Zephaniah: Who Is the Blessed Nation (Pt 2)

Introduction

Open to Zephaniah 3 and ad we will pick back up in verse 11.

People of pure speech of Jew and gentile who “call upon the name of the LORD.” (Zep 3:9, ESV)

“13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Ro 10:13, ESV)

This passage is not come cryptic reference to everyone specking Hebrew or speaking in tongues.

we will see more about this today.

Please Stand for the Reading of God’s Word

Zephaniah 3:9–20 ESV

9 “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. 10 From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. 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.” 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.

May God Bless the reading of His Holy and infallible Word

Let’s Pray

Transition

As we explored the text last time it was clear, Jesus must be the hermeneutic, the lens by which we understand the text. If not, we will not correctly understand the text. As I warned you last time there are solid men of God, faith teachers, brothers in Christ who get this wrong. You will know you are understanding the scriptures correctly when Jesus is being exulted in the text.

We already look at the first part of verse 11 last week. Let’s read verse 11.

Body

There Will be No Boasting

Zephaniah 3:11 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.

“not be put to shame”

Now and not yet.

There is currently no condemnation for those in Christ (Romans 8:34)

Tetelestai

And the final judgement.

The day appointed when God will judge the world by one man Jesus. (Acts 17:31)

Then he says, “I will remove from your midst”

Just like verse 9 where he says, “I will change the speech of the peoples

This is God’s monergistc work, when we say monergistc we mean that God is the only actor.

He is the only that purifies the heart of his people.

He is the only that separates them from the world.

The primary word the New Testaments to describe those the believe in Jesus word is saints, the Greek word is ἅγιος (hagios) or holy ones.

The word Holy is Set apart.

God says I will remove from my people all those that are worldly, self-exalting, self trusting, so that my “holy mountain” will be a place of holiness.

Transition

Verse 12 is God king of people God will replace the proudly exultant people with.

The Fruit of the Spirit is Not Pride

Zephaniah 3:12 ESV

12 But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,

a people humble and lowly

There is no boasting for those in Christ, the saints of God are left with nothing to “proudly exult..” about because salvation is from the Lord.

On the contrary, when God purifies the hearts of he people they get a realization of how wicked they have been and how short of God’s glory they are.

They are totally dependent on Christ.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Ga 5:22–23, ESV)

In case you missed it saints, this is a time for self-examination.

They call on the name of the Lord!

We already quoted Paul in Romans 10 “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Ro 10:13, ESV)

Need we ask the question, who are those that are saved. Who are those that seek the the saint, we call them Christians.

Transition

What name does God give these people? Look at verse 13.

Who are In Israel?

Zephaniah 3:13 ESV

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.”

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.”

Do you lie?

We are not perfected yet, but we are dwelt.

As we will see next week, these people Dwell with the King.

We are being transformed into he image of the son.

“For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid”

Again the now and not yet.

We fear no death now,

We are more than Conquerors (Ro 8:31-39) now in Jesus

And we are being revealed going from one glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Conclusion

The people of God are Isreal and they always have been. Just like today where there are many that call themselves Christians and they are not. Throughout the millennia there have been many that called themselves Israel and they never were. Being in Israel is not a case of genetics it is a case of being in Christ.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26 ESV

24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.