Bible Books Explained

Book of Zephaniah, Background

Quick Rundown

Like Nahum and Habakkuk, Zephaniah is only three chapters long and rich and clear in its meaning. Zephaniah wrote a short and heavy prophecy against God’s people Judah and the whole world – against Judah! Against Jerusalem! Against Philistia! Against Moab! At this point God is super angry against all the arrogant nations and only finds favor with those who are faithful (3:8-20). The only solution is a return to fellowship with their God and genuine repentance from paganism.

Following the triumphal reign of King Hezekiah (Zephaniah’s grandfather) his son King Manasseh took over at the age of 12 and ruled for 55 years (2 Kings 21:1). During his time, the Bible says “he did evil in the sight of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites” (2 Kings 21:2). He had led Judah, namely Jerusalem, right back to where God had taken them out of and this angered the Lord. After Manasseh died, his son Amon took over but only for two years because he was killed by his own servants. That’s when the people of Judah selected Josiah, Manasseh’s grandson, at the young age of 8 years old to become king. And he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem, restoring the Kingdom of Judah to God. He was able to do so because “he did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David” (2 Kings 22:2).

Zephaniah served as a member of the court and stood up and warned that Judah’s breaking of the covenant led it the brink of destruction. Interestingly, none of the other prophets ancestry traced back four generations so it’s interesting that the cousins Josiah and Zephaniah together seriously worked the reforming of Judah. One way you can tell Zephaniah’s involvement in the court is his familiarity with Jerusalem and with specific activities in the capital (1:17-18; 2:4-7).

The prophecy contains three parts making its construction straightforward. First is a description of the day of the Lord that coming against Judah and Jerusalem. Next is a call for national repentance, along with oracles of destruction against the Philistines, Moabites, Cushites (Ethiopians), Assyrians and Jerusalem itself. In the final section, Zephaniah delivers God’s promise to restore a humble remnant when he returns as a Mighty Warrior among his faithful people.

Title

As with each of the 12 Minor Prophets, the prophecy bears the name of its author, which is generally thought to mean “the Lord hides” 2:3.

Author and Date

There is not a lot of existing data about the author, Zephaniah. Three other Old Testament individuals also share his name. What is known as revealed in his writing is he traces his genealogy back 4 generations to King Hezekiah (ca 715-686 B.C.), prior to Josiah’s reforms (2 Kings 23). Standing alone among the prophets who descended from royal blood (1:1), Zephaniah’s own royal genealogy would have given him the ear of Judah’s king, Josiah, during whose reign he preached.

Zephaniah himself dates his message during the reign of Josiah which was 640-609 B.C. the moral and spiritual conditions detailed in the book seem to place the prophecy prior to Josiah’s reforms, when Judah was still languishing in idolatry and wickedness (1:4-6; 3:1-7; 2 Kings 21:1-9). It was in 628 B.C. that Josiah tore down all the altars to Baal, burned the bones of the false prophets, and broke the carved idols (2 Chronicles 34:3-7); and in 622 B.C. the Book of the Law was found (2 Chronicles 34:8-35:19). Consequently, Zephaniah most likely prophesied from 635-625 B.C. and was a contemporary of Jeremiah (2 Chronicles 35:25.

Background and Setting

Politically, the imminent transfer of world power from the Assyrians to the Babylonians weakened Ninevah’s hold on Judah (reference Assyria’s history and the battle of Ninevah), bringing an element of independence to Judah for the first time in 50 years. The ruins of Ninevah can still be seen today in Mosul, Iraq and museums in Europe. The subsequent newfound freedom from subservience and taxation to Assyria undoubtedly led King Josiah to further retain political independence for Judah. King Josiah also later attempted to interdict Egypt’s attempts to help Ninevah’s fleeing king (Ninevah was Assyria’s capital) in 609 B.C. which led to Josiah’s death (2 Kings 23:29). Spiritually, the reigns of Hezekiah’s son Manasseh extended 4 decades (ca. 695-642 B.C.), and his grandson Amon lasting only two years (ca. 642-640 B.C.), were marked by wickedness and apostasy (2 Kings 21; 2 Chronicles 33).

The early years of Josia’s reign were also characterized by the rampant evil of his father (2 Kings 23:4). In 622 B.C., however, while repairing the house of the Lord the High-Priest Hilkiah found the Book of the Law (2 Kings 22:8). Upon reading it King Josiah initiated extensive reforms in response to what he heard the High Priest read (2 Kings 23). It was during the early years of Josiah reign, prior to the great revival that the 11th hour prophet Zephaniah, prophesied and no doubt had an influence on the sweeping reforms Josiah brought to the nation. But the evil kings before Josiah had such a negative impact that Judah never recovered. Josiah’s reforms were too late and he did not live to see them play out.

Historical and Theological Themes

Zephaniah’s message on the Day of the Lord warned Judah that the final days were near, through divine judgment at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, ca 605-586 B.C. (1:4-13). Yet, it also looks beyond to the far future fulfillment in the judgments Daniel writes (1:18; 3:8). The expression “Day of the Lord” is described as a day that is near (1:7), a day of wrath, trouble, distress, devastation, desolation, darkness, gloominess, clouds, thick darkness, trumpet, and alarm (1:15,16,18). Yet even within these oracles of divine wrath the prophet exhorted the people to seek the Lord, offering shelter during judgment (2:3); and proclaiming the promise of eventual salvation for His believing remnant (2:7; 3:9-20).

Interpretive Challenges

The book presents an unambiguous denunciation of sin and warning and of imminent judgment against Judah. Some have referred to the phrase “I will give to the people purified lips” in 3:9 to the restoration of a universal language, like the days prior to confusion of the languages at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). The same Hebrew word translated “lips” is also used in Genesis 11:7.

However, it might be better to understand the passage as pointing to a purification of heart and life. This is confirmed by the context in 3:13 and corroborated by the fact that the word “language” is most commonly translated “lip,” as here. When combined with “put,” the reference to speech speaks of inward cleansing from sin (Isaiah 6:5) manifested in speech (Matthew 12:34), including the removal of the names of false gods from their lips (Hosea 2:17). All said, a universal language is highly unlikely implied here.

Like Zephaniah, what steps will you take to repent and take a stand against breaking covenant with God even though it seems to be a popular move today? What reforms do I need to make in repentance and renewed covenant with the Lord? God is faithful to expand His blessings as you expand your faithfulness.

It seems that in every generation political and cultural tensions swell as times and eras change. According to what the prophets have written, what issues should be most important for God’s people?

Outline

I. Superscription (1:1)

II. The Lord’s Judgment (1:2-3:8)

A. Judgment on the Whole Earth (1:2-3)

B. Judgment on Judah (1:4-2:3)

C. Judgment on the Surrounding Nations (2:4-15)

1. Philistia/Gaza (2:4-7)

2. Moab/Ammon (2:8-11)

3. Ethiopia (2:12)

4. Assyria (2:13-15)

D. Judgment on Jerusalem (3:1-7)

E. Judgment on All Nations (3:8)

III. The Lord’s Blessing (3:9-20)

A. For All Nations (3:9-10)

B. For Judah (3:11-20)

MacArthur Study Bible, NASB, Updated Edition. 2006. Nelson Bibles, Thomas Nelson. La Habra, CA.

Introduction to The Bible

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Tim 3:16,17

The Bible is the Word of God. This maxim is very familiar in most Christian circles and for the most part, deeply revered in many hearts. The Scriptures are the Words of God, a love letter to us. God loves us and greatly desires, and even commands us, to know His mind and heart. By studying the Word(s) of God we grow closer in relationship to Him.

I’ve created this online resource, surely one of thousands on the web, as a means by which you have an introduction to all 66 books of the Bible at the tip of a click. I hope you find richness and true understanding in your daily Bible reading.

Think of the academic rigor of studying the chapter introductions as a humble and thirsty approach to finding out “What does God mean?” As one of my favorite pastors exhorts, “It's not enough to read the text and jump directly to the application; we must first determine what it means, otherwise the application may be incorrect.”

Sixty-Six books comprise the Bible. These documents are gathered into two testaments, the Old (39) and the New (27). Prophets, priests, kings, and leaders from the nation of Israel wrote the OT books in Hebrew (with two passages in Aramaic). The apostles and their associates wrote the NT books in Greek.

The Old Testament record starts with the creation of the universe and closes about 400 years before the first coming of Jesus Christ.

The Scriptures take on a timeline in the following chronology:

- Creation of the Universe

- Fall of man

- Judgment flood over the earth

- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel) - fathers of the chosen nation

- The history of Israel

~ Exile in Egypt - 430 years

~ Exodus and wilderness wanderings - 40 years

~ Conquest of Canaan - 7 years

~ Era of Judges - 350 years

~ United Kingdom - Saul, David, Solomon - 110 years

~ Divided Kingdom - Judah/Israel - 350 years

~ Exile in Babylon - 70 years

~ Return and rebuilding the land – 140 years

The details of this history are explained in the 39 books divided into 5 categories:

~ The Law – 5 (Genesis thru Deuteronomy)

~ History – 12 (Joshua thru Esther)

~ Wisdom – 5 (Job thru Ecclesiastes)

~ Poetry – 2 (Psalms and Song of Solomon)

~ Major Prophets – 5 (Isaiah thru Daniel)

~ Minor Prophets – 12 (Hosea – Malachi)

After the completion of the Old Testament, there were 400 years of silence, during which God did not speak or inspire any Scripture. That silence was broken by the arrival of John the Baptist announcing the arrival of the Promised Lord Savior. The New Testament records the rest of the story from the birth of Jesus Christ to the culmination of all history and the final eternal state; so the two testaments go from creation to consummation, eternity past to eternity future.

While the 39 Old Testament books focus on the history of Israel and the promise of the coming Savior, the 27 New Testament books emphasize the person of Christ and the establishment of the Church. The four gospels give the record of Jesus Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Each of the four writers views with distinctive perspective, the greatest and most important event of history – the coming of the God-man, Jesus Christ. Each are listed below:

~ Matthew looks at Jesus through the perspective of His kingdom

~ Mark through the perspective of His servanthood

~ Luke through the perspective of his humanness

~ John through the perspective of His Deity

The book of Acts tells the story of the impact of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Lord Savior – from His ascension, the consequent coming of the Holy Spirit, and the birth of the Church, through the early years of gospel preaching by the apostles and their associates. Acts records the establishment of the church in Judea, Samaria, and into the Roman Empire.

The 21 epistles were written to churches and individuals to explain the significance of the person and work of Jesus Christ, with its implication for life and witness until He returns.

The New Testament closes with Revelation, which starts by picturing the current Church Age, and culminates with Christ’s return to establish His earthly Kingdom, bringing judgment on the ungodly and glory and blessing for believers. Following the millennial reign of the Lord Savior will be the last judgment, leading to the eternal state. All believers of all history enter the ultimate eternal glory prepared for them, and all the ungodly are consigned to hell to be punished forever.

To understand the Bible, it is essential to grasp the sweep of that history from creation to Christ's consummation and beginning of the church age. It is also crucial to keep in focus the unifying theme of Scripture. The one constant theme unfolding throughout the whole Bible is this: God for His own glory has chosen to create and gather to Himself a group of people to be the subjects of His eternal Kingdom, to praise, honor, and serve Him forever and through whom He will display His wisdom, power, mercy, grace, and glory. To gather His chosen ones, God must redeem them from sin. The Bible reveals God’s plan for this redemption from its inception in eternity past to its completion in eternity future. Covenants, promises, and epochs are all secondary to the one continuous plan of redemption.

There is one God. The Bible has one Creator. It is one book. It has one plan of grace, recorded from initiation, through execution, to consummation. From predestination to glorification, the Bile is the story of God redeeming His chosen people for the praise of His glory.

As God’s redemptive purposes and plan unfold in Scripture, five recurring motifs are constantly emphasized:

~ The character of God

~ The judgment for sin and disobedience

~ The blessing for faith and obedience

~ The Lord Savior and sacrifice for sin

~ The coming kingdom and glory

Everything revealed on the pages of both the Old and New Testament is associated with those five categories. Scripture is always teaching or illustrating: 1) the character and attributes of God; 2) the tragedy of sin and disobedience to God’s holy standard; 3) the blessedness of faith and obedience to God’s standard; 4) the need for a Savior by whose righteousness and substitution sinners can be forgiven, declared just, and transformed to obey God’s standard; and 5) the coming glories end of redemptive history in the Lord Savior’s earthly kingdom and the subsequent eternal reign and glory of God and Christ. It is essential as one studies Scripture to grasp these recurring categories like great hooks on which to hang the passages. While reading through the Bible, one should be able to relate to each portion of Scripture to these dominant topics, recognizing that what is introduced in the Old Testament is also made more clear in the New Testament.

Looking at these five categories separately gives an overview of the Bible.

1. The Revelation of the Character of God

Above all else, Scripture is God’s self-revelation. He reveals Himself as the sovereign God of the universe who has chosen to make man and to make Himself known to man. His standard of absolute revelation is established in this self-revelation. From Adam and Eve through Cain and Abel and to everyone before and after the law of Moses, the standard of righteousness was established and is sustained to the last passage of the New Testament. Violation of it produces judgment, temporal and eternal.

In the Old Testament, it is recorded that God revealed Himself by the following means:

~ Creation – primarily through man – who was made in His image

~ Angels

~ Signs, wonders, and miracles

~ Visions

~ Spoken words by prophets and others

~ Written Scripture (Old Testament)

In the New Testament, it is recorded that God revealed Himself again by the same means, but more clearly and more fully:

~ Creation – the God-man, Jesus Christ, who was the very image of God

~ Angels

~ Signs, wonders, and miracles

~ Visions

~ Spoken words by apostles and prophets

~ Written Scripture (New Testament)

2. The Revelation of Divine Judgment for Sin and Disobedience

Scripture repeatedly deals with the matter of man’s sin, which lead to divine judgment. Account after account in Scripture demonstrates the deadly effects in time and eternity of violating God’s standard. There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible. Only four of them do not involve a fallen world: the first two and the last two – before the Fall and after the creation of the new heaven and new earth. The rest is the chronicle of the tragedy of sin.

In the Old Testament, God showed the disaster of sin – starting with Adam and Eve, to Cain and Abel, the patriarchs, Moses and Israel, the kings, priests, some prophets, and Gentile nations. Throughout the Old Testament is the relentless record of continual devastation produced by sin and disobedience to God’s law.

In the New Testament, the tragedy of sin becomes clearer. The preaching and teaching of Jesus Christ and the apostles begin and end with a call to repentance. King Herod, the Jewish leaders, and the nation of Israel – along with Pilate, Rome, and the rest of the world – all reject the Lord Savior, spurn the truth of God, and thus condemn themselves. The chronicle of sin continues unabated to the end of the age and the return of Christ in judgment. In the New Testament, disobedience is even more flagrant than Old Testament disobedience because it involves the rejection of the lord Savior Jesus Christ in the brighter light of the New Testament truth.

3. The Revelation of the Divine Blessing for Faith and Obedience

Scripture repeatedly promises wonderful rewards in time and eternity that come to people who trust God and seek to obey Him. In the Old Testament, God showed the blessedness of repentance from sin, faith in Himself, and obedience to His Word – from Abel, through the patriarchs, to the remnant in Israel – and even Gentiles who believed (such as the people of Nineveh).

God’s standard for man, His will, and His moral law were always made known. To those who faced their inability to keep God’s standard, recognized their sin, confessed their impotence to please God by their own efforts and works, and asked Him for forgiveness and grace – there came merciful redemption and blessing for time and eternity.

In the New Testament, God again showed the full blessedness of redemption from sin and repentant people. There were those who responded to the preaching of repentance by John the Baptist. Others repented at the preaching of Jesus. Still others from Israel obeyed the gospel through the apostle’s preaching. And finally, there were Gentiles all over the Roman Empire who believed the gospel. To all those and to all those who will believe through all history, there is blessing promised in this world and the world to come.

4. The Revelation of the Lord Savior and Sacrifice for Sin

This is the heart of both the Old Testament, which Jesus said spoke of Him in type, picture, and prophecy. The New Testament gives the biblical record of His coming. The promise of blessing is dependent on grace and mercy given to the sinner. Grace means that sin is not held against the sinner. Such forgiveness is dependent on a payment of sin’s penalty to satisfy holy justice. That requires a substitute – one to die in the sinner’s place. God’s chosen substitute – the only one qualified – was Jesus. Salvation is always by the same gracious means, whether during Old Testament or New Testament times. When any sinner comes to God, repentant and convinced he has no power to save himself from the deserved judgment of divine wrath, and pleads for mercy, God’s promise of forgiveness is granted. God then declares him righteous because the sacrifice and obedience of Christ is put to his account. In the Old Testament, God justified sinners that same way, in anticipation of Christ’s atoning work. There is, therefore, a continuity of grace and salvation through all of redemptive history. Various covenants, promises, and epochs do not alter that fundamental continuity, nor does the discontinuity between the Old Testament witness nation, Israel, and the New Testament witness people, the Church. A fundamental continuity is centered in the cross, which was no interruption in the plan of God, but is the very thing which all-else points.

Throughout the Old Testament, the Savior and sacrifice are promised. In Genesis, He is the seed of the woman who will destroy Satan. In Zechariah, He is the pierced one to whom Israel turns and by whom God opens the fountain of forgiveness to all who mourn over their sin. He is the suffering substitute spoken of by the prophets. Throughout the Old Testament, He is the Messiah who would die for the transgressions of His people; from beginning to end in the Old Testament, the theme of the Lord Savior as a sacrifice for sin is presented. It is solely because of His perfect sacrifice for sin that God graciously forgives repentant believers.

In the New Testament, the Lord Savior came and actually provided the promised sacrifice for sin on the cross. Having fulfilled all righteousness by His perfect life, He fulfilled justice by His death. Thus God Himself atoned for sin, at a cost too great for the human mind to fathom. Now He graciously supplies on their behalf all the merit necessary for His people to be the objects of His favor. That is what Scripture means when it speaks of salvation by grace.

5. The Revelation of the Kingdom and Glory of the Lord Savior

This crucial component of Scripture brings the whole story to its God-ordained consummation. God controls redemptive history, and it will culminate in His eternal glory. Redemptive history will end with the same precision and exactness with which it began. The truths of eschatology are neither vague nor unclear – nor are they unimportant. As in any book, how the story ends is the most crucial and compelling part – so with the Bible. Scripture notes several very specific features of the end planned by God.

In the Old Testament, there is repeated mention of an earthly kingdom ruled by the Messiah, Lord Savior, who will come to reign. Associated with that kingdom will be the salvation of Israel, the salvation of Gentiles, the renewal of the earth from the effects of the curse, and the bodily resurrection of God’s people who have died. Finally, the Old Testament predicts that there will be the “uncreation” or dissolution of the universe, and the creation of a new heaven and new earth – which will be the eternal state of the godly – and a final hell for the ungodly.

In the New Testament, these features are clarified and expanded. The King was rejected and executed, but He promised to come back in glory, bringing judgment, resurrection, and His kingdom for all who believe. Innumerable Gentiles from every nation will be included among the redeemed. Israel will be saved and granted back into the root of blessing from which she has been temporarily excised.

Israel’s promised kingdom will be enjoyed, with the Lord Savior reigning on the throne, in the renewed earth, exercising power over the whole world, having taken back His rightful authority, and receiving due honor and worship. Following that kingdom will come the dissolution of the renewed, but still sin-stained creation, and the subsequent creation of a new heaven and new earth – which will be the eternal state, separate forever from the ungodly hell.

Those are the five topics that fill up the Bible. To understand them at the start is to know the answer to the question the question that continually arises – Why does the Bible tell us this? Everything fits the glorious patter of those five topics. As you read, hang the truth on these five hooks and the Bible will unfold, not as 66 separate documents, or even two separate testaments – but one book, by one divine Author, who wrote it all with one overarching theme.

(MacArthur Study Bible, NASB. Quoted and Paraphrased. xi-xiv.)

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