"I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the Lord. 3 "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." "When I destroy all mankind on the face of the earth," declares the Lord...
When did God say this?
You might be tempted to think that God spoke these words to Noah, or to the Apostle John in the Revelation. But you'd be surprised to discover that he revealed them to Zephaniah, one of the minor prophet, some 600 years before Christ.
When did what God talked about happen? It's drastic stuff. Just the first line is difficult to imagine even though it is stated in simple language. This is the stuff of study Bible notes. Mine says the following:
"Basic Training for Satisfaction
Because Yahweh's day of fury is coming, Judah must repent and wait upon God. The prophet calls the people back to the basics as the only means for experiencing salvation through judgment. Two judgments are certain: (1) near judgment against Judah through Babylon, and (2) future judgment against the entire world due to pervasive sin against the God of all the earth.
These warnings provide the context for the book's main purpose: to exhort Judah to trust God to faithfully preserve and ultimately satisfy them, even through judgment."
The last sentence of my study Bible note is the crux of the matter for you and me. It states the following: "What we hope for or fear tomorrow changes who we are today. Zephaniah motivates his audience with hope and dread as basic training for finding satisfaction in the Lord."
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