Habakkuk was not the only one through whom was given a message of bright hope and of future triumph as well as of present judgment. During the reign of Josiah the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah, specifying plainly the results of continued apostasy, and calling the attention of the true church to the glorious prospect beyond. His prophecies of impending judgment upon Judah apply with equal force to the judgments that are to fall upon an impenitent world at the time of the second advent of Christ: 390 "The great day of the Lord is near, It is near, and hasteth greatly, Even the voice of the day of the Lord: The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. "That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of wasteness and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, "A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm Against the fenced cities, And against the high towers." Zephaniah 1:14-16.

Habakkuk var ikke den eneste, der overbragte et budskab, som indgød håb og lovede sejr, men samtidig talte om øjeblikkets straf. Under Josias regering kom Herrens ord til Zefanias. Det sagde klart og tydeligt, hvad følgerne ville blive, hvis frafaldet fortsatte, men henledte samtidig den sande menigheds opmærksomhed på de herlige fremtidsudsigter hinsides alt det dystre. Hans profetier om den dom, som ventede Juda, passer træffende på de straffe, som vil ramme en ubodfærdig verden forud for Kristi andet komme: