Zephaniah 2.9c-The God of Israel Declares a Remnant From His People Will Inherit the Lands of the Moabites and Ammonites (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday October 11, 2026

Zephaniah Series: Zephaniah 2:9c-The God of Israel Declares a Remnant from His People Will Inherit the Lands of the Moabites and Ammonites

Lesson # 44

Zephaniah 2:9 “Consequently, I existing eternally, the Lord ruling over the armies, the God ruling over and in a relationship with Israel declares: Moab’s people will be like Sodom’s people likewise Ammon’s citizens like Gomorrah’s people. A place overrun by weeds as well as salt pits, indeed, a desolation forever and ever! The remnant from My people will plunder them. Specifically, the survivors from the nation will inherit their territory.” (Pastor’s translation)

Zephaniah 2:9 ends with two prophetic declarations and both are speaking of the same thing since this second explains the first.

The first asserts that the remnant of God’s people will plunder the Moabites and the Ammonites.

This remnant is of course from the kingdom of Judah which survived the Babylonian exile.

God declares that this remnant will plunder these two nations.

The second asserts that these survivors will inherit the territory of these two nations.

Both of these prophetic declarations were fulfilled in history.

However, the remnant of Judah which returned from the Babylonian exile did not plunder the Moabites and Ammonites as a result of achieving a military victory over them.

Rather, they inherited their land and possessions after returning from Babylon since it was Babylon which conquered these two nations.

Medo-Persia conquered Babylon and decreed for the remnant of Judah to return to their land as well to occupy the lands previously held by the Moabites and Ammonites.

This was a legitimate transfer of possession since God established a covenant with the progenitors of the kingdom of Judah, namely Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in which He promised these men and their descendants that they would possess the lands previously held by the Moabites and Ammonites.

The “Palestinian” covenant is in fact an extension of the “Abrahamic” covenant, which is recorded in Genesis 12:1-3.

The Lord’s promise of land to Abram and his descendants in Genesis 13:14-17 is an “extension” upon His promise to Abram in Genesis 12:1 and is thus related to the “Abrahamic” covenant.

The “Palestinian” covenant was a confirmation and enlargement of the original “Abrahamic” covenant and amplified the land features of the “Abrahamic” covenant (Gen. 13:14-15; 15:18).

The “Palestinian” covenant was confirmed to Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4) and Jacob (Gen. 35:12), reiterated to Moses (Ex. 6:2-8) who described the geographical boundaries of the land in Numbers 34:1-12 and who prophesied the fulfillment of this covenant during the millennium in Deuteronomy 30:1-9.

The land grant under the “Palestinian” covenant: (1) Most of the land in Turkey (2) Most of East Africa (3) Saudi Arabia (4) Yemen (5) Oman and Red Sea (6) Syria (7) Iraq (8) Jordan.

The land grant has boundaries on the Mediterranean, on Aegean Sea, on Euphrates River and the Nile River.

Deuteronomy 30:1-10 describes seven features of the “Palestinian” covenant: (1) The nation will be plucked off the land for its unfaithfulness (Deut. 28:63-68; 30:1-3). (2) There will be a future repentance of Israel (Deut. 28:63-68; 30:1-3). (3) Israel’s Messiah will return (Deut. 30:3-6). (4) Israel will be restored to the land (Deut. 30:5). (5) Israel will be converted as a nation (Deut. 30:4-8; cf. Rm. 11:26-27). (6) Israel’s enemies will be judged (Deut. 30:7). (7) The nation will then receive her full blessing (Deut. 30:9).

The Lord promises that this land would be given to Abram’s descendants and this promise was fulfilled to a certain extent by Israel under Joshua (Josh. 21:43-45; cf. 13:1-7) and David and Solomon (1 Kgs. 4:20-25; Neh. 9:8).

The prophets of Israel prophesied of the “Palestinian” covenant’s literal and ultimate fulfillment during the millennial reign of Christ (Isa. 11:11-12; Jer. 16:14-16; 23:3-8; 31:8, 31-37; Ezek. 11:17-21; 20:33-38; 34:11-16; 39:25-29; Hos. 1:10-11; Joel 3:17-21; Amos 9:11-15; Micah 4:6-7; Zeph. 3:14-20; Zech. 8:4-8).

As was the case in Zephaniah 2:7, these last two prophetic declarations recorded in Zephaniah 2:9 brings into view the remnant doctrine because these verses speak of a small percentage of the population in the southern kingdom of Judah who survived the Babylonian invasions and their subsequent seventy year exile in Babylon.