The Joy To Come
Notes
Transcript
Amidst the judgment, there is joy promised to God’s people. Why?
I. God will restore His people, vs. 9-10.
I. God will restore His people, vs. 9-10.
verse 9 — “For then” signifies a change in time and prophetic focus. There is a shift from judgment in the Tribulation to blessing in the Millennium.
The LORD of hosts “will give” translates a vigorous word in the Hebrew language, speaking of a sudden, radical break from the past, Psalm 16:4
The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips.
Isa 6:5
Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
What the LORD gives the peoples is “purified lips” as He did for Isaiah, and the inner disposition which those purified lips symbolized, a purified heart. This is not just to Israel but to the Gentile nations as well who enter into the Millennium. The results:
All of “the peoples” may call on the name of the LORD — calling on Him
… to serve Him shoulder to shoulder — using an agricultural metaphor which is probably derived from the practice of yoking oxen together for plowing. Both Jews and Gentiles will be serving the LORD together in unity
Verse 10 - From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, the upper Nile region, — from the farthest corners of the earth, the LORD’s people will come to pray to the LORD and bring Him offerings, Deut 30:1-5
“So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you,
and you return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons,
then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.
“If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.
“The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.
Those who worship the LORD, even those who were thought irretrievable, will return to worship and make offerings to the LORD. They will not only bring the regular offerings, but also a voluntary “gift’ offering to the LORD, expressing their deep gratitude to God: redemption has been extended to all the nations and people groups, Isaiah 2:2-4
Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the Lord Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.
And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.
And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, And My God is My strength),
He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
II. God will remove the proud, rebellious ones from their midst, v. 11.
II. God will remove the proud, rebellious ones from their midst, v. 11.
In that day, referencing the day of the LORD, they will feel no shame from all their deeds by which they rebelled against the LORD. All those who were proud, exulting ones, arrogant against His people and God Himself will be removed from their midst. There will be none who will be haughty before the LORD on His holy mountain, Jerusalem.
III. God will renew His people, v. 12.
III. God will renew His people, v. 12.
In contrast, the people left will have the character of a redeemed people, a remnant who stood fast for the LORD. They will exhibit meekness, having been humbled and humiliated by the oppression and judgment through which they have passed. They are characterized as “lowly.” They will “take refuge,” in the name of the LORD. They will trust in the character, words, and truth of the living God alone.
IV. God will give rest to His people, v.13.
IV. God will give rest to His people, v.13.
More directly, the remnant of Israel will be characterized by certain marks:
free of all unrighteousness (they will do no wrong),
Free of all deception (tell no lies), and
Free of all duplicity (nor a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth).
They are a renewed people of God. This happens when Christ returns. As a result. they are pictured like sheep, living in perfect safety and security after His return. Cf. Psalm 23:1-3
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
“The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks to lie down in, And there will be no one to frighten them.
V. God will protect His people, vs. 14-15.
V. God will protect His people, vs. 14-15.
Verse 14 — Shout (2x), Rejoice, and Exult with all that you are and all that you have because, as Zephaniah uses the prophetic perfect tense emphasizing its certainty, …
The LORD has taken away His judgments against you… There is no greater joy than in knowing that the sins that have condemned you have been forgiven!
The LORD has cleared away your enemies … No more enemies!
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst … There is a very present King of Israel with you, no one less than the LORD, and when He is in your midst, you will fear disaster no more.
VI. God will bless His people, vs. 16-20.
VI. God will bless His people, vs. 16-20.
Verse 16“In that day” — “Jerusalem, do not despair nor be disheartened”, contra Isaiah 13:7 and Jeremiah 6:24:
Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will melt.
We have heard the report of it; Our hands are limp. Anguish has seized us, Pain as of a woman in childbirth.
Why? Verse 17 - The LORD your God is in your midst; the King is among you and He is a victorious warrior, one able to overcome all His foes. As such he is more than able save and deliver us!
How does He feel about His own? He speaks as a bridegroom rejoicing over His bride. None other than God does this! God doesn’t merely save repentant sinners from destruction— He makes them His own.
exult — be pleased, be delighted, be glad, i.e., have a feeling or attitude of fondness and enjoyment in an object, implying a love or relationship to the object of delight
be silent in His love — as a transitive verb, contemplating with satisfaction his people in their service. Another possibility: as an intransitive verb, gazing in silent, deeply felt love and wonder. God then is said to love His people with ‘wordless adoration.’
rejoice — be glad, be joyful, i.e. be in a state or attitude or feeling of favorable circumstance. The LORD loves His people with joyful song.
For our own part, we cannot imagine that we could bring pleasure to the heart of God, but this text assures us that God thinks differently! Our God is no remote God, who is distant from us, cold in His feelings toward us, nor untouched by our human situation. This is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who demonstrated His love for us in this --
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
— and the God who Romans 5:5
and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
We can be confident that God loves us with a deep personal love and delight that nothing can destroy. Here is Paul’s reminder of God’s divine love, Romans 8:35
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
verse 18 — God will gather those who have been exiled from Zion, the place of worship.
Observe carefully, the LORD states He will deal “at that time” (beginning of the Millennium) with the oppressors of His people.
[He will] save those with no strength
[He will] gather those who have been forsaken, cast away
[He will] take their shame and turn it into praise and renown in all the earth
Verse 20 “at that time” ...
[He will] gather His people again to the land, and at that time He will give them renown and praise among all the peoples of the earth.
The timing of this is when ...
[He will] restore their fortunes before their eyes.
These promises have not been seen before in their entirety though there have been glimpses. This points to events following the day of the LORD, offering a future hope to a remnant of the nation.