Judah are told to gather together, gather themselves together, and they are called a shameful nation, Zephaniah 2:1. They are to gather together before the decree takes effect and that day passes like windblown chaff. They are to gather together before the LORD’s fierce anger comes upon them. They are to gather together before the day of the LORD’s wrath comes upon them, Zephaniah 2:2. In other words, they need to examine themselves, 1 Corinthians 11:31-32.
Notice they are called upon to seek three things, the Lord, righteousness, and humility, Zephaniah 2:3 / Numbers 6:23-26. The word ‘seek’ in Hebrew is the word, ‘baqash’ and it means to search out, to strive after but it also carries with it the idea of continuous seeking. In other words, they were to continually seek the Lord, they were to continually seek righteousness and continually seek humility.
Judah had gone so far away from God and His ways, that they had become almost useless to God as a nation. It was God who made them into a nation, Exodus 19:5-6, but it seems they have forgotten this and forgotten God.
Zephaniah pleads with the righteous few to get their act together so that they can be identified with God. He asks them to look around at what is about to happen to them, indicating that some in Judah have a chance to escape the coming judgment.
Zephaniah says there is no humility in Judah, and so, in order to avoid the coming judgment, they needed to be obedient to the Lord, they needed to repent, Zephaniah 1:3 / 1 Peter 4:17-18. Repentance simply means to ‘reconsider’ your ways, and after reconsidering, change the direction of your life and start living God’s way.
Sadly, Judah failed to repent, when Jerusalem finally fell and the city was destroyed by the Babylonians, some were taken into captivity, and so, in 586 B.C. Judah stopped being a nation but continued to be a kingdom until AD 7.0 when the Romans totally destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.
The Philistines ruled the five city-states of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath, Zephaniah 2:4, from the Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarkon River in the north, but with no fixed border to the east. The word ‘Philistia’ means the land of strangers.
The Philistines first appear in the southern coastal area of Canaan, hence why sometimes they were called Kerethite people, the ‘sea people’, Zephaniah 2:5 / 1 Samuel 30:14 / Amos 9:7. This sea coast is in the west of the territories of the tribes of Dan and Simeon, Psalm 60:8 / Psalm 87:4 / Psalm 108:9.
Zephaniah says, the land by the sea will become pastures having wells for shepherds and pens for flocks, Zephaniah 2:6. He continues and says that land will belong to the remnant of the people of Judah and there they will find pasture, Zephaniah 2:7 / Ezra 4:12-16 / Ezra 4:19-22. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon and the LORD their God will care for them and He will restore their fortunes, Zephaniah 2:7 / Isaiah 4:1-6 / Isaiah 4:30.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘They had been greatly harassed by the kings of Egypt; but were completely ruined by Nebuchadnezzar, who took all Phoenicia from the Egyptians; and about the time of his taking Tyre, devastated all the seignories of the Philistines. This ruin we have seen foretold by the other prophets and have already remarked its exact fulfilment.’
The Philistines knew no shame and they have no conscience. It was the Assyrians who first conquered them but later, the Babylonians would come and bring them to an end. Because of their location, as a nation, they were always under threat, and so, in the final days of national Israel, they would suffer.
Its cities will be made desolate, and the inhabitants will be destroyed, the land will only be useful for sheep and shepherds but eventually, the land will be for the remnant of Judah, when God brings them back from Babylonian captivity around 536 B.C.
God says that He has heard the insults of Moab and the taunts of the Ammonites, who insulted His people, Psalms 74:10 / Psalms 74:18, and made threats against their land, Zephaniah 2:8. They continually mocked the Israelites, especially when the nations around were attacking them and they took full advantage of this when they moved into the land of Reuben and Gad. Because of this, they would be punished to such an extent that they would cease to be a nation.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In the first fulfilment, because Moab and Ammon aiding Nebuchadnezzar, and all, in various ways wronging God’s people, Isaiah 16:4 / Amos 1:13-15 / Amos 2:1-3 / Jeremiah 48:27-30 / Jeremiah 48:42 / Jeremiah 49:1 / Ezekiel 20:3 / Ezekiel 20:6 / Ezekiel 20:8, trampled on His sanctuary, overthrew His temple and blasphemed the Lord, the prophecy is turned against them. So then, before the captivity came, while Josiah was yet king, and Jerusalem and the temple were, as yet not overthrown, the prophecy is directed against those who mocked at them.’
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘God punished them for the cruel part they had taken in the persecutions of the Jews; for when they lay under the displeasure of God, these nations insulted them in the most provoking manner, Amos 1:13 / Amos 1:13 / Genesis 19:25 / Deuteronomy 29:23 / Isaiah 13:19 / Isaiah 34:13 / Jeremiah 49:18 / Jeremiah 50:40.’
Moab and Ammon will become like Sodom and Gomorrah, Zephaniah 2:9, Moab will become like a place of weeds and salt pits, Deuteronomy 29:23 / Psalms 107:34, a wasteland forever, Zephaniah 2:9 / Jeremiah 49:18.
The remnant of God’s people will plunder them and the survivors of God’s nation will inherit their land, Zephaniah 2:9. Moab and Ammon because of their pride, and for the way they treated God’s people will be punished, Zephaniah 2:10 / Amos 1:13-15 / Amos 2:1-3.
The LORD will be awesome to them when He destroys all the gods of the earth and distant nations will bow down to him, all of them in their own lands, Zephaniah 2:11. In other words, if you destroy a nation’s gods, you destroy their identity as a nation, Romans 1:18 / Deuteronomy 32:38. The good news is that one day, the One true God will be worshipped by people from all nations.
The Cushites were from Ethiopia and the land of Cush which was situated in the south of Egypt. We know that God’s sword was put in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar in order to punish Tyre, Jeremiah 46:2 / Jeremiah 46:9 / Ezekiel 29:17-20 / Ezekiel 30:4 / Ezekiel 30:10 / Ezekiel 30:24-25 / Amos 9:1-7. The king of Assyria was called God’s razor by Isaiah, Isaiah 7:20.
The sword is God’s way of venting His wrath and if we learn anything from this, it’s knowing that God can use anyone He likes to bring about judgment against any nation He chooses who refuses to repent and follow His ways.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Ethiopians were not in any direct antagonism to God and His people, but allied only to their old oppressor, Egypt. They may have been in Pharaoh Necho’s army, in resisting which, as a subject of Assyria, Josiah was slain, they are mentioned in Jeremiah 46:9, in that army which Nebuchadnezzar smote at Carchemish in the 4th year of Jehoiakim. The prophecy of Ezekiel implies rather, that Ethiopia should be involved in the calamities of Egypt, than that it should be itself invaded, Ezekiel 30:4-6.’
During the time of Zephaniah, the Assyrian Empire was coming to an end, Zephaniah 2:13 / Zephaniah 1:4. Because they had already taken the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity in 722/21 B.C., they proved to be a real threat to the southern kingdom of Judah. Although the capital city of Nineveh was well fortified, Zephaniah 2:13, it eventually fell into the hands of the Babylonians in 612 B.C. The city was destroyed so much by the Babylonians, that it would never be built again.
Flocks and herds will lie down there and creatures of every kind, Zephaniah 2:14 / Isaiah 17:2. Notice the ‘desert owl’ and the ‘screech owl’, Zephaniah 2:14, are mentioned, Isaiah 34:11 / Isaiah 34:14. Some other translations use other animals, the KJV uses the word, ‘cormorant’ which is possibly a pelican and the word, ‘bittern’ which is a species of bird. Whatever animals they are, they are used as examples of wild creatures who would take over this once-proud city, Zephaniah 2:14 / Nahum 3:19.
Nineveh claimed to be like God, saying I am the one! And there is none besides me, Zephaniah 2:15 / 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Oh, how wrong she was, Isaiah 47:8 / Revelation 18:7. What a ruin she has become, a lair for wild beasts! All who pass by her scoff and shake their fists, Zephaniah 2:15.
Seeking is something which we do continuously, Matthew 7:7, whether it be seeking the Lord, seeking righteousness, or seeking humility. A person who is truly repentant will do whatever it takes to please the Lord because they know their eternal destiny depends upon it, 2 Corinthians 7:10.
Seeking the Lord must be at the forefront of everyone’s mind, we will never know what God wants unless we earnestly seek Him through reading our Bibles and studying it, Deuteronomy 4:29 / Isaiah 55:6-7. Righteousness basically means being right with God, but this can only come when He is first in our lives and when we trust Him to take care of our daily needs, Matthew 6:33-34.
Humility is something that God looks for in all people, especially His own people, 2 Chronicles 7:14 / 1 Peter 5:6 / James 4:10 / Philippians 2:3-4. There’s no escaping the fact that God will judge the nations, every nation that rebels against God will be judged. In the New Testament, it’s very clear, that every individual will also be judged, Acts 17:31.