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Zephaniah 2

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1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, you nation that has no shame,

2 before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh's anger comes on you.

3 Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the land, who have kept his ordinances. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of Yahweh's anger.

4 For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation. They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up.

5 Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Yahweh is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines. I will destroy you, that there will be no inhabitant.

6 The sea coast will be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks.

7 The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will find pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will lie down in the evening, for Yahweh, their God, will visit them, and restore them.

8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.

9 Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them.

10 This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Armies.

11 Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the nations.

12 You Cushites also, you will be killed by my sword.

13 He will stretch out his hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness.

14 Herds will lie down in the midst of her, all the animals of the nations. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for he has laid bare the cedar beams.

15 This is the joyous city that lived carelessly, that said in her heart, "I am, and there is none besides me." How she has become a desolation, a place for animals to lie down in! Everyone who passes by her will hiss, and shake their fists.

   

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Exploring the Meaning of Zephaniah 2

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff, Joe David

In Zephaniah 2:1-3, the people Zephaniah is talking to (that includes us!), need to change their ways and trust in the Lord and His Word.

In Zephaniah 2:4-7, there's a prophecy that the cities of the Philistines will come to grief and the whole area of the Mediterranean seacoast will be populated only by shepherds and their flocks, and these shepherds will be remnants from the kingdom of Judah. Here, the Philistines represent people who do evil.

In Zephaniah 2:8-10, the peoples who live around the land of Canaan, but not in it (the Moabites and Ammonites), stand for attitudes and evils that can cause temptations to good loves and true ideas. They are compared to Sodom and Gomorrah.

In Zephaniah 2:11... In the minds of people who wish to serve the Lord, those bad attitudes and evils must be destroyed, and with the Lord's help, they can be.

In Zephaniah 2:12-15, there are references to Ethiopia, Assyria, and Ninevah. When Ethiopia is referred to in a negative sense, it refers to people who use knowledges from the Word to confirm false ideas. Similarly, Assyria means reasoning from any knowledge which in this context leads to bad conclusions. And then there's Ninevah. This city means false doctrine, and these verses tell of her fate when judgement comes. Before that its people are proud of its learning, but after the Judgement, it is abandoned and empty.

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Zephaniah 2:4-7

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4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.