The Lord Will Rejoice Over You

As is the case with all of the prophetic writings in the Bible, the book of Zephaniah starts darkly, but ends brightly. Zephaniah’s prophecy is a little different from the others because it is written as a conversation between the prophet and God. At the start, Zephaniah complains to the LORD concerning the sin of Israel. The LORD replies that He is aware, and that He intends to send the Chaldeans to judge Israel for their sin, particularly for their idolatry. Zephaniah is surprised by this, and asks the LORD why it is that He would use a group of people that are even worse to judge Israel. Gods reply shows him that while He will judge Israel, He will later judge the Chaldeans, and restore Israel to Himself. Though the LORD was forced to deal with His people thus, yet they remained His people. So, there is promise of restored blessing and renewed fellowship with Him.