Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday September 20, 2016
www.wenstrom.org
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 3:18-God Will Gather the Remnant Which Suffered
Anguish, Distress and Shame Because of Not Being Able to Observe the Feasts
Lesson # 91
Zephaniah 3:18 “I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts—
They came from you, O Zion; The reproach of exile is a burden on them.”
(NASB95)
“I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts” is composed of the
following: (1) masculine plural construct niphal passive participle form of the verb
yāgâ (‫) ָיגָה‬, “those who grieve” (2) preposition min (‫)מן‬,
ִ “about” (3) masculine
singular noun môʿēd (‫)מֹועֵד‬, “the appointed feasts” (4) first person singular qal
active perfect form of the verb ʾāsap (‫)אָ סַ ף‬, “I will gather.”
The verb yāgâ is in the niphal stem and means “to be grieved” since the word
pertains to a feeling or attitude of emotional sorrow and pain and speaks of mental
anguish resulting from affliction or adversity of some sort.
The noun môʿēd means “appointed feast” since the word pertains to a festival that
occurs at an appointed time and speaks of a festival of celebration and/or worship
with emphasis that this is a time appointed by an authority which may include
festive meals and offerings to God.
The word refers to the seven great feasts of Israel which God commanded the
nation of Israel in the Mosaic Law to observe in order to worship Him with each
feast to be observed during a specific day or days in the Jewish calendar.
The noun môʿēd is the object of the preposition min which means “because of”
since the word is functioning as a marker of cause expressing the reason for the
faithful believers in Israel suffering mental anguish.
Therefore, God is stating that the faithful believers in Israel suffered mental
anguish because of the loss of their appointed feasts or because they could no
longer worship the Lord during the seven great feasts of Israel.
2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries
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The verb ʾāsap is in the qal stem and means “to gather” since the word in this
context pertains to a collection or mass moving to one place and is modified by the
preposition min (‫)מן‬,
ִ and the second person feminine singular pronominal suffix ʾat
(ְּ‫)אַ ת‬.
This prepositional phrase is not modifying the third person plural qal active perfect
form of the verb hāyâ (‫)הָ יָה‬, “they came” as interpreted by the NASB95.
This is indicated by the fact that this prepositional phrase syntactically is
modifying verb ʾāsap as indicated by the fact that it stands apposite to this verb
rather than hāyâ which stands before.
The second person feminine singular pronominal suffix ʾat (ְּ‫ )אַ ת‬means “you”
referring to the faithful remnant of Israel and is the object of the preposition min
which means “namely” since it is functioning in an explicative sense.
This preposition is indicating that the second person feminine singular pronominal
suffix ʾat is identifying specifically who are those suffering mental anguish
because of not being able to worship God during the seven great feasts of Israel.
Therefore, the verb ʾāsap and this prepositional phrase express the idea that those
who have suffered mental anguish because of not being able to worship God
during the seven great feasts of Israel, namely the remnant of Israel, will be
gathered by God.
“They came from you, O Zion; The reproach of exile is a burden on them” I
composed of the following: (1) preposition min (‫)מן‬,
ִ “about” (2) second person
feminine singular pronominal suffix ʾat (ְּ‫)אַ ת‬, “you” (3) third person plural qal
active perfect form of the verb hāyâ (‫)הָ יָה‬, “they came” (4) feminine singular noun
maśʾēt (‫)מַ שאֵ ת‬, “burden” (5) preposition ʿǎl (‫)עַל‬, “on” (6) third person feminine
singular pronominal suffix hîʾ (‫)הִ יא‬, “them” (7) feminine singular noun ḥerpâ
(‫)חֶ רפָה‬, “reproach.”
The verb hāyâ means “to become” since the word pertains to entering into a
change of state or condition and the object of this verb is the noun maśʾēt which
means “a cause of distress.”
Therefore, this verb and the noun maśʾēt are expressing the idea that these
appointed feasts have become a cause of distress for the remnant of Israel.
2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries
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The noun ḥerpâ means “reproach” since the word pertains to the state of
experiencing dishonor or disgrace or shame.
The third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hîʾ (‫ )הִ יא‬means “them”
referring to the appointed feasts or in other words, the seven great feasts of Israel.
This word is the object of the preposition ʿǎl which means “because of” since the
word is functioning as a marker of cause expressing the reason for the remnant of
Israel experiencing reproach or shame.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase expresses the fact that the remnant of Israel
experienced shame because of not being able to worship God during these
appointed feasts.
Zephaniah 3:18 “I will gather you who have suffered mental anguish because
of the appointed feasts. They are a cause of distress, because of them, a cause
of shame.” (My translation)
Here in Zephaniah 3:18, the prophet Zephaniah is once again quoting the God of
Israel directly rather than speaking on His behalf as His representative to the
Jewish people.
In this verse, God states that He will gather the remnant of Israel which is speaking
of restoring this remnant to the land God promised to the progenitors of the nation
in the Abrahamic and Palestinian covenants.
The purpose of which is to worship Him in the land and in the temple in Jerusalem.
God describes this remnant as suffering mental anguish because of the appointed
feasts, which is a reference to the seven great feasts God commanded Israel in the
Mosaic Law to observe in order to worship Him.
The remnant was grieving because they could not observe these feasts and they
could not observe these feasts because God removed them from the land promised
to the progenitors of the nation.
He removed them because the majority in the nation were unrepentant rebellious
sinners.
2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries
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The inability to observe these feasts was a cause of distress for this faithful
remnant and a cause of shame.
This faithful remnant refers to the faithful Jews from the southern kingdom of
Judah who lived during the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. and were exiled to
Babylon.
It also refers to the faithful Jews in Israel who will be dispersed throughout the
nations during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel
because of the persecution of Antichrist.
Therefore, this prophecy in Zephaniah 3:18 was fulfilled in a near sense when God
brought back a remnant from Babylon and they rebuilt the temple and restored the
worship of the God of Israel.
It will be fulfilled in a far sense when Jesus Christ brings back to the land promised
to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants, a regenerate remnant who will
worship Jesus Christ in this land and in a temple during Jesus Christ’s millennial
reign.
Now, we must remember that these feasts were prescribed in the Mosaic Law.
However, the Mosaic Law has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and He is the
substantive reality of these feasts according to Colossians 2:17.
Therefore, since this prophecy in Zephaniah 3:18 will be fulfilled in a far sense
with the remnant of Israel living during the seventieth week, it would indicate that
these seven great feasts will be observed during the millennial reign of Jesus
Christ.
This is further supported by Zechariah 14:61-21 which predicts that a faithful
remnant in Israel will worship the Lord Jesus Christ during His millennial reign by
observing the feasts of Tabernacles.
It would appear that the observance of these feasts will simply be the means by
which this remnant will worship Jesus Christ since this remnant will be
regenerated and will thus already know about salvation and how to get saved.
Therefore, the observance of these feasts would simply be one of the means by
which this remnant experiences sanctification.
2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries
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The twenty-third chapter of the book of Leviticus gives us an account of the seven
great feasts of the Lord.
The seven feasts may be divided into two sections of four and three.
The first section includes the following feasts: (1) Passover (2) Unleavened Bread
(3) First-Fruits (4) Pentecost.
Then there was an interval of four months followed by the second section which
includes the following feasts: (1) Trumpets (2) Atonement (3) Tabernacles.
The three great festivals were the following: (1) Passover (2) Pentecost (3)
Tabernacles.
They extended from the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan) to the twentysecond day of the seventh month Tishri or Ethanim.
These seven feasts were given only to Israel to be observed and not the Church.
The following Feasts were literally fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ during the
dispensation of the hypostatic union: (1) Passover: His voluntary death on the cross
(2) Unleavened Bread: His impeccability as a Person. (3) Pentecost was literally
fulfilled when the Baptism of the Spirit took place in June of 33 A.D., which
marked the beginning of the church age.
The following Feasts are eschatological in nature and thus have yet to be literally
fulfilled: (1) Trumpets: Rapture or resurrection of the Church terminating the
Church Age. (2) Atonement: Second Advent of Christ ending the seventieth week
of Daniel dispensation. (3) Tabernacles: Millennial Reign of Christ on planet earth.
Passover: Leviticus 23:4-5; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Unleavened Bread: Leviticus 23:68; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8; First Fruits: Leviticus 23:9-14; 1 Corinthians 15:23;
Pentecost: Leviticus 23:15-22; Acts 2:1-4; Trumpets: Leviticus 23:23-25; 1
Corinthians 15:52; Day of Atonement: Leviticus 23:26-32; 1 John 2:2;
Tabernacles: Leviticus 23:33-44; John 7:2.
2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries
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