Zephaniah: Jesus Is The Warrior Who Saves
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Zephaniah: Jesus Is The Warrior Who Saves
Zephaniah 3:14-20 (ESV)
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.
Last August 8, Pastor Thomas and Jensine Behman came to our church and shared their calling to be missionaries in the Philippines. I was blessed listening to their testimony of how they were willing to sacrifice their very promising careers (Pastor Thom was a software engineer and Jensine was a nurse practitioner). And their comfortable lives in Michigan to follow the Lord's direction to do missions in a third world country. For a family of five, I know their decision was not easy.
After listening to them, I was grateful to God for people like them who are willing to leave their comfort zones to make a lasting impact in the lives of others who are broken by sin. I have firsthand knowledge of how God powerfully uses missionaries. My parents came to know the Lord as their savior in Palawan through Rev. Henry Devries, an American missionary. Then later, my Dad became a pastor. Also, I took my theological studies in a Baptist Seminary in the Philippines, which was started by an American missionary, Dr. Raphael C. Thomas.
Within these thoughts, an excellent question to ask would be: What if God calls you today to serve Him on a full-time basis? How many of you would say yes to Him? What would be the biggest reason why you would not be able to say yes to Him? Without a doubt, God is still calling people out of their comfortable lives and sending them to preach the Gospel to people who need Jesus Christ.
As we move to our next prophetic book this morning, we would find the prophet Zephaniah as someone who certainly did the same. If you read Zephaniah 1:1, you can trace his family background:
1 The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
Considering this verse, Zephaniah was one of the great-great-grandchildren of King Hezekiah. Think about it for a minute! Being one of the closest relatives of the king, he certainly had countless opportunities to occupy a strategic position in the government and enjoy the life of the rich and famous. But, instead, he gave his life to prophesying God's messages to the Southern Kingdom of Judah and leveraging his royal heritage to affect his generation for God.
Another significant part of verse 1 says, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. In other words, the prophetic ministry of Zephaniah coincided with the reign of the godly King Josiah around 715 to 686 BC, about 100 years before Judah fell into the hands of the Babylonians. As many of you know, King Josiah was one of the Kings of Judah who walked with God and purged the nation from idolatry as described in 2 Kings 22-23. As a result, many Bible scholars believe that God used the prophetic warnings of Zephaniah to bring a spiritual revival to Judah.
Although the book is composed of only three chapters, the emphasis on "The Day of the Lord" is quite dreadful. It would be mentioned seven times in the book. Still, unlike the other prophets who only focused on the coming of the Babylonians, Zephaniah expands God's wrath to the end of the world when God finally judges sin. Listen to these words:
Zephaniah 1:14-18 (ESV)
14 The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there.
15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.
17 I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
As you read these verses, you would get the sense that God was not only addressing Judah, He was including the whole earth:
v. 17 – "I will bring distress on mankind"
v. 18 - "all the earth shall be consumed"
Reading these verses, you can easily relate these words to the words which were written by the apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:10-13 (ESV):
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Just like in the book of Zephaniah, the words of Peter are distinct that God will one day deal with sin and that humankind must repent while there is still time.
Therefore, with the central theme of "The Day of the Lord," we should see the entire book of Zephaniah as a call to repentance. Allow me to divide our study of the book highlighting three essential lessons about repentance:
I THE HINDRANCE OF REPENTANCE
When you begin to read the book of Zephaniah, the two major sins that God addresses with the nation of Judah were the sins of idolatry and spiritual complacency. Listens to the words condemning these sins:
Zephaniah 1:4-6 (ESV)
4 "I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom,
6 those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him."
As you read these verses, the Lord mentions idolatry in verses 4-5. However, it is also significant to see in verse 5 how idolatry could creep in in their worship of Jehovah. It happened by religious syncretism. Meaning, they combined the worship of God and the worship of Milcom, the God of the Ammonites sometimes referred to also as Molech. The worship of this god involved the following:
Child Sacrifice – Leviticus 18:21, 2 Kings 17:17
Astrology – 2 Kings 17:16 (Worship of Sun, Moon, and Stars)
Temple Prostitution – Ezekiel 23:37
Then, from idolatry, they deteriorated into spiritual complacency as mentioned in v. 6 – "those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him." Since their loyalty was divided between Jehovah and their idol, they stopped obeying and honoring the Lord. The words seek and inquire are linked to seeking to know His will so that you can live a life pleasing to Him.
Why do we study God's Word today? First, we study His Words so that we can know Him and His will. Once we have a better grasp of them, we can then realign our lives in doing the things that will exalt and honor Him.
There is one more item in chapter 1 that hindered their repentance. It is found in the words of v.12 – "At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill."
The glaring mistake of God's people came from their presumption that God is so good and loving that He won't punish His people. These attributes of God are always balanced with His holiness and justice. Yes, God gives His people ample time to repent, but if there were something we have learned in the Old Testament Scriptures, it would be that He would never hesitate to punish the sins of His people when they have remained unrepentant of their sins. We must all heed this truth!
II THE HUMILITY IN REPENTANCE
The second essential lesson from the book is the necessary attitude that leads to repentance. Listen these words in Zephaniah 2:1-3 (ESV):
1 Gather together, yes, gather, O shameless nation,
2 before the decree takes effect —before the day passes away like chaff— before there comes upon you the burning anger of the LORD, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the LORD.
3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD.
Throughout the Bible, we would consistently see that humility and repentance go hand and hand. Here are two very common passages:
2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)
14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
James 4:8-10 (ESV)
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
If you notice, both Old and New Testament Scriptures emphasize the need for true humility before repentance takes place. Do you why? The truth is that we need to leave our pride to acknowledge that we need God in our lives. Jesus Christ perfectly illustrated this truth in the parable found in Luke 18:9-14 (ESV):
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.'
13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
You see, the pride of the self-righteous Pharisee kept him from seeing what was wrong in his life, while the humility of the tax collector allowed him to see everything that was wrong in his life. So here's the truth that we should not miss – Pride often blinds us in seeing the true condition of our lives; while humility will open our eyes to the filthiness of our hearts and hands.
III THE HOPE OF REPENTANCE
Lastly, as we move to chapter 3, we will find the Lord expressing His faithfulness to the covenant promise He made with His people. Though He will punish their sins, He gives them hope that out of the captivity will return a "remnant" of His people who will humble themselves and repent of their sins.
Zephaniah 3:11-12 (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.
12 But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD,
The idea of a "remnant" is taken directly from God's promise in verse 12, "But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly." In other words, God's people will not be totally removed from the face of the earth. Though the Babylonians would come and destroy the nation, God will still preserve them by allowing a small portion of them who will seek refuge in Him.
With this promise of hope to the nation, we will find the representation of Jesus Christ in the book of Zephaniah as the warrior who saves. Here is the key verse for this beautiful truth – "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." (3:17)
The obvious comparison here is the mighty work of God in saving a remnant of Jews from captivity and the work of Jesus Christ today in saving those who are held captives by sin and Satan.
The reference to Jesus as a mighty warrior who fought against formidable enemies to gain our salvation is a precious doctrine for us as believers. When Jesus went to the cross dying, his death was not a picture of a helpless victim suffering because of sin. Instead, it was a picture of a victorious warrior gaining life for everyone who would believe in Him.
The apostle Paul spoke about this victory in 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (ESV)
54 . . . "Death is swallowed up in victory."
55 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
One more truth before I close, which is found in the last part of verse 17 – "he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." You see, every victory results in rejoicing. So this verse tells us that God Himself will rejoice over His people with singing.
You know, I look forward to the day when all of us believers will be in heaven, and we would celebrate the victories that Jesus has gained for us. But the best part in that celebration would be - listening to the singing of Jesus Christ serenading His bride, the church. What song will he be singing? Let's all wait and see!
-Bishop Jeremiah Lepasana