Judgement in Zephania’s prophesy


I received through social media another Bible verse or a prophecy which is circulating with reference to Gaza – the disputed land between Israelites and Palestine. It quoted Zephaniah 2:4 “Gaza will be abandoned…” with a note saying “The truth is here in black and white written 2000 years ago…” This seems to be an excellent verse from the Bible to support the Israelites' destruction of the Palestinians. But it is a miserable position if anyone quotes only Zephaniah 2:4 without reading the entire book’s message.

Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of King Josiah (640–609 B.C.), a Judean king who wanted a religious reformation together with acceptable worship practices before God (2 Kings 22:1–23:30). From the following Timeline you could see that the Prophetic ministry of Zephaniah occurred between the fall of the Kingdom of Israel and the fall of the Kingdom of Judah - both were the chosen people of God.


Despite having seen the destruction and exile of Israel (the northern kingdom), Judah (the southern kingdom) refuses to keep its covenant obligations to God. God "perhaps" will pardon Judah if it turns from its sinful behaviour (2:3). Whatever the case, God's wrath will bring about rebirth for Judah and other nations (3:9–20).

 Without a doubt, the book of Zephaniah pronounces wrath on numerous countries that collectively rebelled against God by opposing his chosen people. However, the last nation warned is Judah herself – God’s chosen (3:1-7) because God is also displeased with those who claimed to be his own people. Are Christians these days consumed with discussing God's judgment on the people of Gaza when we have received so many warnings about his imminent judgment on us?

Those who quote Zephaniah 2:4 wanting destruction on the people of present-day Gaza also have to read the prophecy of  Zephaniah declaring that God will judge the whole earth (1:2–3, 17–18; 3:8), including Judah that is God’s chosen (1:4–16; 3:1–7) and her pagan neighbours (2:4–15) alike.

I'm pleading with everyone to avoid the error of "proof-texting," which is when a text is used as "proof" of a biblical truth without taking context and other passages into account.


Rev. Asiri P. Perera
Retired President Bishop
Methodist Church, Sri Lanka

October 20, 2023



 

 

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