Reflections on Zephaniah 3

Zephaniah 03 (Contemporary English Version)


1. Too bad for that disgusting, corrupt, and lawless city!
   
2. Forever rebellious and rejecting correction, Jerusalem refuses to trust or obey the LORD God.
   
3. Its officials are roaring lions, its judges are wolves; in the evening they attack, by morning nothing is left.
   
4. Jerusalem's prophets are proud and not to be trusted. The priests have disgraced the place of worship and abused God's Law.
   
5. All who do evil are shameless, but the LORD does right and is always fair. With the dawn of each day, God brings about justice.
   
6. The LORD wiped out nations and left fortresses crumbling in the dirt. Their streets and towns were reduced to ruins and emptied of people.
   
7. God felt certain that Jerusalem would learn to respect and obey him. Then he would hold back from punishing the city and not wipe it out. But everyone there was eager to start sinning again.
   
8. The LORD said: Just wait for the day when I accuse you nations. I have decided on a day, when I will bring together every nation and kingdom and punish them all in my fiery anger. I will become furious and destroy the earth.
   
9. I will purify each language and make those languages acceptable for praising me. Then, with hearts united, everyone will serve only me, the LORD.
   
10. From across the rivers of Ethiopia, my scattered people, my true worshipers, will bring offerings to me.
    
11. When that time comes, you won't rebel against me and be put to shame. I'll do away with those who are proud and arrogant. Never will any of them strut around on my holy mountain.
    
12. But I, the LORD, won't destroy any of your people who are truly humble and turn to me for safety.
    
13. The people of Israel who survive will live right and refuse to tell lies. They will eat and rest with nothing to fear.
    
14. Everyone in Jerusalem and Judah, celebrate and shout with all your heart!
    
15. Zion, your punishment is over. The LORD has forced your enemies to turn and retreat. Your LORD is King of Israel and stands at your side; you don't have to worry about any more troubles.
    
16. Jerusalem, the time is coming, when it will be said to you: "Don't be discouraged or grow weak from fear!
    
17. The LORD your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your life with his love."
    
18. The LORD has promised: Your sorrow has ended, and you can celebrate.
    
19. I will punish those who mistreat you. I will bring together the lame and the outcasts, then they will be praised, instead of despised, in every country on earth.
    
20. I will lead you home, and with your own eyes you will see me bless you with all you once owned. Then you will be famous everywhere on this earth. I, the LORD, have spoken!
    

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Zephaniah returns in this last chapter to the people of Judah after telling, in the previous chapter, of God's wrath on the surrounding nations. His message to Judah is two-fold: First, of the pending doom she faces if she does not return to the Lord, and Second, of the eventual restoration of the nation to the Lord. As stated repeatedly in these reflections, God's message of doom is always accompanied by a message of hope. This is because His judgment is never an end in itself. Judgment is only a means of making hope possible.

God's hope, available to any who turn to Him, is only partially fulfilled in our lifetime. Ultimate fulfillment of God's hope will come at a time when His Messiah, Jesus Christ, returns to reign over the earth. As surely as the man, Jesus Christ, lived and walked this earth, was crucified on a cross, arose again three days later, and returned to be with His heavenly Father, so will this Jesus Christ return to the earth as the reigning Messiah God intended Him to be. So, also, will complete fulfillment of God's hope and salvation be realized. God's promises to Abraham and then to his descendants, the Israelites, were incomplete in their fulfillment in the years prior to Christ's first coming. Yes, many promises were fulfilled, but God's full intention for this nation did not reach completion. She was too rebellious for this to happen. And we are too rebellious for God's full intentions to be realized in us as well. But there will come a time, following Christ's second coming, when all that God intended for His people Israel, and for all people, will be completely fulfilled.

Christians who lack this far-reaching perspective may become discouraged and doubtful and allow themselves to be turned away from God and the hope He promises. If we have in our vision only the present and near future, we can fail to see the big picture God has in store. Then we will begin to question God's justice and His love and even His existence. This is why a Christian needs consistently and persistently to abide in Christ - to reflect on God's Word regularly, to converse with Him regularly, and to fellowship with other believers regularly. Otherwise our vision becomes more and more near-sighted and we are unable to see more than our present circumstances and our understanding of life is filtered through the lens of what is happening to us at any moment in time.

No, we need to see a time when our joy in the Lord is complete, there is peace all around, no harm threatens us, and God's love engulfs us. Life is good!