We have a short prophecy from the time of King Josiah. The prophet is named Zephaniah, a name that most likely means "Yah has hidden" (Walker, p. 537.) That name appears three other times in the Old Testament; none of those other individuals fit the role or date of this prophet.
Zephaniah 1:1, Zephaniah, great-great-grandson of Hezekiah
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:
Little is said about Zephaniah. We are not told the region he is from nor to whom he speaks. But his simple identification as the great-great-grandson of a man named Hezekiah suggests that this Hezekiah is King Hezekiah, the great-grandfather of King Josiah. The date is probably around 620 BC. The northern kingdom of Israel has fallen to the Assyrians.
Josiah instituted significant religious reforms, returning most of Judah to the worship of YHWH in the temple, with similar reforms as King Hezekiah. The reign of Josiah, including his religious reforms, is told in 2 Kings 22:1-23:30 and 2 Chronicles 34-35.
Zephaniah 1:2-3a, Sweep away
“I will sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,”
declares the LORD.
“I will sweep away both man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea—
and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble."
A day is coming in which all humanity, indeed all of nature is destroyed. The fifth and sixth days of creation will be undone. (The Bible Project calls this "a shocking reversal of Genesis 1.") The phrase "face of the earth" is used in a similar manner to describe Noah's flood, see Genesis 6:7 and 7:4.
Zephaniah 1:3b-6, Hand stretched out against Judah, Baal, Molek
“When I destroy all mankind
on the face of the earth,”
declares the LORD,
“I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all who live in Jerusalem.
I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place,
the very names of the idolatrous priests—
those who bow down on the roofs
to worship the starry host,
those who bow down and swear by the LORD
and who also swear by Molek,
those who turn back from following the LORD
and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him.”
Even in Josiah's reign, with its significant reforms, some in Judah still worshiped Baal and Molek.
Worship of celestial beings, such as the sun or the stars, was common in the ANE. Ancient towns such as Beth Shemesh ("House of the sun") reflect those ancient practices. (The trigonometry we inherited from the Babylonians was originally motivated by astrology.) Those who worshiped celestial beings did so on their flat rooftops.
Zephaniah 1:7-9, The day of the Lord is near
Be silent before the Sovereign LORD,
for the day of the LORD is near.
The LORD has prepared a sacrifice;
he has consecrated those he has invited.
“On the day of the LORD’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials
and the king’s sons
and all those clad
in foreign clothes.
On that day I will punish
all who avoid stepping on the threshold,
who fill the temple of their gods
with violence and deceit.
A day of the Lord is coming, a day of judgment for those who refuse to worship YHWH and have their own gods, leading to violence and deceit. The line "all who avoid stepping on the threshold" is unclear. Motyer suggests an allusion to the Philistine worshipers of Dagon, as explained in 1 Samuel 5:4-5, in which the worshipers stepped over the threshold, not on it.
Zephaniah 1:10-11, Cry from the Fish Gate
“On that day,”
declares the LORD,
“a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,
wailing from the New Quarter,
and a loud crash from the hills.
Wail, you who live in the market district;
all your merchants will be wiped out,
all who trade with silver will be destroyed.
The future disaster will bring a cry from the merchants whose wealth is destroyed. There will be wailing at the Fish Gate and the New Quarter, even in the nearby hills.
The Fish Gate was on the northern wall of Jerusalem. The attack by Nebuchadnezzar would come from that direction. The rebuilding of the Fish Gate, after the exile, is mentioned in Nehemiah 3:3. At this website I found the following map:
The Hebrew word translated "New Quarter" is hammishneh, which merely means "second." In context, this is a region of Jerusalem. This region is mentioned in 2 Kings 22:14, 2 Chronicles 34:22 as the home of the prophetess Huldah during the reign of Josiah.
Zephaniah 1:12-13, Searching Jerusalem
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those who are complacent,
who are like wine left on its dregs,
who think, ‘The LORD will do nothing,
either good or bad.’
Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished.
Though they build houses, they will not live in them;
though they plant vineyards, they will not drink the wine.”
God is portrayed as walking through Jerusalem with a lamp, searching out evil, finding those who think that God does not act. Wine "left on its dregs" is a harsh wine caused by leaving the fermenting wine too long in the fermentation jars. Wine was supposed to be carefully poured into new containers at the right time, during which the dregs would be filtered out. (See also Jeremiah 48:11.)
Zephaniah 1:14-16, A day of darkness
The great day of the LORD is near—
near and coming quickly.
The cry on the day of the LORD is bitter;
the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.
That day will be a day of wrath—
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of trouble and ruin,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness—
a day of trumpet and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the corner towers.
Six rhythmic lines emphasize the coming Day of the Lord. It will be a day of wrath, anguish, distress and darkness. The fortified cities and their towers will be attacked. (Motyer, p. 923, suggests that the six repetitions of "day", Hebrew yom, are a deliberate reflection of the six days of creation in Genesis 1.)
Darkness is described with four words, darkness, gloom, clouds, blackness. Various combinations of these words appear in the scenes at Mount Sinai in Deuteronomy 4:11 and in the plague of darkness in Exodus 10:21-22. All four words, emphasizing deep darkness, occur at the beginning of Joel 2:2. These words suggest a reversal of Day 1 of creation, replacing light and order with darkness and chaos.
There was a similar message in Amos 5:18-20, in the northern kingdom over a century before.
Zephaniah 1:17-18, I will bring distress
“I will bring such distress on all people
that they will grope about like those who are blind,
because they have sinned against the LORD.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their entrails like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the LORD’s wrath.”
In the fire of his jealousy
the whole earth will be consumed,
for he will make a sudden end
of all who live on the earth.
The text switches briefly to first person. God speaks of bringing a bloody event in which gold and silver will be of no value. Then the text shifts back to third person, to summarize the event. This event will be the end of "all" who live on the earth. There is, at this moment, no mention of a remnant.
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