“I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
Zephaniah has just threatened the whole land. Now the warning narrows to one address: Judah and Jerusalem, the place where God's name was known. Why does judgment fall hardest there, and why was Baal worship still alive under a king who was cleaning up the nation?
Judgment Begins Where God Is Known
The hand stretched out is not aimed first at foreign nations but at God's own land and city. One writer traces this through the whole book:
William KellyFrom first to last he is clearly occupied with the day of Jehovah on Jerusalem. The land and the Jewish remnant are fully in view for that day. The reign of the last God-fearing king did not stop it or put it off… If Jehovah must judge His people, all the world must bow; no nation can escape. What Nebuchadnezzar did was only a first instalment of a great and complete judgment. Yet Jehovah had to begin with His land, people, and city, as in Zephaniah 1.
A Reformation That Never Reached the Heart
Zephaniah prophesied while Josiah was cleaning up the nation. Yet he speaks as if nothing had changed. One writer explains why:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinA great reformation was under way. Like all reformation, it ended in deformation. That produced a reaction, and the reaction plunged the house of Judah into its final turning away from God. The reformation seems to have been mainly an outward one. In their hearts the people still longed for the idols and the detestable practices that went with them.
One writer asks why this outward improvement was not enough:
The Bible TreasuryBut why could God not rest in the outwardly improved state of Judah in Josiah's day? He looked beneath the surface. He looked for what was real: a tender conscience, and a heart that bowed to His word. He did not find it… Nothing less than thoroughness will ever satisfy God.
What "The Remnant of Baal" Means
A remnant is what is left over. Baal worship had already been cut back, yet even the leftovers come under the sentence. Where the ESV says "idolatrous priests," older translations keep the Hebrew word "Chemarim," and the writers quoted here use it. One writer explains both names:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe remnant of Baal will be cut off, and the Chemarim with the priests. Whatever is left of idolatry will then be wiped out completely. Baal was the idol god of the Phoenicians and Canaanites. The word means "lord" or "owner," and sexually immoral practices went along with his worship. Chemarim is the name of the idolatrous priests who ran the high places. The kings of Judah appointed them to that service (2 Kings 23:5).
Idol-Priests Standing Beside the Lord's Priests
The verse names two groups in one breath: the idol-priests "along with the priests." That pairing is the offence:
William KellyThe Chemarim are idolatrous priests. The Bible names them only here and in 2 Kings 23:5 and Hosea 10:5, and Gesenius thought they were called this because of their black priestly dress. What made this idolatry so offensive was the joining of the idols of the nations with Jehovah. To be what we might call a plain, outright idolater was not nearly so evil as to show that you know the true God and yet put false gods on a level with Him.
Josiah had already moved against these very men:
H. L. RossierJosiah puts down the Chemarim, the priests the kings of Judah had set up to burn incense to false gods… He completely breaks off fellowship with a religion that had dared to despise the only gathering centre for the people, even though that religion had separated itself from idolatry. In this we find instruction for the day in which we live.
Nothing Overlooked
The chapter names offenders one by one instead of condemning the nation in bulk:
J. G. BellettThere is Judah, and there is Jerusalem, and the nations all around them, north, south, east, and west. All come in for this common and complete exposure, down to the smallest distinctions. The remnant of Baal, the name of the Chemarim with the priests, idolaters, those who swear by the Lord and by Malcham, the backsliders, the careless, and those who wear foreign clothing — God visits each one separately. The candle of the Lord searches out those who have settled down in comfort and who despise the fear of judgment. Nothing escapes.
Summary
- Begins at home. God stretches out His hand first on Judah and Jerusalem; if He must judge His own people, no nation can expect to escape.
- Outward only. Josiah's reform changed the surface. The people's hearts still wanted the idols, so the prophet announces judgment as if the revival had not happened.
- Remnant. God marks even the leftovers of Baal worship, a cult already cut back, for complete removal.
- Mixture. The idol-priests stand "along with the priests": the real offence is putting false gods on a level with the God they claim to know.
- Nothing escapes. God searches out each group with a candle, down to the careless and the comfortable.