1:1
The word of the Lord came to Zephaniah. we are not told how the word came to him. Nowadays if someone claims to have a word from the Lord, how do we judge whether or not it is indeed from God? The first thing we do is test it against Scripture, if anything is contrary to the Bible then it most definitely is not a word from the Lord.
Zephaniah was a descendant of Hezekiah. Josiah was a reforming king, but one who has succeeded two evil kings.
1:2,3
These words are reminiscent of God’s word prior to the flood (Gen 6:13). The complete destruction implied may be not totally complete. In Noah’s day we know that God spared some of mankind, and some of the animals. In v 3 NIV has “the idols that cause the wicked to stumble”, ESV has “the rubble with the wicked”. Whatever the details, widespread judgement is about to come upon the earth. So here we see the immediate and long term application of prophecy. In the short term it applied to Judah and the surrounding nations. longer term it looks ahead the God’s judgement upon the whole earth.
1:4
The judgement will come on all people, starting with the people of God! Imagine how this would have sounded to the people Zephaniah was speaking to, his own people. They thought they were safe, they thought they were living under God’s protection, but His hand would be stretched out against them. Jeremiah warned against the same complacency. Sin was their biggest problem and they were ignoring it. Jesus encountered exactly the same reaction when He came to earth. Peter also warns that judgment begins with the house of God (1 Pet 4:17). Any teaching that thinks we are immune from God’s judgement in the senses that it doesn’t matter how we live is a most dangerous and wrong teaching. The primary reason for the judgement is the idol worship. All remnants of Baal worship would be removed, along with all the priests that served Baal.
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