Zephaniah thus far has spoken extensively on the Day of the Lord. Yet, as this book ends, it seems to end on a different note. The God who has been judging so far, appears to be singing. As we read the closing verses, let's also listen to the words of the song that God is singing and hear His voice. 

Zephaniah has two major themes: the judgement on the world and the restoration of God’s people on the ‘day of the LORD’. The past few lessons have seen us looking at the wrath and judgement of God, but today we are finally going to delve deeper regarding the ‘restoration’ of God’s people.

How would you describe yourself? How would you describe your character? We might be tempted to qualify and choose a suitable description so that people will like us. But in some sense, the God of Zephaniah doesn't really care. This text focuses on the righteousness of God. What's also important is that the God we have been seeing in Zephaniah is the same God today! He is not an OT God of wrath and a loving and merciful God today. This is important to remember. 

There are 2 big themes in the book of Zephaniah -- judgment on the Day of the Lord and the restoration on the Day of the Lord. In some sense, Zephaniah is the equivalent of Revelation in the Old Testament. But how is this book applicable for us today? Truthfully, is not hard to see that the powers of the world are fumbling. Countries don't gather and cooperate naturally. Just take a look at the newspapers. As we read Zephaniah 2, bear this in mind, that the judgment He is pouring out in chapter 2 is also what He is doing in our world today.

Today's study is based on just 3 verses, but don't let that throw you off. These are 3 verses with important truths, not only for the people of Israel then, but it also has present-day implications for us! 

If you knew what tomorrow holds today, how would you live differently? This passage in Zephaniah talks about the "day of the Lord", which is a day of the LORD’s judgment on sin. What does this mean for us today, and how does this change the way we live now? 

This is the first of our series in Zephaniah. Zephaniah belongs to the minor prophets in the Old Testament, but most of us don't really read the minor prophets because (a) poetry is hard, (b) it requires knowledge of some history and (c) the themes are hard-hitting. So before we look at the chapters and verses of the book of Zephaniah, let's also remember to understand the context.