those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him.”
Zephaniah closes a list of people God will cut off from Jerusalem with the quietest group of all: not Baal-worshippers or star-gazers, but people who drifted away, and people who never came near at all. Is ignoring God safer than fighting Him?
Two Different Kinds of Guilt
The verse does not name one group but two, and their histories are not the same.
William KellyThere might be both — two quite different classes. Some had acknowledged Jehovah to a degree, and then abandoned Him with contempt and insult. Others had never even been stirred on the surface to care for Him or to inquire after Him.
The Same Two Groups in the New Testament
The same pairing turns up in Paul's letters. Commentators point to his words about the vengeance that falls on those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Christian's FriendThe original language makes it as plain as possible that two classes will suffer this vengeance. Those who do not know God are one class. Those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ are the other. This makes the judgment of the living even more solemn, because it reaches so widely... Those who do not know God may mark out the people who were too indifferent to pay attention to the gospel. Those who do not obey the gospel will be the people who deliberately rejected Christ. But a common doom will be their portion. (Compare Zeph. 1:6.)
What Makes the Turning Back So Offensive
Verse 6 closes a list, and the list explains it. The people named just before were not swapping God for an idol. They were keeping both.
William KellyWhat made this idolatry so offensive was the joining of the idols of the nations with Jehovah. To be a plain, out-and-out idolater was not nearly as evil as to show that you know the true God and still put false gods on a level with Him. That is the outrage against God singled out here.
One writer reads the sins listed just before — star-worship on the rooftops, divided oaths — as adding up to what verse 6 names.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThey worshipped the stars. They studied their movements as if the stars could help them and reveal things to them. Astrology, practiced so widely among civilized nations today, is an old cult... Others used the Holy Name of Jehovah, and at the same time they used the name of Malcham. All was a turning back from Jehovah and dishonoring His Name.
Spoken in the Middle of a National Revival
The timing is the sharpest thing about this verse. Zephaniah spoke under Josiah, a good king who was clearing idolatry out of the land. God still says the people are not seeking Him.
The Christian's FriendZephaniah prophesied in the days of that good king Josiah, and yet the burden of his message was judgment. The king tried hard, and he set a reformation going. Even so, the people clearly stayed stubbornly tied to their heathen idolatries and superstitions.
Commentators differ over when Zephaniah spoke. Some hold that this very list of sins shows he prophesied before the reform began, and that his preaching may have helped to start it.
Arend RemmersMany scholars believe Zephaniah prophesied even before king Josiah's reformation. That reformation started in Josiah's 18th year, around 622 BC. References such as Zephaniah 1:4-6, 8-9, 12 and 3:1-3, 7 support this view. It is possible that Zephaniah's own ministry brought king Josiah and the people back to God.
The Answer the Book Itself Gives
The charge in verse 6 is that they did not seek Him. The next chapter turns that same word into an invitation. It goes not to the nation as a whole but to a smaller group inside it — the people older translations call "the meek of the earth."
William KellyWe see there are these two calls. The nation gets a fitting warning, but the remnant of righteous Jews gets an earnest appeal. These were "the meek of the earth." "Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD" (ESV).
Summary
- Two classes. The verse names people who turned back from God, and people who never sought Him at all.
- One doom. Commentators link this with Paul's pairing of those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel. Different roads, but "a common doom will be their portion."
- Mixture, not just idols. Knowing the true God and still putting false gods on a level with Him is worse than plain idolatry.
- Revival is no cover. Zephaniah spoke in the days of good king Josiah. An official reformation did not change hearts still tied to their heathen idolatries.
- Seek Him. The charge of not seeking becomes the remedy one chapter later: "Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land... perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD."