Zephaniah 3.16-The Remnant of Israel Will Not Be Terrified by the Lord or Her Enemies During the Millennial Reign of Christ
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday September 13, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 3:16-The Remnant of Israel Will Not Be Terrified by the Lord or Her Enemies During the Millennial reign of Christ
Lesson # 88
Zephaniah 3:14 Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The LORD has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. 16 In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp.” (NASB95)
“In that day” is composed of the following: (1) preposition b (בְּ), “in” (2) articular masculine singular form of the noun yôm (יוֹם), “day” (3) preposition b (בְּ), “in” (4) articular masculine singular form of the noun yôm (יוֹם), “day.”
The noun yôm means “time period” or “period of time” referring to the millennial reign of Jesus Christ and its articular construction is marking the distinctiveness of the millennial reign of the Messiah and its uniqueness in human history.
The noun yôm is the object of the preposition b which means “during” since it is functioning as a marker of an extent of time within a larger unit.
Zephaniah 3:14 Sing a song expressing joy, daughter of Zion! Each and every one of you shout because of your victory! Rejoice, yes express great joy with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The Lord has caused the lifting of the judgments directed against you. He has caused your enemy to be turned back. The King ruling over and in a relationship with Israel, the Lord is in your midst. You will absolutely never fear disaster anymore. 16 During that distinct and unique period in the future, Jerusalem will receive the following prohibitions: “Do not be terrified O Zion! Do not let your hands hang limp!” (My translation)
Zephaniah 3:16 contains two prohibitions which serve to amplify the last prophetic declaration at the end of Zephaniah 3:15 which asserts that Jerusalem will absolutely never fear disaster anymore because the Lord will be dwelling in her.
These two prohibitions will be directed at the inhabitants of Jerusalem who help to compose this future remnant.
“During that distinct and unique period in the future” is a reference to the millennial reign of Jesus Christ which is indicated by the context in which this prepositional phrase is found and this is indicated by several factors.
The first is that the first assertion in Zephaniah 3:11 speaks of the Jewish people experiencing the forgiveness of sins which is the result of trusting in Jesus Christ as Savior.
The second factor is that the Scriptures teach that during the seventieth week 144,000 Jews from each of the twelve tribes of Israel will trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and as a result will be regenerated.
Also, the Scriptures teach that, at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, the majority of the nation of Israel, unlike the First Advent of Christ, will trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and consequently, the Lord will deliver Israel from Satan, Antichrist and the tribulational armies surrounding her.
The third factor is that the second prophetic assertion in Zephaniah 3:11 states that the Lord will remove arrogant, rebellious Jews from Jerusalem so that the nation will no longer be arrogant toward Him again, leaving only the regenerate.
The Scriptures teach that this will take place after the Second Advent when Jesus Christ judges the Jews and orders elect angels to remove unregenerate Jews from the nation leaving only regenerate Jews to enter His millennial kingdom.
The fourth factor is that Zephaniah 3:13 describes the humble lowly remnant mentioned in Zephaniah 3:12 as those who do no wrong and tell no lies and are not filled with deceit.
This was not true among the Babylonian exiles but it will be true of those Old Testament saints and Jewish tribulational martyrs in resurrection bodies who are perfected and it will be true of regenerate Jews who survived the tribulation and remained faithful despite being persecuted severely by Antichrist and Satan.
The fifth factor is that Zephaniah 3:15 asserts that the Lord has lifted the judgments against Jerusalem which has never taken place in history and will not take place until the seventieth week of Daniel has been completed with the Second Advent of Christ.
The seventy weeks of Daniel are four hundred ninety prophetic years in which the Lord will discipline Jerusalem and Israel for their rebellion and disobedience to His Word (cf. Dan. 9:24-27).
The sixth factor is that Zephaniah 3:15 also asserts that the Lord has caused Jerusalem’s enemy to be turned back.
This too has never been fulfilled in history and cannot be fulfilled until the completion of the seventieth week of Daniel because at the Second Advent which completes the seventieth week, Jesus Christ will destroy Antichrist and the tribulational armies and imprison Satan for a thousand years.
The seventh factor is that Zephaniah 3:15 asserts that Jerusalem will no longer fear disaster anymore because the Lord will be in the midst of Jerusalem.
This too has never been fulfilled in history even though the Lord did dwell in Jerusalem during His First Advent because though He dwelt in her midst, the leadership and majority in Israel rejected Him as Messiah and King and this resulted in Jerusalem and Israel being judged by God.
Also, the First Advent took place before the seventieth week which completes the period in which God is disciplining Jerusalem and the nation of Israel.
The nation would continue to fear disaster until the seventy weeks have been completed with the Second Advent.
The eighth factor is that the two prohibitions recorded in Zephaniah 3:16 have never been communicated to the people of Jerusalem and Israel in her history since the seventy weeks of Daniel in which the Lord is disciplining both for her disobedience and rebellion against Him have yet to be completed.
The ninth factor is that Zephaniah 3:17 reiterates the reason why the people of Jerusalem and Israel need not fear disaster anymore and why they must obey the prohibitions in Zephaniah 3:16, namely the Lord is dwelling in their midst.
Again, this has never been fulfilled in history even though the Lord did dwell in Jerusalem during His First Advent because though He dwelt in her midst, the leadership and majority in Israel rejected Him as Messiah and King.
This resulted in Jerusalem and Israel being judged by God.
Also, the First Advent took place before the seventieth week which completes the period in which God is disciplining Jerusalem and the nation of Israel.
The nation would continue to fear disaster until the seventy weeks have been completed with the Second Advent.
The tenth and final factor is that Zephaniah 3:17 predicts that the Lord God will exult over this future remnant of Israel living in Jerusalem and that He will be quiet in His love and will rejoice over this remnant with shouts of joy.
Never during the First Advent of Christ, did the Lord ever do this in relation to the Jewish people.
Rather, He expressed His righteous indignation over the lack of faith in Him by the majority in the nation even though they saw His miracles and heard His teaching.
Therefore, Zephaniah 3:16 predicts that during a distinct and unique period of history in the future, the Lord will prohibit the remnant of Israel living in Jerusalem from being terrified by Him or her enemies and will prohibit them from being paralyzed by fear because of Him or their enemies.
So this is referring to the experience of the nation of Israel during the millennium because she has been regenerated through faith in Jesus Christ and consequently, they will experience the forgiveness of sins promised to them under the New Covenant as a result of this faith in Jesus Christ.
This verse is referring to the nation of Israel experiencing regeneration and the forgiveness of sins promised to them under the New Covenant as a result of trusting in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
During the seventieth week of Daniel, 144,000 Jews from each of the twelve tribes of Israel will trust in Jesus Chris as Savior and as a result will be regenerated.
Also, the Scriptures teach that, at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, the majority of the nation of Israel, in contrast to the First Advent of Christ, will trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Consequently, the Lord will deliver Israel from Satan, Antichrist and the tribulational armies surrounding her.
Also, they will experience regeneration and the forgiveness of their sins and thus, the Lord will issue this future remnant of Israel these two prohibitions recorded in Zephaniah 3:16.
These two prohibitions recorded in Zephaniah 3:16 amplify the last declaration contained in Zephaniah 3:15 which presented the fourth reason why the future remnant of Israel should obey the commands issued to her in Zephaniah 3:14 by asserting that this future remnant will absolutely never fear disaster anymore.
Therefore, the reasons why this remnant will absolutely never fear disaster anymore as stated in Zephaniah 3:15 and the reasons why this remnant should obey the two prohibitions in Zephaniah 3:16 are the same.
This remnant of Israel living in Jerusalem during the millennial reign of Christ need not be terrified by her enemies anymore because the Lord Jesus Christ will be dwelling in this city’s midst.
This remnant of Israel living in Jerusalem during the millennial reign of Christ need not be terrified by her enemies anymore because her time of discipline will have ended with the Second Advent of Christ.
This remnant of Israel living in Jerusalem during the millennial reign of Christ need not be terrified by her enemies anymore because Jesus Christ has destroyed all her enemies.
This remnant of Israel living in Jerusalem during the millennial reign of Christ need not be terrified anymore of God since all their sins were paid for by Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary (cf. Zech. 12:10-13:1; Rom. 11:26).
Isaiah 43:5-7 and Zechariah 8:13-15 echo Zephaniah 3:16 and both speak of this future remnant of Israel living during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.