Prophet Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah (640-609 BC) Zeph. 1:1. Josiah was a king of Judah who made a concerted effort to ensure religious reformation in the land (1 Kings 22:1-23:30). The major theme in Zephaniah’s prophecy is the “The Day of the Lord”. This theme is greatly connected to the Lord’s judgement that is coming into the world. In declaring the ‘Day of the Lord’ in his prophecy (Zeph. 1:7ff), Zephaniah proclaimed that judgement was coming not only on gentile worlds but also on the people of Judah who, even though they saw how God handed Northern Israel to the Assyrians because of their sins, refused to yield various warnings from many prophets. God was not ready to spear animals in His judgement (vs 1-3), how much more His people that were stubbornly disobeying Him: Idolaters, false priests and prophets (vs 4-5a), those who were not loyal to Him (vs 5) and backsliders (vs 6). We must understand that the Lord is both the Lamb and the Lion. As the Lamb, He took away our sins. And as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, He is coming to destroy all the enemies of the Kingdom. Those who oppose and do not obey Him. The matter of God’s impending judgement is not a probability nor is it a fallacy, rather it is certain. The Lord said in John 3:18 “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Also, Revelation 22:11-12, says “Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy. Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done”. Let us therefore examine ourselves on a daily routine if we are still in the Lord.

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