In order to help them see the severity of their sin and the utter devastation that the coming Day of the Lord will bring, Zephaniah urges the unfaithful civil and religious leaders of Judah to consider how God dealt with their neighbors, the surrounding nations.
Zephaniah 3:6 “I have cut off nations; Their corner towers are in ruins. I have made their streets desolate, With no one passing by; Their cities are laid waste, No one dwells there. 7 “I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me, Accept correction.’ So her dwelling will not be cut off Because of the punishment I have inflicted on her. But they were eager to corrupt all their deeds. 8 “Therefore wait for Me,” declares the Lord, “For the Day when I rise up to testify. 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.
God destroyed the defenses of the unfaithful nations, tearing down their towers. God laid waste to their once bustling cities. Their commerce, their banks, their businesses, were all destroyed, leaving their streets desolate. Their wealth, worship, families, and joy had become a dystopian nightmare.
You would think that any sane nation seeing how God judged the other surrounding nations with utter destruction would have ample incentive to stop and take stock of their situation. But God seems amazed by the hardness of their hearts: Surely, God reasoned with them, you will fear me and accept correction, so that you will not experience a similar fate; so that you will not be cut off. But, despite seeing God’s judgment on the other nations Judah was still eager to corrupt all their deeds.
Zephaniah 3:8 “Therefore wait for Me,” declares the Lord, “For the Day when I rise up to testify. 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.
As we have read, Zephaniah began his prophesy by declaring the coming Day of the Lord: A day of cosmic judgment against both the nations and against His unfaithful people, Judah. Josiah had considered God’s judgment. He had taken the warnings to heart and instituted reforms. The temple was refurbished and in the process God’s Word was rediscovered. Josiah read God’s Word aloud to the whole nation. He urged the people to follow God. Josiah destroyed the false idols and the false worship and banished the idolatrous and false priests. And because of Josiah’s faithfulness God withheld judgment, however, the repentance of the people did not run deep. It was not genuine. After Josiah’s death, the nation of Judah, led by Josiah’s unfaithful sons, resumed their idolatrous ways. The worship of Baal was re-instituted.
As a result, the promised destruction of Judah, prophesied in the opening poem of Zephaniah, fell upon the land. The Day of the Lord’s judgment arrived in 586 B.C. with the armies of Babylon as God’s instrument of punishment. The people who escaped the sword were carried off into captivity as slaves. The curses, described in Deuteronomy, for disobedience to the Covenant, fell upon the people, just as God had warned.
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