"But I will leave among you
A humble and lowly people,
And they will take refuge in the name of the Lord. "The remnant of Israel will do no wrong
And tell no lies,
Nor will a deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouths;
For they will feed and lie down
With no one to make them tremble."
Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem! 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. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
"Do not be afraid, O Zion;
Do not let your hands fall limp. "The Lord your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior.
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. "I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts--
They came from you, O Zion;
The reproach of exile is a burden on them. "Behold, I am going to deal at that time
With all your oppressors,
I will save the lame
And gather the outcast,
And I will turn their shame into praise and renown
In all the earth. "At that time I will bring you in,
Even at the time when I gather you together;
Indeed, I will give you renown and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,"
Says the Lord.
My thoughts -
Most of the book of Zephaniah is a dark place. There is darkness. There is judgement. There is condemnation. There is destruction. There is death.
The first chapter opens with the declaration that God will remove "all things" from the Earth. Birds, fish, animals, people, all gone. No more. Wiped out. Destroyed.
The Lord is angry. God is angry with Judah because they worship other gods. God is angry because they clothe themselves in luxury but do not care for the poor, the weak, and the oppressed. God is angry enough to destroy and no amount of wealth, no luxury, no fine wine or any amount of gold or silver can change that. God's people are not doing God's will and their wealth is powerless to save them from judgement and wrath. God has had enough. God has put up with enough. God is done with this.
Do the Lord demands that his people seek him. God demands that the people choose righteousness and humility. Destruction is coming. Wrath is coming. Both Judah and her enemies will be destroyed. The people have run the show for long enough. God is going to remind everyone who is really in charge. Those who seek righteousness and humble themselves before God may be hidden from God's wrath.
The first two and a half chapters of this book are pretty much all wrath all the time. The Lord is angry. Wrath and destruction are coming. Nothing the people have, not wealth nor status nor power, can save them. And then Zephaniah closes with the above passage, exhorting the faithful to "shout for joy". Can there be joy in the face of such destruction? Can we praise God in the midst of desolation?
The Lord works for justice. The first part of this justice is what Zephaniah describes in the destruction. The wicked are punished. There is retribution for wrongs done. God's people have turned their backs on God's will. They have become the oppressors that God delivered them from. They have worshipped idols, dishonestly enriched themselves, and turned their backs on the poor and the needy God has demanded that they care for. These actions come with consequences. It is a solemn thing. There is no joy there.
The second part of God's justice is a joyous thing, worthy of songs of praise. God doesn't stop at retribution. Justice is not satisfied with the punishment for wrongdoing. If justice is merely punishment for sin then all we have is a despairing cycle of sin, punishment, more sin, and more punishment. The world is a cold, dark, and cruel, cruel place.
But God does not merely punish sin. God restores. Justice makes things right. Justice puts things back in order. Justice restores things to their rightful place.
So in the book of Zephaniah we don't just have a people and a world that have turned their backs on God and face wrath, condemnation, death, and destruction. Out of the ashes of God's retributive justice comes God's restorative justice. We have a faithful remnant who have been restored to God. The lame and the outcasts are saved. The poor, the weak, and the needy have been saved. The faithful remain and the oppressors are gone. Their shame has been turned into praise. Their fortunes have been restored. Their relationship with God and with each other has been restored.
We no longer have sin and oppression. We no longer have wrath and destruction. God has put things in their proper place again.
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