Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Mountain top understanding of prophecy.
Prophets see the peaks but not the distance of the valleys between them.
Like Facebook posts.
Everyone posts their highlight reel and you see the peaks that they want you to see.
You don’t get a glimpse of all the junk moments in between the highlights.
We go back in time a little from where we started two weeks ago.
Back to the book of Zephaniah which is several pages back from Malachi, just before the end of the Old Testament.
Also back a few years from Jeremiah the prophet.
Zephaniah served as prophet for several terrible kings and into the reign of Josiah, the young king who began pointing the people back to God.
The book of Zephaniah is short.
3 chapters.
53 verses.
Begins in 1:1 The word of the Lord came to Zephaniah in the days of Josiah, king of Judah.
(divided kingdom)
1:2 begins with the harsh news – I will completely remove everything from the face of the earth.
Judgment is coming.
Why do we frequently see harsh judgment in the OT?
God’s people wander from Him, serving the kingdom of the world.
God’s wrath is against sin and rebellion.
Kingdom of the world is a kingdom in rebellion.
In 1:4-6 we see that the people were worshiping Baal and Molech.
God’s judgment is not just against the pagans of the world at that time, but His own people who were turning from Him and becoming pagan.
So God is warning that He will “clean house”.
Zephaniah mentions the Day of the Lord throughout the book – pointing to that eventual day when God wipes out all evil.
In the near peak - short term, this is the prophecy for Jerusalem.
In the far peak - longer term it points to the Day of Judgment when all will be made right.
Chapter 2 begins with a call for Judah to repent, to turn from their wickedness and turn back to God before that Day of the Lord comes.
Read
Then Zephaniah turns to the judgment of the nations in the rest of chapter 2.
Chapter 3 once the house cleaning is finished, God will restore the remnant.
They will trust in the name of the Lord.
The prophecy here is for Judah and Jerusalem in the shorter term, but the longer view leads to the end when Jesus returns as Judge and King.
As we learned last week - The good news is that God’s intention is not to destroy but to love and reconcile, redeem, and restore.
The picture at the beginning of this short book is judgment and destruction.
The picture at the end of the book is love and beauty and joy.
We do not deserve God’s love, but He offers it anyway.
The Hope and Joy of Advent is that God has done something in Christ that changes everything.
Read
Start with the Big Idea: our theme this week is Joy, not Love.
That was last week, but as you’ll see…
Big Idea: God’s love and delight over us produce gladness and joy in us.
Read
God’s Love Fights Fiercely
God’s love is amazing.
We often picture Him tenderly carrying the sheep.
As we mentioned last week, God’s love is not about warm fuzzies.
It isn’t puppies and kittens and little babies.
We celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus, but most often the picture is “baby Jesus” the little one who “no crying he makes”.
If we’re not careful we reduce our view and the world’s view of the Savior to this little helpless infant.
True, God humbled Himself and took on the form of mankind.
But He is still God.
His love is beautiful but not mushy.
Comforting but not cozy.
Up to this point we see the fierce, we see the warrior, we see God fighting sin.
calls Him the Warrior Who Saves
(highlight the phrase) calls Him the Warrior Who Saves
An example is in Exodus, after God bring Israel out of Egypt and then through the Red Sea to protect them they sing The Lord is a Warrior, the Lord is his name.
God fights on their behalf as He is rescuing them.
The story of the end, the great Day of the Lord in says a sharp sword comes out of His mouth to strike down the nations.
A might warrior whose love is fierce.
How does God fight for us today?
Sometimes against the external forces as we see in these two examples.
Sometimes, though God must fight for us by warring against the internal things that destroy us.
The sin, idolatry, complacency, passivity, selfishness.
God wars against the rebellion in you to draw you back to His Kingdom.
What is God warring against in your life right now?
What sin are you wrestling with?
What struggles are you facing and how might God use those to show you He loves you and bring joy to your heart?
God’s Love Brings Joy
Daughter Jerusalem - near peak = return and restoration after exile.
Far peak = New Jerusalem - new Kingdom - remember Jesus teaching the Kingdom is Near.
v.14 is a call to rejoice
v.14 is a call to rejoice
v.15 is why – removed your punishment, turned back your enemy, King is among you or with you
Isn’t that reason to celebrate?
To rejoice?
To sing?
We rejoice in the victory of our King, we celebrate the removal of guilt and restoring us to His Kingdom.
Judgment is gone, the enemies (external and internal) are turned back or cleared away
The Lord, The King is with you.
God’s Love Delights
(first part of 17)
Yes – The Lord is a warrior fighting against the kingdom of the world.
But God also shows compassion – He delights in each of His own.
v.16 into 17 Have no fear, the Lord is here.
He will take great delight in you.
What does it mean to delight?
Do you delight in someone?
What does that look like?
Delight – find pleasing, joy
Yes, God’s love brings us joy, but we also bring Joy to Him.
God delights in you – not just love, but true joy.
In other words, He likes you.
of course He loves us.
He sent His Son to die for us.
But God also delights.
In our heads we know that.
Do we really experience and understand that fact in our hearts???
Sometimes it is hard to imagine God thinking of us in this way – we may have had a father or mother who treated us poorly.
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