Why would God search a city with candles? Zephaniah gives the answer in one verse. God was looking for the men that are settled on their lees – people who had grown comfortable and said in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
Zephaniah’s short book is one of the strongest warnings in the prophets about the great day of the LORD. But it does not end in darkness. It moves from judgment, to a call to seek the LORD, to one of the most tender pictures of God anywhere in Scripture: he will joy over thee with singing.
The Story of Zephaniah
The book opens by naming the prophet and his time: The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. Zephaniah traces his family back four generations, which is unusual for a prophet. Some readers identify this Hizkiah with King Hezekiah, though the verse does not call him a king.
The message begins with sweeping judgment: I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD. God said he would stretch out his hand upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He named those who worshipped the host of heaven upon the housetops, those who swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham, and those who are turned back from the LORD, who have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD, Zephaniah said, for the day of the LORD is at hand. God would punish the princes and the king’s children, and there would be the noise of a cry from the fish gate and an howling from the second. Then came the image at the center of the warning: I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. Their goods would become a booty and their houses a desolation; they would build houses, but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
Zephaniah then described the day itself: The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. Neither their silver nor their gold, he said, shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath.
Chapter 2 opens with a call to gather before the decree bring forth. Then comes an invitation in the middle of the warning: Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger. The rest of the chapter turns to the nations around Judah – Gaza and Ashkelon, Moab and Ammon, the Ethiopians, and Assyria. God would make Nineveh a desolation, the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me.
Chapter 3 turns back to Jerusalem: Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. Her princes were like roaring lions and her judges like evening wolves. Yet The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light. God promised to turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, and to leave an afflicted and poor people who shall trust in the name of the LORD.
The book ends in song. Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy. Jerusalem would hear, Fear thou not. And then: The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. God closed with a promise to gather his people and make them a name and a praise among all people of the earth.
Key Verses
“I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees” Zephaniah 1:12
“The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly” Zephaniah 1:14
“Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth” Zephaniah 2:3
“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” Zephaniah 3:17
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), a public-domain translation.
What the Story of Zephaniah Teaches Us
Complacency is a real danger. The men God searched for with candles were not described as loud rebels. They were settled on their lees and said in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. Zephaniah shows that quietly living as if God will never act is itself a way of turning back from the LORD.
The day of the LORD is a serious warning, and God calls people to respond before it comes. Zephaniah called it a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, and said silver and gold could not deliver anyone. But in the same message he said, Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth… seek righteousness, seek meekness. The warning was given so that people would seek him.
God’s last word to his people is joy. After judgment, Zephaniah tells Jerusalem to sing, because The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save. God does not only receive his people’s praise; he will rejoice over thee with joy and joy over thee with singing. The same God who searches Jerusalem with candles is the God who saves and rejoices over those who trust in the name of the LORD.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Zephaniah in the Bible?
Zephaniah was a prophet, the son of Cushi, who received the word of the LORD in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah (Zephaniah 1:1). His book lists his ancestors back to Hizkiah, whom some readers identify with King Hezekiah.
What does it mean that God will search Jerusalem with candles?
In Zephaniah 1:12, God says he will search Jerusalem with candles and punish the men that are settled on their lees, who say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. It pictures God searching carefully so that no one who has grown complacent toward him is overlooked.
What is the day of the LORD in Zephaniah?
Zephaniah says The great day of the LORD is near and calls it a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of darkness and gloominess (Zephaniah 1:14-15). It is the day when God judges sin.
What does Zephaniah 2:3 say?
Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger (Zephaniah 2:3).
What does Zephaniah 3:17 say?
The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).
When did Zephaniah prophesy?
The book says the word of the LORD came to Zephaniah in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah (Zephaniah 1:1).