (see also Hab. 1:13; 2:5).

Yahweh’s “priests” are no better, polluting the sanctuary with their entwined worship of gods of prosperity (see comments on Zeph. 1:4–5). They do this by misinterpreting Yahweh’s word (torah). They are the scholars of the day, ruling on the interpretation of texts (Jer. 18:18; Ezek. 7:26; Mic. 3:11).5 In this way they “do violence to the law.”

These sins are against God and his people. Many of Jerusalem’s sins are like Nineveh’s in the same time period. Jerusalem was a vassal of Nineveh (see Zeph. 1:8); she trusted in Assyria and fell soon after her (Babylon captured Nineveh in 612 B.C. and Jerusalem fifteen years later). In contrast, verse 5 describes the faithfulness and righteousness of Yahweh in two parallel phrases:

The LORD within her is righteous; he does no wrong.

Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail.

Yahweh’s faithfulness and righteousness are the people’s only hope. Especially important in Zephaniah is the expression “within her” (beqirbah), referring again to the theme of Yahweh’s “nearness.” “Morning by morning” is the exact biblical expression used for God’s gift of manna (Ex. 16:21), for Isaiah’s daily inspiration (Isa. 50:4), and for the Levite’s daily responsibility to stand and thank and praise God (“every morning”; 1 Chron. 23:30). The message is clear. Although the people have been thoroughly rebellious, Yahweh is present daily, is good, and does not fail. This is the center of any future hope.

Futile Warnings (3:6–8)

Bridging Contexts

SEVERAL IMPORTANT INNER-BIBLICAL interpretations have developed from Zephaniah’s message of the surviving remnant (Zeph. 3:9–20) and the future worship and praise of other nations (3:9, 20). These later biblical interpretations echo Zephaniah’s message in their own historical contexts. The three major interpretive contexts discussed here reveal the layered meaning of Zephaniah’s text to us. The first context is the disappointment experienced after the remnant’s return to Jerusalem (sixth century B.C.), with the messianic hopes that emerged from that struggle. The second is the understanding gained by the New Testament church in light of Jesus’ presence and resurrection gifts. The third consists of the faith of later believers who read Zephaniah’s hopeful words of peace, purity, and praise and wait for God’s gathering home in the new creation.

These three layers of interpretation help us to see the trajectory of Zephaniah’s words, from their original historical context through subsequent generations. The postexilic context of frustration and developing messianic hope, the New Testament resurrection perspective, and the future hope of the new heaven and new earth each are anchored in Zephaniah’s eschatological vision. All of them are necessary for a full understanding of this living word of prophecy.

Postexilic frustration. The prophet said that God would bring destruction but that a faithful and humble remnant would survive and be restored to the land. Zephaniah’s peers expected that they or their children would experience this fulfillment (see Original Meaning). They did experience it, though only in part. The survivors of the sixty-year Babylonian exile who returned to the land initially experienced the glowing promises of return with excitement (Ps. 126). This was soon replaced, however, by disappointment in the struggles and corruption that remained (see Nehemiah and Zechariah-Malachi). As their children and grandchildren wrestled with God’s promises of a pure remnant, God-honoring Gentiles, and peace, the prophecy eventually became a messianic expectation, fortified with texts from Isaiah and with what became known as “messianic psalms.”

In this first major context of meaning, the postexilic community of faith recognized that prophecy is a living word. While they rejoiced that God had restored them to Jerusalem, they looked for and expected a greater blessing: purity and peace in Jerusalem and the nations’ praise abroad (Zeph. 3:12–20). The reality experienced by those who returned to a devastated homeland fell short of Zephaniah’s description of the righteous remnant.

The nearness of Yahweh. Zephaniah’s living word was also rediscovered in the aftermath of Jesus’ resurrection and is recorded in the writings of the New Testament. The writers saw that God’s promise to be with them and near them in Zephaniah was fulfilled in Jesus’ ministry and in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of Christians. The New Testament trajectory of Zephaniah’s prophecy is a necessary layer of hope for Christians.

Twice in Zephaniah 3 Zephaniah says to the remnant that “the LORD … is with you” (3:15, 17). The word behind this expression (qereb) occurs frequently in Zephaniah and is translated in various ways (all of the italicized words in the following two paragraphs are translations of the Heb. qereb). This theme of the nearness of Yahweh is easily missed but represents the longing heart of God to be close to his people. The broader meaning of qereb is near or midst. Zephaniah’s message began with the declaration that “the day of the LORD” is “near” (1:7, 14). This nearness is doom for those who experience his anger with them. In chapter 3 the absence of nearness is a key to understanding the problem and Yahweh’s response to the community: “She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God. Her officials [within her] are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves” (3:2–3).

In these verses we see the values of the community in regard to nearness. Yahweh, however, is not absent from his community, despite their choices. “The LORD within her is righteous, he does no wrong” (3:5). Yahweh takes responsibility for the problem of lack of nearness in his community. “I will remove from this city [your midst] those who rejoice in their pride. But I will leave within you the meek and humble who trust in the name of the LORD” (3:11–12). In this context of nearness in Zephaniah, the song for the remnant that trusts in Yahweh declares that “the LORD … is with you” (3:15, 17). It is followed by the related theme of God’s “gathering” the remnant “home” (see below).

The New Testament echoes and develops Zephaniah’s theme of the nearness of God. Paul speaks of God who has drawn near in the person of Jesus (incarnation) and of his presence in the resurrection by the Spirit. This nearness of God is still near to us through faith:

But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom. 10:6–9)16

The Gospel writers witness to Jesus as the very presence of the God of Israel. Zephaniah’s central image of nearness is the forgiveness of sins and the presence of God the King with the “Daughter of Zion” (a term of endearment in Zeph. 3:14). “The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm” (3:15). John describes the entrance of Jesus the King in the palm procession into Jerusalem in John 12:13–15 (cf. Zech. 9:9):

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the King of Israel!”

Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,

“Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion;

see, your king is coming,

seated on a donkey’s colt.”

Jesus is also called “the King of Israel,” a title of the expected messianic fulfillment, in mocking terms by the crowd as he is dying on the cross (Matt. 27:42; Mark 15:32).

The promise of God’s nearness in Zephaniah is shared by Matthew’s messianic reading of Isaiah 7:14: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him ‘Immanuel,’ which means, ‘God with us’” (Matt. 1:23). God has drawn near to humanity in the incarnation, life, and death of Jesus. The reality of this nearness is perpetuated in his resurrection and Jesus’ gift of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16–30; 16:13–15; 20:19–22; Acts 2:1–4).

The theme of God’s nearness begins the book of Hebrews. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb. 1:1–2a). John’s Gospel begins with a similar theme. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14; see also 1 John 1:1–4). Paul’s appeal to the Gentile Ephesians expresses a fulfillment of Zephaniah’s vision (Zeph. 3:9) for the Gentile nations and peoples (Eph. 2:12–13):

Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Philip met a Cushite (Ethiopian) in a chariot who was a worshiper of Yahweh (Acts 8:27–38; echoing Zeph. 3:10). That meeting resulted in his baptism, after Philip explained the prophet Isaiah’s messianic words that had been fulfilled recently in Christ (Isa. 53:7–8). The apostles experienced the nearness of the Lord in the flesh and in his resurrected body. That nearness transformed the world. The apostles’ witness brought many diverse people near to the Lord Jesus, beginning with this Cushite, the first New Testament fulfillment of Zephaniah 3:9–10.

Non-Jews now have been brought near to the Lord. We are subject to the same scrutiny as Zephaniah’s Jerusalem. From whom much has been given, much is required. The God who is near us in Christ sees our arrogance too. James reminds the early church that the God of Zephaniah still intensely desires honest and humble nearness (James 4:5–10):

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the Spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud

but gives grace to the humble.”

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Christians are a remnant waiting to be gathered home. The third major element in Zephaniah’s living word is yet to be fulfilled among us. It is Yahweh’s promised gathering home (Zeph. 3:20). We too long to experience the purity of Yahweh’s remnant that Zephaniah describes (3:12–13). We long for the nations to praise and honor God and for God’s faithful and pure remnant (3:9, 19–20). We too long for the peace that God promised 2,600 years ago. People of faith believe the hopeful words of purity and praise and wait for Yahweh’s gathering of the remnant peoples home. What is promised to Jerusalem cannot be fulfilled by any human devising. The promise points beyond us to our hope in Yahweh’s re-creation of heaven and earth.

While the original audience may have looked for a close and complete fulfillment, the power of Zephaniah’s vision (and other prophetic visions like it) has compelled Christians throughout history to live for, work toward, and wait for something that is to be established in our world. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah add to this vision that endures in the imagination of people of faith today. In each case, Yahweh speaks the hopeful vision of the future directly. The gathering is more than a physical congregation of people. Gathering to Yahweh and by Yahweh implies the relationship of nearness and faithfulness.

“My house will be called

a house of prayer for all nations.”

The Sovereign LORD declares—

he who gathers the exiles of Israel:

“I will gather still others to them

besides those already gathered.”

(Isa. 56:7b–8; cf. 43:5–6; 54:7–8).

“I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD. (Jer. 23:3; cf. Zech. 10:8–10)

Note how Jesus shared in God’s longing to gather the people of Jerusalem to himself:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” (Matt. 23:37; Luke 13:34)

Jesus also prophesied a time of future gathering of his remnant in the tradition of the prophets.

“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matt. 24:30–31).

Jesus enlarged Zephaniah’s concept of the “home” to which God would gather his remnant (Zeph. 3:20). When a disciple asked why Jesus did not unveil his power to the whole world, Jesus suggested that the transformation of the world began with a home created by love between the Lord and anyone who would love and obey, not by a show of power (John 14:22–24). He acknowledged that this home will one day also be established as a place (14:1–4). Paul longed for that place in preference to the one he knew, since it was a “home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). Peter also hoped for the new Jerusalem in the new earth as a home of righteousness: “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

Zephaniah’s vision of a home created by Yahweh (Zeph. 3:20), where God’s people are without lies or deceit (3:13), is an enduring vision with a trajectory in the New Testament. Jesus declared seeing this lack of deceit (prophesied by Zephaniah) when he met Nathaniel: “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false” (John 1:47b). Jesus himself was also without deceit and without sin that we might die to sin and live for righteousness (Heb. 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22–25; cf. Isa. 53:9). His righteousness will also be found in those whose robes are washed in the blood of the Lamb at the judgment to come. Wrapped in the robes of Christ’s righteousness, they are welcomed home. “No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless” (Rev. 14:5).

Contemporary Significance

HOPE IN THE midst of judgment. The world experiences God’s judgment against sin daily, especially sins of human arrogance against God and his good creation. The violence of war maims children. Human pollution destroys soil and drinking water. Famine emaciates. Extramarital sexuality spreads dozens of debilitating diseases. Children suffer the sins of parents’ uncommitted dalliances. Greed is eventually judged through calcified corruption that handcuffs economies and traps the populace in cycles of uncertainty and poverty. National corruption and the lies of government propaganda are judged through a populace’s frustration, radicalization, or acts of terror. God’s judgment of corruption in the world’s societies is reported as news every day. These judgments are not the final judgment, but they are, nonetheless, real judgments in Zephaniah’s tradition.

No one escapes God’s judgment for arrogance. Zephaniah mentioned idolatry as the first problem among his people (Zeph. 1:4–6, 9) but quickly moved to the problem underlying it: the trust and worship of one’s own opinions and desires. Our pride, arrogance, and trust in self and wealth are summed up in 3:5a: “The unrighteous know no shame.” The church must listen to these words, first spoken to Jerusalem. “She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God” (3:2).

We are under judgment when see the negative effects on children exposed too early to violence and greed through the media in our homes. We recognize judgment when deep anxiety disrupts sanguine lives for no apparent reason. We are judged when substance abuse takes its vengeance on dear relationships. Human arrogance is judged when we live with the memory of violence past. Judgment reigns through the self-destructive tendencies of laziness and overwork, failure to worship and pious self-righteousness, habitual self-deprecation and smug satisfaction, and the hidden powers of sensuality and the pride of asceticism.

Our arrogance is not limited to personal and social realms. We are under God’s judgment for contaminating air and thereby threatening public health, the fouling and mismanagement of soil and its threat to agriculture, and the pollution and waste of clean water. Individuals reap what businesses and nations sow in every aspect of God’s creation.

Judgment denied is like alcoholism denied. Admitting our true situation and complicity with our inherited condition is the beginning of our only hope. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away but guarantees that it will kill again. Many societies since Zephaniah’s oracle have suffered Jerusalem’s fate. Some people in ancient Judah understood his warning and turned to Yahweh. They heard and saw the judgment before it arrived. As a result, they also heard and saw the hope that God offered.

Hope in God’s personal promises. In the midst of the judgment against sin suffered in the world, God offers personal promises to break through to hope. Both judgment and hope are true. This is the enigmatic way of Yahweh.17 The law and gospel are each present to us. Zephaniah insists that there is no escape from judgment but that those who trust in Yahweh will not be disappointed. “Wait for me,” God says, to judge (Zeph. 3:8) and to purify (3:9). He will forgive: “On that day you will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me” (3:11a). He will restore: “I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the LORD” (3:12). He will take away their punishment (3:15). He will be with those who trust him to protect and save (3:15, 17). He will delight in, rejoice over, rescue, gather, give praise and honor to, and bring home those who trust him (3:17–20).

This is the good news at work in the midst of Old Testament judgment. This is the hope that is made explicit in the life and work of Jesus. Jesus purged the temple (judgment) and cured the blind and lame (good news) in the same afternoon (Matt. 21:12–14).18 No one is beyond hope. No one was further from God’s mercy than the people of Jerusalem who spurned his love, yet he offered it to them again and again. In Christ this love is offered to every culture. God makes promises to the hopeless that may still turn to him in trust and faith. Even those who suffer judgment for their actions may still turn to trust in Yahweh until their last breath (Luke 23:41–43; 1 Cor. 3:15).

These promises are far more than personal (or psychological) matters of individual faith. Zephaniah concludes the long list of God’s promises (Zeph. 3:18–20) with the pledge that the world will see it and that those who trust will experience it (“before your eyes”). His promises are sealed with the pledge, “says the LORD” (3:20). These promises to the ancients are reiterated by Jesus for his followers. In Christ, God has made a commitment to the physical fulfillment of the new creation. Jesus is the firstborn of the new creation—eating, walking, talking, and touching his disciples in a resurrection body. He promises to come again, to receive us to a place with many rooms (John 14:1–6).

These kinds of divine promises invite us to a daily response of faith and obedience. Songwriter Lina Sandell expressed her hope in these promises in the words of a hymn:

Day by day and with each passing moment,

strength I find to meet my trials here;

trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,

I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.

He whose heart is kind beyond all measure,

gives unto each day what he deems best.

Lovingly, it’s part of pain and pleasure,

mingling toil with peace and rest.”

She concludes with hope, even in tribulation.

Help me then in every tribulation

so to trust thy promises O LORD;

that I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,

offered me within thy Holy word.

Help me LORD, when toil and trouble meeting,

e’er to take, as from a father’s hand,

one by one, the days, the moments fleeting,

’til I reach the promised land.”19

Hope in correction. Those who turn, acknowledging their guilt to the Lord, find hope and refuge in his correction of his people. The Lord has provided many reliable means of restoration and correction for those who want to return to a life of faith and trust. The law, the prophets, the natural order of creation, and the history of protection of God’s people all witness to his way in the world and love for his people, even today.20 Christians living by faith find hope in the law, especially in the words given from Mount Sinai and in Yahweh’s command to love. The witness of the first five books of the Bible is set in a broad narrative that continues to shape the character of Christians who read it. God invites a return to his law: “Surely you will fear me and accept correction!” (Zeph. 3:7a). The prophets also provide a way of return. Zephaniah was one among many, during three hundred years, who spoke directly, amidst false prophecy (3:4), of Yahweh’s passionate love for his people. These prophets still speak to us today.

The gift of the nonhuman creation is another witness to God’s care. Daily strength, food, shelter, protection, and work are good gifts from God’s hand. “Morning by morning” and “every new day” (3:5), God does not fail to provide.21 Recognizing God’s provision and its witness to his love for us is a discipline of correction against our arrogant assumption that we are self-sufficient. Our ability to do anything comes from Yahweh. This correction becomes a refuge of thanksgiving and joy for those who accept it too, as a gift.

Finally, Scripture and church history provide a rich witness to God’s faithfulness, love, and correction in the historical process (3:6). He brings down the arrogant and sets captives free. The study of God’s acts on behalf of his people is a resource of hope and a refuge of correction for those who trust in the Lord. God has been and is at work in creation, history, his law, and his prophets to provide broad opportunities of hope for those who seek his correction, that they may trust in him.

God’s ultimate message of correction came to us in the redeeming work of Jesus. After pouring out his anger on Jerusalem, God charted a new course with humanity. His new strategy for communicating the hurt behind his anger was to absorb the destructive forces of sin into himself through the Son Jesus, this time publicly demonstrating the love behind the anger. The Word declares that God has rerouted his anger from his rebellious people toward himself. In that new word, he communicates and gives his “righteousness” (the Son) to humanity in place of his anger. This is the great exchange called redemption in the New Testament. We may be redeemed from an eternity of separation from a holy God through the gift of Jesus’ righteousness. To refuse such a gift is to be judged truly lost.

Hope in cultural reconciliation. Zephaniah was keenly aware of tension between cultures and races. His grandmother was most likely Ethiopian (see comments on Zeph. 1:1).22 An important portion of Yahweh’s word of hope to him concerned other cultures (Zephaniah uses the word “peoples” to denote the races and cultures of his world in 3:9, 20 and “nations” in 2:11). In the midst of judgment, God’s created peoples are called to imagine and participate in a vision of the future reconciliation of all races.

If Jerusalem could be a city of peace between cultures and races even today, reconciliation would be possible for the whole world. People of many ethnic groups have immigrated to Israel. Other various cultures surround it. Nations throughout the world are affected by war and peace in the Middle East. The call to pray for Jerusalem’s peace (Ps. 122:6) is a relevant call to pray for the reconciliation and unity of all cultures. Such peace would be a source of hope for unity everywhere.

Racism is still deeply embedded throughout the world. Justice and trust between people of different cultures are essential to real hope and peace. Zephaniah’s reconciliation envisions an end to deceit and lies (Zeph. 3:13).23 The holy mountain (which means Jerusalem, 3:11) will be a place where no one is afraid of anyone else (3:13). The lips of the peoples will be pure (3:9), and the peoples in every land will give God’s humble remnant honor and praise (3:19–20). People freely give honor and praise to an honest and just people, out of trust and respect. In this vision, the cultures have been truly reconciled, and Jerusalem is the heart of this reconciliation.

What source could possibly deliver such unimaginable unity for us? The original division of races was a negative consequence of the sin of arrogance against God at Babel (Gen. 11:1–9). Zephaniah’s vision is that humility in relation to God is the first step toward reconciliation and the restoration of his original intention for the unity of the human race. The heart of his vision is that all people will worship Yahweh shoulder to shoulder in Jerusalem (Zeph. 3:9) and in their own countries (2:11). They will call on his name and serve him. God is the source of this unity, and the humble of the earth will be his new community of faith.

Our vision of racial unity today is not limited to Zephaniah’s few verses. Zephaniah was a forerunner of a more explicit action of God in Jesus and the Holy Spirit to reverse Babel and bring the diversity of his human creation to peace in the coming kingdom of God. Acts 2:9–11 records the presence of many peoples and nations on the day of Pentecost: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Cretans, Arabs, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, and Rome. It is perhaps also no coincidence that the first two converts outside Jerusalem were an Ethiopian (Acts 8:27–39) and a Roman (the commanding officer Cornelius, ch. 10). The first general conference of the early church in Jerusalem concerned cultural relations and how these relations would influence the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ (15:1–35; cf. 11:1–18). The gospel and God’s vision of the future are not complete without our attention to breaking down the divisions and lies between cultures. The primary witness of the coming kingdom among us is unified worship and table fellowship.

God’s joy. What could be greater than God’s gladness? It indicates the longing of the Lord’s heart. God will celebrate when we live the life of hope he has provided. God rejoices when our lives of arrogance are reversed and we begin living in hope of his coming kingdom.

The real reversal of our lives under the judgment of alienation from each other and from God is not based simply in admitting our sin but in truly repenting. True repentance means changed personal and social realities. Our relationship with God and with each other is transformed. When people humbly receive the gospel, God rejoices and sings (Zeph. 3:17). When diverse people call on the name of the Lord with one voice, God will delight (Isa. 62:1–5; 65:17–19). His rejoicing is like that of a father waiting for and rejoicing in the prodigal son who returns home (Luke 15:11–32). Even in a prophetic book known for its judgment, the heart of God longs to bring his people home (Zeph. 3:20). That is the purpose of the judgment. God longs to restore a good creation. All are invited to the party.

When anyone enters God’s life of hope and reconciliation, the nonhuman creation also rejoices: “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed” (Rom. 8:19). It waits for the redemption of those who will live their lives with God in the new creation. When the prophets and psalmists envisioned the day of this renewal, they declared that the creation would also rejoice as the stars and angels did at the first creation (Job 38:7). The hills and rivers rejoice and the sea resounds with praise at God’s salvation (Ps. 98:7–8). “All that lives in the earth, sky, and sea will rejoice when his salvation appears (96:11–13).”24

We are invited to join God and the rest of creation in rejoicing over our reconciliation with the Creator and Redeemer. Every Sunday is a reminder to rejoice in Christ’s Easter victory over sin, death, and the evil one. God has, in Christ, secured our hope and our future. Even in the midst of hardship we may enter into the rejoicing of hope (Phil. 4:4–7). The fullness of joy is in our future, but it has already been fulfilled in Jesus, the firstborn of the new creation. In him our future joy may be fulfilled in the present.

After the Exile, Zechariah used Zephaniah’s language to fill in the picture of the joy to come. “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech. 9:9; cf. Zeph. 3:14; Matt. 21:5). In Jesus we have reason to sing Zephaniah’s song of victory (Zeph. 3:14). We have the Lord in our midst (3:17) through the preached word and sacraments. Sorrows are removed (3:18) by his presence in prayer. The oppressions of sin and death (3:19) are relieved by the power of his forgiveness and resurrection from the dead. Our joy is future, but it is also present in the gifts of the Lord.

Original Meaning

Futile Warnings (3:6–8)

THE SECOND PART of the “judgment of Jerusalem” describes Yahweh’s futile warnings. Yahweh speaks directly (“I” in 3:6–10) of the strongholds and nations he has destroyed in Israel’s past (e.g., Jericho and the conquest of Canaan) as an example of his power to his people (3:6). Still, Jerusalem refuses correction (3:7). As a result Yahweh has decided to gather all the nations and consume the whole world (including arrogant Jerusalem) in the “fire of my jealous anger” (3:8; cf. 1:18).

In 3:6, the dramatic language describes the absolute ending of peoples whom Yahweh has judged. The emptiness is expressed in many ways: “I have cut off nations … strongholds are demolished … streets deserted … no one passing through … cities are destroyed … no one will be left—no one at all.” The once proud Egypt, the strongholds of Canaan before its conquest, and the glory of the northern kingdom of Israel have all passed into oblivion. Jerusalem has seen the defeat and end of many nations in her history.6

Over the years the prophets had delivered many warnings to Jerusalem. (In Zephaniah Jerusalem is still unnamed but is “the city.”) “I said to the city, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept correction!’” (3:7). Amos’s warnings to Israel began around 750 B.C. He was joined by many other true prophets in the 130 years prior to the days of Zephaniah. By that time the northern ten tribes were gone, dispersed by Assyria, for one hundred years (722–622 B.C.). These displays of power shown to his people were in hope that they would fear God and accept correction (3:7), although they refused (3:2).

The result is a “visit” (paqad; NIV “punishments”) from Yahweh (3:7b). The same word is translated “care for” in 2:7.7 The original root word is value free, neither positive nor negative, meaning “attend to.” It implies a relationship of responsibility between God and people. God cares for and blesses the creation. People are called to give praise and thanks and to obey. In 3:7, “attending to” means “punishment” only because the people have not “accepted correction” (3:7a) in God’s previous “attention.” God attends to his creation first by blessing them, then by correcting them, and if ignored, by “visiting” them in their rebellion. In spite of the warnings, they are “still eager to act corruptly” (cf. 1:4–13; 3:1–4). This visit is a nonnegotiable correction, but God’s intention is more than “punishment.” Its purpose is the same as that of the other “visits” of blessing and warning: to bring blessing to the whole earth through them.

In 3:8 God puts himself on the witness stand “to testify.” He “will stand” (as in ancient courts) and testify that “they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did” (3:7b). He is also the judge, using courtroom language (šapat, “I have decided”) to announce the assembling of nations and kingdoms. This consuming judgment is not just for Jerusalem but for “the whole world” (3:8–10; Ethiopia to Assyria, and everything in between, as in 2:4–15). No doubt is left concerning his anger or the comprehensive extent of the purging fire to come (cf. 1:18).8 The purpose behind God’s jealous anger is taken up in 3:9–20 (see also 1:18; 2:1–3; 3:6–10), announced by the “then” of 3:9 (see the introduction, “Jealousy and Wrath of Yahweh”).

The immediate historical events for Zephaniah’s audience would have been the demise of the Assyrian empire (beginning with Ashurbanipal’s death in 628 B.C.) and the rise of the Babylonians (who captured Jerusalem in 597)—events that God’s people watched with unease. Immediately, however, Yahweh announces the purpose for and outcome of this jealous fire: He will purify the remnant. Although the whole world will be consumed by “the fire of his jealous anger,” the world does not simply end. All the peoples of the earth will survive the consuming anger, to give “honor and praise” to the remnant of God’s people (3:20).

Promises for the Remnant (3:9–13)