Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• B. Pagan Fertility Foiled by God ch. 5
  The primary purpose of this chapter, I believe, is to demonstrate the superiority of Yahweh over Dagon, the fertility god of the Philistines.655:1-5 Having captured the ark the Philistines brought it from Ebenezer to their ma...
• 3. Wise living in various contexts 11:1-15
  11:2 A proud person refuses to accept instruction from God, which, if he or she would follow it, would result in his or her receiving honor. The humble take God's advice, and that is their wisdom.10211:4 Riches do not profit ...
• New heavens and a new earth 65:17-25
  God not only will be faithful to His promises in spite of Israel's unfaithfulness (63:1-65:16), but He will demonstrate His ability and desire to provide righteousness for sinful humankind by creating new heavens and a new ea...
• The Queen of Heaven cult 7:16-20
  This pericope continues Yahweh's instructions to Jeremiah preparing him to deliver the Temple Sermon (cf. vv. 1-2). Jeremiah may have received this message from the Lord at the same time or at some other time.7:16 The Lord to...
• The broken jar object lesson 19:1-20:6
  This message to the people involved another symbolic act (cf. 13:1-11). This incident may have occurred between 609 and 605 B.C.19:1 Yahweh told Jeremiah to take some of Judah's elders and senior priests and to go and purchas...
• Jacob's distress and deliverance 30:4-11
  30:4 This oracle concerns all the Israelites, those of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.30:5-6 A time of great terror, dread, and unrest was coming. Men would behave as though they were in labor; they would hold themse...
• Yahweh's judgment of the enemy 38:17-23
  38:17 The Lord asked rhetorically if it was Gog about whom He had spoken through His other servants the prophets many years earlier. "Are you he of whom the prophets spoke?"Yes, he was. This was not the first revelation of a ...
• The ignominious end of the enemy 39:17-24
  This message expands on one event that will take place at the end of the invasion (cf. v. 4).39:17-18 The Lord also instructed Ezekiel to prophesy to the birds and beasts to come and feast on the flesh of the invaders who had...
• Judgment on Israel's political symbol 10:3-8
  10:3 When the Lord brought destruction, the people would realize that their self-appointed king had failed them and that they did not respect the Lord. They would acknowledge that no human king could help them. Hoshea would b...
• D. The significance of the plague 1:15-20
  "This section moves much closer to the form of the descriptive lament found in the lamenting psalms than did the descriptions earlier in the chapter."141:15 The locust plague had destroyed (Heb. shadad) the fields and fruits ...
• 1. The nearness of the army 2:1-2
  The prophet ordered a trumpet (Heb. shophar, ram's horn) to be blown in Zion (Jerusalem), specifically on the temple mount, to sound an alarm (cf. Jer. 4:5-6; Ezek. 33:2-6).18This shophar was the ancient equivalent of an air ...
• A. Israel's spiritual renewal and deliverance 2:28-32
  2:28-29 After this, namely, after the deliverance from the northern invader just described, God promised to pour out His Spirit on all mankind without gender, age, class, or position distinction.29In Old Testament times God g...
• A description of inevitable judgment 5:18-20
  5:18 The prophet began his message by crying, "Alas"(Heb., hoy, woe, oh). This word announced coming doom, another funeral lament (cf. v. 1). Many Israelites in Amos' day were looking forward to a coming day of the Lord. Form...
• Title and Writer
  The title of the book comes from the name of its writer."Zephaniah"means "Yahweh hides [or has hidden],""Yahweh's watchman,"or "Yahweh treasured."The uncertainty arises over the etymology of the prophet's name, which scholars...
• Place of Composition
  References to Jerusalem in 1:10-11 seem to indicate that Zephaniah knew Jerusalem well. Since he ministered to the Southern Kingdom, it is likely that he lived in Judah and probably in Jerusalem....
• Audience and Purpose
  The fact that Yahweh's word came to Zephaniah during Josiah's reign (640-609 B.C.) means that he could not have ministered to the Northern Kingdom because it fell in 722 B.C. Thus Zephaniah's audience consisted of the people ...
• Distinctive features
  The Book of Zephaniah has been called "a compendium of the oracles of the prophets."9This is true for two reasons. First, Zephaniah's general message is similar to that of most of the other writing prophets. Second, he used t...
• Message12
  The key to the Book of Zephaniah is the phrase "the day of the Lord."This phrase appears in most of the prophetic literature of the Old Testament. As we saw in Joel, "the day of the Lord"can be a past day, a day in the relati...
• Outline
  I. Heading 1:1II. The day of Yahweh's judgment 1:2-3:8A. Judgment on the world 1:2-3B. Judgment on Judah 1:4-2:31. The cause for Judah's judgment 1:4-62. The course of Judah's judgment 1:7-133. The imminence and horrors of Ju...
• II. The day of Yahweh's judgment 1:2--3:8
  Zephaniah's prophecies are all about "the day of the LORD."He revealed two things about this "day,"first, that it would involve judgment (1:2-3:8) and, second, that it would eventuate in blessing (3:9-20). The judgment portio...
• B. The judgment on Judah 1:4-2:3
  The Lord gave more details about this worldwide judgment. It would include Judah. Zephaniah gave more particulars concerning the fate of Judah (1:4-2:3) and Jerusalem (3:1-7) than about the fate of the rest of humanity (1:2-3...
• 1. The cause for Judah's judgment 1:4-6
  1:4 Yahweh announced that He would stretch out His hand in judgment against Judah and the people of Jerusalem. Stretching out the hand is a figure of speech that implies a special work of punishment (cf. Exod. 6:6; Deut. 4:34...
• 2. The course of Judah's judgment 1:7-13
  1:7 In view of the inevitability of coming judgment for idolatry, it was appropriate for the Judeans to be quiet before sovereign Yahweh (cf. Hab. 2:20)."This is a call to the people of Judah to cease every manner of oppositi...
• 3. The imminence and horrors of Judah's judgment 1:14-18
  1:14 Zephaniah reported that this great day of the Lord was near, very near, and coming very quickly. His hearers needed to realize that it would be a day in which Yahweh would act (cf. v. 12). When it came, warriors would cr...
• 4. A call to repentance 2:1-3
  This section of the book (1:4-2:3) concludes with an appeal to the Judeans to repent and so avoid the punishment destined to come on them if they did not repent."The prophet meant in that terrible description of approaching j...
• D. Judgment on Jerusalem 3:1-7
  Having announced that divine judgment would come on the nations around Judah (2:4-15), the prophet returned to the subject of Yahweh's judgment on the Chosen People (cf. 1:4-2:3), but this time he focused more particularly on...
• E. Judgment on all nations 3:8
  The people of Jerusalem needed to wait a little longer. The Lord would soon rise up as a devouring animal to consume His prey. He had determined to gather nations and kingdoms that were wicked, including Judah, and pour His b...
• III. The day of Yahweh's blessing 3:9-20
  Having finished the revelation dealing with God's judgment of the world in a coming day (1:2-3:8), Zephaniah now announced that He would bring great blessing to all humankind after that judgment (3:9-20). As in the section of...
• A. The purification of the nations 3:9
  "Then"signals a major change in time as well as in the focus of Zephaniah's prophecy. It is a hinge word that serves as a transition from judgment in the Tribulation to blessing in the Millennium. Then, after these judgments ...
• 1. Israel's purification 3:10-13
  3:10 The descendants of the Lord's dispersed ones, the Jews, would bring him offerings of worship from the farthest corners of the earth. The rivers of Ethiopia, probably the Nile and its tributaries, were at the edge of the ...
• The final deliverance of Israel and the return of Messiah 14:1-8
  14:1 The Lord announced through His prophet that a day was coming, for His benefit primarily, when the nations that had plundered Israel victoriously would divide their spoil among themselves in Jerusalem. This would be the L...
• The death of Jesus 15:33-41 (cf. Matt. 27:45-56; Luke 23:44-49; John 19:28-30)
  Mark's account of Jesus' death included five climactic events: the darkness, two of Jesus' cries, the tearing of the temple veil, and the Roman centurion's confession. All of these events happened during the last three of the...
• 2. The announcement to the shepherds 2:8-20
  There is great theological significance in this familiar passage. It comes through mainly in the angel's words and in the symbolism of what happened."In 2:8-14 we have a third annunciation scene, which follows the same patter...
• Jesus' self-sacrifice to God 23:44-49 (cf. Matt. 27:45-56; Mark 15:33-41; John 19:28-30)
  Luke included three things in this heart of the death scene. He gave two evidences of God's displeasure with people for rejecting His Son. He recorded Jesus' prayer of trust in the Father, and he noted three immediate reactio...
• C. Personal watchfulness 5:1-11
  In view of the imminency of Christ's return Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to be ready to prepare them to meet the Lord at any time."The former [paragraph, i.e., 4:13-18] offered instruction concerning the dead in Christ; th...
• C. End-time Events 3:7-10
  Next Peter outlined what will surely happen so his readers would understand what will take place.3:7 God has given orders that the present heavens and earth (vv. 5-6) will experience another judgment yet future. Then God will...
• The seventh seal 8:1
  When the Lamb broke the seventh seal of the scroll, silence fell on the heavenly scene. For "half an hour"awesome silence continued as all of those assembled around the throne waited expectantly to see what God would do next....
• Introduction to the seven trumpet judgments 8:2-6
  8:2 John saw someone, perhaps God, give seven trumpets to a group of seven angels standing before the heavenly throne (cf. 1:4; 3:1; 8:6; 15:1). Exactly who these angels were is not clear. Some interpreters have identified th...