Zephaniah also speaks about threats to the people of the Lord. Chapter 2:10 it says,
10 This they shall have for their pride,
Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats
Against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome to them,
For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;
People shall worship Him,
Each one from his place,
Indeed all the shores of the nations. Zephaniah 2:10-11
So if these people are against God, they’re also going to be against the people who belong to God.
Who are the people of the Lord of Hosts? Do you count yourself amongst the people of the Lord of Hosts? If you believe in Jesus, then you certainly are.
And you’re going to see that there’s going to be a spirit in the world which is going to be against you. An antichrist spirit which will get more and more strong as we get to the Second Coming of Jesus the Messiah.
The world also has a covenant with the people of Israel which hasn’t been annulled because of the coming of Jesus.
There were some changes made to it but God still has a covenant with Israel and there’s going to be hostility to the Jewish people in the world at the end of days. And you can see that that is growing. You see some of the major forces which are both against Christians are also against Jews. Whether it’s Islam, whether it’s radical leftism, all these forces have a common root in their opposition to God and therefore also in their opposition to the people of God.
And it also goes on to speak about corrupt rulers and judges.
Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 3 says:
3 Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
4 Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have polluted the sanctuary,
They have done violence to the law.
5 The Lord is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails,
But the unjust knows no shame. Zephaniah 3:3-5
So he’s saying that one of the features of this time is also going to be a lot of corruption in the area of government. The princes going to be like roaring lions, they are going to be corrupt. The judges are going to be like evening wolves. You’re going to see corruption in the area of government and in the expression of the law. Do you see that taking place in the world today? Increasingly so.
And you see the prophets are going to be insolent. There going to be people are going to speaking things in the name of the Lord which are against the Lord. And you’re going to be priests who polluted the sanctuary.
Do you see any of that happening in the world today? Yes. We see churches which have been defiled by bringing in the gay pride and rainbow flag, bringing in Islam and other religions into the church, polluting the sanctuary, polluting things which are of God by bringing in unholy things which are unrighteous in the eyes of the Lord.
And so you have this general spirit which leads to violence and leads to immorality, leads to rebellion against the Lord.