Zephaniah 1 Commentary
Zephaniah announces the Noah-like judgment on the face of the earth. Everything would be swept away. Nevertheless, verse 12 seems to suggest that not everything will be destroyed. A search would be mounted in Jerusalem to punish those who are complacent.
Among the complacent are those “who bow down and swear by the LORD and who also swear by Molek”. The LORD won’t accept this kind of religion. You cannot have both! The Creator God demands exclusive worship! The saint is warned.
We also have “those who turn back from following the LORD and neither seek the LORD nor enquire of Him”. How often do we enquire of the LORD? Is science and technology more reliable?
The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad. Verse 12. Wealth has a way of enlarging a man’s heart beyond himself – a larger-than-God feeling. False security; false peace.
Zephaniah announces two events in one breath. Firstly, the judgment against the entire earth! And secondly, a more focused judgment against Judah. The latter is nearer and more detailed. The former may be an item for the end of the time. But they are all judgments against wickedness and may vary in time and space.
The Book of Revelation paints the same picture as Zephaniah. As in the day of Noah, so it shall be that a search would be made and the remnant isolated from wholesale condemnation. This is the hope of the Christian faith. And the LORD Jesus Christ guaranteed it with His own blood at Calvary! With this hope comes the righteous rule of Isaiah’s Immanuel, or the Son with the government on His shoulders. The saint can be glad!
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