Bible Buk Namba 36​—Zephaniah

Man wea Raetem: Zephaniah

Ples Hem Raetem: Judah

Taem Hem Finis Raetem: Bifor 648 B.C.E.

LONG first haf long rul bilong King Josiah bilong Judah (659-629 B.C.E.), taem wea wei for worshipim Baal hem big tumas and “olketa heathen-god priest” leadim disfala worship wea no klin, pipol bilong Jerusalem mas barava sapraes long message wea profet Zephaniah talemaot. Nomata hem maet kam from laen bilong King Hezekiah from royal haos bilong Judah, Zephaniah barava judgem living bilong datfala nation. (Zeph. 1:1, 4) Message bilong hem talemaot judgment. Pipol bilong God no obey, and Jehovah nomoa savve mekem klin worship kamap moa and blessim olketa mekem olketa olsem “wanfala nem and praise midolwan long evri pipol bilong earth.” (3:20) Zephaniah showimaot hao only sapos God duim samting bae man “savve haed long day bilong kros bilong Jehovah.” (2:3) Nem bilong hem Tsephan·yahʹ (Hebrew) hem barava fitim, wea minim “Jehovah Hem Haedem (Keepim Gud)”!

² Gudfala samting kamaot from hard waka bilong Zephaniah. King Josiah, wea start for rul taem hem eit year, hem start for “klinim Judah and Jerusalem,” long mek-12 year long rul bilong hem. Hem aotem false worship, fixim “haos bilong Jehovah,” and startim bak wei for celebratem Passover. (2 Chron., chap. 34, 35) Bat olketa change wea King Josiah mekem hem for shortfala taem nomoa, from thrifala son bilong hem and wanfala granson bilong hem wea rul bihaenem hem, olketa evriwan duim “samting wea nogud long eye bilong Jehovah.” (2 Chron. 36:1-12) Evri samting hia hem fulfillim toktok bilong Zephaniah: “Mi bae luk go long olketa prince, and long olketa son bilong king, and long. . . olketa wea fulimap haos bilong olketa masta bilong olketa witim raf fasin and laea fasin.”—Zeph. 1:8, 9.

³ From samting iumi lukim finis hem luk olsem “toktok bilong Jehovah . . . wea hem talem long Zephaniah” kamap bifor 648 B.C.E., mek-12 year bilong Josiah. Insaed firstfala verse hem showimaot hao hem talem toktok hia taem hem long Judah and wei wea hem garem savve long olketa area and kastom bilong Jerusalem pruvim hao hem mas stap long Judah. Message wea stap insaed disfala buk garem tufala part, hem tok strong and long semtaem hem givim comfort. Bat bigfala haf hem story abaotem day bilong Jehovah, wanfala day bilong bigfala fraet wea klosap for happen, bat long semtaem, hem talemaot hao Jehovah bae tekem kam bak wanfala hambol pipol wea “stap sef insaed long nem bilong Jehovah.”—1:1, 7-18; 3:12.

⁴ Wei wea disfala buk bilong profesi hem tru no eniwan savve win for argue againstim. Jerusalem hem finis evribit long 607 B.C.E., winim 40 year bihaen Zephaniah hem talemaot diswan. Iumi garem pruv from history bilong world and tu pruv insaed Bible hao evri samting hem happen barava olsem wanem Zephaniah profesi abaotem. No longtaem bihaen Jerusalem distroe, Jeremiah raetem buk bilong Lamentations wea hem storyim olketa barava nogud samting wea hem lukim, taem olketa still klia long mind bilong hem. Wei for markem samfala verse bae hem savve pruvim hao message bilong Zephaniah “kam from God.” Zephaniah talem warning abaotem wei wea hem important for repent “bifor bigfala kros bilong Jehovah hem kam againstim iufala pipol,” no olsem Jeremiah wea story abaotem samting wea happen finis taem hem sei, “Jehovah . . . hem pourimaot finis bigfala kros bilong hem.” (Zeph. 2:2; Lam. 4:11) Zephaniah talemaot hao Jehovah “bae mekem olketa man feel wari tumas, and olketa bae barava wakabaot olsem olketa blind man . . . And blood bilong olketa bae kapsaet olsem dust.” (Zeph. 1:17) Jeremiah story abaotem diswan olsem samting wea happen finis: “Olketa bin wakabaot olsem olketa blind man long street. Olketa kamap dirty finis long blood.”—Lam. 4:14; markem tu Zephaniah 1:13—Lamentations 5:2; Zephaniah 2:8, 10—Lamentations 1:9, 16 and 3:61.

⁵ History tu hem story abaotem wei wea olketa heathen nation finis evribit, Moab and Ammon and Assyria, witim main taon bilong hem Nineveh, olsem hao Zephaniah talem finis anda long direction bilong God. Olsem profet Nahum talemaot wei wea Nineveh bae distroe (Nah. 1:1; 2:10), Zephaniah tu talemaot hao Jehovah “bae mekem Nineveh kamap wanfala emti ples, wanfala area wea no garem wata olsem wilderness.” (Zeph. 2:13) Wei wea hem distroe hem barava evribit dastawe no kasem 200 year bihaen, datfala man for raetem history Herodotus, hem raet abaotem Tigris olsem “datfala river wea taon bilong Nineveh hem stap bifor.”a Long samting olsem 150 C.E. datfala Greek man for raet, Lucian, raetem hao “no eni samting stap distaem for pruvim hao datfala ples bin stap.”b The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible (1970), page 669, hem sei hao olketa army wea kam againstim “kasem bigfala help from wei wea Tigris river hem rise ap kwiktaem and brekem part long wall bilong datfala taon and mekem taon hia isi for winim. . . . From wei wea hem distroe hem barava evribit, olketa long taem bilong rul bilong Greece and Rome klosap tingim Nineveh olsem wanfala kastom story nomoa. Bat long full taem hia part long datfala taon hem stap anda long big hip rabis.” Long page 627 long sem buk hem showim hao Moab tu hem distroe olsem profesi talemaot: “Nebuchadnezzar hem winim olketa bilong Moab.” Josephus tu hem story abaotem wei wea sem samting kasem Ammon.c Gogo olketa bilong Moab and Ammon finis for stap olsem wanfala nation.

⁶ Olketa Jew evritaem putim Zephaniah long stretfala ples insaed olketa Scripture wea kam from God. Olketa toktok wea hem talem insaed nem bilong Jehovah hem barava fulfill, wea vindicatem Jehovah.

WEI WEA HEM HELPEM IUMI

¹⁰ King Josiah lisin long warning message bilong Zephaniah and hem kasem barava gud samting from datwan. Hem startim wanfala bigfala program for stretem olketa samting saed long religion. Diswan hem mekem olketa faendem buk bilong Law, wea hem bin lus taem no eniwan keepim gud haos bilong Jehovah. Josiah hem barava sorre fogud taem hem herem wanem nao bae happen long olketa wea no obey taem olketa readim go long hem from datfala buk, wea hem pruvim from nara witness, Moses, toktok bilong Zephaniah wea hem bin go ahed for profesi abaotem. Josiah mekem hemseleva kamap hambol front long God, from diswan Jehovah promisim hem hao datfala wei for distroe bae hem no happen long taem bilong hem. (Deut., chap. 28-30; 2 Ki. 22:8-20) Datfala land hem sev from wei for finis! Bat no for longtaem, from olketa son bilong Josiah fail for followim gud example wea hem showim. Nomata olsem, for saed bilong Josiah and pipol bilong hem, wei wea olketa lisin long “toktok bilong Jehovah wea hem talem long Zephaniah” hem barava helpem olketa.—Zeph. 1:1.

¹¹ Long datfala Sermon long maunten wea planti pipol savve long hem, Christ Jesus, nambawan profet bilong God, hem saportim Zephaniah olsem wanfala tru profet bilong God taem hem talem olketa toktok wea klosap semsem witim kaonsel bilong Zephaniah long chapter 2, verse 3: “Lukaotem Jehovah, iufala evriwan wea garem kwaet fasin long earth . . . Lukaotem raeteous fasin, lukaotem kwaet fasin.” Kaonsel bilong Jesus hem: “Go ahed for lukaotem firstaem kingdom and raeteous fasin bilong hem.” (Matt. 6:33) Olketa wea lukaotem Kingdom bilong God firstaem mas lukaot long wei for no interest wea Zephaniah givim warning abaotem taem hem tok abaotem “olketa wea muv bak for followim Jehovah and wea no lukaotem Jehovah and no askem hem eni samting” and “wea sei insaed long heart bilong olketa, ‘Jehovah bae no duim gud samting, and hem bae no duim nogud samting.’” (Zeph. 1:6, 12) Long leta bilong hem for olketa Hebrew, Paul hem talem tu abaotem kakam bilong day bilong judgment and givim warning againstim wei for muv bak. Hem go ahed for sei: “Bat iumi no datkaen wea muv bak for finis evribit, bat datkaen wea garem faith for keepim soul laef.” (Heb. 10:30, 37-39) Disfala toktok bilong profet wea sei: “Maet iufala savve haed long day bilong kros bilong Jehovah,” hem no for olketa wea givap or olketa wea no tinghae long hem bat hem for olketa wea hambol and barava lukaotem Jehovah witim faith. Bat why nao hem sei “maet”? Bikos wei for sev hem depend long gogo bilong man wanwan. (Matt. 24:13) Hem helpem iumi for tingim hao iumi no savve mekius long mercy bilong God. Profesi bilong Zephaniah showaot klia hao datfala day bae seknomoa kasem olketa wea no redy.—Zeph. 2:3; 1:14, 15; 3:8.

¹² Diswan hem wanfala message wea talemaot wei for distroe for olketa wea sin againstim Jehovah bat hem point go long olketa nambawan blessing for olketa wea repent and “lukaotem Jehovah.” Olketa hia wea repent savve strong, from Zephaniah sei, “king bilong Israel, Jehovah, hem stap midolwan long iu.” Hem no taem for Zion fraet or for letem hand for no duim samting. Hem taem for trust long Jehovah. “Olsem wanfala maeti Wan, hem bae sevem iu. Long saed bilong iu hem bae tinghae witim hapi. Hem bae stap kwaet from love bilong hem. Hem bae hapi long iu witim hapi singaot.” Hapi tu olketa wea ‘lukaotem firstaem kingdom bilong hem,’ taem olketa luk forward long loving protection bilong hem and blessing bilong hem olowe!—3:15-17.

[Olketa Footnote]