Zephaniah 2.7b-The Lord Their God Will Care for the Remnant of Judah and Restore Their Prosperity
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday April 21, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 2:7b-The Lord Their God Will Care for the Remnant of Judah and Restore Their Prosperity
Lesson # 46
Zephaniah 2:5 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; And I will destroy you so that there will be no inhabitant. 6 So the seacoast will be pastures, with caves for shepherds and folds for flocks. 7 And the coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah, they will pasture on it. In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening; For the LORD their God will care for them and restore their fortune. (NASB95)
“For the LORD their God will care for them” presents the reason for the previous three prophetic declarations here in Zephaniah 2:7.
“And restore their fortune” advances upon and intensifies the previous assertion that the Lord God of the remnant of the kingdom of Judah will care for this remnant.
Thus, the advancement and intensification is that their Lord God would not only care for this remnant but prosper them in doing so.
Zephaniah 2:5 Disaster for those who inhabit the seacoast, namely the Cretan nation. The message originating from the Lord is directed against each and every one of you inhabitants of Canaan, the inhabitants of the land of the Philistines because “I will surely cause each and every one of you to be killed until there is absolutely not one inhabitant.” 6 Consequently, the seacoast will, as a certainty be pasture lands, dwelling places for those who are shepherds as well as sheep pens. 7 Indeed, the coast will, as a certainty be for the remnant belonging to the kingdom of Judah. They will be shepherds by the sea. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will recline during the evening because the Lord, their God will care for them. In fact, He will surely restore their prosperity. (My translation)
The fourth prophetic declaration in Zephaniah 2:7 is a causal clause which presents the reason for the previous three prophetic declarations here in Zephaniah 2:7.
The first of these was that the Mediterranean seacoast will be inhabited by the remnant of the kingdom of Judah.
The second is that they will shepherds by the sea.
The third is that they will recline in the evening in the houses of Ashkelon, a Philistine city.
The fourth prophetic declaration asserts that the Lord and God of this remnant of Judah will care for this remnant.
Therefore, the remnant of Judah will occupy the Mediterranean seacoast and shepherd their flocks and herds in this location and recline during the evening in the houses of Ashkelon because the Lord their God will care for them.
The fifth and final prophetic declaration advances upon and intensifies the fourth asserting that the Lord God of this remnant of Judah will restore their prosperity.
Therefore, the fourth and fifth prophetic declarations recorded in Zephaniah 2:7 speak of God’s love for this remnant which expresses itself by bestowing on this remnant unmerited blessings and extending mercy to them.
All five prophetic declarations in this verse also demonstrate that God is faithful to His unconditional promises which are related to the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic and New Covenant.
The four unconditional covenants that God established with the nation of Israel: (1) Abrahamic (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:16; 22:15-18; 26:4; 28:14; 35:11; Ex. 6:2-8). (2) Palestinian (Gen. 13:15; Ex. 6:4, 8; Num. 34:1-12; Deut. 30:1-9; Jer. 32:36-44; Ezek. 36:21-38). (3) Davidic (2 Sam. 7:8-17; Ps. 89:20-37) (4) New (Jer. 31:31-34; cf. Heb. 8:8-12; 10:15-17).
There are seven great features that are distinct in each of these unconditional covenants to Israel: (1) Israel will be a nation forever. (2) Israel will possess a significant portion of land forever. (3) Israel will have a King rule over her forever. (4) Israel will have a throne from which Christ will ruler, forever. (5) Israel will have a kingdom forever.
Taken together, they promise that the biological descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (aka Israel) who are declared justified by faith in the Lord God would be a nation that would occupy the land promised to them in these covenants with their Messiah King ruling over them and the entire earth.
If these unconditional promises of these covenants were to be fulfilled, then God must always set aside a remnant of believers justified by faith in every generation.
Thus, the prophecies of Zephaniah 2:7 to restore a remnant from the kingdom of Judah demonstrates God’s intention to fulfill these unconditional promises in these covenants.
The fulfillment of these prophecies took place when a remnant from the kingdom of Judah returned from Babylon after seventy years and resettled in this land promised to them in these covenants.
Daniel 9:1 asserts Daniel received his third great prophetic revelation during the first year of Darius the Mede’s reign who was the son of Ahasuerus.
Then, he informs the reader that Darius was made king over the Babylonian kingdom.
This would be 538-539 B.C. immediately after the Medo-Persian Empire conquered and absorbed the Babylon Empire.
Darius was installed as king by Cyrus the Persian. Daniel 6:28 (6:29) records that Daniel prospered during the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
In 539 B.C. Cyrus overthrew Babylon and established the Medo-Persian Empire.
This was Cyrus’ first year in control of Babylon.
His policy was to restore displaced peoples to their lands, which included the Jews.
He issued a decree in 538 B.C. that permitted Jews to return to Jerusalem if they wanted to (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4).
Fifty thousand Jewish exiles returned and began to rebuild the temple, which was an answer to Daniel’s prayer (Daniel 9:4-19).
The temple was completed in 515 B.C. (Ezra 6:15).
Seventy years had elapsed from the first deportation of Jews in 605 B.C. to the rebuilt foundation of the temple in 536 B.C. and this fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy as well (Jeremiah 25:11-12).
Also, this restoration of the remnant of Judah to land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob fulfilled the five prophecies recorded in Zephaniah 2:7 regarding this remnant.
Therefore, the fulfillment of these prophecies in Zephaniah 2:7 demonstrated God’s faithfulness to these unconditional promises contained in these four covenants.
If the Jewish people were exterminated by the Babylonian invasions, then these unconditional promises in these covenants could not be fulfilled since these promises were made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David and their biological descendants.
If no biological descendants of these men existed anymore because of these invasions and exile to Babylon, then these promises could not be kept by God.
Furthermore, if no biological descendant of these men existed, then God’s promise of a Savior and King for Israel and the world could not be kept by God as well.
The restoring of a remnant from the kingdom of Judah meant that God would fulfill these promises to Israel and the world of a Savior/King who would descend from the tribe of Judah.
