Prophets were mediators of the covenant of God, instruments of divine revelation. They were inspired by God so that their words were identical with his words. These instruments of divine revelation mediated a confrontation with God too terrible for the people to endure on their own (cf. Deuteronomy 18:15–17). As the role of Israel’s prophets is explained in Deuteronomy, their words were to substitute for God’s own awesome presence.
Zephaniah, by calling his prophecy the word of the Lord,
locates himself in the line of God’s servants, from Moses to Jesus Christ, who were mediators of the covenant. He thereby claims that his prophecy is heir to the divine authority that God invested in the original covenant documents that he wrote through Moses for the purpose of maintaining the covenant God established at Sinai. As the Lord of the covenant had earlier dictated to Moses terms for covenant life, so now he inspires Zephaniah, his prophetic mouthpiece, to record against his own people their covenant violations and the fearful consequences of such transgression. Because these consequences were to stretch over the decades to come, the prophet had to record his declaration in order that future generations might attest to the truth or falseness of his words (cf. Deuteronomy 18:22)…. Zephaniah was directed to preserve his utterances for the generations to come so that they might see God’s word of judgment and blessing actually coming to pass.
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1 The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.