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Zephaniah 1

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1 The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.

3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.

4 I will also stretch out my hand upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;

5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the house-tops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;

6 And them that have turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired for him.

7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath invited his guests.

8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.

9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshhold, who fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.

10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish-gate, and a howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.

11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.

12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.

13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine of them.

14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasting and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities, and against the high towers.

17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he will make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Exploring the Meaning of Zephaniah 1      

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff and Rev. Julian Duckworth

Zephaniah’s prophecy is said to have taken place in the days of Josiah, the king of Judah. Josiah was a good king, walking in the all ways of the Lord, but both his sons were evil. He was the last king of Judah before Nebuchadnezzar's army conquered Jerusalem, and took many of the Jews captive to exile in Babylon for 70 years. (See the last four chapters of 2 Kings for Josiah’s story.)

The first chapter of the book of Zephaniah, in Zephaniah 1:1-3, begins with a prophecy that God will consume all things. We know that this isn't literally what was going to happen; consuming is not something that God does. Instead, it's something we do to ourselves when we depend only on our understanding of truth and ignore what is said in the Word. It means the perishing of our understanding of that truth.

The people who lived at that time were becoming totally external; there was no more affection for truths. Random thoughts about truths were gone, even the most outward truths of the stories were not considered worthy of thought, and any difficult truths were ignored. The church was becoming only a matter of rote external motions.

In Zephaniah 1:4-6, Baal, the stars and moon and sun, and Malcam, are false gods. Again it seems as though the Lord will punish Judah, but actually, by having “turned back from following the Lord,” the people of Judah has turned to false gods have no real power.

In Zephaniah 1:7-8, nevertheless the lord will have mercy on those that turn back to Him and can sit at His feast. But as in the parable of the wedding supper, (Matthew 22:11-13) only those who have the right clothing are welcome. Why this rule?

Garments mean evident truths that a person “wears”. Princes and kings mean ruling truths or falsities that a person believes and uses to guide ones actions. When these are not from the Lord’s Word they lead one astray.

In Zephaniah 1:9-11, the text refers to areas of Jerusalem, where of all places God’s Word should be revered and believed and used to gain wisdom. Yet even there, there is mourning and wailing.

Maktesh means a mortar for grinding flour, and so perhaps a neighborhood of bakers. Merchants are traders, and are used to mean those who trade news of truths that they have heard. The whole idea here is that known truths are being defiled in the very place they should be honored.

In Zephaniah 1:12, 13, the idea has come about that either there is no God or that He doesn’t care. The houses and vineyards, the truths they live with and the new truths that they can drink in are gone, there is no more truth in the church.

In Zephaniah 1:14-17, there first is a prophecy of the Lord’s coming, “The great day of the Lord is near”.

We need to realize that words in the story that regard quickness or haste mostly mean sureness and importance. God doesn’t have a calendar; all time is the present with Him.

Then comes the reaction for those who have falsified His truth and turned away from his commandments -- ignored Him. They will be judged, and they won’t be happy about it.

In Zephaniah 1:18, the “truth” they honor -- the silver -- will be seen to have no value, and the appearance of good they put on -- the gold -- to be only paint.

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  Shrnutí kapitoly

Exploring the Meaning of Zephaniah 1      

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff and Rev. Julian Duckworth

Zephaniah’s prophecy is said to have taken place in the days of Josiah, the king of Judah. Josiah was a good king, walking in the all ways of the Lord, but both his sons were evil. He was the last king of Judah before Nebuchadnezzar's army conquered Jerusalem, and took many of the Jews captive to exile in Babylon for 70 years. (See the last four chapters of 2 Kings for Josiah’s story.)

The first chapter of the book of Zephaniah, in Zephaniah 1:1-3, begins with a prophecy that God will consume all things. We know that this isn't literally what was going to happen; consuming is not something that God does. Instead, it's something we do to ourselves when we depend only on our understanding of truth and ignore what is said in the Word. It means the perishing of our understanding of that truth.

The people who lived at that time were becoming totally external; there was no more affection for truths. Random thoughts about truths were gone, even the most outward truths of the stories were not considered worthy of thought, and any difficult truths were ignored. The church was becoming only a matter of rote external motions.

In Zephaniah 1:4-6, Baal, the stars and moon and sun, and Malcam, are false gods. Again it seems as though the Lord will punish Judah, but actually, by having “turned back from following the Lord,” the people of Judah has turned to false gods have no real power.

In Zephaniah 1:7-8, nevertheless the lord will have mercy on those that turn back to Him and can sit at His feast. But as in the parable of the wedding supper, (Matthew 22:11-13) only those who have the right clothing are welcome. Why this rule?

Garments mean evident truths that a person “wears”. Princes and kings mean ruling truths or falsities that a person believes and uses to guide ones actions. When these are not from the Lord’s Word they lead one astray.

In Zephaniah 1:9-11, the text refers to areas of Jerusalem, where of all places God’s Word should be revered and believed and used to gain wisdom. Yet even there, there is mourning and wailing.

Maktesh means a mortar for grinding flour, and so perhaps a neighborhood of bakers. Merchants are traders, and are used to mean those who trade news of truths that they have heard. The whole idea here is that known truths are being defiled in the very place they should be honored.

In Zephaniah 1:12, 13, the idea has come about that either there is no God or that He doesn’t care. The houses and vineyards, the truths they live with and the new truths that they can drink in are gone, there is no more truth in the church.

In Zephaniah 1:14-17, there first is a prophecy of the Lord’s coming, “The great day of the Lord is near”.

We need to realize that words in the story that regard quickness or haste mostly mean sureness and importance. God doesn’t have a calendar; all time is the present with Him.

Then comes the reaction for those who have falsified His truth and turned away from his commandments -- ignored Him. They will be judged, and they won’t be happy about it.

In Zephaniah 1:18, the “truth” they honor -- the silver -- will be seen to have no value, and the appearance of good they put on -- the gold -- to be only paint.

Swedenborg

Hlavní výklad ze Swedenborgových prací:

Arcana Coelestia 411

The Inner Meaning of the Prophets and Psalms 228

Další odkazy Swedenborga k této kapitole:

Arcana Coelestia 375, 776, 991, 1071, 1488, 1839, 1860, ...

Apocalypse Revealed 20, 166, 216, 290, 316, 340, 342, ...

Doctrine of the Lord 4, 14, 38

True Christian Religion 82, 689, 755, 761

Odkazy ze Swedenborgových nevydaných prací:

Apocalypse Explained 31, 195, 280, 342, 376, 397, 417, ...

Coronis (An Appendix to True Christian Religion) 58

Marriage 82

Scriptural Confirmations 4, 9, 58, 77

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Commentary on Zephaniah by Rev. George McCurdy

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Skočit na podobné biblické verše

Genesis 6:7

Deuteronomy 4:19, 28:29, 30, 32:22

Joshua 6:20, 23:7, 12

2 Kings 21:26, 23:4, 5, 12

2 Chronicles 15:13, 24:24

Nehemiah 3:3

Psalms 10:4, 79:2, 3

Proverbs 11:4

Isaiah 1:4, 2:15, 9:12, 10:3, 17, 13:9, 22:1, 5, 34:5, 6, 48:1

Jeremiah 1:2, 3:25, 4:25, 26, 27, 7:20, 9:21, 30:7, 39:6, 46:5, 48:11

Lamentations 2:17, 4:14

Ezekiel 7:7, 19, 24, 39:17

Hosea 4:3, 15, 7:10, 10:5

Joel 1:15, 2:1, 2

Amos 6:1, 8:3

Micah 6:12

Habakkuk 2:20

Zephaniah 3:2, 8

Zechariah 5:6, 14:1, 21

Matthew 6:24, 13:41

Luke 21:25

Romans 2:17

Hebrews 12:29

James 5:8

Revelation 1:1, 6:15

Významy biblických slov

the Word
In general, we tend to be very aware of how knowing what's true leads to doing what is good. That starts as children, with parents...

word
'Word,' as in Psalms 119:6-17, stands for doctrine in general. 'The Word,' as in Psalms 147:18, signifies divine good united with divine truth. 'Word,' as...

the Lord
The Bible refers to the Lord in many different ways, which from the text seem indistinguishable and interchangeable. Understood in the internal sense, though, there...

lord
The Lord, in the simplest terms, is love itself expressed as wisdom itself. In philosophic terms, love is the Lord's substance and wisdom is His...

son
'A son,' as in Genesis 5:28, signifies the rise of a new church. 'Son,' as in Genesis 24:3, signifies the Lord’s rationality regarding good. 'A...

Gedaliah
Gedaliah, king of Babel, as in Jeremiah 41:1, 8, signifies the profanation of good and truth.

days
"Day" describes a state in which we are turned toward the Lord, and are receiving light (which is truth) and heat (which is a desire...

judah
City of Judah,' as in Isaiah 40:9, signifies the doctrine of love towards the Lord and love towards our neighbor in its whole extent.

all things
The Lord is life itself, is the Creator of the universe, and is the source of life on an ongoing basis. So in a literal...

saith
As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What...

beast
"Beasts" represent the affection for doing good things, a true desire to do them from the heart. In the negative sense, "beasts" stand for the...

fowls
Fowl signify spiritual truth; a bird, natural truth; and a winged thing, sensual truth. Fowl signify intellectual things. Fowl signify thoughts, and all that creeps...

heaven
Heavens are celestial and spiritual things. Consequently, they are inmost things, both of the Lord's kingdom in heaven the and in the earth. This also...

sea
Water generally represents what Swedenborg calls “natural truth,” or true concepts about day-to-day matters and physical things. Since all water ultimately flows into the seas,...

Wicked
Swedenborg several times associates the “wicked” with “malevolence,” defines “malevolence” as “destroying good, interior and exterior,” and says that the wicked do this by disowning...

Cut off
To be cut off, as in Genesis 41:36, signifies to perish.

stretch out
The hand in the Bible represents power, which is easy to understand, so to reach out or stretch out the hand means to exercise power,...

stretch
The hand in the Bible represents power, which is easy to understand, so to reach out or stretch out the hand means to exercise power,...

hand
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.

the inhabitants
'The inhabitants of Teman,' as in Jeremiah 49:20, signifies the evils and falsities opposed to the Lord’s celestial kingdom.

inhabitants
Inhabitants,' in Isaiah 26:9, signify the men of the church who are in good of doctrine, and thence in the good of life.

jerusalem
Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, signifies the doctrine of love to the Lord, and how it governs your life. Jerusalem first comes to our attention in...

remnant
The residue of his people,' as in Isaiah 28:5, signifies the people whom the Lord’s church will be among.

baal
Baalim and her lovers (Hosea 2:13) signify those things which belong to the natural man, and are loved; such as the lusts and falsities thence...

place
'A dry place,' as in Luke 11:24, signifies states of evil and falsity which are in the life of someone who does the work of...

name
It's easy to see that names are important in the Bible. Jehovah changed Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, changed Jacob to Israel and...

priests
Priests' represent the Lord regarding His divine good. When they do not acknowledge the Lord, they lose their signification of the Lord.

worship
To adore, in the Word, signifies to acknowledge and believe.

host
A host and an army come from the same Hebrew word and mean the same thing in Bible; when the Children of Israel were numbered...

Host of heaven
'The host of heaven,' as mentioned in Genesis 2:1, signifies love, faith, and the knowledges of them. 'The host of heaven,' as mentioned in Deuteronomy...

swear
The Lord swearing by himself signifies that divine truth testifies, for He is divine truth itself, and this testifies from itself and means itself. It...

turned
Swedenborg says that the Lord is the sun of heaven, and like the natural sun of our world shines on everyone, good or evil. What...

day of
'Day of vengeance' signifies a state of damnation.

day
"Day" describes a state in which we are turned toward the Lord, and are receiving light (which is truth) and heat (which is a desire...

lord's
The Lord, in the simplest terms, is love itself expressed as wisdom itself. In philosophic terms, love is the Lord's substance and wisdom is His...

princes
Captains and Rulers (Jer. 51:23) signifies principal evils and falsities. Captains and Rulers (Ezek 33:6) signifies principal truths. See Chief Captains.

children
A child is a young boy or girl in the care of parents, older than a suckling or an infant, but not yet an adolescent....

clothed
'Robes,' as in Revelation 7, signify truths of defense. Before they were washed they signified falsities. People in falsities from ignorance in the spiritual world,...

foreign
A foreigner, as in Exodus 12:45, signifies one who does good from his own natural disposition alone.

leap
'To leap,' as in Leviticus 11:21, when related to birds, signifies living.

fill
There are two ways something can be filled: It can be filled with something bad against the wishes of its owner, or it can be...

masters
In most cases, a "master" in the Bible refers to truth: knowledge, an understanding of the situation at hand, an understanding of the Lord's wishes,...

houses
A "house" is essentially a container - for a person, for a family, for several families or even for a large group with shared interests...

violence
In Isaiah 59:6, 'webs' and 'garments' signify aspects of the understanding, or thought, 'Iniquity' and 'violence,' aspects of the will, or works.

deceit
The spiritual meaning of being deceitful is pretty close to the literal meaning: According to the Writings it means using false thinking and logic to...

noise
'A voice crying,' and 'the voice of a cry,' are common expressions in the Word, and are applied whenever there is a noise or disturbance,...

gate
"Gates" in ancient times had a significance that does not hold in the modern world. Cities then were enclosed by walls for protection; gates in...

great
The word "great" is used in the Bible to represent a state with a strong degree of love and affection, of the desire for good;...

hills
In Isaiah 40:12 'to weigh the mountains in a balance, and the hills in scales,' signifies that the celestial aspects of love and charity are...

howl
'To wail and howl,' as in Micah 1:8, signifies the grief of the angels of heaven and the people of the church, where the church...

silver
'Silver,' in the internal sense of the Word, signifies truth, but also falsity. 'Silver' means the truth of faith, or the truth acquired from selfhood,...

Time
Time is an aspect of the physical world, but according to Swedenborg is not an aspect of the spiritual world. The same is true of...

lees
'Lees' signify truths from good.

say
As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What...

build
wrought (also entwined or entwisted) is predicated of the natural scientific principle, and in Isaiah 45:13, of divine natural truth.

Inhabit
'Inhabit' refers to good.

plant
'A shrub' signifies the knowledges of truth.

vineyards
'A vine' signifies spiritual good and truth. 'A vine' or 'vineyard' signifies the church where the Word, and the Lord in it, is known, or...

drink
Food in the Bible represents the desire for good, and water and other drinks represent the understanding and true ideas we need to recognize what...

Wine
Wine played a key role in the ancient world, where safe, reliable water sources were scarce. It could be stored for long periods of time;...

voice
In Genesis 27:22, 'voice' relates to truth, and 'hand,' to good.

mighty
Mighty,' as in Revelation 19:18, signify people who are educated about doctrine derived from the Word. By extension, 'mighty' signifies education or learning derived from...

a day
"Day" describes a state in which we are turned toward the Lord, and are receiving light (which is truth) and heat (which is a desire...

darkness
"Darkness" is a state without light. "Light" is truth from the Lord, so "darkness" represents a state where truth is lacking. Here's a cogent passage...

clouds
In Isaiah 19:1, "Jehovah rides upon a light cloud, and comes into Egypt", signifies the visitation of the natural man from spiritual-natural Divine Truth, for...

cities
In the ancient world cities were very nearly nations unto themselves – they existed within walls, with their own laws and customs, generally centered on...

high
'Height' signifies what is inward, and also heaven.

walk
To walk in the Bible represents living, and usually means living according to the true things taught to us by the Lord -- to "walk...

blood
The internal meaning of “blood” is a little tricky, because Swedenborg gives two meanings that seem quite different. In most cases, Swedenborg links blood with...

dust
'Powder' or 'dust' refers to love of self and the world.

gold
Gold means good, and just as gold was the most precious metal known to ancient mankind so it represents the good of the highest and...

land
Generally in the Bible a "country" means a political subdivision ruled by a king, or sometimes a tribe with a territory ruled by a king...

devoured
When we eat, our bodies break down the food and get from it both energy and materials for building and repairing the body. The process...

fire
Just as natural fire can be both comforting in keeping you warm or scary in burning down your house, so fire in the spiritual sense...

dwell
Many people were nomadic in Biblical times, especially the times of the Old Testament, and lived in tents that could be struck, moved and re-raised...

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