Sofonias 2

Sofonias 2

Morris - house of Judah. During the New Testament period, the land of the Philistines was a part of the province of Judaea, occupied by the Jews. In modern times, the Gaza Strip, as it is now called, although under dispute, was until recently officially a part of the modern state of Israel. The whole region is very volatile, with ownership and control wavering between Israel and Palestine. In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening - Ashkelon had been one of the major Philistine cities destined for destruction (Zeph 2:4). Yet the ruined houses of that city would eventually provide resting places for the restored people of Judah. The implication is they will have a restful, not a restless night, because they will be without fear of anti-Semitic actions. Lie down at evening suggests security and peace, because lying down without fear implies safety from enemies. David Levy agrees that this passage has a near and far fulfillment - The Judeans would “lie down” (Zeph 2: 7) at night in safety, not having to fear ferocious beasts or evil intruders. This promise was fulfilled in 536 B.C. when Judah returned from the Babylonian captivity (ED: NOT EVERYONE WOULD AGREE WITH THIS ASSESSMENT); it will be further fulfilled during the Millennium (Zeph 3:14–20). For - Term of explanation. Zephaniah gives the basis or cause for Judah’s future possession of the Philistine territory and the reason they can lie down at evening. The LORD their God will care (paqad; LXX - episkopeo - perfect tense = enduring, middle voice = God initiates action & participates in it = watch over) for them and restore their fortune (literally captivity) - This description would support the premise that the remnant above has not only a near (historic) fulfillment of a remnant returning to this area after the 70 years of captivity in Babylon, but also describes a future remnant of faithful Jews who will inhabit this area. Their fortune will be restored. 🙏 THOUGHT - Beloved, God is not finished with Israel as so many evangelicals are teaching today! They simply are not reading the word of God literally. God says what He means and means what He says! That should settle it for all the replacement theologians (an aberrational teaching which I interpret as a subtle form of anti-Semitism!) This prophetic promise will be fully fulfilled in the MILLENNIUM. What you need to understand is that yes the Day of the Lord is a horrible day for Israel in the future (Great Tribulation), but the dark night is followed by a bright morning for them when their Messiah returns to save them from destruction (Ro 11:26,27+, Zech 13:8,9+) and give them eternal life and fulfill all the unfulfilled OT promises, including the promises to give Israel the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It will come to pass for the Lord has promised and He is not a man that He should lie! The only way to twist this great promise is to allegorize or spiritualize the literal nation of Israel and say God did not mean the Jewish nation of Israel but He really meant the non-Jewish entity, the Church. (See discussion of The Israel of God) Can you see how you have to twist the Scriptures to force God to say something He did not say! Woe to those men who do this!!! But back to the Day of the Lord which is indeed a day of gloom but is also a day of hope as it includes the time when Messiah reigns on earth for 1000 years. In that "phase" of the Day of the Lord, Israel will be blessed by God and renowned among all the nations! Walter Kaiser - Zephaniah’s prediction is that these well-heeled cities of the coastal plain would be destroyed and left without any inhabitants. The seacoast pastures would become grazing grounds and sheepfolds for “the remnant of the house of Judah” (v. 7). This indeed is a startling prophecy to contemplate in our time, for in recent days the world’s attention has been focused once again on the difficult topic of a national home for the Palestinian Arabs. Some, noting that the term “Palestinian” is related to the word “Philistine,” have suggested that the Gaza Strip, our modern name for the area of the five cities of Philistia, be given as a national homeland for the Palestinians. But this text, the first in this prophecy of Zephaniah to mention the hopeful word of the “remnant,” declares that “the LORD their God will intervene for them and return their captives” (v. 7d) to the very territory formerly claimed by the Philistines but now known as the Gaza Strip. This formula, literally “to restore [the] fortune[s],” has a substantial place in the theology of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. While the day of the Lord will be a time of great judgment, it will also be a time of hope. There will emerge a “remnant” of Israel and Judah that will signal God’s ability to deliver all who trust in Him as this remnant did. The prophets often mention this “remnant” (Amos 5:15; Mic. 2:12; 5:7–8; Jer. 23:3). The people of the remnant will be exempt from judgment in the day of the Lord. The Judahite refugees, in particular, will inhabit the Philistine coast in the day of the Lord! (See all three excellent chapters - Preacher's Commentary) Restore (shub/sub) their fortune (literally "restore their captivity") in the Septuagint is rendered "He will turn away their captivity." This verse marks an amazing, mercy filled divine turn around! In Zephaniah 1:8, 9, 12 this same Hebrew word care (paqad) is translated punish! Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved wretches like these! (and me!) The restoration of Judah's fortune awaits a future fulfillment, to be consummated in the glorious Millennium (which is also a component of the Day of the Lord as depicted in the diagram below which demonstrates that the end times component of the Day of the Lord begins at the inception of the Great Tribulation and continues through the return of the Lord Jesus Who defeats all His foes and restores the Promised Land to the Chosen People who are part of the saved remnant of Jews who have survived the Great Tribulation and enter into the Kingdom of the Lord - cf Obadiah 1:21). We see a repetition of the prophetic promise of Yahweh to restore Israel's fortunes in Zephaniah 3:20+ “At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will give you renown and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore (shub/sub) your fortunes before your eyes,” Says the LORD." Moses had predicted the restoration of the fortunes of Israel in Deuteronomy... Dt 30:1-6+ So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the LORD your God has banished you, 2 and you return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul (THE ONLY WAY THEY COULD OBEY WITH ALL THEIR HEART IS EXPLAINED IN Dt 30:6! THEY HAVE A NEW HEART!) according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, 3 then the LORD your God will restore (shub/sub) you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 “If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. 5 “The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. 6 “Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. There can be little doubt, however, that the vision will be re-enacted in the end times. John