Zephaniah 2:11
“The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →God will starve away the false gods, and people from every nation will come to worship Him.
What Does Zephaniah 2:11 Mean?
A stunning promise rises here. The LORD will be awesome to the nations; He will famish all the gods of the earth, starving the idols until they wither and fall. And then the horizon widens beyond Israel: men shall worship Him, every one from his own place, even all the distant coastlands of the nations. Judgment on idols becomes the doorway to worldwide worship.
This is one of the great missionary glimpses in the prophets. God does not merely defeat the idols of the nations; He draws the nations themselves to worship Him. People from every land, each in his own place, will bow before the one true God. This vision finds its fulfillment in Christ, in whom the worship of God reaches every tribe and tongue. The famishing of the idols clears the way for the filling of the earth with the knowledge and praise of the LORD.
In the Original Language
razah (רָזָה), 'famish' -- to make lean or waste away through hunger, picturing the idols starved into nothingness as their worship ceases.