Zephaniah 1:1-3

God will not always tolerate idolatry in the lives of believers. He is the Lord our God and He will not have false gods before Him. There will come an end to the age of grace that was ushered in by Jesus Christ. Pray that we can spread the Good News to as many as possible while there is time.

The term "false god" refers to anything that is considered to assume a place of undue importance in one's life; this usage is reflected in the viewpoint of some that "whatever we try to derive our core sense of meaning and worth is our god”.

^{Money has always been a false god that people chase after. Power and fame are also false gods of this post-modern era. There are now more CEOs, executives, and celebrities than there were at any time in history combined. Another false god of this information-age is materialism. We can see the same kind of unrepentant behavior in the fruits of modern idolatry in today’s world. Along with the problems mentioned above that we are seeing with the worship of the various false gods of today’s world, worldwide alcoholism, drug use and abuse, suicide, violent crime, war, and terrorism are also on the rise. With these problems come mental and emotional illness, depression, despair, hopelessness, and fear of the future.}The False Gods of This World
by Jason Lovelace

The message of Zephaniah begins with a pronouncement of universal judgment. These words not only introduce the particular judgment that would be pronounced upon Judah, but they also speak of the final judgment that will usher in the kingdom of God on earth. Stumbling blocks refers to idolatry, or substitutes for God in the life and affections of a person. Because there is nothing in the universe that really may be compared to the Creator.

Zephaniah 1:1-3

The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

² “I will utterly consume everything

From the face of the land,”

Says the Lord;

³ “I will consume man and beast;

I will consume the birds of the heavens,

The fish of the sea,

And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked.

I will cut off man from the face of the land,”

Says the Lord.

¹³ “I will surely consume them,” says the Lord. “No grapes shall be on the vine, Nor figs on the fig tree, And the leaf shall fade; And the things I have given them shall pass away from them.” ’ ” 

Jeremiah 8:13

³ Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away With the beasts of the field And the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away. 

Hosea 4:3