Verse 3
The prophet urged his humble hearers who had sought to be obedient to the Lord to continue to seek Him in prayerful dependence. He was appealing to the faithful remnant in particular (cf. Zephaniah 3:12; Isaiah 11:4; Amos 8:4; Matthew 5:3). They needed to continue to pursue righteous behavior and place themselves under the Lord’s sovereign authority by listening to Him and obeying Him. If they did this, the Lord might hide them when He poured out His anger on the unrepentant. [Note: See Wiersbe, pp. 433-35, for an excursus on "the company of the concerned."] Repentance was open to anyone. God did indeed protect some Judeans from destruction when the Babylonians invaded (cf. 2 Kings 24:14-16). Zephaniah’s exhortation appears to have been effective.
Zephaniah called on the humble of the "earth" to seek the Lord. While the Promised Land may be in view, this is probably a worldwide invitation. All people need to seek the Lord by repenting.
The Hebrew word satar is the root of the word translated "hidden." Satar is a synonym of saphan, which may be part of Zephaniah’s name. If it is, "Zephaniah" probably means "Yahweh hides." Thus his name could have had connection with his message of preservation for the godly remnant.
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