NOTES for Zep 1:1-18

We have already read in the book of the prophet Amos that the Day of the Lord is “darkness, and not light” (Amos 5:18-20). The prophet Zephaniah paints a terrifying picture of this Day as the complete destruction of the whole world. How should we understand this prophecy? After all, it seems not to have been fulfilled.

Here, however, we should recall one characteristic of all Old Testament prophecies: the prophets describe pictures of the future revealed to them, but, first, they themselves cannot specify when this future will come, and second, all prophecies are above all warnings that call people to change their lives. The fulfillment of prophecies is not God's principal aim; what He wants most is for us to turn to Him.

In light of this observation, we may say that, on the one hand, the purpose of this prophecy was achieved: when disaster began and Israel was taken to Babylon, Israel turned back to God. On the other hand, perhaps the time for this prophecy's complete fulfillment has not yet come: the prophet associates this Day with a certain “sacrifice of the Lord,” in which case it relates to the “last times,” which began with Christ's coming into this world and will end with His Second Coming, when the history of this world is completed.