Zephaniah 1:1, The Setting for Zephaniah’s Prophecy

Yahweh gave this message to Zephaniah when Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. (Zephaniah 1:1, New Living Translation with “LORD” translated as Yahweh)

The spiritual condition of Judah had never been worse. Idolatry was rampant. Under the rulership of Manasseh, the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed were rebuilt so people could worship at these shrines contrary to Yahweh’s law, and he erected altars to Baal and made Asherah (female goddess) poles for worship of the “host of heaven” (2 Kings 21:3). And in the temple itself he built altars to false gods and reintroduced Molech worship, which involved child sacrifice, burning his own son in sacrifice. He encouraged fortune-tellers, mediums and necromancers, leading his people “astray to do more evil than the nations” around them (2 Kings 21:9). He allowed temple prostitutes, male and female, to reenact the idolatrous fertilization of earth by Baal. Amazingly, at some point Manasseh had rebelled against Assyria and the Assyrians had come and taken Manasseh prisoner to Babylon. Scripture tells us,

And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of Yahweh his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh was God. (2 Chronicles 33:12,13)

He removed the idols from the temple and restored Yahweh’s altar and sacrifices, but when he died and his son was made king, his son, Amon, who reigned only two years, restored all the idolatry.

When Amon’s son, Josiah, came to power, at the age of 8, “he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem” of the idolatrous influences of his father (2 Chronicles 34:3) and began a project of restoration and repair of the temple. He sought to observe and obey the book of the Law. The prophetess Huldah told him,

Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Yahweh, thus shall you say to him, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares Yahweh. Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’” (2 Chronicles 34:24-28)

This is the setting in which Zephaniah prophesies. Though the king, Josiah, is righteous before God and enforcing Yahweh worship, the people are really still idolatrous. What does Yahweh want them to know?