Monday 15th April
Read Zephaniah 1:1
“The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah” (NIVUK)
How much of what you believe about the world is determined by who is telling you? Without realising it most of us have an in-built hierarchy of trustworthy sources of truth. As a scientist I am far more likely to believe something published in a scientific journal by someone I know to be a competent and careful colleague than something advertised on TV by an actor. Or at least I hope that is the case! Who do you trust? Are you more likely to buy something promoted by a random actor, a celebrity, an ex-Australian Test cricket captain or by someone in your own family?
The question is not merely academic. The introduction of Zephaniah, whether written by the prophet himself or appended by an editor wanting to tell us who the prophet was, poses this very question. For the genealogy attached is much longer than most prophecies recorded in Scripture. We are told that the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah during the reign of Josiah. But we are also told that Zephaniah’s great-grandfather (at least) was Hezekiah. One suspects that the only reason we are told this is because this Hezekiah was the Hezekiah, the great king of Judah. The king who stood up to the Assyrian menace with Isaiah by his side. Zephaniah may not only have a royal bloodline, but a godly one also. Most of his ancestors are named after Yahweh (that is what the ‘-yah’ at the end of their names stands for). Like the king, Josiah, in whose reign he was called to speak.
Does that make what he has to say more trustworthy? God calls prophets from all walks of life, low and high, sheepfold and palace. But this message, announced during the reign of one of the godliest kings in Judah’s history, is perhaps all the more gripping for who is called to deliver it. It is a dire message delivered by family.
