Haggai was the first of the postexilic prophets. When a company of Jews returned from Babylon in 538 B.C., they laid the foundations of a new temple. But for the next 18 years members of the community concentrated on building their own houses, leaving the house of the Lord unfinished. Haggai urged the people to put God first, and finish the temple. The people responded to Haggai, winning God’s promise, “From this day on I will bless you.” The project was resumed in 520 B.C., and the temple was finished in 515 B.C.
“The great Day of the Lord is near—near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the Day of the Lord will be bitter” (Zeph. 1:14).I magine history as a speeding train and the prophets as conductors, calling out the next station. Zephaniah’s cry would be, “Last stop! We’re coming into Judgment. Everybody off!”
Background
The age of Josiah.
Josiah was Judah’s last godly king. He took the throne following a half century of apostasy under Manasseh and Amon, and soon determined to lead his people back to the Lord. He attempted to purge the land of idolatry and reinstituted temple worship. Yet both Habakkuk and Zephaniah, who ministered in Josiah’s time, viewed the reformation as superficial at best. Habakkuk portrayed the corruption of the legal system and society itself (Hab. 1:1–4), while Zephaniah cited evidence that Assyrian and Canaanite religions maintained a hold on the people (Zeph. 1:4–5). Prophets and priests were false to their calling (3:4), and political leaders still resorted to violence and perpetrated injustices (vv. 2–3). There were in Josiah’s reforms outward indications of a return to God, but the lifestyle of the people gave no evidence of repentance or return. It is against this background that Zephaniah cried out concerning the Day of the Lord, and emphasized its judgment aspects. The onrushing Day of the Lord “will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness” (1:15). For God’s sinful people there can now be no escape. Near the end of Josiah’s reign the ancient world experienced great political upheaval. As Assyria engaged in a death struggle with a suddenly emergent Babylon, Judah won brief independence. Josiah became involved in trying to tip the balance of power between these two and Egypt, and was killed in battle in 609B.C Within a few years Judah was reduced to a subject state in the Babylonian Empire. Within three decades the Babylonians denuded the land of Judah of its people, and left Jerusalem, with its once beautiful temple, a heap of ruins. When we read Zephaniah we find no unexpected revelation. All that Zephaniah said, earlier prophets had proclaimed over and over again. What we do sense, however, is a tone of finality. God had given His people opportunity after opportunity. Now, it was too late. Judgment was “near and coming quickly” (v. 14). How desperately we need to respond to every word of divine warning. If we fail to respond, one day it will surely be too late.
Overview
Zephaniah predicted the “Day of the Lord,” a dark day of judgment, due against Judah (1:1–2:3), Gentile nations (vv. 4–15), and against Jerusalem (3:1–8). Yet beyond the judgment lies a day of joy, in which God’s scattered people will return and be restored to relationship with Him (vv. 9–20).
Understanding the Text
“Zephaniah” Zeph. 1:1.
The prophet’s name probably means “watchman for the Lord.” But what is interesting is that Zephaniah provided more genealogical information about himself than any other Old Testament prophet. He traced his ancestry back four generations, to “Hezekiah.” Most commentators believe that this is King Hezekiah, the last godly king prior to Josiah. Some see here simply Zephaniah’s attempt to link himself with Judah’s royal family. But the genealogy suggests something even more important. It reminds us that two whole generations, over 50 years, passed by during which Judah lacked godly leadership. The royal family faltered in its commitment to the Lord, and as a result the whole land turned eagerly to idolatry and sin. You and I can no more afford to neglect the nurture of our children than could the kings of Judah. God may well bring a future generation back to Him, as He brought back Hezekiah’s great grandsons, Josiah and Zephaniah. But how great the tragedy if son and grandson are lost. “Those who turn back from following the Lord” Zeph. 1:2–13. These verses announce sweeping judgment, and express the reasons for God’s anger. They also do more. They help us understand the futility of man’s search for “freedom.” The people of Judah turned back from following the Lord. They thought obedience to Him was too restrictive. But what did they actually obtain? They refused to worship the one true God, and found themselves worshiping a confusing host of pagan deities: Canaanite baals, the Assyrian “starry host,” the Phoenician Molech. Some even added the Lord to this roster of gods, as if He were on a par with idols (vv. 4–5). The people of Judah still were bound by man’s deep need for relationship with the supernatural. They refused to obey God, and in seeking freedom adopted “foreign clothes” (v. 8). As today, the clothing one chose then indicated basic attitudes or orientations. The choice of foreign clothing suggests a rejection of Jewish identity and an effort to identify with Egyptian or Babylonian peoples (cf. Num. 15:38; Deut. 22:11–12). They were “free,” but in their pursuit of freedom they lost their true selves. They refused to obey God, and demanding freedom fell prey to superstition, such as the practice of refusing to step on the threshold of a house of pagan worship (Zeph. 1:8; cf. 1 Sam. 5:5). They refused to obey God, and created a society in which each person was selfish, where violence and deceit were the norm (Zeph. 1:9). They refused to obey God, and in asserting their freedom they lost all sense of spiritual reality, so that however great their need they never thought to seek the Lord, or ask Him what way they should go. People today seem to have that same insistent desire for “freedom.” God’s ways seem restrictive, and so they “turn back from following the Lord.” But always when human beings demand such freedom, they find themselves caught in a monstrous web. They become trapped, falling victim to counterfeit religions both humanistic and supernaturalistic, to superstition, to confusion, loss of identity, and finally loss of all touch with reality. They live in a world of illusion, not only lost, but subject to the wrath of the God who warns, “On that day I will punish” (vv. 8–13). How glad we are to surrender such an illusory “freedom,” and to choose to follow the Lord. We who follow Him gladly are free indeed. “The great Day of the Lord” Zeph. 1:14–18. The “Day of the Lord” is a phrase used by Old Testament prophets to indicate events associated with God’s direct involvement in human affairs to carry out some phase of His plan for humankind. While the “Day of the Lord” is most often an eschatological term used when describing history’s end, any act of God can be identified with that day. Thus there is “the” eschatological Day of the Lord, and also “a” non-eschatological Day of the Lord. What is important to note is that “a” Day of the Lord merits that identification because it bears marked likeness to “the” Day of the Lord. This is what Zephaniah predicted here. “A” Day of the Lord was rushing down on Judah which, like “the” Day of the Lord, would be a day of wrath, distress, anguish, trouble, and ruin. The horrors of the imminent Babylonian invasion can be compared only to the horrors of the great day of divine judgment that will mark history’s end. This is an important reminder. God’s final judgment day seems far off to most people. But for those who, like Judah, persist in sin, there is often “a” judgment day, as well as “the” judgment day! God is no less hostile to sin today than He was in our prophet’s time. A Day of the Lord may be no farther from us than it was from Judah. “You humble of the land” Zeph. 2:1–3. Zephaniah’s warning concluded with an invitation. Before the time appointed for judgment comes, we can find shelter in the Lord. All it requires is humility. What is humility? It is an attitude in stark contrast to that of those who demand the right to live their own lives. The humble gladly submit to God. The humble express their submission by seeking the Lord, and by doing what He commands. The humble are eager not for wealth, but for righteousness; not for high position, but to bow low before the Lord. There is shelter for the humble, even when the storm breaks around us. There is hope for the humble. There is no hope for those who demand to be “free.” “I will destroy you” Zeph. 2:4–15. The coming Day of the Lord would not only devastate Judah but also the pagan peoples who have been hostile to the Lord. Afterward the remnant of God’s own will at last be secure. Zephaniah said of their land, “It will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The Lord their God will care for them; He will restore their fortunes” (v. 7). “I have decided to assemble the nations” Zeph. 3:1–8. Now Zephaniah focused on Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah and its very heart. What he saw, despite the renewed activity on the temple mount which rose above Jerusalem’s homes and businesses, was a city of oppressors, “rebellious and defiled” (vv. 1–5). The city had failed to respond to God’s correction, and now must be punished. God is never impressed by appearances. His concern today as in Zephaniah’s time is with the heart.
DEVOTIONAL
O Say Can You See (Zeph. 3)
I’ve always been fascinated by the story. A British fleet stood off Baltimore, bombarding the fort that guarded its harbor. All through the night the guns roared. Through the clouds of acrid smoke explosions could be seen over the fort, as hollow powder-filled balls called bombs burst in the air. The darkness shrouded the stone walls of the fort, but the cacophony of sounds—the shrill whistling of shells, the booming of the cannon, the hollow thump of hit after hit—convinced every shipboard witness that the fort must fall, and Baltimore would be taken. And then, as dawn’s first light drove back the shadows, the witnesses saw an astounding sight. The fort still stood! And there, flying proudly above her ramparts, was the American flag. Hurrying down below one witness seized a pen and dashed off lines that every citizen has heard a thousand times. “O say can you see,” wrote Francis Scott Key, a prisoner that night on the British flagship, “through the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming.” The fort, and the flag, had survived. What a picture of the scene we see in Zephaniah 3. The city of Jerusalem was under siege, being punished for her many sins (vv. 1–7). The Lord Himself was the assailing force, pouring out His wrath, striking the city in His fierce anger. The devastation seemed enough to consume the entire world in an awesome conflagration (v. 8). And then, in the rest of the chapter, we make an amazing discovery. As that dreadful night of judgment comes to an end, and day dawns, we realize there are survivors! We see God’s scattered people, purified, return to worship their God (vv. 9–10). We realize that the arrogance that characterized Jerusalem had been burned away, and the city now held only the meek and humble, who would do no wrong (vv. 11–13). And we hear a voice raised in song, tentative at first, but soon swelling in a glad chorus of joy as the people of the city realize that God, mighty to save, is with them, and will quiet them with His love (vv. 14–18). And suddenly we see the city itself begin to glow, as God gives His now holy people the honor and praise they thought that they had forfeited forever by their sin (vv. 19–20). Just so we need to remind ourselves. When you or I suffer under the discipline of God, everything seems so dark. We feel crushed, unable to go on. Yet if we were only to look beyond, to tomorrow, we would catch a glimpse of the sight seen by Key, and by Zephaniah too. O say can you see, just beyond the horizon of your dark today, the dawn of what God intends for you? Purified and restored, humbled enough to accept God’s love, you too will be quieted with His love, and be given praise and honor in a peaceful land.
Personal Application
Look beyond your present circumstances, and fix your eyes on the good God will surely do you.
Quotable
“I bear my willing witness that I owe more to the fire, and the hammer, and the file, than to anything else in my Lord’s workshop. I sometimes question whether I have ever learned anything except through the rod. When my schoolroom is darkened, I see most.”—Charles H. Spurgeon
Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah of Judah (640-609 B.C.). Distressed by the shallowness of Judah’s response to the godly king’s reformation, Zephaniah announced that sweeping judgment was about to fall on Jerusalem as well as on pagan nations. Zephaniah, the last of the preexilic prophets, summarized much of the judgment and salvation teaching of the earlier prophets. His emphasis fell on the darkest aspects of the Day of the Lord, within decades to be prefigured by Babylon’s invasion of the Holy Land.
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength . . . He enables me to go on the heights” (Hab. 3:19).Faith grows fastest when challenged. What Habakkuk teaches us is that through our doubts and suffering, our faith can and will be perfected.
Overview
Habakkuk complained to God of injustice in Judah (1:1–4). He was told that the Lord was raising up the Babylonians to discipline His people (vv. 5–11). The prophet asked how God could permit the wicked to triumph (vv. 12–17), and was shown that despite appearances the evil man never really succeeds (2:1–20). God then showed Habakkuk the horrors of the coming invasion (3:1–16). Shaken, the prophet determined to trust God, and so reached the pinnacle of faith (vv. 18–19).
Understanding the Text
“Injustice” Hab. 1:2–4. Under Old Testament Law local elders met to settle disputes. There was no police force or national justice system. If local elders took bribes, or if witnesses lied, the law was “paralyzed, and justice never prevails.” Habakkuk complained that the religious enthusiasm generated by Josiah’s revival (see 2 Kings 23) had not touched the hearts of the majority. Because the majority was wicked, the righteous were hemmed in (outnumbered), so “justice is perverted.” In this morning’s paper one article described how a witness against local drug pushers was being harassed and her family threatened. Our justice system does not distribute responsibility in the Old Testament way. Yet what the individual does remains the key to a just society. Habakkuk, looking at the corruption in his society, wondered how God could permit Judah to continue in such a state. The answer, of course, is that God would not permit an unjust society to represent Him. There may well be a cost in taking a stand for justice. But there is an even greater cost if we fail to do so! “I am raising up the Babylonians” Hab. 1:5–11. At the time God spoke to Habakkuk, about 621B.C, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) were a subject people within the Assyrian Empire. In 625B.C Nabopolassar took the throne of Babylon and, within two decades, crushed the mighty Assyrians. This sudden and amazing overthrow of the dominant world power is referred to in verses 5–6, “I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians.” There may be no obvious threat on the horizon capable of shattering an unjust society. The Book of Habakkuk reminds us how quickly God can raise up and bring down nations, to say nothing of individuals. “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil” Hab. 1:12–13. As Habakkuk considered God’s plan to use the Babylonians to punish Judah, he was even more deeply troubled. You and I can hardly understand the terror caused by an invading army in ancient times. Verses 8–11 graphically portray ancient warfare, with swift cavalry attacks in the open, and earthen ramps built up against the walls of besieged cities. The attacking armies were truly “bent on violence.” Defeated foes were subject to torture, women and girls to rape, and even infants were speared or taken by the heels and swung against stone walls. The utter cruelty of the Babylonians repelled Habakkuk. But even more, he knew it must repel the Lord. God is Israel’s Holy One, too pure to even look on (i.e., “permit”) evil. How then could God permit a people more wicked than His own to triumph over them. We often may share Habakkuk’s perplexity. We too see the wicked triumph, and we too wonder. How can God, our Holy One, permit such things to happen without acting in judgment? The answer, found in chapter 2, is surprising. God does not “look on” evil! God even now is actively judging those whose success causes us to doubt (see DEVOTIONAL). Babylonian war memorials show Jewish captives being taken to Babylon. God appointed them to execute judgment on His sinning people. “Write down the revelation and make it plain” Hab. 2:1–19. Habakkuk had set himself to wait for God’s answer. When it came, the prophet was told to write it down and make it plain—for you and me! We can paraphrase the principles of God’s present judgment of the wicked quite simply. The wicked man never has enough (vv. 4–5). The wicked man is doomed to dissatisfaction. He is like a furnace, and each success like fuel added to a burning fire. The more he gains, the hotter the fire burns, and the more empty his life becomes! What a judgment this is: to win, and never be able to enjoy it. The wicked are isolated (vv. 6–8). The wicked man makes his gains at the expense of others. This creates hostility, and makes the wicked man fearful. He knows he has earned the hatred of others, and so finds himself isolated and vulnerable. What a judgment this is: to look around, and know that others hate and fear you. To know that you are truly alone. The wicked feel insecure (vv. 9–11). Driven by their insecurity the wicked concentrate on material gain. They count on wealth or power to set their “nest on high.” The image is of a vulture, who nests on a mountain crag for safety. This is how the wicked live, desperately trying to erect barriers. What a judgment this is: to know that justice demands one’s ruin, trying desperately to protect himself, but never able to feel safe and secure. The wicked man’s hopes will be dashed (vv. 12–14). The wicked man builds monuments to his achievements, even as Herod built cities to preserve his name and Hitler strove to create a “thousand-year Reich.” Yet every such effort is in vain: they “exhaust themselves for nothing.” God intends this world to be filled with knowledge of Him, not with monuments to murderers. What a judgment this is: to hope, and see every hope come to nothing. The wicked will be repaid in kind (vv. 15–17). The actions of the wicked man arouse the antagonism of all around him. There will surely be a backlash. And what a judgment this is: violence, the tool he relied on in his quest for wealth and power, will be used against him, and he in his turn will be destroyed. Never suppose that the wicked really succeed. An evil empire, or an evil person, may appear to prosper. But beyond the trappings of success, buried deep within the heart of the wicked, is a misery, an emptiness, a fear, that is the mark of the present judgment of the God too holy to look on evil. “The Lord is in His holy temple” Hab. 2:20. Here and in other passages where God is pictured “in His holy temple,” the image speaks of imminent judgment. Note that in Habakkuk’s vision God announces He “is” in His holy temple. There is a great day coming, a day of final judgment. But never assume that God is powerless or inactive now. Habakkuk has shown us that God judges the wicked even as they seem to prosper. Yet, seeing God in His holy temple, the prophet was confronted with the fact that judgment day for Judah—his own land—was at hand! “God came from Teman” Hab. 3:1–15. At first Habakkuk welcomed the coming judgment. God would remember mercy even as He poured out His wrath. Perhaps, like Habakkuk, you and I take discipline lightly. Let it come, we think, never realizing the pain that may be necessary to purify us. God quickly corrected His impatient servant. These verses describe three historic periods of judgment, not from the vantage point of a man, but from the vantage point of one who sees through the veil that isolates us from the spiritual universe. There he discovers an angry God, arrayed in holiness. In his vision Habakkuk saw, not the plague that devastated the Exodus generation on the plains of Moab (Num. 25), but God Himself, burning in anger, His elemental power shaking the foundations of the earth, coming from Sinai to execute the judgment that Law required (Hab. 3:3–7). In a second vision Habakkuk saw an enraged God sweeping earth clean by the Genesis Flood (vv. 8–10). In a third vision Habakkuk watched as God “in wrath” came as a mighty warrior to overthrow Egypt’s armies and deliver His people from slavery (vv. 11–15). Each of these visions was calculated to do just one thing. To show Habakkuk what it really means to experience discipline at the hand of the holy God. Sinai symbolizes not only God’s Law but His holiness (Ex. 3:4–5; 18:16–24). The place locations mentioned in Habakkuk 3:3–7 tell us that Habakkuk saw the Lord, setting out from Sinai, coming to the plains of Moab to judge Israel for idolatry and immorality (Num. 25). “Decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled” Hab. 3:16. At last Habakkuk understood. God had satisfied his doubts. Now God was ready to do a deeper work in Habakkuk’s heart. You see, belief is not simply an intellectual exercise. Faith is not built on intellect alone. The prophet finally realized that he would be among those who experienced the awful devastation of warfare. His fig trees would be shattered, his vines droop to the ground. At last the prophet realized that when the fields of Judah produced no food, he and his own would face starvation. Divine discipline meant all he knew, all he hoped for, all he possessed—would be taken away. And then, as the prophet trembled at the prospect, a strange peace entered his heart. Though all these things must happen, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.” In triumph the Prophet Habakkuk reached deep, and found a sustaining faith. When a nation is judged for its sins, the righteous suffer with the wicked. Faith makes no man immune to the troubles that are common to mankind. But as Habakkuk caught sight of a mountain goat (not “deer”) picking its way on a mountainside, unmindful of the danger of a fall, he realized a wonderful truth. Resting in God, the believer remains secure, whatever his circumstances. Even in the dreadful days about to come, God would enable His servant Habakkuk to pick his way safely—like that mountain goat—despite the dizzying heights.
DEVOTIONAL
Inside Out(Hab. 2)
It isn’t fair, of course. All too often the wicked do prosper. Sinners strike it rich while the godly struggle to make ends meet. The profane man, who scoffs at God, stays healthy, while a believer suffers a wrenching back injury or is stricken with cancer. The lazy employee, who lies about coworkers, gets the promotion, while the person who works hard and helps others is ignored. Looked at from the outside, all these things seem unfair. And they are. Looked at from the outside, you or I might conclude that God is standing back, disinterested, letting people get away with anything they want. Or, even worse, we might conclude that God helps the wicked get ahead of the righteous. But Habakkuk 2 reminds us, that’s when we look at things from the outside. Such conclusions are based only on what we can observe: on what we can see. And so God invites us, in this fascinating chapter, to look at things from the inside. When we do look to the inside, we discover that the wicked person who seems most successful is in fact the worst off! The wicked person is worse off because God is at work within, judging sin, and making the wicked man’s every success meaningless. What does Habakkuk 2 tell us is happening inside the person who succeeds in wicked ways? First, no such success can satisfy, but will only create more desire (vv. 4–5). Second, gains made at the expense of others isolate the “winner” from other people. Increasingly the wicked man finds himself alone, and lonely (vv. 6–8). Third, such gains create a sense of insecurity. A wicked man will try desperately to assure his safety, but the nagging awareness that he deserves punishment robs him of any sense of peace (vv. 9–11). Fourth, the hopes of the wicked are destined to be disappointed. God intends the earth to be filled with knowledge of Him, not monuments to murderers (vv. 12–14). Finally, the acts of the wicked create hostility. The harm a wicked person does others will create a backlash, and the violence he used will be directed against him. Wicked acts plant the seeds of their perpetrator’s destruction (vv. 15–17). I know. There are times when it’s hard not to envy the wicked man who prospers. But only if we look at such persons from the outside. Try looking at such men from the inside out. And then stop and think of all you have received in Christ. You have a life that’s full, not empty. You have fellowship with Christian friends. You have the knowledge that you are secure in God’s love. You have the certainty that all you hope for will indeed be yours. And you know that, if you are repaid in kind for the way you treat others, you will receive a blessing and not a curse. Looking from the inside out, you and I discover the truth. Those the world thinks of as winners have lost. And we have won.
Personal Application
Learn to evaluate from the inside out, and thank God for your many blessings.
Quotable
“God is not alone when discarded by man. But man is alone.”—Abraham Heschel
Habakkuk wrote in the time of godly King Josiah. The prophet was deeply troubled by the injustices prevailing in Judah’s society despite a religious revival. God revealed His intention to use the Babylonians to punish Judah. The Lord went on to show the troubled prophet that the wicked only seem to succeed. Strengthened by his faith, Habakkuk knew God would sustain him in the coming turmoil. Habakkuk has great value for Christians, for it teaches us that the “prosperity” of the wicked is an illusion, for the evil never truly succeed.
This is my personal collection of thoughts and writings, mainly from much smarter people than I, which challenge me in my discipleship walk. Don't rush by these thoughts, but ponder them.
Milo 