Zep 1:5-6 | KingComments | STEP | After the announcement of general judgment the prophet narrows the scope of his message and announces the special judgment on Judah and Jerusalem ( ). God extends His hand in judgment against them (cf. ). They have been the recipients of God’s special revelation; now they will become the recipients of His special judgment. God will carry out that judgment in the short term by the Babylonians. During his reign, Josiah removed much of the Baal’s service ( ), but not everything. God cannot tolerate any of it with His people. What is left of it calls for His judgment and extermination. Baal means ‘lord’. The “idolatrous priests” are not only exterminated as persons, but even their names are erased. God even exterminates the memory of them. The “priests” here are those of the LORD, but they are priests who do not care about the honor of the LORD. In some idolaters and what they do are described. They too will be judged. “Who bow down on the housetops to the host of heaven”, are the worshippers of celestial bodies. These are people we know today as esoteric and new age people, people who seek ‘light’ in themselves and in creation and not in God. On the housetops they can better look at the sky. Moses vehemently warned against it ( ). The flat roofs are perfectly fit for erecting an altar ( ). Manasseh and his successors have practiced it widely, making every house an idolatrous house ( ; ). Others have a compromise religion that includes worship of God and at the same time worship of the Milcom. This is unacceptable to God and in fact impossible (cf. ; ). Milcom also means ‘king’. This looks ahead to the Antichrist, the false king in Israel in the end time that they will worship as a god. The next group to be judged will be those of the apostates. These are the ones who first shared in the reform of Josiah, but later returned to idolatry. There are also the indifferent ones, “who have not sought the LORD or inquired of Him”. Every form of iniquity is noticed and listed. Nothing is hidden from God’s eye.

‏ Zephaniah 1:5-6

The Judgment of Judah and Jerusalem

After the announcement of general judgment the prophet narrows the scope of his message and announces the special judgment on Judah and Jerusalem (Zep 1:4). God extends His hand in judgment against them (cf. Isa 5:25 ; Isa 9:12 ; 17 ; 21). They have been the recipients of God’s special revelation; now they will become the recipients of His special judgment. God will carry out that judgment in the short term by the Babylonians.

During his reign, Josiah removed much of the Baal’s service (2Chr 34:4), but not everything. God cannot tolerate any of it with His people. What is left of it calls for His judgment and extermination. Baal means ‘lord’. The “idolatrous priests” are not only exterminated as persons, but even their names are erased. God even exterminates the memory of them. The “priests” here are those of the LORD, but they are priests who do not care about the honor of the LORD.

In Zep 1:5-6 some idolaters and what they do are described. They too will be judged. “Who bow down on the housetops to the host of heaven”, are the worshippers of celestial bodies. These are people we know today as esoteric and new age people, people who seek ‘light’ in themselves and in creation and not in God. On the housetops they can better look at the sky. Moses vehemently warned against it (Deu 4:19).

The flat roofs are perfectly fit for erecting an altar (Jer 8:2 ; Jer 19:13 ; Jer 32:29). Manasseh and his successors have practiced it widely, making every house an idolatrous house (2Kgs 21:3 ; 5 ; 2Kgs 23:5-6; Jer 7:17-18 ; Jer 44:17-19 ; 25).

Others have a compromise religion that includes worship of God and at the same time worship of the Milcom. This is unacceptable to God and in fact impossible (cf. Lk 16:13; Acts 3:6). Milcom also means ‘king’. This looks ahead to the Antichrist, the false king in Israel in the end time that they will worship as a god.

The next group to be judged will be those of the apostates. These are the ones who first shared in the reform of Josiah, but later returned to idolatry. There are also the indifferent ones, “who have not sought the LORD or inquired of Him”. Every form of iniquity is noticed and listed. Nothing is hidden from God’s eye.