Not all of Israel's prophets were men of great vision. Some of them apparently made little or no impression on either their contemporaries or their successors, with the result that neither their names nor their writings have been recorded. The three who are included in this section were more fortunate: We know their names, and at least part of what they had to say has been preserved in the books that bear their names. But, as in the case of the other prophets, their messages are now combined with additions and editorial comments made by the people who brought the manuscripts into their present form.
Zephaniah
Zephaniah's ministry occurred during the reign of Josiah, king of Judah. Zephaniah was the grandson of Hezekiah, but we cannot be sure that this Hezekiah was the same Hezekiah who ruled Jerusalem during the time of Isaiah. Zephaniah was a prophet of doom in the true sense of the word: He saw no bright future for his people. He is remembered primarily for what he says concerning the coming of the Day of Yahweh: "'I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,' declares the Lord. 'I will sweep away both men and animals.'" The immediate occasion that caused this prediction is generally assumed to be a threatened invasion of Judah by the Scythians, a barbarian horde that was invading neighboring countries with unparalleled devastation and destruction. We do know that an invasion by the Scythians occurred about this time, but whether the prophet had them in mind or the Assyrians, who had long been the oppressors of the Hebrew people, is uncertain. In either case, Zephaniah believed that events soon to take place should be interpreted as the judgment of Yahweh being visited upon Judah because of its sins. Specifically, he mentions the worship of foreign gods and the observance of ceremonies customary in connection with their worship.
Although Zephaniah was not the first prophet to predict the coming Day of Yahweh, he gave to this concept a specific meaning that was new to the people of his time. Amos proclaimed that the Day of Yahweh would come sometime in the future, but Zephaniah declares that it is already imminent: "The great day of the Lord is near — near and coming quickly. . . . That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish." He sees its coming as a great climactic event in which the forces of evil will receive their just punishment. Whether he regarded this evil day as the termination of the Judean kingdom or as a necessary prelude to something better for his people, we do not know. Some parts of the Book of Zephaniah predict the coming of a better day, but it seems quite probable that these sections were added by editors who looked at the book as a whole from the perspective of later years.
