Zephaniah 1
1. Why does God condemn Judah and Jerusalem? Answer
2. Who was Baal? Answer
3. Who were the Chemarims? Answer
4. What is verse 5 referencing? Answer
5. What is the Day of the Lord? Answer
6. What was the fish gate? Answer
7. Why is a trumpet mentioned in verse 16? Answer
8. To whom are Zephaniah's prophecies directed? Answer
Zephaniah 2
9. How are the righteous encouraged? Answer
10. Who is referred to in verses 4 to 7? Answer
11. Who was Moab and Ammon? Answer
12. When did Nineveh meet its demise? Answer
13. What was one of the chief sins of the capital city of Nineveh (Assyrian Empire)? Answer
Zephaniah 3
14. What is verse 8 describing? Answer
15. What does verses 11 to 20 describe? Answer
Zephaniah 1 Answers
1. God condemns Judah and Jerusalem because of their continued worship of false (pagan) gods (Zephaniah 1:4 - 6).
2. Baal was the supreme pagan deity of the Canaanites the worship of which was adopted by the Israelites. This idolatry led people away from solely worshipping the true God of the universe.
3. The word Chemarims is another name for idolatrous priests (Strong's Concordance #H3649).
4. The "host of heaven" (Zephaniah 1:5) is a reference to the worship of celestial objects like the sun, moon, planets and stars. This pagan practice was expressly forbidden by God.
[Is the Big Dipper in the Bible?]
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them . . . (Deuteronomy 4:19).
The ancient Israelites were known to worship celestial objects as deities such as the planet Saturn (called Chiun or Remphan in Amos 5:25 - 27 and Acts 7:41 - 43).
The Israelites (and others) were also well aware of constellations such as Orion (Amos 5:6 - 8), Ursa Major (The Great Bear) which was called Arcturus (Job 9:6 - 9), and the Pleiades (Job 38:31).
Zephaniah 1 also refers to an especially abominable variation of pagan worship.
. . . and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham (Zephaniah 1:5).
The word Malcham is a variant spelling of Molech, the chief god of the Ammonites. God condemned his people for attempting to combine the worship of Molech with worshipping him. Molech was an incredibly perverse and violent deity which sometimes required a person to sacrifice their children to him (2Kings 23:10, Jeremiah 32:35)!
5. The prophetic Day of the Lord occurs just before the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. Lasting approximately eighteen months, it is a time of God's wrath upon those humans who have chosen to worship the Beast power and refuse to repent. It will be the most concentrated time of trials, pain, suffering and mass death the world has, or ever will, experience (Matthew 24:21 - 22).
[When Will the Day of the Lord Occur?]
6. The fish gate was the entrance through which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon entered Jerusalem. Biblical commentaries disagree on the exact location of the gate.
7. Trumpets were used in the Bible to herald important events or warnings. The trumpet of Zephaniah 1:16 warns of God's impending judgment on those who refuse to repent.
Prophetic trumpets are blown in the book of Revelation to signal God's active intervention on earth during the terrible Day of the Lord (see Revelation 1:10, 4:1, 8:2, 6, 13, 9:14, 18:22).
[The Role of Music in Prophecy]
8. Zephaniah targets several cities or groups of people in his prophetic book. He mentions those in Judah and Jerusalem (1:4) as well as those in Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron which are collectively populated by the Philistines (2:4 - 6). He also gives prophecies concerning the Moabites, Ammonites, Ethiopians, Nineveh and Assyria in general (8 - 15).
Overall, however, his prophecies concern ALL people on earth!
I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate . . . for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for ALL THE EARTH shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy (Zephaniah 3:6, 8).
Zephaniah 2 Answers
9. Zephaniah 2:3 is God's call to those who are humble to seek him and his righteousness so that they may be saved when the Lord's anger is manifested.
[Who Was Israel's Greatest Enemy?]
10. Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron were all major cities of the Philistines. The word Cherethites, which means "executioners" (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions #H3774) is an early name of the Philistines possibly referencing their originating country before coming to Canaan.
The Philistines occupied the fertile coastal area in the southwestern part of the land of Canaan. They were a nation of warriors, trained in the art of war from their youth like the city-state of Sparta.
11. The Moabites and Ammonites were peoples that sprung from Lot's drunken incest with his two daughters (Genesis 19:31 - 38). Lot's uncle was the patriarch Abraham. God, before the ancient Israelites entered the Promised Land, forbid them from taking Moab's or Ammon's territory as their own (Deuteronomy 2:9, 19).
[Location of Moab and Ammon Map]
God's promise to Israel is that they will one day control the land initially allotted to Moab and Ammon (Zephaniah 2:9 - 10).
12. The Assyrian capital of Nineveh was overrun and sacked by the Babylonians, Medes and others in 612 B.C.
[Map of Babylonian Empire at its Peak]
13. One of Assyria's (Nineveh's) chief sins was that it was arrogant and vain. It believed its might as an empire not only guaranteed its security, allowing it to live care free, but also insured its never-ending existence as a world power.
This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me (Zephaniah 2:15).
Zephaniah 3 Answers
14. Zephaniah is describing the judgment to come on the entire world during what is called the battle of Armageddon! It will be an unparalleled fight between the entire world, led and deceived by Satan the devil, against a returning Jesus Christ who will come with angels and his resurrected saints.
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon (Revelation 16:16).
15. Zephaniah 3:11 - 20 describes some of the conditions and events to occur when Jesus Christ rules the earth in the Millennium.