Longing for Restoration

Introduction

Wk 1 - Longing for Hope - Jer 33 - God keeps His promises, and He keeps all of his promises through Jesus.

Wk2 - Longing for Change - Mal 3:1-4 - Jesus came to change things - starting with each of us. The change he wants to make is good, although it’s not always easy.

Wk3 - This week - Longing for Restoration -

Zephaniah 3:14–20 (ESV)

14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. 18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. 19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.

I’d like to walk through this passage making observations along the way. Then, I’d like to turn around and see a few truths to live by based on what we’ve just explored. Sound good?

Context and Background

Zephaniah 1:1 (ESV)

1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989) (The Lord Will Rejoice over You)

Josiah reigned from 637 to 608 BC. So his reign came to an end just 20 years before Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians and Israel was taken into captivity. Josiah is the king, you recall, who found the long-lost book of the law in the temple and tried to reform the people who had drifted so far into idolatry and wickedness. Zephaniah, then, was a part of this effort to call Judah, and especially Jerusalem, back to God.

Other prophets at this time:

Jeremiah, Nahum, Habakkuk

Other than the modern-day reader, there are a few different types of people who heard Zephaniah’s prophecy.

Hear the words but ok and not interested

Hear the words and longing for people of God to repent

Those in exile saying, “Where did I go wrong?” “How can I be restored?”

Which one do you most resonate with?

How do you think God feels about you?

How do you think God views you?

What word do you think comes to God’s mind when He thinks of you?

Zephaniah 1:2–3 (ESV)

2 “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. 3 “I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the rubble with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

Zephaniah 1:4–6 (ESV)

4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests, 5 those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom, 6 those who have turned back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

a Coming judgment on wicked Jerusalem (1:2-6)

b Coming judgment on corrupt leaders in Jerusalem (1:7-13)

c God’s judgment on all the nations: Day of the Lord (1:14-18)

d CENTER: Call to repentance (2:1-3)

c’ God’s judgment on all nations : Nations surrounding Judah (2:4-15)

b’ Coming judgment on corrupt political and religious leaders (3:1-7)

a’ Coming RESTORATION of the humble in Jerusalem (3:8-20)

One thing we easily see is that GOD WILL JUDGE ALL SIN.

For almost three chapters you hear the siren of God’s judgment. What one commentator noted as:

“One of the most awesome descriptions of the wrath of God in judgment found anywhere in Scripture appears in the opening verses of Zephaniah. The totality of the cosmos shall be consumed in his burning anger. The very order of creation shall be overturned.”

— O. Palmer Robertson(?)

The center and the point of Zephaniah’s message is a call to repentance.

Indeed, we need that call today. We need to call sin, sin. We need to call the church to repent of false worship, etc.

But what happens when you DO repent? What happens if Judah were to respond to Zephaniah’s message, humble themselves and repent?

Have you ever repented of sin before? Not worldly sorrow (i got caught) but godly sorrow (I’m sorrowful because it is wrong, and not because I got caught).

How do you feel God views you after that? SMH, irritation, disgust, disappointment?

While there are natural consequences to our sin, our passage today describes how God feels toward the one who humbly repents of their sin and looks back toward God.

Maybe you, like Judah are Longing for Restoration.

Return (3:11-13)

Rejoicing (3:14-17)

Restoration (3:18-20)

Return (11-13)

Zephaniah 3:11–13 (ESV)

11 “On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. 12 But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, 13 those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”

The God of judgment shifts to become the God of grace.

Rejoicing (14-17)

14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Sing

Rejoice

Exult

Each imperative verbs - compulsory

twice called “daughter”

Why?

Two Reasons:

HAS taken away the judgments / cleared away your enemies

IS in your midst

15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.

Judgment Gone

This is HUGE!

All the fear earlier was because judgment was coming and now it’s gone!

Notice it’s a past actions (has taken, has cleared)

Present reality then is. . .

2. Lord is in your midst

Literally ‘entrails’

Maybe this is you - you have this besetting sin - you keep going back to it. or maybe its a sin that sets you so far back you don’t think God could ever really use you.

Never again fear evil

Notice how Jesus is all over this. Zephaniah doesn’t seem to intend for this to be messianic, but:

LORD is personal name

King of Israel is identified with LORD

Matthew 27:42 (ESV)

42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

John 1:49 (ESV)

49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

He should be in the line of David to fulfill God’s promise

He leaves an everlasting presence which strengthens and pause

Judah’s fear was God’s judgment that might result in their death.

Through Jesus God has dealt with sin and it’s result - death.

16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.

There is therefore now NO condemnation in Christ Jesus

John 12:15 ESV

15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

How does God respond to those who are humble and repent

17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Rejoice over you - gladness

You make God happy

You are not a disappointment to God

Notice how we are commanded to join God in the joy

Verse 14 — Sing, Rejoice, Exult

Verse 17 — Rejoice, Exult, Singing

quiet you by love

This is the only section that we are not also commanded to do — only God can do this with us.

Difficult to translate

Silences with his love

exult with loud singing

ILLUST - come from a musical family - we sang a lot - Dad would hum a bass line with TV commercials.

Singing is more than talking or smiling, it incorporates so much of who we are

Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989) (The Lord Will Rejoice over You)

We must banish from our minds forever any thought that God admits us begrudgingly into his kingdom, as though Christ found a loophole in the law, did some fancy plea-bargaining, and squeaked us by the Judge. No way! God himself, the Judge, put Christ forward as our substitutionary sacrifice, and when we trust him, God welcomes us with bells on. He puts a ring on our finger, kills the fatted calf, throws a party, shouts a shout that shakes the ends of creation, and leads in the festal dance.

You cannot read this and come away with any other idea other than that when you repent you bring God joy.

If we can affect God in this way - provide God with joy - is God then needing us and we then become God?

No, who is the agent in all of this? — God.

He saves which leads to. . .

Restoration (18-20)

We live in the already / not yet.

The final words are grammatically the most intimate of the entire book. Yahweh speaks (“I”) directly to the future remnant that trusts in him (“you”), promising them seven actions.

1. The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you (3:18).

2. I will deal with all who oppressed you (3:19a).

3. I will rescue the lame (3:19a).

4. I will give them praise and honor (3:19, 20).

5. I will gather you (3:19, 20).

6. I will bring you home (3:20).

7. I will restore your fortunes before your very eyes (3:20).

As we celebrate the season, as we celebrate God, singing over us with joy and salvation. We can join the singing with a longing for Christ second coming full restoration of all things.

Leave your sin - yes! But we need to stop preaching only this. Leave your shame.

Listen to God singing your name!

ILLUST - Camp award - don’t remember what it was for - it was at the source of my pain. I do remember it had Zeph 3:17 on it.

Conclusion

God loves you

and when you repent:

God is with you

God delights in you

God quiets you

God gives you joy

God restores you

God redeems your shame

What should we then do?

Zephaniah 2:1–3 (ESV)

1 Gather together, yes, gather, O shameless nation, 2 before the decree takes effect —before the day passes away like chaff— before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord. 3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.