Zephaniah 3.8a-God Commands Faithful Jews to Wait Patiently for Him to Fulfill the Day of the Lord Prophecies
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday July 12, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 3:8a-God Commands Faithful Jews to Wait Patiently for Him to Fulfill the Day of the Lord Prophecies
Lesson # 73
Zephaniah 3:8 “Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “For the day when I rise up as a witness. Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them My indignation, all My burning anger; For all the earth will be devoured by the fire of My zeal.” (NASB95)
“Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD” is composed of the following: (1) adverb kēn (כֵּן), “therefore” (2) second person masculine plural piel active imperative form of the verb ḥākâ (חָכָה), “wait” (3) preposition l (לְ), “for” (4) first person singular independent personal pronoun ʾǎnî (אֲנִי), “Me” (5) masculine singular construct form of the noun nĕʾum (נְאֻם), “declares” (5) masculine singular proper noun yhwh (יהוה), “the Lord.”
The adverb kēn means “consequently, therefore, as a result” since it is functioning as a marker of result meaning it is introducing a command which presents the result or logical result of the previous statements in Zephaniah 1:2-3:7.
The verb ḥākâ is in the piel stem and means “to wait for, to patiently wait for” implying faith or trust in God as He fulfills His Word to His people.
The second person masculine plural form of this verb is a reference to the faithful Jews living during the seventh century B.C. and those living during the seventieth week of Daniel and is used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
Therefore, this indicates that each and every one of these faithful Jews were to wait patiently for the fulfillment of the prophecies contained in the book of Zephaniah.
The imperative conjugation of this verb is an imperative command which indicates that the God of Israel is issuing an order for each and every one of these faithful Jews to wait patiently for the fulfillment of the prophecies contained in the book of Zephaniah.
The first person singular independent personal pronoun ʾǎnî means “Me” referring of course to the God of Israel as indicated by the expression nĕʾum-yĕhwâ (נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה), “declares the Lord,” which follows it.
It is the object of the preposition l, which is a marker of advantage indicating that it would be for the benefit of the God of Israel that these faithful Jews wait patiently for Him to fulfill the prophecies contained in the book of Zephaniah since these faithful Jews would praise Him for fulfilling these prophecies.
“For the day when I rise up as a witness” is composed of the following: (1) preposition l (לְ), “For” (2) masculine singular form of the noun yôm (יוֹם), “the day” (3) qal active infinitive construct form of the verb qûm (קוּם), “when rise up” (4) first person singular independent personal pronoun ʾǎnî (אֲנִי), “Me” (5) preposition l (לְ), “as” (6) masculine singular noun ʿēḏ (עֵד), “a witness.”
The noun yôm means “time period” since it does not pertain to a twenty-four period but rather an indefinite period of time which could range from a relatively short to very long period of time.
Here it refers to the period of time in which the Lord will judge the inhabitants of the earth which is called “the day of the Lord.”
The noun yôm is the object of the preposition l which is functioning as a marker of purpose expressing God’s purpose for these faithful Jews in the seventh century B.C. and those living during the seventieth week of Daniel to wait patiently for Him to fulfill the prophecies contained in the book of Zephaniah.
The verb qûm is in the qal stem can mean either “to stand up or to be in a standing position” or “to rise up” in the sense of taking hostile action against another.
The solution to this problem is whether or not Zephaniah is using the noun ʿad (עַד), “plunder, prey” or ʿēḏ (עֵד), “witness.”
The HCSB, ESV and NET Bibles choose the former whereas the LEB, NIT, TNIV and NRSV select the latter.
In the NASB95, “witness” is translating the masculine singular form of the noun ʿēḏ (עֵד), which means “witness” since it pertains to a person giving evidence in a formal legal setting.
If this is the word Zephaniah is using, then the preposition l would be functioning as a marker of purpose.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase would indicate that the God of Israel was going to stand up for the purpose of being a witness against unrepentant Jew and Gentiles living in the seventh century B.C. and those living during the seventieth week of Daniel.
However, Zephaniah is using the masculine singular form of the noun ʿad (עַד), “war-booty, plunder spoils” because in Zephaniah 3:8, God declares that He has decreed to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms in order to pour out His righteous indignation against them.
This implies that God will plunder these nations and give them to the faithful remnant of believers among the Jews living in the seventh century B.C. and those during the seventieth week.
This is supported by the command in Zephaniah 2:3 which required the faithful Jews living in the seventh century B.C. and those living during the seventieth week remain faithful to God and the purpose of which is so that they would plunder the Gentile nations.
If you recall, the prophecies against unrepentant Gentile nations in Zephaniah’s day recorded in Zephaniah 2:4-15 were designed to motivate these faithful Jews to obey the command in Zephaniah 2:3 and the ones in Zephaniah 2:1 directed at the unfaithful and unregenerate since it would result in plundering these nations.
In this sense, the preposition l should not be translated since it is marking the noun ʿad as the direct object of the verb qûm which expresses the idea of God “attacking and taking” war-booty from unrepentant Gentile nations living during the seventh century B.C. and those living during the seventieth week of Daniel.
Zephaniah 3:8 “Therefore, each and every one of you wait patiently for Me,” declares the Lord, “for the day I attack and take war-booty. Indeed, I have decided to gather nations, I will assemble kingdoms in order to pour out against them My righteous indignation, every bit of My intense burning anger. In fact, the entire earth will be consumed by means of My jealous anger.” (My translation)
Zephaniah 3:8 begins with a command which is the direct result of the previous statements in Zephaniah 1:2-3:7.
In fact, Zephaniah 3:8 forms an inclusio with Zephaniah 1:2-3 since both announce judgment against the nations of the entire earth.
Therefore, this command in Zephaniah 3:8 is based upon the fact that God will judge unrepentant Jews and Gentiles.
It is directed at the faithful Jews living during the seventh century B.C. since Zephaniah 1:4-13 and Zephaniah 2:1 are directed at unfaithful Jews in the seventh century B.C.
Also Zephaniah 2:4-15 is directed at the Gentile nations surrounding Judah during this period.
Lastly, Zephaniah 3:1-7 describes the unfaithfulness of the Jews living in the seventh century B.C.
This command in Zephaniah 3:8 is also directed at those Jews living during the seventieth week of Daniel since Zephaniah 1:2-3, 14-18 and 3:8 speak of a universal judgment of the nations of the earth.
This has yet to take place in history but will take place during the seventieth week of Daniel according the Old and New Testament prophecies related to this period in the future.
Furthermore, Zephaniah 3:9 reveals that as a result of this judgment of these Gentile nations, the lips of these peoples will be purified so that they call on the name of the Lord and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.
This has never happened in history but will take place during the millennial reign of Christ as a result of the judgments of the tribulation portion of Daniel’s seventieth week.
This command in Zephaniah 3:8 requires these Jews living during these two distinct time periods to wait patiently for the Lord to fulfill the prophecies contained in Zephaniah 1:2-3:7.
These faithful believers are described in Zephaniah 2:3.
This is indicated by fact that the second personal plural form of the verb ḥākâ, “each and every one of you patiently wait” which appears in Zephaniah 3:8 corresponds with the second person plural form of the verbs in Zephaniah 2:3.
These faithful Jews in Zephaniah 3:8 constitute the remnant in the kingdom of Judah in the seventh century B.C. as well as the remnant in Israel during the seventieth week of Daniel.
Next, in Zephaniah 3:8, God states the purpose for this command by asserting that these Jews need to wait patiently for Him to fulfill His Word for the day when He attacks and takes war-booty.
This waiting patiently speaks of faith and specifically trusting in God to fulfill these prophecies contained in the book of Zephaniah.
In Zephaniah 3:8, “the day” is the noun yôm which refers to the period of time in which the Lord will judge the inhabitants of the earth and is called “the day of the Lord.”
In a near sense, it refers to the period of time when Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Judah and her neighbors during the period between 605-587 B.C.
It is ultimately referring to the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel which ends the four-hundred ninety prophetic years prophesied in the book of Daniel for the discipline of the nation of Israel for her rebellion against God (cf. Daniel 9:24-27).
Therefore, in Zephaniah 3:8, God is informing these faithful Jews that they must wait patiently for Him to fulfill His Word with regards to the day of the Lord prophecies recorded in the book of Zephaniah.
They are to wait patiently for the purpose of Him attacking and taking war-booty from unrepentant Gentile nations living during the seventh century B.C. and those living during the seventieth week of Daniel and distributing this war-booty to these faithful Jews.