It would be impossible to determine how many prophets were sent by the Lord to speak to the rebellious children of Israel during Old Testament times. Nevertheless, it is clear that He never failed to speak to them on a daily basis: ‘Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all my servants and prophets, daily rising up early and sending them’, Jer. 7. 25. Each day God had ‘a voice’ in the land; therefore, the people were without excuse; yet, largely they failed to obey the word of the Lord through His servants, of whom ZEPHANIAH was one. His genealogy, Zeph. 1. 1, shows that he was unique among the prophets in having royal blood flowing through his veins; indeed, he could trace his origins back to Hezekiah, king of Judah.

His book is sometimes considered by Biblical scholars to be obscure, uninspiring and dull. However, as with all 39 books in the Old Testament, it is divinely inspired; therefore, if we accuse Zephaniah with being dull and uninspiring, we are charging the Lord with the same! The opening words of the prophecy would encourage us not to think in this way about any part of the Scriptures: ‘The WORD OF THE LORD, which came to ZEPHANIAH . . . in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah’, Zeph. 1. 1. It is as much a part of the word of God as any other book.

It is not difficult to discover that Zephaniah’s main purpose in writing was to declare plainly the fast-approaching ‘DAY OF THE LORD’. He mentions it on at least twenty occasions in his prophecy. It looks forward to the time when human sin reaches its fullest height and the Lord actively intervenes to punish it. Man will have had his day; therefore, the Lord will have His day of judgement. This message is as applicable today as it was in Zephaniah’s day. It was largely ignored in his day, as it is today.