Zephaniah 2:13–15

This word of Zephaniah must have come before the destruction of Nineveh. Only those who think the prophets were frauds would say otherwise. He lived, there can be little doubt, in Josiah's reign.

Nineveh had been very proud, and had said in its heart, "I am, and there is none beside me"; it would be a place for wild beasts. Zeph. 2:13-15... It had been "a city of blood," full of lies and robbery. It would be made vile. Its destruction would be final: its wound would never heal.

History itself is the witness that the judgment God announced through Zephaniah has come to pass. Proud Nineveh had long forgotten the warning of Jonah, which God gave more than two hundred years before the days of Zephaniah. The judgment announced then was long delayed, but in the end it fell.

The word in the Greek Old Testament means 'hedgehog or porcupine,' and some Hebrew scholars prefer that meaning for the Hebrew word qippod. But in two of the passages it is mentioned alongside a bird, the cormorant. So it is more likely a bird, and the description fits the habits of the bittern. These passages point to desolation because of the judgments of God. Isa. 14:23; Isa. 34:11; Zeph. 2:14. The bittern is a bird that avoids company, and it is at home in any deserted marshy place. The spots and markings on its feathers match the colours of the reeds it lives among, so it escapes notice. Its mournful cry has often been treated as a sign of coming evil.

The Psalmist said, "I am like a pelican of the wilderness." This refers to the bird sitting alone for hours as it digests its supply of fish... In two other passages older translations render the same Hebrew word 'cormorant,' where it should be 'pelican.' Isa. 34:11; Zeph. 2:14.

In Amos 9:1 and Zeph. 2:14 the Hebrew word is kaphtor. Elsewhere translators render the same word 'knop.' It may refer to some decoration placed over a door.

So we find it is a judgment that picks out two classes: nations nearby and others far off. This shows the character of a universal judgment on the world. It is the day of Jehovah on the earth.

Zephaniah predicts her complete desolation, just as Nahum did. The fate announced for Nineveh came literally true. And one day all the proud cities of the nations, steeped in wickedness, will also fall, as Nineveh fell from her place as mistress of the world.

Unless you think the prophets were frauds, it is clear that Zephaniah spoke this before the destruction of Nineveh. He lived, there can be little doubt, in Josiah's reign… So we find a judgment that picks out two classes, nations near and nations far off. It shows the character of a universal judgment upon the world. It is the day of Jehovah on the earth.

The pride that made Pharaoh say at the beginning "Who is Jehovah?" leads man at the end to say, "I am God." It began in independence and defiance of God. It ends in blasphemy and worse.

God had from time to time used some of these nations to punish His chosen people. But pride had filled them, and they had abused their power. So His judgements would surely fall upon them. The prophecy, however, looks on to the future great day of God's wrath.

The anger of God at His guilty people was no excuse for the merciless behaviour of Babylon. Her confidence that her resources would last came just before her ruin.

A hundred and fifty years before, God had sent warning to the guilty city by His servant Jonah. The message had been received, and Nineveh had turned in repentance to God. But the generation Jonah preached to had passed away. Nineveh had gone back to her vileness and wickedness, as a pig goes back to wallowing in the mud. God waited a century and a half before stepping in with judgment. That delay proved He was longsuffering in grace.

We have said that Nineveh will never rise again. In contrast, God will restore Sodom and her daughter cities for blessing in the Millennium (Ezek. 16:55). Does this strike any reader as strange? The explanation is that God favoured Nineveh with a special message, and the city submitted to it. But the generations that followed gained nothing from it, and went back to their old ways. But Sodom was never favoured as Nineveh was… Favour granted by God but despised brings heavy judgement from Him.

God has fulfilled this word about Nineveh. Its desolation, described in verses 14 and 15, is there for all to see. Assyria was destroyed too, but it will rise again. Indeed it is reviving even now, and will again come under divine judgment, as foretold in Micah 5.

The modern excavations prove the magnificence of the past and the fallen greatness of Nineveh. It is said that the whole surface of the country is now covered with fragments of bricks and pottery. Not only is it desolate; it has long looked like a huge misshapen mound, like a large grave, covered with weeds, and a place for beasts to lie down in. That is how literally the prophetic word has been fulfilled.