Zephaniah 0 (Introduction)
9/27/24 9:53 AM
Solitary Man
solitaryman.substack.com
20240927
Introduction
Zephaniah prophesied in Judah during the days of Josiah, between 640 and 609 BC. His name means ‘Jehovah has secreted, or guarded, or hidden’. I like the fact that his name serves as a confirmation for a great promise that will be found in chapter 2, verse 3. What is that promise? You will have to wait until we deal with chapter 2!
No prophet gives us such a detailed genealogy as does Zephaniah. The most logical reason is that the last name, Hizkiah, refers to king Hezekiah. This makes Zephaniah the only prophet to have descended from royal blood. Some commentators try to claim that there wasn’t enough years for 4 generations to pass between Hezekiah’s and Josiah’s reign. If we recall that Hezekiah reigned for 29 years, his successor Manasseh for 55, then Amon for 2, there would be more than enough time for 4 generations, so I don’t know why that objection would be even raised.
Another one stated that no other sons other than Manasseh were mentioned for Hezekiah. Yet that proves nothing, as silence is not proof. Kings had many unrecorded sons in history. The fact that this genealogy is so detailed makes a very compelling case for the last name referring to Hezekiah – the only drawback being the alternate spelling found herein.
Some Jewish commentators state that Zephaniah came from a long line of prophets. However that is simply tradition, as the text itself gives no indication that any of the names in the first verse were prophets themselves, only ancestors.
Remember that Judah had just come out of the reign of Manasseh, whom the bible called the most evil king Judah ever had. 2 Ki 24:3-4 stated that God would not forgive Judah in the days of Jehoiakim, because of all the sins that Manasseh had committed. This man was notorious for the evil he committed, akin to a Caligula of Roman times or to a Gates of today. Yet unlike those 2 men, Manasseh did repent at the end of his life, but it would not spare his nation the total destruction that he helped to bring about. His son Amon continued in that evil vein, but did not even last 2 years.
It is in that terrible spiritual state that God put Josiah on the throne. Reigning 32 years, he first took time to consolidate his kingdom, learning the ropes, and making his throne sure. In his 12th year, around 628 BC, he instituted the most sweeping religious reform that Judah had ever witnessed. Over the course of the next 6 years, he attempted to eradicate all idol worship out of the land. He even ventured into Samaria, where the northern kingdom Israel had been overrun almost 100 years ago in 722 BC, and wiped out some idolatrous practices in those parts.
He was certainly inspired and motivated by God to bring back the true worship of Yahweh into the land. Actions such as attempting to reinstall Yahweh worship in parts of the north may of also reflected the political reality on the ground.
For many decades, Judah had been servants of Assyria, paying heavy taxes and tribute. Babylon regained its independence from Assyria in 625 BC. This would of weakened Assyria, and perhaps Josiah would of saw this as a divine approval of his spiritual reforms. This may of emboldened him to strike out into the north, and try and perhaps reclaim parts of the old Davidic kingdom by reinstituting Yahweh worship in what was now Samaria (2 Ki 23:15-20). He even tried to reinstitute the Passover in such a scale as to invite those of the north to join Judah (2 Ki 23:21-23). Nineveh itself was finally besieged in 612, and Assyria’s kingdom ended in 608 BC.
As a side note, I have spent a sizable amount of time trying to make sense of the historical realities on the ground during this time. This has turned out to be an exercise in frustration. No two commentaries seem to agree as to the probable reason for Josiah’s desire to oppose the Egyptian ruler, which ended up costing him his life in 608 BC. Here is the passage which speaks of Josiah’s death:
2Ch 35:20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.
2Ch 35:21 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.
2Ch 35:22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
2Ch 35:23 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
2Ch 35:24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
2Ch 35:25 And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.
What we see here is that Necho wanted to traverse through the outskirts of Judean territory, as he ended up fighting Josiah in Megiddo, which is within Judea. Of course, Josiah would of had good reason to be nervous and wary of a foreign power wanting to cross his territory. The confusion comes as to who Necho was going to fight. At this time Babylon was in the process of completely conquering Assyria. Whether or not Egypt was going to fight the dying remnants of the Assyrian empire, or the new power Babylon is not certain. In either case, one would speculate differing reasons as to why Josiah would be against that action, from a political standpoint.
To try and explain all the potential political theories would be confusing, exhausting, and really serve little to no spiritual purpose. Sort of like how exhausting it is today in trying to unravel all the evil machinations and motives of the cabal. To tell you the truth, this is the very first time when writing commentaries that I have actually faced some difficulty in trying to hunt down the truth of the historical situation on the ground. I got bogged down in trying to get at the truth of the matter from a historical perspective.
What I believe that God has now shown me is that yes, there is a timing aspect to carrying out the commands of the Lord. And what this timing aspect meant in this case is that he wanted me to pick up this commentary on this future day, when he gave me the revelation of the reality of the confused political situation in Josiah’s time. This confusion of the historical facts on the ground I believe still endures to this day. I have found out that scholars are in disagreement as to the political realities at the time of this passage. Was Assyria still in charge at Carchemish, or was Babylon? Which ruler was still in control? The timing of these things are in dispute, due to the confused and incomplete records that are still available. Based on who or what was going on, there would be different possible reasons why Josiah thought it was imperative he should oppose Egypt at this time.
I say all this to indicate that as today, Josiah also lived in a very confused, obscure, and dangerous time politically. Major world shaking events events were taking place. One world ruler was in the process of being replaced by another. Alliances were shifting seemingly by the day. From our vantage point thousands of years later, the crucial details of this time have been obscured and lost.
Do we not see the same parallels today? Are not all the world powers being shaken? Is not one kingdom being replaced by another? Is it not very confusing and obscure, even for us who are living in the midst of this global transition? Can you imagine what historians will make of this age hundreds of years in the future (assuming there is a future that far ahead)? Especially with all the fake news and propaganda that is dominating the narrative? I don’t think anyone will be able to make sense of this time even 50 years from today.
Even the most righteous king in Judah’s history made a fatal mistake politically. The text says that God spoke through this pagan king Necho (an idea not unprecedented in history). However Josiah probably reasoned within himself saying that he had just presided over the biggest revival in Israel’s history. God had blessed his endeavours politically, as their hated overlord Assyria was being toppled. Now here was Egypt, wanting to cross his land. Not only was he rightly concerned that these invaders may decide to attack Judah, but depending on what was the current political reality in 608 BC, he may of opposed Egypt based on who he was going to fight against. The details do not matter. What matters is that God tried to warn him via this pagan king.
I wonder if Josiah was simply too sure of himself and his own righteousness in even considering that Necho was speaking the truth. The text does not say that he sought the Lord and asked for direction. No, he simply went out and opposed him. And even though he had obeyed God to a degree unseen by any other king in Israels’ history, God allowed him to be killed. It kind of reminds one of the story of Moses, where he seemed to of made a minor mistake in striking the rock twice, yet God cut his time short on the earth and would not repent of that judgment.
Perhaps one can see a vague parallel to Trump’s behavior in this day. He had shook the planet with his bold, outspoken stance against globalism and the new world order in his first term. He had his second term stolen from him. As he tries to recapture the crown, it seems as if his lifelong pride prevents him from acknowledging his gross mistakes in how he handled the pandemic. He still brags about operation warp speed, which we now know is the greatest crime in human history. A minimum of 25 million dead from the bioweapon, and growing each day. Five billion people with potentially compromised immune systems that make them vulnerable to future biological attacks. It also seems that this was only given to the nations that were built on the Christian principle of individual human rights. All western nations, plus nations such as Japan and Israel, who adapted similar human rights codes, were specifically targeted. Nations and areas such as China, Russia, Africa, and the Middle East seem to of not been given the same mrna based potions, and thus we do not hear of the same mass excess deaths that we do in the so called free nations, though admittedly, data is hard to come by in some of these places. Not only have 35 million already perished, but everyone who has taken one or more of the poison death jabs have an immune system that has been instructed to turn itself off every time it sees this spike protein reintroduced into the body. God help us when the cabal unleashes the next, and most likely, final biological attack to finish off what is left of the western survivors, whose immune systems have already been severely compromised. Some people are up to 10 jabs already. What is most amazing is how are these people still breathing?
The scripture also makes clear that the past sins of Manasseh had yet to be accounted for. Josiah merely delayed the sure judgment. There was no man who could cancel it. So we too now live in the same circumstance. Someone like Trump may of delayed the judgment once. We are fervently hoping that somehow someone like him may delay the judgment a second time. But do not deceive yourself. Our judgment is sure. The only uncertainty is the type and timing thereof.
Now that more and more revelation is being unleashed about the child sex trafficking in America and beyond, does any of us honestly think that we can skip the spiritual bill of judgment due to these horrific crimes? We toss about phrases such as ‘crime of the century’, when we speak of certain heinous historical events. Well, we are now in the midst of the ‘crime of this current creation’, as nothing compares to the intentional mass poisoning and destruction of the God given immune system of well over half the planet’s population.
It is with all this in mind that we conclude that Zephaniah must of prophesied at the start of Josiah’s ministry. Since he predicted the utter destruction of Assyria and Nineveh in Zeph 2:13-15, he must of prophesied before that event. Thus I would place his work before 625 BC.
It would also make sense that Josiah’s reforms may of been inspired by Zephaniah’s preaching. The reforms began in 628 BC. The ominous warnings contained in this book should serve as motivation enough for any reader to eradicate any and all idolatry out of one’s life!
What is the book all about? The day of the Lord. The great, mighty, terrible day of the Lord. No book focuses on that day like this book. The book of Joel comes close, but I judge that this book speaks to this topic as no other. Certainly the book of Daniel and Revelation give us much more of the specific events of that day, but as far as focusing on the mountaintop view of this time period, I believe Zephaniah will provide us with unique insight.
In the earth shaking political events of 625 to 608 BC, followed by the death of this beloved king, I wonder if anyone recalled this prophecy of Zephaniah. Surely some must of thought that the day of the Lord was at hand. And perhaps a small initial fulfillment may of occurred, especially in the 3 judgments of Babylon invading Judah from 605 to 586, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
The day of the Lord is not simply one physical day. It is a season, a point in history that denotes the culmination of all things. A time when all accounts come due. A time when time is no more. A time when time runs out. A time when there is no more time.
This book will tell us what to expect during that time. What sort of season will it be? Joyous, or grievous? Something to look forward to, or something to dread? A common time, or a time like no other?
I think you can begin to guess at the answer.
Do not despair. Although we are about to place our oars in dark, deep, muddy waters, if you will stick with this study until the end, you will find some light to enlighten your path. We are not totally without hope.
While we are about to be plunged into a most alarming passage, we will also find some great and precious promises that will serve as a stark and joyous contrast to the dire pronouncements that are discovered within.
Solitary Man
