Tsephanyah - Tsephanyah - Zephaniah Chapter 3
Please Note: Firefox and
some other search engines are not suitable
Use Google Chrome for this page to load perfectly!
Please
do NOT
visit this site on Shabbat or on a
- Y-H-V-H, which we usually pronounce as “Adonai” or “HaShem”.
*“This is My Name forever,
and this is My memorial to all generations.” Shemot
- Exodus 3:15.
Although some minor alterations have been made relating to names and attributes having been corrected.
Please Note: Verse numbers may at times vary in non Jewish Bibles.
Chapter
Three - 
)
With Rabbi Reuven
Ben-Avraham.
… Teach me,
Thy way, that I may walk in Thy truth; unite my heart
to fear Thy Name. I will praise Thee, O my
Elohim, with all my heart: and I will glorify Thy Name for evermore”
Tehillim - Psalms 86:1 & 11-12
I believe this is where we really should be at as Torah keeping Jews, thus let us ask the question, do we really measure up to this beautiful exclamation by King Dovid? We need to remember that our beloved Creator, blessed be He, sees all, knows all our thoughts, thus we simply cannot hide in any shape or form, thus at Yom Kippur we should pour out our hearts and repent of all our wrong doings. But should we really just wait until that one day a year, I feel it should be done the very minute we know we have wronged, for He has already seen it! The sad truth is that the world is in turmoil, and surely none of us could say otherwise, for being very honest things have never been worse in a general tense as I will sadly must describe.
I am beginning with a rather sad thought, for the tragic truth is if we take a really good look at today’s world we will realise that the vast majority of this world is in a severe crisis! The truth is that the world in general has become a most sinful, if not a very evil world. All we have to do is just look at the news and we know what we will hear and see, for it will cover all the worst that is happening in our city, country and throughout the globe, for evil seems to be the way of life for so many and it is not just adults but now it is also the very young ones who are driving cars like idiots, and killing their own friends, robbing as well as murdering people.
WE should ask ourselves, “What is the real problem with human nature today”. The sad truth people these days are filled with the - I - Me, and Myself. They have become individuals that are filled with kind inclinations of the self, lust and need of self-gratification and somehow they do not care if they have to hurt others, and even if they have to kill. We need to realise beloved evil has in general become a deity of the earth and that is why sin rules the globe, and that is why we see murders on a daily basis, and what is so sad as I have already said, so many who do the killing are also among the younger generation these days. I am sure most of us are aware that there seems to be an epidemic of rape, and wife abuse these days and sadly I know for a fact that it is happening right in our very own Jewish community! The most horrid and wicked things are occurring these days at a speed so fast that the law simply cannot keep up with it!
I am so sorry that I am painting such a
shocking, but sadly a very truthful picture of this world, but what is so sad,
what I am telling you what I have been saying also includes ‘Eretz
Yisrael’! And that is one of the great tragedies, for what should Yisrael
really be according to the Torah? 
- “A Holy
Nation”, but tragically Yisrael was far from being that, for sadly it
is no more than a badly run ‘secular state’ and it is very far from
the land we read about in prophecy, and certainly not the restored land
which was spoken of in the Tanakh, for it has turned the wrong way in many
more ways than one!
“… ye shall be unto Me a
So, if we love our Elohim, blessed be He, how would He see this, and do you think He would bless the land, or would He prefer to destroy it? Well punishment will come for all those who will not repent, but the day must come when not just Eretz Yisrael and its people will have to change their ways and they will have to … “Return unto Me”.
“From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside from Mine
ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto Me, and I will return unto
you, saith of hosts”
Malochi - Malachi 3:7 (JPS
version of the Tanakh).
“Yisrael’s Passing Crisis”
Considering the above sad situation of what is going on in the world and Yisrael, we are now going to look at a study I have entitled “Yisrael’s Passing Crisis,” which is based on what Tsephanyah has given us in this third chapter of his sefer.
But I would like to commence at the beginning,
for unlike most other prophets, Tsephanyah provided us with a great detail of
his mishpocha’s (family’s) background. In fact, in the first verse
of the book, he provided details of his families four generations.
The Book of Tsephanyah - Zephaniah commences
with my favourite Ivrit words (Ha) “
” - which translates as (The) “Word (of) .”
which came unto
Tsephanyah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah,
the son of Hezekiah” Tsephanyah - Zephaniah 1:1
has treasured,” or “ protects.” It was a
well-chosen name for that time. There is no doubt that this prophet may not rival
some of the great prophets like Yeshayahu - Isaiah in sublimity, nor did he
match the eloquence and imaginative powers of
Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, is not
a respecter of persons, be they chosen or not. Thus, Elohim must and will
punish the children of disobedience, according to His Word!
.” Tsephanyah at all times rightly
sought to inspire fear of that coming day into the hearts of his hearers and
constantly appeals for true “repentance,” in Hebrew the word
is “Te’Shuva,” which means to “Return” to Elohim,
in order for them to be redeemed, restored and be made whole once again!
” Tsephanyah - Zephaniah 3:12
“Woe to her that is filthy
and polluted, to the oppressing
city! She hearkened not to the voice,
she received not correction; she trusted not in , she drew not near to her Elohim. Her
princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are wolves of the
desert, they leave not a bone for the morrow. Her prophets are wanton and
treacherous persons; her priests have profaned that which is holy, they have
done violence to the law. who is righteous is in the midst of her, He will not do
unrighteousness; every morning doth He bring His right to light, it faileth
not; but the unrighteous knoweth no shame. I have cut off nations, their
corners are desolate; I have made their streets waste, so that none passeth by;
their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no
inhabitant. I said: 'Surely thou wilt fear Me, thou wilt receive
correction; so her dwelling shall not be cut off, despite all that I have
visited upon her'; but they betimes corrupted all their doings. Therefore
wait ye for Me, saith , until the day that I rise up to the prey; for My
determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to
pour upon them Mine indignation, even all My fierce anger; for all the earth
shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy”
Let us commence with the Hebrew word for “filthy”
which is 
- “Morah” which is also
translated as “rebellious.” What Tsephanyah was saying is
this …
“B’nei Yisrael was rebellious against Elohim and are behaving in a vile and an
abhorrent manner.” (Paraphrased).
“Ga’al”
that also means, “defiled” or “stained.”
This same word is found in Yeshayahu - Isaiah chapter 59 Verse 3. “For
your hands are defiled (Ga’al) with blood.”
Thus we have read that 
- “the oppressing city.”
It is related to that word - Ga’al,
which we have we know means “defiled” or “polluted,”
however this word has another meaning in Ivrit.
In Shemot - Exodus chapter 6, the word - “Ga’al” is also
used, however in this chapter it is translated in a completely different way,
for there it is “deliver” see the “Stone Edition and
the JPS Version.
, and I will bring you out from
under the burdens - of the Egyptians,
and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an
outstretched arm” Shemot - Exodus chapter 6:6
In fact it is that in this chapter that the
word “Ga’al” appears for the very first time in the
Word of Elohim. Thus, we may ask, why then is “Ga’al not
translated in Tsephanyah - Zephaniah delivered or redeemed, but
rather as something completely opposite such as polluted or defiled?”
The question is how can that be?
However, when this same word is used in the
negative tense it represents a covering of evil. Thus, it is either a
covering of good or a covering of evil as it was in Tsephanyah.
Sadly, the Judeans who had gone astray living in Jerusalem tragically had their
hands “polluted,” or “stained,” and
“covered” in blood, said Elohim, blessed be His
Sanctified Name, through His prophet Tsephanyah.
But now we come to the concluding word of verse 1, “the oppressing.” In Hebrew, it is “HaYonah.” This word is a rather strange one, for it also translates as “the Dove.”
Thus, in a sense we see
Wickedness and fleshly desires of its
inhabitants turned
However, praise be to Elohim, even during
times of great sin and evil, there were always a remnant that remained
faithful, one being the faithful prophet, Tsephanyah. Thus, Elohim sent him to
proclaim His Word and he did so without fear.
Elohim, blessed be His
Sanctified Name, declared in verse 6 that He has “cut off nations”
because of their horrendous sins, and that their “cities were made
desolate, without inhabitants.” Now you would think that no stronger
warning could have been given to
The question is did the people heed to this
powerful warning? Sadly, the answer is, Not in any way whatsoever, except for
the faithful few,
“And they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of
their fathers, in their treachery which they committed against Me, and also
that they have walked contrary unto Me. I also will walk contrary unto them,
and bring them into the land of their enemies; if then perchance their
uncircumcised heart be humbled, and they then be paid the punishment of their
iniquity; then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant
with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will
remember the land … And yet for all that, when they are in the land of
their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy
them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I am their Elohim. But I will for their sakes
remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land
of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their Elohim: I am the ” Vayikra -
Leviticus 26:40-42, 44-45 (JPS).
“For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that
they may all call upon the Name of , to serve Him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of . The remnant of
Verse 9 states, “For then I will
restore to the peoples a pure language.” “A pure
language” is better translated as “a pure lip.” Human
lips in that day will not be contaminated by the mention of idolatrous deities,
instead “with one accord” for
Elohim is not finished with B’Nei Yisrael!
“And so all
“Oh that the salvation of
We now come to the last seven verses of this
chapter and considering the state Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, has
found His people in, here we discover that He proves
His never-ending love of His people. And even now, when His secular people are
back in the state of Israel living a life much the same as was written in the
Tsephanyah, Elohim is still in “the midst of them” sustaining both
His people and His land.
“Sing, O daughter of hath taken away thy
judgments, He hath cast out thine enemy; The King of Israel, even , is in the midst of thee;
thou shalt not fear evil any more. In that day it shall be said to thy Elohim is in the midst of
thee, a Mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over thee with joy, He will
be silent in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.’ I will
gather them that are far from the appointed season, who are of thee, that hast
borne the burden of reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all
them that afflict thee; and I will save her that is lame, and gather her that
was driven away; and I will make them to be a praise and a name, whose shame
hath been in all the earth. At that time will I bring you in, and at that
time will I gather you; for I will make you to be a name and a praise among all
the peoples of the earth, when I turn your captivity before your eyes, saith ” Tsephanyah
3:14-20 (JPS).
We may ask ourselves, “Who really won
the Six-Day War? Was it the mighty army of Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, had already declared in His Word that;
“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn” Yeshayahu - Isaiah 54:17 (JPS).
Even though his people were not living within
the way of the Torah, but Elohim is always in control of His land and allowed
things to happen when it was right, and when the enemy was evil he would save
B’Nei Yisrael! But as I made clear at the beginning, the current State of
Israel is NOT the completed nor the intended nation of Israel of Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, for it is a terribly sinful nation and sadly they are far removed
from being Torah abiding. But the time will come that He will make the name of
Yisrael, “for I will make you to be a name and a praise among all the
peoples of the earth” verse 20.
It is my one prayer that we all get back to
the one and only Torah, and it was written in the Five Books of Moshe, yes
there are 613 Mitzvot given. Although not all are relevant to each and every
one of us, because we are not all priests, farmers, also many mitzvot with
specific duties are assigned for certain persons, etc. But there are all those
which are far more general and we should uphold those, and NOT those FAKE
rabbinic manmade ones! In fact they have almost destroyed the Torah of Elohim,
for they are really part of an evil plot.
The Reading
Ba’ra’chu Et HaSHEM Ham’vo’rach.
Bless HaSHEM who is to blessed.
Baruch HaSHEM
Blessed be HaSHEM, who is to be blessed forever and ever.
Ba’ruch Ata HaSHEM
Elo’hey’nu Me’lech Ha’olam A’sher Ba’char Ba’nu Mi’kol Ha’a’mim Ve’na’tan La’nu Et Tora’to.
Reading
Ba’ruch Ata HaSHEM
Elo’hey’nu Me’lech Ha’olam A’sher Na’tan La’nu Torat E’met Ve’chai’yeh
O’lam
Na’ta
Be’to’che’nu.
Blessed are You, O HaSHEM our G-d, King of the universe, who has
given us Your Word of truth, and have planted everlasting life in our midst.
Always remember our motto seen on the logo at
the top of this page: “The
More Torah, the More Life”, for 
Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, is the
one who gave us our Life!”
Shabbat Shalom!
Return to our MAIN PAGE or go to our Main Index
