Zephaniah 2:8 - Meaning and Application

The Moabites and Ammonites were both descended from Lot. Their lands bordered each other, and both lay next to Israel, so they are mentioned together in this prophecy.

They are charged with the same sin, mocking and insulting God’s people, and celebrating their troubles (Zephaniah 2:8). While God’s people were still trying to follow their duty, the Moabites and Ammonites likely mocked them for the unusual ways they worshiped. And now that God’s people had turned from him and come under his judgment, they mocked them for that too. It has often been the lot of God’s people to be mocked and reviled in one way or another. Pride is at the root of this, because the proud lift themselves up against the people of the Lord of hosts, as if they were just as good, just as important, and just as blessed.

The text says they “spoke big” against their border, that is, they spoke proudly and harshly against the Israelites who lived near them, or against the land they claimed, or against the help and protection they boasted about. They spoke as if the people of the Lord of hosts were abandoned and helpless. Loud, empty words are the natural speech of the church’s enemies. But God says, “I have heard them” (compare Jude 1:15). If God hears the insults directed at us, that should help us be quiet and patient, like one who hears and answers nothing (Psalm 38:14-15). More than that, God notices insults against his people because they belong to him. Anyone who looks down on the people of the Lord of hosts is also dishonoring the Lord of hosts himself. The same charge is brought against Moab and Ammon in Ezekiel 25:3, 8.

They are also placed under the same sentence. People who join together in sin may expect to share in ruin. The judgment is announced with great seriousness in Zephaniah 2:9. It is the Lord of hosts, the sovereign ruler of all, who has the right to speak this judgment and the power to carry it out. It is the God of Israel, who guards his people’s honor. He has spoken it, and he has sworn it: “As I live,” says the Lord.

The sentence is this. First, Moab and Ammon will be completely destroyed. They will become like Sodom and Gomorrah, whose ruins lay near the Dead Sea beside their lands. They will not be destroyed in exactly the same way, by fire from heaven, but they will be laid waste in a similar manner. Their land will no longer be inhabited, or not for a long time. Instead of crops, it will produce nettles, and instead of pleasant springs, there will be salt pits.

Second, Israel will be stronger than them and will plunder their goods and take possession of their land in a just war. Proud people sometimes come under God’s judgment in this way, being humbled by those they once treated with contempt. This will be their punishment for their pride.

Other nations will also be humbled, so that the Lord alone may be exalted (Zephaniah 2:11). The Lord will be terrible to the Moabites and Ammonites in particular, since they had made themselves a terror to Israel. First, the false gods of the nations must be brought down. They have long held their place, and their worshipers have honored them and boasted in them. But the Lord will starve out all the gods of the earth. The pagans thought their idols were fed by the gifts they offered them. But when the Christian faith spreads in the world, people will turn away from these silent idols, stop bringing them sacrifices, and so leave them empty. This shows how powerless those idols really are. People can starve them. The true God is never like that. He says, “If I were hungry, I would not tell you.”

This also shows the Lord’s victory over idols. Then it will be plain that he is greater than all gods. Second, the nations themselves must be turned to God. As the gospel spreads, people will learn to worship the living God everywhere, as the everlasting gospel commands (Revelation 14:7). They will not need to go up to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel. Wherever they are, they may come to him. Paul says that men should pray everywhere. God will be worshiped not only by all the tribes of Israel and the strangers who join them, but by all the coastlands of the nations. This promise is especially encouraging for our own country, since it is one of the chief islands among the nations, and God will be glorified there.