After fulfilling his Covenantal duties as God’s prosecuting attorney by bringing an indictment against the people of Jerusalem, Zephaniah turns his attention to the leadership. He brings charges against the leadership: the Princes, judges, prophets and priests who were responsible for the decadence in the society.
God is nothing if not realistic. He knows the sinful nature of man. He knows that if that nature is not kept in check evil will run rampant in a land. As such, within the Covenant, God had established a series of checks and balances to restrain and limit the power of the rulers and, thereby, insure justice in the governing of His people.
The King and his Court were to rule by following God’s law. were to read the law daily so that they could rule justly.
The Judges were to judge impartially on the basis of the law.
So that they could understand and obey, people were to stand before the reading of the law every seven years. Deuteronomy 31:11
The Priests were to continually speak for God, teaching everyone, including the King and the Judges, God’s law.
And, as we have seen, the Prophets were the prosecuting attorneys, bringing God’s indictments against those who violated God’s law.
Zephaniah3:3 Her Princes within her are roaring lions, Her Judges are wolves at evening; They leave nothing for the morning. 4 Her prophets are reckless, men of deception; Her priests have profaned the holy place. They have done violence to the law.
Zephaniah first addresses the civil authorities, Princes and Judges.
1) Her Princes within her are roaring lions.
God has established governments to restrain evil. Romans 13:1-7 However, rather than restraining evil by holding the wicked Kings accountable and shepherding the people, the Princes of Judah were like roaring lions devouring the people.
Your rulers are rebels, and companions of thieves; Everyone loves a bribe, and chases after rewards. They do not defend the orphan, nor does the widow’s plea come before them. Isaiah 1:23
Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain. Ezekiel 22:27
When a nation’s rulers are thieves and murders only looking out for their own self interest the people of the nation suffer.
When the wicked rule, the people groan. Proverbs 29:2
That is why God taught that it was important for the Princes, that is those who are lesser magistrates; those beneath the King in rank, to hold the King accountable. When, in the course of human events, the King inevitably neglects or misuses the law, as most powerful leaders eventually do, God expects the lesser magistrates to hold the King accountable. God expects those in the King’s Court to correct the King’s course.
This Biblical idea of checks and balances on those in power has been incorporated into the laws of many nations around the world, particularly since the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 and accelerating in the 1500’s at the time of the Reformation. Perhaps the following example of lesser magistrates and citizens holding a King accountable will sound familiar:
When in the course of human events is becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
2) Her Judges are wolves at evening; They leave nothing for the morning.
One of the checks that God had put into place to restrain the potential misuse of power by the ruling class is an independent judiciary. However, in Judah the Judges had become corrupt in the same way that the King and Princes had become corrupt. While the Princes were likened to roaring lions devouring the property and lives of the people, the Judges are compared to ravenous wolves prowling in the darkness. Their insatiable appetites for dishonest gain consumed even the innocent, who came before them seeking justice. The judges were so greedy that they left nothing, devouring everything.
God will not tolerate unjust Judges.
Woe to unjust judges and to those who issue unfair laws, says the Lord, 2 so that there is no justice for the poor, the widows, and orphans. Yes, it is true that they even rob the widows and fatherless children. Isaiah 10:1-2
It is a well known maxim of our modern welfare state that, “The poor are a gold mine.”
Why?
Because it is very easy to manipulate emotions and guilt to raise money to help the poor, corrupt judges and politicians have learned that it is always to their advantage to keep a population in poverty. These corrupt politicians and their confederates have discovered that it is even easier to appropriate that guilt money for their own purposes. There is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9
In fact, Christ said that, as a general rule, we will be judged by the same standard that we use to judge others.
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:2
Because the Princes were like roaring lions and the Judges were like ravening wolves, God was about to come in judgment against the wicked leaders. They had an appointment with The Day of the Lord.
In a sinister twist of the metaphor it is actually God who is the roaring lion. The prophet Jeremiah warned:
God has left His hiding place like the lion; For their land has become a horror Because of the fierceness of their oppressing sword And because of His fierce anger. Jeremiah 25:38
Those civil leaders who oppress the people should fear God’s anger. Next, Zephaniah addresses the unfaithful religious leaders beginning first with the prophets.
3) Her prophets are reckless, men of deception.
Prophets were only and ever authorized to speak the words of God. They were the mouthpiece of God to keep the King, Princes, Judges, and Priests from corruption. They were the check that God had put in place to speak justice and to warn of God’s sure and coming judgment against injustice, misconduct, and dishonesty. However, the prophets were on the take. As long as they sided with the corrupt Princes and Judges and didn’t make waves they were rewarded. They were willing compromise in order to be accepted by the powerful and, no doubt, profit financially from the corruption. Hanging with the cool kids had its advantages But God saw through their deception:
“From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace, ’they say, when there is no peace. Jeremiah 6:13-14
To keep the good times rolling they were unwilling to condemn the King, Princes or the Judges as God demanded. They were men of deception… saying peace, peace, everything is okay here. Everything is just as God wants things to be, as though the situation was not serious.
But the situation was serious. Not only was The Day of the Lord pending, but look at what God had promised for prophets who spoke lies to the nation in God’s name.
A prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death. Deuteronomy 18:20
Not only were the prophets making up stuff about God to maintain the status quo, they were speaking false things about Baal and Molech, as if these blind and deaf idols were somehow legitimate and on par with the Lord.
There is never a good time to compromise with the false teachings of the culture. The church carries the sword of the Lord, the Word of God. Revelation 19:14 God promises that the faithful proclamation of that Word, even in the most difficult circumstances, yields the fruit of repentance. Matthew 3:8 The odds are ever in the favor of the church because our God is a strong tower. Proverbs 18:10
Finally, Zephaniah addresses God’s earthly representatives, the priests.
4) Her priests have profaned the holy place. They have done violence to the law.
The priests were given very specific instructions by God as to how to lead the people in worship. All of the elements in the worship were designed to point to the fulfillment of the Promise that God had given Adam and Eve. The Promise, that One, born of woman, would undo the damage and death that they had brought onto the human race. The One who would redeem mankind through His blood sacrifice.
Everything in the temple worship pointed to the Promised Son, Jesus Christ. While this is not the place for an exhaustive study, see for example:
The Laver of water for cleansing represented Christ, the living water. John 7:38
The lamp stand represented Christ, the light of the world. John 8:12
The show bread represented Christ, the bread of life. John 6:35
The sacrificial lamb represented Christ, the Lamb of God. John 1:29
The Psalms were the songs telling of the salvation of Christ.
I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain. I will proclaim the Lord’s decree…You are my Son; Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. Psalm 2
But instead of pointing the nation to their Savior and God, the priests profaned the temple introducing, among other things, sacred prostitution and offering to the gods, infants as whole burnt sacrifices.
Zephaniah 3:4 The Lord is righteous within her; 5 He will do no injustice. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He does not fail. But the unjust knows no shame.
Both the civil authorities and the religious authorities knew no shame. They had convinced the people that following other gods could actually bring them prosperity and happiness.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. Voltaire
Just a few examples of shameless absurdities we are taught today:
There is no Creator.
There is no Revelation.
The Bible is only a record of man’s search for meaning.
Social justice is Biblical justice.
There are many races and they are not equal.
The government’s theft of private property and income will bring about prosperity.
God’s creation of binary genders is only a social construct.
Children may choose their own gender.
Marriage is not exclusively between one man and one woman.
God’s design of the family is a social construct.
Abortion saves lives.
Knowledge, reason, loyalty, reliability, science, math, evidence, productivity, virtue, freedom, Christianity, to name just a few, are inventions of oppressors to keep the oppressed in check.
But God was not about to allow the utter wickedness of His Prophets and Priests to defile His Chosen nation. They may violate His law, the law designed to bless them and give them life, but God promises to remain righteous in Judah.
The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 When the system of checks and balances has been broken down by corrupt rulers and judges, and even when the people governed refuse to rise up against the corruption, God promises to cut through the darkness and bring His justice to light. God declares:
I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me? Jeremiah 32:37
Even in our times when both the civil leaders and the religious teachers seem out of control, and even if the people being governed refuse to rise up and confront their wicked leaders, God is always in control. He is never taken by surprise. He is always directing even the smallest detail of his plan.
Not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from the will of God. Matthew 10:29
Though the nations and the unfaithful church will flee in fear from The Day of the Lord, God will not fail to judge, discipline, and ultimately save His people.
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