Zephaniah chapter 2

Zephaniah is calling the people to repent to turn back to God before it is too late, as there was still time to avert the impending judgment. God does not want anyone to be punished, but like a loving parent, sometimes discipline has to be enforced. But if the child stops doing that which they are about to be punished for, e.g. calling their younger brother names and lashing out in anger at him, then the punishment does not take place. In the same way here, God was calling the people back, crying out to them to stop sinning, stop worshipping man made idols, false gods, because He is not willing that any should perish.

It's a chapter filled with impending doom, with prophesy of exactly what will befall the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Ethiopians and Assyrians as they receive the wages of their pride (NLT). Yet there is also such hope and promise in the first few verses, that maybe, just maybe, if we act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God, we too will be saved.
I expect that, just as would happen today, people ignored Zephaniah, telling themselves he was just another of those crazy prophets and of course God would never abandon them because after all, weren't they rich, didn't they have homes, flocks, crops? Today, we have wealth, prosperity, the country is powerful, a nation to be respected, yet God could just as easily have us overrun with invading armies, or terrorists throughout each city and large town causing havoc and mayhem. After all, what notice do people take of men walking around with "the end of the world is nigh" placards, or of street preachers standing on the corner foretelling doom and gloom? They have become a source of amusement, something to laugh about, as I am sure the Israelites did with Zephaniah and the other prophets.

People are even now going around with blinkers on their eyes. They are unaware of the spiritual battle going on all around us, of how Christians are being killed and persecuted in other countries for their faith, and as long as the country is doing all right, the economy is fine, there is nothing to worry about. I am always saying this, I know, but it is truly heartbreaking to know there are millions of people who do not know Jesus, who think that because they are a "good" person, they will get into heaven, or that Christianity is wrong and Islam, Buddhism, or whatever, is the one true faith. People are still searching, seeking God and looking for Him in the most unlikely of places - drink, drugs, sex, fame, work, witchcraft and spiritualism, but He is all around us, in the song of the birds in the dawn, in the rain clouds gathering in the sky, in the wind and the rain, the blossom of each flower, the hugs and smiles from my children, and we just need to open our eyes, to take a good look around, and stop believing the lies of the god of this world, satan, who has blinded the eyes of those who do not believe so that they do not see the light of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.