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Zephaniah 1-3 Listen 
An introduction to Zephaniah
Verse 1:1 tells us that Zephaniah prophesied to Judah during the reign of King Josiah. Judah's first Babylonian exiles were taken in 605 B.C. and the city of Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C., seen in II Kings 24-25 (see notes). With only three chapters, this prophet was determined to convey the message of God's approaching wrath. The word "day" (Hebrew: yowm) is used 20 times in these three chapters, and it's referring to an approaching day of judgment.
So, exactly how big is this judgment? (Zephaniah 1)
1 The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 “I will utterly consume everything
From the face of the land,”
Says the LORD;
3 “I will consume man and beast;
I will consume the birds of the heavens,
The fish of the sea,
And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked.
I will cut off man from the face of the land,”
Says the LORD.
4 “I will stretch out My hand against Judah,
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,
The names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests—
5 Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops;
Those who worship and swear oaths by the LORD,
But who also swear by Milcom;
6 Those who have turned back from following the LORD,
And have not sought the LORD, nor inquired of Him.”
7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD;
For the day of the LORD is at hand,
For the LORD has prepared a sacrifice;
He has invited His guests.
8 “And it shall be,
In the day of the LORD’S sacrifice,
That I will punish the princes and the king’s children,
And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.
9 In the same day I will punish
All those who leap over the threshold,
Who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
10 “And there shall be on that day,” says the LORD,
“The sound of a mournful cry from the Fish Gate,
A wailing from the Second Quarter,
And a loud crashing from the hills.
11 Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh!
For all the merchant people are cut down;
All those who handle money are cut off.
12 “And it shall come to pass at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
And punish the men
Who are settled in complacency,
Who say in their heart,
‘The LORD will not do good,
Nor will He do evil.’
13 Therefore their goods shall become booty,
And their houses a desolation;
They shall build houses, but not inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine.”
14 The great day of the LORD is near;
It is near and hastens quickly.
The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter;
There the mighty men shall cry out.
15 That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of devastation and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of trumpet and alarm
Against the fortified cities
And against the high towers.
17 “I will bring distress upon men,
And they shall walk like blind men,
Because they have sinned against the LORD;
Their blood shall be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like refuse.”
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
Shall be able to deliver them
In the day of the LORD’S wrath;
But the whole land shall be devoured
By the fire of His jealousy,
For He will make speedy riddance
Of all those who dwell in the land.
There is no question about the theme of Zephaniah; because of Judah's wickedness, they are going to be destroyed. The question arises from the usage of the word "land" by Zephaniah, as in 1:2-3 and 18. Does that mean this judgment of Zephaniah's is world wide? Two Hebrew words are used for "land" in this passage, "adamah" and "erets." They are used interchangeably by Zephaniah, and both are translated in the Old Testament as either "earth" or "land," based upon context. So, here's the question: Is this passage talking about a judgment on the earth at the end of the tribulation or a judgment on the land by the Babylonians from 605 B.C. to the middle of the sixth century? When you look at verses 1:2-3, it seems global - accompanied by complete destruction. However, the references to activities of the remnant/survivors in this book have led many (including myself) to conclude that Zephaniah is probably describing the utter devastation that the Babylonian troops will cause when they ransack the land of Judah/Jerusalem and the surrounding nations on their destructive trek through the land. Jerusalem fell in 586 B.C., and the other surrounding nations fell at various times before and after that year.
Since we have concluded that Zephaniah's prophecy of utter destruction refers directly to the Babylonian attack upon Jerusalem, the "great day of the LORD" of verse 14 looks, not to the Battle of Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation as some have maintained, but rather to the Babylonian event in 586 B.C. (II Kings 24-25, see notes). The term "in that day" (Hebrew: yowm) is frequently used in the context of judgment by the Old Testament prophets. It is used to describe a period of time when the judgment takes place, not literally a 24-hour period of time. As a matter of fact, the judgment referred to with the term "day" in chapters 1-2 points, in each instance, to this Babylonian destruction of the regional nations in the sixth and seventh centuries B.C. Prior to the Babylonian onslaught, the Egyptians tromped into Jerusalem. In actuality, the fall of Jerusalem lasted over 20 years at the hands of the Egyptians and then the Babylonians, beginning after the death of King Josiah in 609 B.C. It does injustice to the consistency of the text to interpret some of these "day" references to the Babylonian destruction and others to the yet-future battle of Armageddon found in Revelation 19:11-21 (see notes). It seems that Zephaniah is certainly applying "that day" to the impending overthrow of the "land" by the Babylonians.
As a side note to these verses, notice verse 5 as Zephaniah is itemizing pagan worship in Judah, "Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops..." It would appear that this prophet is condemning the practice of astrology by the Jews. It is a fact that using the stars as predictors goes back to the Babylonians, as found in Hammurabi's tablets, predating Moses by at least 200 years. Other ancient notations on stone tablets clearly establish a belief that the stars were valid indicators of future events. More extensive collections of astronomical observations and attendant predictions have been found on cuneiform tablets known as the "Enema Anu Enlil" series. They date to sometime between 1350 and 1100 B.C., and seem to have been created for the purpose of summarizing contemporary astrological ideas. Therefore, without question, astrology had existed well over 1,000 years prior to Zephaniah's prophecy here. And...by the way, Zephaniah lists astrology as a form of pagan worship.
Verse 5 is interesting in another aspect as well - the mixing of worship of the one true God with paganism. Notice the last part of that verse 5, "Those who worship and swear oaths by the LORD, But who also swear by Milcom." In that verse, "Milcom" is the same as "Molech." You will recall that Molech is the god to which the pagans (and sometimes the Israelites) worshipped by sacrificing their children on his altar. Leviticus 20 (see notes) deals harshly with the issue of Molech worship where it is stated in verse 2, "Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones." Well...here's a news flash: Here they are being indicted for the sinful practice of mixing the two (worship of God and Molech), even though they were so mutually exclusive to one another.
And Judah's enemies too! (Zephaniah 2)
1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together,
O undesirable nation,
2 Before the decree is issued,
Or the day passes like chaff,
Before the LORD’S fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of the LORD’S anger comes upon you!
3 Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the LORD’S anger.
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon desolate;
They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday,
And Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the LORD is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy you;
So there shall be no inhabitant.”
6 The seacoast shall be pastures,
With shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7 The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah;
They shall feed their flocks there;
In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening.
For the LORD their God will intervene for them,
And return their captives.
8 “I have heard the reproach of Moab,
And the insults of the people of Ammon,
With which they have reproached My people,
And made arrogant threats against their borders.
9 Therefore, as I live,”
Says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Surely Moab shall be like Sodom,
And the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—
Overrun with weeds and saltpits,
And a perpetual desolation.
The residue of My people shall plunder them,
And the remnant of My people shall possess them.”
10 This they shall have for their pride,
Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats
Against the people of the LORD of hosts.
11 The LORD will be awesome to them,
For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;
People shall worship Him,
Each one from his place,
Indeed all the shores of the nations.
12 “You Ethiopians also,
You shall be slain by My sword.”
13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north,
Destroy Assyria,
And make Nineveh a desolation,
As dry as the wilderness.
14 The herds shall lie down in her midst,
Every beast of the nation.
Both the pelican and the bittern
Shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars;
Their voice shall sing in the windows;
Desolation shall be at the threshold;
For He will lay bare the cedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city
That dwelt securely,
That said in her heart,
“I am it, and there is none besides me.”
How has she become a desolation,
A place for beasts to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
Shall hiss and shake his fist.
Notice the mention of Judah's neighbors as victims of this devastation. Most noteworthy is Assyria's mention along with its capital city, Nineveh, way east several hundred miles in modern-day Iraq (verse 13). Nineveh fell to the Babylonians in 612 B.C. The Babylonians approached around the mountain range through the fertile crescent when they attacked and always appeared from the North in so doing. Of course, all of these nations were overcome by the Babylonians.
You will notice in verses 4-5 here that a clear geographical pattern of defeat is shown. The initial defeat (though short lived) of Jerusalem was at the hand of the Egyptian king who naturally approached from the south along the coast. Look at the cities listed in verse 4, Gaza, then Ashkelon, then Ashdod (all coastal cities listed from south to north) and Ekron (inland 11 miles from Ashdod in a direct line toward Jerusalem). That's the route the Egyptian king would have taken to attack Jerusalem. Of course the Egyptian king fell to the Babylonians shortly thereafter. All of those coastal Philistine cities are to be destroyed along with the Ethiopians, Moabites and Ammonites. It seems obvious that the Egyptian/Babylonian siege is in view here.
The yet-future restoration of Israel (Zephaniah 3)
1 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
To the oppressing city!
2 She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the LORD,
She has not drawn near to her God.
3 Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
4 Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have polluted the sanctuary,
They have done violence to the law.
5 The LORD is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails,
But the unjust knows no shame.
6 “I have cut off nations,
Their fortresses are devastated;
I have made their streets desolate,
With none passing by.
Their cities are destroyed;
There is no one, no inhabitant.
7 I said, “Surely you will fear Me,
You will receive instruction’—
So that her dwelling would not be cut off,
Despite everything for which I punished her.
But they rose early and corrupted all their deeds.
8 “Therefore wait for Me,” says the LORD,
“Until the day I rise up for plunder;
My determination is to gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.
9 “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language,
That they all may call on the name of the LORD,
To serve Him with one accord.
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers,
The daughter of My dispersed ones,
Shall bring My offering.
11 In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds
In which you transgress against Me;
For then I will take away from your midst
Those who rejoice in your pride,
And you shall no longer be haughty
In My holy mountain.
12 I will leave in your midst
A meek and humble people,
And they shall trust in the name of the LORD.
13 The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness
And speak no lies,
Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth;
For they shall feed their flocks and lie down,
And no one shall make them afraid.”
14 Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The LORD has taken away your judgments,
He has cast out your enemy.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
You shall see disaster no more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, let not your hands be weak.
17 The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
18 “I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly,
Who are among you,
To whom its reproach is a burden.
19 Behold, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you;
I will save the lame,
And gather those who were driven out;
I will appoint them for praise and fame
In every land where they were put to shame.
20 At that time I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you fame and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,”
Says the LORD.
Here's a chapter prophesying Israel's restoration. You will notice from the wording of this chapter that we're not talking a mere return to their land which began in 535 B.C. under the Persians (Ezra 1, see notes). We're talking about the world being ruled from Israel, and specifically Jerusalem. Notice verse 9, "For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, That they all may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him with one accord." It's impossible to make a valid case that this is not a world-wide worship of "the LORD."
Then there are references to a pure remnant and complete destruction of the enemy. That can only be millennium talk. There can be little question that this passage is Messianic and millennial. Verse 15 seems to seal this conclusion, "The LORD has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You shall see disaster no more." There is no time in history that fulfills this scenario. And verse 20 is the capper, "At that time I will bring you back, Even at the time I gather you; For I will give you fame and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I return your captives before your eyes,” Says the LORD." Yup, definitely Messianic in the yet-future millennium!
So...in summary, the fall of chapters 1 and 2 is obviously that of Jerusalem and the region to the Babylonians in the 6th century B.C., but the restoration of chapter 3 looks to the yet-future millennium under the Messiah.