Zephaniah 3.4a-Zephaniah Indicts the Prophets of Jerusalem
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday June 21, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 3:4a-Zephaniah Indicts the Prophets of Jerusalem
Lesson # 64
Zephaniah 3:4 Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men; Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law. (NASB95)
“Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men” is composed of the following: (1) masculine plural construct form of the noun nābîʾ (נָבִיא), “prophets” (2) third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hîʾ (הִיא), “her” (3) masculine plural qal active participle form of the verb pāḥaz (פָּחַז), “are reckless” (4) masculine plural construct form of the noun ʾîš (אִישׁ), “men” (5) feminine plural form of the noun bōgĕdôt (בֹּגְדוֹת), “treacherous.”
The prophet Zephaniah uses once again the figure of asyndeton here in Zephaniah 3:4 in order to mark a change of topic or a transition to a different group of people who lived in the city of Jerusalem during the seventh century B.C. and will live in her during the seventieth week of Daniel.
He also uses the figure to emphasize the solemn nature of the description of the ungodly conduct of the prophets of the kingdom of Judah who lived during the seventh century B.C. and those who will during the seventieth week of Daniel as being corrupt morally.
This ungodly conduct is the direct result of their rejection of the Word of God.
The noun nābîʾ is in the plural and means “prophets” referring to those men whom God sent to communicate His message of judgment or blessing to the southern kingdom of Judah in Zephaniah’s day in the seventh century B.C. and those who will live during the seventieth week of Daniel.
Here in Zephaniah 3:4, the noun nābîʾ refers to those men whom God sent to the kingdom of Judah in the seventh century B.C. and those He will send to Israel during the seventieth week of Daniel but who were unfaithful in carrying out their duties to communicate His message of judgment or blessing.
This word is expressing the fact that these men represented God and were to communicate a message from Him to Judah in the seventh century B.C. and to Israel during the seventieth week.
The construct state of this noun means that it is governing the word which follows it and is expressing a genitive relation with this word which is third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hîʾ, which means “her” referring to the city of Jerusalem.
The genitive relation is possession expressing the relationship between these prophets and the kingdom of Judah in the seventh century B.C. and the nation of Israel during the seventieth week.
The verb pāḥaz means “to be insolent, to be arrogant” since it pertains to a person that has a false confidence in oneself or one’s abilities and so have a false, morally repugnant haughtiness.
It probably refers to their audacity in passing off their own words as genuine prophecies from the Lord (see Jer 23:32).
The participle form of this verb is functioning as an attributive adjective meaning it is ascribing arrogance to the plural form of the noun ʾîš, which means “men” referring to Jerusalem’s false prophets living in the seventh century B.C. and those who will live during the seventieth week.
The construct state of this noun indicates that it is governing the word which follows it.
It is also expressing a genitive relation with this word which is the feminine plural form of the noun bōgĕdôt, which means “treacherous” since it pertains to a state or condition of deceit and trickery indicating that Jerusalem’s prophets are false prophets.
The genitive relation is attributive meaning that the noun bōgĕdôt is ascribing the attribute of being treacherous to these prophets of Jerusalem.
Therefore, the prophet is making the assertion that Jerusalem’s prophets are arrogant, treacherous men.
Zephaniah 3:4 Her prophets are arrogant, treacherous men. Her priests defiled the sanctuary. They flagrantly disobeyed the Law. (My translation)
After presenting indictments against the political and military leaders residing in Jerusalem as well as this city’s judges in Zephaniah 3:3, the prophet Zephaniah presents indictments against this city’s prophets and priests here in Zephaniah 3:4.
Therefore, we have a transition from the indictments against the civil authorities in Jerusalem to a presentation of indictments against her spiritual leaders.
Like the civil authorities, the spiritual authorities of Jerusalem were corrupt because they were disobedient to God’s Word.
So Zephaniah 3:4 contains a description of the city of Jerusalem’s spiritual leaders who not only lived in her during the seventh century B.C. in Zephaniah’s day but also those who will live in her during the seventieth week of Daniel.
This is indicated by the fact that the seventieth week of Daniel is the last seven years of the Lord disciplining the nation of Israel for her disobedience.
If you recall, Daniel was given a prophecy which is recorded in Daniel 9:24-27.
This prophecy is called by theologians and expositors of the Bible “the Seventy Weeks of Daniel,” which are actually four hundred ninety prophetic years.
These verses dealt with the period of the Times of the Gentiles in which God would be disciplining the nation of Israel for her disobedience and Gentile nations will be the dominant powers and Israel is subject to these nations.
Jesus Christ warned Israel about false prophets in Israel living during the seventieth week (cf. Matt. 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22).
He also mentions the Antichrist desecrating the temple in Jerusalem in the middle of the seventieth week (Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14).
No doubt there will be corrupt Jewish priests who will go along with this desecration and of course some who won’t.
The indictment against the prophets who will live in Jerusalem during these two distinct time periods is that they are arrogant, treacherous men.
They were arrogant in the sense that they communicated their own words to the Jewish people rather than God’s Words.
They were treacherous because they deceived the Jewish people into thinking they were speaking God’s Words when in reality they were speaking their own thoughts and words (cf. Jer. 23:14, 32; 28:1-17; 29:21-23; Lam. 2:14; Ezek. 22:28).
Bentley writes “The prophets of whom Zephaniah spoke were those who loved to be noticed. Yet they were not merely proud and boastful: they were treacherous, too. They sought their own advantage and did so at the expense of the ordinary people. They were dangerous, because they deceived the people who had been taught to look up to them, and they did not speak the truth. Jeremiah 28:1–17 and 29:21–23 tells us about the folly of listening to prophets who tell lies.”
The prophets of Israel were the authorized spokesmen for God and proclaimed His will, purpose and plan (See Hebrews 1:1-2).
There were a number of activities that the prophets of God were involved in such as communicating doctrine, issuing judgments, communicating future events, serving in the Temple, performing miracles, proclaiming Messianic prophecies, and interceding through prayer for the people (Hab. 3).
An inspired prophet could be identified using the tests for prophets in Deut. 13:1-5; 18:14-22.
The Old Testament prophets distinguish themselves in their writings and public speeches that they were God’s spokesmen.
They were of the conviction that they were speaking about God and His works as well as His sovereign will.
They declared that the commands and prohibitions which they issued to Israel originated from God Himself.
The fulfillment of prophecy demonstrated this fact.
So the prophets of God who were sent to Israel were in effect covenant enforcers in the sense that they called the people to repent by confessing their sins to God to be restored to fellowship with God.
They also exhorted them to obedience to God to maintain that fellowship with God.
Here in Zephaniah 3:4, the prophet is asserting that as a whole these prophets failed in their responsibilities in calling the Jewish people back to obedience to the Mosaic Law.