Introduction to Zephaniah

Chapters

The prophecy takes place during the reign of Josiah (640–609 B.C.), a significant Judean king (2 Kings 21:26–23:20; 2 Chron. 33:25–35:27). The northern kingdom of Israel had already been exiled, in 722 B.C., so “Israel” does not refer to it. Rather, these references speak of the remainder of the nation of Israel: little Judah and its capital, Jerusalem.

Josiah was a reforming king, trying to reestablish acceptable worship practices that had fallen out of use since the time of his great-grandfather Hezekiah.

In spite of having seen the destruction and exile of her sister, Israel, a generation or two previously, Judah refuses to turn back as a nation to her covenant obligations toward God. The reign of pious Josiah provides an ideal opportunity to make this move, and God, through Zephaniah, wants to clarify the decision that lies before Judah, and indeed before all the other nations, along with the consequences of that decision.

The theme of Zephaniah, one preached more consistently by him than by any other prophet, is the “day of the Lord.”. This approaching day shows two faces: one of judgment against those who sin against God, and one of blessing for those who follow him. God will show himself just in both punishment and praise.

CSB Study Bible - Gregory W. Parsons

Zephaniah's lengthy genealogy suggests he was of royal lineage. Why list four generations unless this final name was significant? (1:1)

Zephaniah’s Immediate purpose was to warn idolatrous Judah of the Lord's imminent judgment. The ultimate purpose was to call out a remnant from all nations to trust in the Lord because of the coming day of his judgment upon the earth.

From the information given in the biblical records, it seems that Zephaniah was the first prophet to appear in Judah since the conclusion of Isaiah and Micah’s ministry seventy years earlier. His preaching marked the beginning of a new era of prophetic activity in Judah, but it was an era that also saw the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the kingdom of Judah.

For much of the seventy years before Zephaniah, the king over Judah was the wicked Manasseh. After his fifty-five years on the throne, Judah was in a worse spiritual condition than the original Canaanites, whom God had destroyed.

Manasseh’s son Amon followed his father’s policies, but after a reign of only two years he was murdered. The leaders of Judah were by now tired of political and social violence, so they executed Amon’s murderers and put Amon’s eight year old son Josiah on the throne (640 BC).

By the time he was twenty years of age, Josiah had developed his own national policy and had begun religious reforms that lasted many years (2 Chronicles 34:3-4). The ministry of the prophet Zephaniah may have had some part in prompting the king to introduce his reforms. Zephaniah was a young man probably not much older than Josiah and appears to have been related to him (both being descended from Hezekiah).

Apart from the names of (Zephaniah’s) immediate forefathers, we know nothing more about him for sure, though it seems fairly certain where he lived. His references to Judah and Jerusalem (Zep_1:10-11) seem to indicate that he lived in Jerusalem, which would fit a king’s descendant.

He (Zephaniah) apparently ministered primarily to the upper echelons of society rather than to the average Israelites, as evidenced by his references to the princes, judges, prophets, and priests

Zephaniah contains more references to "the day of the LORD" than any other Old Testament book. This phrase sometimes refers to the past, sometimes to the near future, sometimes to the distant future, and sometimes to the far distant, eschatological future. The phrase always refers to some period of time in which God is working in the world in a recognizable way. It usually refers to a time of blasting, but sometimes it refers to a time of blessing.

Josiah was a godly, young king who brought great revival and reform to Judah, but Josiah reigned for 10 years before he led his great revival. Zephaniah was likely written in the years before the revival, and God used this prophecy to bring and further revival.

Since Zephaniah predicts the destruction of Nineveh (which happened in 612 B.C.) we know that his prophecy belongs to the first part of the reign of King Josiah.

The 12 Minor Prophets are divided into two groups: pre-exilic and post-exilic. The first 9 are pre-exilic, writing before the Babylonians conquered and exiled Judah. The last 3 are post-exilic, writing during and after the return of Israel from Babylon to the Promised Land. Zephaniah is the last of the pre-exilic prophets, and can be said to “sum up” the messages of the previous 8. This is why Zephaniah seems unoriginal to some scholars, because he quotes the words and ideas of many previous prophet.