Zephaniah 1
Dear RTB’ers,
Zephaniah, the third of the six minor prophets that we are covering in this two-week stretch of RTB readings. The introductory information in STS and in my Study Bible provide the same focus – the Day of the Lord. And we see that focus develop quickly in today’s reading: “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. “I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the rubblle with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth… (vv. 2-3). And in case we missed it in these first couple of verses, Zephaniah repeats himself: In the fire of His jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end He will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. (v. 18b) Zephaniah is clear – we will all be gone from the face of the earth. That “day of the Lord” (or “day” only) is mentioned more than a dozen times in this one chapter. And it will be a harsh day. See especially verses 14-16.
Not a good beginning for our reading of Zechariah…!
Blessings!
Fred