Zephaniah 1.2-Universal Judgement
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday January 27, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 1:2-Universal Judgment
Lesson # 9
Zephaniah 1:1 The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah: 2 “I will completely remove all things from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD. (NASB95)
This verse is composed of the following: (1) qal active infinitive absolute form of the verb ʾāsap (אָסַף), “I will completely remove” (2) first person singular hifʿîl active participle form of the verb sûp (סוּף), “I will completely remove” (3) collective singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל), “all” (4) preposition min (מִן), “from” (4) preposition ʿal (עַל), “from” (5) masculine plural construct form of the noun pāne (פָּנֶה), “the face of” (6) articular feminine singular form of the absolute noun ʾădāmâ (אֲדָמָה), “the earth” (7) masculine singular construct form of the noun nĕʾum (נְאֻם), “declares” (8) masculine singular proper noun yhwh (יהוה), “the Lord.”
The verb ʾāsap contains the idea of God’s judgment and literally means “to gather, to remove” and figuratively “to exterminate.”
It is employed with the verb sûp which means “to bring to an end.”
This verb is used in the Old Testament in contexts where divine judgment is imminent and such is the case here in Zephaniah 1:2.
The verb sûp is in the hifʿîl or hiphil stem which is causative and indicates that the Lord as the subject of this verb caused the earth’s inhabitants, both mankind and the animal kingdom, to die.
The participle form of this verb is for imminent action indicating an action that is about to occur and expresses the idea of this universal judgment being imminent.
Therefore, these two verbs ʾāsap and sûp literally mean “I will gather or I will remove and cause everything to be brought to an end.”
However, we will translate them “I will exterminate, yes I am about to cause” everything “to be destroyed.”
The collective singular construct form of the noun kōl means “everything” since it pertains to the totality of creatures on planet earth.
It refers to human beings as well as the animal and bird kingdoms and in addition aquatic life.
The masculine singular construct form of the noun nĕʾum means “declaration” since it pertains to a marker of prophetic discourse as a marker of the origin and authority of the message in the discourse found in the beginning, middle and mostly on the end of a discourse.
So here the word is a marker of prophetic discourse so as to identify this prophetic declaration as originating from the Lord and thus expressing the divine authority of this message.
The proper noun yhwh (Yahweh) “Lord” is the covenant-keeping personal name of God used in connection with the salvation of the human race, whether Jew or Gentile.
It is emphasizing the covenant relationship that Zephaniah and the kingdom of Judah had with the Lord and the revelation that Zephaniah received was from God.
This word yhwh is emphasizing the “immanency” of the Lord meaning that He involves Himself in and concerns Himself with and intervenes in the affairs of men whereas Elohim, “God” emphasizes the transcendent character of God.
Zephaniah 1:1 The message originating from the Lord was communicated to Zephaniah, son of Cushi, grandson of Gedaliah, great-grandson of Amariah, great, great-grandson of Hezekiah, during the days of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah: 2 “I will surely exterminate, yes I am about to cause every living thing to be destroyed on the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. (Author’s translation)
The prophecy of Zephaniah begins with a poetic hyperbolic statement that the Lord will surely exterminate every living thing on the face of the earth.
Through the prophet, the Lord declares that He is about to cause each and every living thing to be destroyed that dwells upon the face of planet earth.
Zephaniah 1:3 reveals that these living things include human beings, the animal and bird kingdoms as well as aquatic life.
This declaration is hyperbole which is so called because the expression adds to the sense so much that it exaggerates it and enlarges or diminishes it more than is really meant in fact or when more is said than is meant to be literally understood in order to heighten the sense.
This figure emphasizes that the Lord will not kill each and every living being or creature on the earth but a good majority of them.
There are many indications within the contents of Zephaniah which indicate the language of Zephaniah is hyperbole.
For example, Zephaniah 2:3 indicates the possibility of the “humble of the land” surviving this catastrophic judgment.
In Zephaniah 3:6-9, the prophet asserts that although “no one will be left—no one at all” in the cities of the nations, the Lord also announces that He will “purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.”
Furthermore, Zephaniah 3:10 and 20 reveal that the Lord’s people will also worship Him after the earth is judged.
Zephaniah 3:11-12 also predicts that the Lord will remove the proud rebels in the midst of Judah and will leave a remnant of humble Jews.
This will also be true of the Gentile nations.
Therefore, the totality of destruction theme is merely hyperbole in order to emphasize that there will be no place on planet earth which will escape the Lord’s judgment and that the renovation of the earth will be complete.
An important aspect of interpreting prophecy is understanding and being aware that a passage might have a double reference.
This means that in prophecy, events often bear some relationship to one another and are in fact parts of one program or in other words, certain events of the future are seen grouped together in one defined area of vision even though they are at different distances.
For example, many times the major prophets issued prophecies concerning the Babylonian captivity, the events of the day of the Lord, the return from Babylon, the world-wide dispersion of Israel and their future return to the land and grouped them all together seemingly indiscriminately.
Connected to this when interpreting prophecy, the interpreter must observe the time relationships meaning that some events that are widely separated as to the time of their fulfillment are sometimes treated within one prophecy.
For example, the prophecies concerning the First and Second Advents of Christ are spoken of together in one pericope as though they were going to take place at the same time.
This phenomena is also seen with the second and third dispersions of the Jews, which are viewed as taking place without interruption.
So the prophet may view widely separated events as continuous or future things as either past or present.
So the Lord’s prophetic declaration contained in Zephaniah 1:2 was fulfilled in a near sense through Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon sacking Judah and her neighbors in the Mediterranean region.
This is indicated by the prophetic declarations that appear in Zephaniah 1:3-3:7 which speak of the destruction of Judah and her Gentile neighbors which took place through the Babylonian invasions led by Nebuchadnezzar.
Zephaniah 1:3-2:3 describes the historical situation in the kingdom of Judah when the Babylonian invasions took place.
Also, Zephaniah 2:4-15 contains references to Gentile nations which surrounded Judah which like Judah were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
Zephaniah 2:4-5 contains references to Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Crete and the Philistines and Zephaniah 2:8-12 contains references to the nations of Moab, Ammon and Ethiopia.
Zephaniah 2:13-15 contains a reference to Assyria and the great city Nineveh which were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon.
However, the prophetic declaration that appears in Zephaniah 1:2 will ultimately be fulfilled in a far sense during the tribulation portion of Daniel’s seventieth week.
This is indicated by the prophetic declarations that appear in Zephaniah 3:8-20 which contain references to the restoration and regeneration of the nation of Israel and millennial reign of Jesus Christ which immediately follow the tribulation portion of Daniel’s seventieth week.
Nowhere in Judah or Israel’s history was Judah or Israel regenerated with their Messiah living in their midst rejoicing over them.
The prophetic declaration that appears in Zephaniah 1:2 echoes the one issued in Isaiah 24:1-6 and 19-23.
This prophecy will also be fulfilled in a far and ultimate sense during the tribulation portion of Daniel’s seventieth week.
The prophetic declaration of Zephaniah 1:2 and the others contained in the book express the sovereignty of the God of Israel over not only Judah but every nation on earth and it also reveals that the God of Israel is the judge of all humanity both Jew and Gentile.
Zephaniah 1:2 also describes the God of Israel as intervening in the affairs of mankind since it speaks of God judging Judah and the nations and this is called the “immanency” of God.
The prophetic declaration of Zephaniah 1:2 also speaks of the God of Israel’s wrath or we can say His righteous indignation (Zeph. 1:14-18), which refers to His legitimate anger towards evil and sin since both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature.