Zephaniah lived during the final decades of Judah, during the reign of King Josiah. King Josiah sought to end idol worship, but it was too entrenched in the national psyche. Although Josiah was a righteous king, he met a tragic death in battle. Zephaniah had been warning for years that God’s judgment was coming.

Zephaniah begins by using powerful poetic language to describe the destruction of Jerusalem because of sins of its people. He describes the coming of an army to destroy Jerusalem, but he does not say who this army is. We know from the other prophets and history that it was the Babylonian army. Zephaniah does not mention them in order to highlight God’s role in the judgment. Yet this also gives him hope for the remnant and he calls on the humble to seek God.

Zephaniah then widens his scope to the nations around Judah, prophesying that they too will fall to the Babylonians. Interestingly, he mentions Jerusalem again in this section. It is as if Zephaniah is saying that God does not even recognize His people anymore because they have become as corrupt as the surrounding nations. Therefore, God is going to gather up all of these nations, including Judah, and will pour out His burning anger on them.

Immediately following this description, you see a rather surprising twist. This burning anger is not to destroy the nations, but to purify them. God will heal and transform the nations into one family that will call on the name of the Lord (Zephaniah 3:9). This would be a fulfillment of the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, 15, and 17. Zephaniah closes by describing the restoration of Jerusalem as the center of this new nation and that God’s presence would dwell there with the faithful remnant. These people are to sing praises to God, but the reader also learns that God wants to sing over them, delighting in the remnant.

Zephaniah forces us to consider the two characteristics of God that we often struggle to reconcile in our minds: His justice and His love. God has a passion to rescue His creation from human violence and evil so that we can live in a world where everyone can prosper in security and tranquility. Zephaniah employs some of the most intense images to describe these two aspects.

Many people have trouble bringing together the thoughts of God’s justice and His love. The Bible clearly teaches that all people have done what is evil in the Lord’s sight and stand condemned before Him. God’s justice demands that this evil must be punished. The good news is that the blood of Jesus Christ has already paid for it. Jesus died on the cross of Calvary to take the punishment for this evil. Yet He rose on the third day by the power of the Spirit of God to demonstrate the hope that we have in Him. The chastisement that brought us peace was placed upon Him and by His wounds we have been healed. God reconciled His justice and His love for us in Jesus. It is now up to you to decide: will you accept the gift of love that Christ extended to you? Will you make Him your Lord? Will you accept His salvation?