Zephaniah 1:2-3

The reason that God does not bring quick judgement for all the evil of this world is LOVE. He doesn’t want any human being to perish and He wants all of His creation to spend eternal life with Him. That it is not His will to do harm means that there will be harm done to those who willfully turn away from Him. How do we do our part in His plan of redemption? By sharing the Good News of His  agape love for the prodigal and the ever present hope of turning life around by returning to Him.

Zephaniah’s message had both halves of the bad-news-good-news equation. His first words were bad news indeed: The day of the Lord was coming and that meant terrible judgment. The Israelites had acted like their pagan neighbors—they had scorned God’s law, worshiped false gods, and sinned without remorse long enough. Now it was time to repent: They had to turn back to their God or face the consequences.

It was the “turn back to God” part of Zephaniah’s message that offered a ray of hope. And to those who listened and responded to his call, the good news wiped out every line of bad. God would restore those who sought Him.

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 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

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.