Zephaniah 1:2-3

One day evil and all the sin that it produces will be gone from the face of the earth....a clean slate ready for the Christ to reign!

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 (v. 4), but they also speak of the final judgment that will usher in the kingdom of God on earth (see Rev. 19). Stumbling blocks here 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, God abhors all forms of idolatry.

Zephaniah 1:2-3

The Great Day of the Lord

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.