Zephaniah 3:14-20
Notes
Transcript
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Zephaniah 3:14-20
vs 14-15
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
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.
Micah Fries (Freeze)
The appropriate response to the redemptive work of God among His people is to throw a party.
In Hebrew, the heart is used in three ways
The will of the individual
The mind or the intellect
The emotions
And here, we see the latter
God’s people are called to rejoice and exult with all their emotions
God’s people are allowed to have emotions
We should be people who weep over sin
We should be people who are angered over injustice
We should be people that love fiercely
And as we see here, we should be a people who rejoice exultantly
Why should they rejoice?
Cleansed them of their sin
Cleared away their enemies
The King is with them
2 Months to Christmas
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
And what is the response to the King being with us?
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
We rejoice because the King has come, and as believers, the Spirit of God dwells within us
And on that day, when our enemy is finally defeated, and Sin is no more, the most glorious gift will be that we will be in the presence of the King
vs 16-18
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
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.
I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
“Let not your hands grow weak”
Barker
Referred to a feeling of weakness or powerlessness, a sense of discouragement
Don’t be discouraged, the Lord your God is with you
A mighty one (warrior) who will save
Something unexpected
GOD DELIGHTS IN HIS CHILDREN
Tony Evans
God doesn’t merely save repentant sinners from destruction, He makes them His own.
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
Just as no one listening to the Parable would expect that reaction to the father
No one reading Zephaniah’s prophecy to expect God to treat His people this way
And if we are honest, we have a tendency to forget this
vs.19-20
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.
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.
Again, we see the Warrior King who saves us from our enemy
We see the completeness of God’s restoration
Nothing will keep them from getting home
Not their own inability
Not their social status
He will take those who don’t belong, and he will make them belong
But more than that, He will give them a exulted reputation
He says in verse 20
“I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth”
Important to remember that nothing can keep us from getting home
As believers in Jesus Christ, the work the He began in you He will be faithful to complete it
John Stott wrote in His journal
I once heard two little girls who had a conversation. Mary said to Marjorie, “If you died, How do you know you would be saved?” Marjorie instantly replied “Because I am holding onto Jesus with both my hands!” “Ah, but supposing that the Devil cut off your hands” was the unexpected rejoinder.
Marjorie thought and then said, “But Jesus is holding onto me with both of His hands, and the devil can’t cut off Jesus’ hands!”
Nothing can stop HIm
Not our sin
Not the enemy
Not disability
Not social standing
Not distance or location
Nothing will keep us from getting home, because of the last three words of this book
“Says the Lord”
“Says Yahweh”
The Blessings and the promises are sure.
The covenant keeping God who has never once failed to bring about His promises will not fail
Understanding the promise gives us strength to endure
Just as Jesus endured
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
For they Joy
So this morning, in the midst of a year that has been frustrating and discouraging
In the midst of a country rife with conflict and frustration
In the midst of a culture that increasingly wants to condemn us for our worldview
And in the midst of a life where sin and death, sickness and pain are realities
Don’t give up
We can carry on by faith for the joy of one day seeing Jesus face to face
The struggle is real, but it is temporary
One day, Jesus Christ will return and gather us together, to spend eternity with Him
And He will rejoice over you with gladness
and exult over you with loud singing
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!