The Bible Book

172

See also: The Fall 30–35 ■ The Flood 40–41 ■ Sodom and Gomorrah 48–49 ■ The Fall of Jerusalem 128–31 ■

The Final Judgment 316–21

T

he Book of Zephaniah is

the ninth book within the

short prophetic texts called

the Minor Prophets, or the Twelve

Prophets. The book was written

during the reign of King Josiah

(640–609 bce) by, it says, the son

of Cushi and a descendant of

King Hezekiah. This has led

some scholars to believe that the

author may have been from Cush

in Ethiopia or a descendant of King

Hezekiah, a former ruler of Judah.

The book probably formed part

of the religious reforms of Josiah,

who outlawed the non-Yahwistic

cults that had sprung up during

Assyrian domination of Judah. It

calls Judah “you shameful nation”

(2:1) and berates Jerusalem whose

priests “profane the sanctuary

and do violence to the Law” (3:4).

The text, modeled on many

other prophecies and structured

in a similar way to other biblical

narratives, is about destruction

and restoration. The people of

Judah and its neighbors Philistia,

Moab, Ammon, Cush, and Assyria

have angered the Lord. Their

prophesied destruction on the Day

of Judgment, the “great day of the

Lord,” is described in words that

centuries later will be turned into

the somber Latin hymn Dies israe

(Day of Wrath) used in the mass

for the dead.

Rising from the ashes

The restoration portion of the book

begins at Zephaniah 3:9. Some

scholars believe this section was

written after the fall of Jerusalem

IN BRIEF

PA S SAGE

Zephaniah 1–3

THEME

God’s righteous remnant

SETTING

640–609 bce Jerusalem.

KEY FIGURE

Zephaniah Prophet

of Judah.

and the Babylonian exile because

it mentions the “remnant” of Israel

and gathering those who have been

scattered. It describes how the Lord

will punish Israel’s enemies and

save the righteous, who are now

purged from sin. Chapter 3:14–20,

beginning “Sing daughter Zion;

shout aloud Israel” tells how the

Lord will remove sorrow and

punishment from the Israelites. ■

‘I will sweep away the birds

of the air and the fish of

the sea. The wicked will

have only heaps of rubble

when I cut off man

from the face of the earth,’

declares the Lord.

Zephaniah 1:3

THE REMNANT

OF ISRAEL WILL

TRUST IN THE

NAME OF THE LORD

ZEPHANIAH 3:17, CALL FOR REPENTANCE

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173

See also: The Flood 40–41 ■ Covenants 44–47 ■ Esau and Jacob 54–55 ■ The Ten Commandments 78–83 ■

The Coming of Salvation 189 ■ The Final Judgment 316–21

M

alachi is the last book of

the Minor Prophets, or the

Twelve Prophets, and for

Christians, it is the last book of the

Old Testament. It is hard to know

when it was written, but use of

the word pechah (governor) in

1:8 fits the period after the Persian

conquest of Judah (539 bce) and the

building of the Second Temple.

Malachi means “my messenger,”

or “angel,” and Malachi says that

“God will send a messenger who

will prepare the way before me.”

Some believe this “messenger” is

Malachi, although the phrase is

also used by Jesus to describe John

the Baptist (Luke 7:27), leading

Christian commentators to see the

promised messenger as Christ.

Catalogue of rebukes

The text begins by invoking the

Genesis story of Jacob and his

brother Esau (see pp. 54–55), in

which Jacob is loved by God, and

receives His blessing, while Esau

is rejected. This sets the stage for

the remainder of the text, in which

God reminds the Israelites of His

covenants with the ancestors and

asks “Where is the respect due

me?” (1:6). He rebukes the priests

for not keeping the Law and the

people for disobedience; taking

wives who worship foreign gods;

and sacrificing blind, lame, or

diseased animals as offerings.

The book ends with a

proclamation that the Day of the

Lord will come, when “every evil-

doer will be stubble” (4:1) to be set

on fire. However, God renews His

WISDOM AND PROPHETS

SURELY THE DAY

IS COMING; IT WILL

BURN LIKE A FURNACE

MALACHI 4, THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT

IN BRIEF

PA S SAGE

Malachi 1–4

THEME

Wrath and judgment

SETTING

500–600 bce Judah.

KEY FIGURE

Malachi Prophet of Judah.

Christ sits above a rainbow in Crispin

van den Broeck’s The Last Judgment

(1560), recalling the rainbow that God

created as a symbol of his covenant

with Noah after the Flood.

covenant with the faithful and

states that He will send the prophet

Elijah—a precursor to the Messiah

in Judaism and to Jesus Christ in

Christianity—before striking the

land with “total destruction” (4:6). ■

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