A Full And Sudden End - Zephaniah 1:17-18

Zephaniah 1:17-18 ESV 

I will bring distress on mankind,

so that they shall walk like the blind,

because they have sinned against the Lord;

their blood shall be poured out like dust,

and their flesh like dung.

Neither their silver nor their gold

shall be able to deliver them

on the day of the wrath of the Lord.

In the fire of his jealousy,

all the earth shall be consumed;

for a full and sudden end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

The inhabitants of the earth are those who do not walk in the kingdom of heaven. Those that deny the Son remain in the dust of a world that reject their Maker. The surrounding nations that breath violence and hate will come to a full and sudden end. There is no ambiguity as to who the nations might be. They are the same ones who persecute God's people. They are identified in many places in the Old Testament. 

Satan persecutes the seed of the woman since the man-child of the woman was taken to heaven. This is revealed in Genesis. The dragon is enraged at his defeat and this is plainly seen on the faces of those chanting death to Jews and Christians. His deception is complete and pervasive, just as foretold in the Bible. 

God is using these nations for His purposes. The timing is His. 

We are told how it ends in the Old and New Testaments. They agree. Israel will be restored and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God.