“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.””

‭‭Zephaniah‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When I think of the Old Testament, there are many books and names that stand out: Genesis, Joshua, Psalms and Proverbs, Isaiah, Daniel… The Book of Zephaniah was written during the years of 640 - 609 BC, and in my mind it stands out as a small, but strong book of prophecy in the decades before the impending judgement, culminating in the siege of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

In this book, Zephaniah prophesies of what is to happen to Jerusalem as a result of its continued disobedience to God. Zephaniah 1 is a direct and terrifying warning to the people of Judah and Jerusalem of what is to come as a result of their sins and continued worship of false gods. Zephaniah 2 continues in a similar vein, starting with a plea for repentance and ending with vivid descriptions of what fates will befall Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Ethiopia and Assyria. This is obviously what the people of the time ignored, as the prophecy would become reality a little over twenty years later.

Today’s verse comes from Zephaniah 3, which ends on a more hopeful note. Jerusalem does continue to rebel and is eventually punished for it with exile to Babylon. But through Zephaniah, God lets the people of Jerusalem in on a little secret — “For the Lord will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the Lord himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will never again fear disaster.” (Zephaniah‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Zephaniah is one of the lesser known of the twelve minor prophets, but his words foresee the coming of the Messiah with no less certainty than those of Isaiah. For those who were soon going to be slaughtered or sent into slavery, Zephaniah offered hope for the future. It’s sad that not more of the people of his time listened to his words.

Do we listen to the words of the prophets?