The prophet Zephaniah wrote his prophecies between the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the exile of its inhabitants, and the fall of the Assyrian empire.
Many of his prophecies are difficult to interpret and seem to refer to the fall of the Kingdom of Judah at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the tyrant of Babylon. But others seem to refer to the arrival of the messianic times with Jesus, and in this sense, the prophecies have a free interpretation, so that the explanations about the book of Zephaniah depend on the interpretative style of whoever reads the book.
It is interesting to note that some of Zephaniah's prophecies seem to refer to a great day of the Lord's wrath, a day especially marked by our Lord Jesus when he accused the Pharisees and Sadducees of practicing hypocrisy in Matthew 3:7-8, a day of judgment and retribution that must occur before the rise of a new creation purified by the divine wisdom, in this way prophesied Zephaniah:
"The great day of the LORD is near—
near and coming quickly.
The cry on the day of the LORD is bitter;
the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry" Zephaniah 1:14.
A day that will be a test for those who have lived according to divine law, the spiritual gift of righteousness ("Do to others what you would have them do to you" Matthew 7:12); but a day of destruction for those who, without divine vision, that is, unable to see the world with the eyes of God, have led a life full of sins. A moment in history where the righteous and the sinners will be confronted, as happened at the beginning of time with Cain and Abel:
"I will bring such distress on all people
that they will grope about like those who are blind,
because they have sinned against the LORD.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their entrails like dung" Zephaniah 1:17.
A day where only those who have arrived spiritually prepared will survive because material wealth will not serve:
"Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the LORD's wrath" Zephaniah 1:18.
The Bible continually teaches us to live in devotion to God and to discern the signs of the times, not to live in fear of the future.
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