Chapter 1

1:2-3 - God plans to kill every living thing.

* God is prophesying about His judgment to the idolaters.

1:4-6 - God will "cut off" all those who "have not sought the Lord" or who worship another god.

* In this passage, God is explaining some of His judgment.

1:8 - God "will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel."

* This "strange apparel" was common among the idolaters.  God is warning the wicked people about their impending judgment.

1:12 - God doesn't have night-vision, so he needs candles when he comes to punish these people that say, "The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil": atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, etc.

* This Hebrew word for "candles" is better translated "light."  In many passages of scripture, God and godliness are compared to light.  Evil and wickedness are compared to darkness.

* This passage never says that God needs candles in order to judge or find the people.

* God is pronouncing a judgment for people who are mocking Him and saying He will not reward godliness or punish sin.

1:14-18 - Zephaniah prophesies that "the great day of the Lord is near." But we're still waiting, 2600 years later.

* This "great day of the Lord" is surely talking about the prophecy of judgment that was just mentioned!  This happened shortly thereafter.

* When reading scriptures, it is wise to take them into context by discovering the intended audience, the circumstances, and the context.  How this scripture can be applied to the judgments in Revelation or the white throne judgment is a mystery only uneducated skeptics can answer.

1:17 - God will "bring distress upon men" so that they "walk like blind men." He will pour out their blood like dust and "their flesh as dung."

* God is continuing His prophetic judgment for the unrepentant, wicked sinners.

Chapter 2

2:5 - God plans to kill all the inhabitants of the sea coast.

* This is more about God's prophetic judgment.  It is important to note that God gives His laws that lead to life.  Next, He has patience on people when they transgress these laws.  He also sends prophets to remind people about His laws.  Finally, He pronounces judgment on the wicked, unrepentant sinners.  When it is very clear that they have no intention of repenting and they blatantly decide to continue rejecting God, God judges them.

2:9 - God threatens to destroy Moab and Ammon in the same way that he did Sodom and Gomorrah.

* This is correct.  The one and only Creator God made this statement about His creation that rejected Him and embraced wickedness.

2:11 - God will be "terrible" to humans and will "famish all the gods." All the gods?

* This is a continuation of God's judgment on the part of His creation that has rejected Him and followed other gods.  These "gods" are idols and other non-God things that the people have prioritized in their lives.

* There is only one, uncreated God: the triune God (also called the trinity).  When the scriptures say there is only one God, they are saying that there is only one, uncreated God.

* The passages of scriptures that refer to "gods" are referring to idols and other things besides the one, uncreated God.  It is correct to say there is one God because the one, uncreated God is more powerful than all of these others combined.  He is the only real God.

2:12 - God will kill the Ethiopians with his own sword.

* This is a metaphor for God's judgment that would fall on these people.

Chapter 3

3:1 - "Woe to her that her that is filthy and polluted." Only women are filthy and polluted.

* This passage never says that only women are filthy and polluted.  Verse 2 tells about the sins of this "woman," which is actually describing many people and not simply a woman.

* The English equivalent of this statement using "her" is calling a vessel "her."  Ships are neither male or female.  However, we often call them by the pronoun "her."  It is simply a way to address something and not a slur against women.

3:6 - God brags about destroying a city and killing all of its inhabitants.

* God is claiming that He judged these people.  He is not letting the reader or the intended audience be uncertain about what has happened.  God has judged them for their sins.

3:8 - "All of the earth shall be devoured with the fire" of God's jealousy.

* The entire phrase is this: "All of the Earth will be devoured with the fire of my jealousy."  The Creator God has given His people specific commands, so that they can please Him and live an abundant life.  God can be described as a jealous God because He does not want His people to have any other gods before Him.  He knows what is best for them and following other gods only leads to pain, suffering, separation from Him, and death.

3:12 - After all of this smiting, God can only get the "afflicted and poor" people to believe in him.

* The words "afflicted" and "poor" are better translated "meek" and "humble."  The definition of meek is "power under control."  Humans have power, but having self-control and exercising that power to love God and others is essential.  Humble people accept correction and don't act like they know it all.  This is precisely the kind of person that can understand and love God.  Therefore, the meek and humble people will be left to love and follow God because they are the ones that truly can and will.