Zephaniah

Introduction

Around the year 630 B.C., Zephaniah’s voice breaks the silence of the seventy-year lull, during which they had not heard the word of God. Isaiah concluded his mission around the year 690 B.C., and after that, the faithful of Judah went through more than fifty years of persecution in the reign of Manasseh.

1.14 Zephaniah presents the day of the Lord in a threatening way. The Jews maintained that the coming of the Lord would be a liberation for the chosen people. This would allow them to continue to live without justice or faith. The prophet knows that the Lord will achieve his own designs; his salvation is not what the indifferent imagine it to be and it will begin with the destruction of the unconverted.

3.11 This is the first vision of God’s people, a poor and meek people (v. 12).

The destruction on the Day of the Lord has left a remnant in Zion. This is the first time that those who wait for God are called poor. It is not mainly a question of being economically poor, but rather of having the attitude of those who have nothing and are open to receive everything from God. The word poverty formerly implied failure; now it will be the condition needed to seek God. After that time, the “poor of the Lord” will mean all those in Israel who hope to find the Lord. The Gospel, especially the Gospel of Luke, will proclaim the happiness of the poor (see Lk 6:20).

The Lord will be in Jerusalem to share his happiness with them. The holy God suddenly shows that he is like a young man in love who is not concerned about social considerations.

Cry out with joy, O daughter of Zion; the Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; do not fear any misfortune (vv. 14-15). In the Gospel of Luke, the same words are addressed to Mary at the Annunciation: “Rejoice, the Lord is with you. Do not fear, Mary, you will bear the Savior” (Lk 1:28).