Results 1 - 2 of 2
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | who wrote Zephaniah? When was Zephaniah | Zeph 1:1 | cassie | 71593 | ||
who wrote zephaniah? When was Zephaniah written? | ||||||
2 | who wrote Zephaniah? When was Zephaniah | Zeph 1:1 | Truthfinder | 71594 | ||
Hi Cassie, Writer: Zephaniah Place Written: Judah Writing Completed: Before 648 B.C.E. Early in the reign of King Josiah of Judah (659-629 B.C.E.), at a time when Baal worship was running rampant and "the foreign-god priests" were taking a lead in this unclean worship, the people of Jerusalem must have been startled by the message proclaimed by the prophet Zephaniah. Though he was possibly a descendant of King Hezekiah of the royal house of Judah, Zephaniah was highly critical of conditions in the nation. (Zeph. 1:1, 4) His message was one of doom. God's people had become disobedient, and only Jehovah could restore them to pure worship and bless them so that they might serve as "a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth." (3:20) Zephaniah pointed out that only by divine intervention might one "be concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger." (2:3) How appropriate his name Tsephan·yah' (Hebrew), meaning "Jehovah Has Concealed (Treasured Up)"! Zephaniah's efforts bore fruit. King Josiah, who had ascended the throne at the age of eight, started in the 12th year of his reign "to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem." He rooted out false worship, repaired "the house of Jehovah," and reinstituted the celebration of the Passover. (2 Chron., chaps. 34, 35) King Josiah's reforms were only temporary, however, for he was succeeded by three of his sons and one of his grandsons, all of whom did "bad in the eyes of Jehovah." (2 Chron. 36:1-12) This was all in fulfillment of Zephaniah's words: "I will give attention to the princes, and to the sons of the king, and to . . . those who are filling the house of their masters with violence and deception."-Zeph. 1:8, 9. From the above it appears that "the word of Jehovah . . . occurred to Zephaniah" sometime before 648 B.C.E., the 12th year of Josiah. Not only does the first verse identify him as speaking in Judah but the detailed knowledge he shows of the localities and customs of Jerusalem argue for his residence in Judah. The message contained in the book is twofold, being both threatening and consoling. For the most part, it centers around the day of Jehovah, a day of terror that is imminent, but at the same time, it foretells that Jehovah will restore a humble people that "actually take refuge in the name of Jehovah."-1:1, 7-18; 3:12. The authenticity of this book of prophecy cannot be successfully disputed. Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 B.C.E., more than 40 years after Zephaniah had foretold it. Not only do we have secular history's word for this but the Bible itself contains internal proof that this happened exactly as Zephaniah had prophesied. Shortly after Jerusalem's destruction, Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations, describing the horrors he had witnessed, while they were still vivid in his mind. A comparison of several passages bears out that Zephaniah's message is indeed "inspired of God." Zephaniah warns of the need for repentance "before there comes upon you people the burning anger of Jehovah," whereas Jeremiah refers to something that has already happened when he says, "Jehovah . . . has poured out his burning anger." (Zeph. 2:2; Lam. 4:11) Zephaniah foretells that Jehovah "will cause distress to mankind, and they will certainly walk like blind men . . . And their blood will actually be poured out like dust." (Zeph. 1:17) Jeremiah speaks of this as an accomplished fact: "They have wandered about as blind in the streets. They have become polluted with blood."-Lam. 4:14; compare also Zephaniah 1:13-Lamentations 5:2; Zephaniah 2:8, 10-Lamentations 1:9, 16 and 3:61. History likewise reports the destruction of the heathen nations, Moab and Ammon as well as Assyria, including its capital Nineveh, just as Zephaniah had foretold at God's direction. Even as the prophet Nahum foretold Nineveh's destruction (Nah. 1:1; 2:10), so Zephaniah declared that Jehovah "will make Nineveh a desolate waste, a waterless region like the wilderness." (Zeph. 2:13) This destruction was so complete that scarcely 200 years later, the historian Herodotus wrote of the Tigris as "the river upon which the town of Nineveh formerly stood." About 150 C.E. the Greek writer Lucian wrote that "there is not a trace of it left now." |
||||||
Up | Down | |||
Questions and/or Subjects for Zeph 1:1 | Author | ||
|
johnbellison | ||
|
cassie | ||
|
cassie | ||
|
Truthfinder | ||
|
cassie |