Peter Barnes: Zephaniah 3:14-20
(10 December 2017)
SERMON NOTES: SALVATION TO ISRAEL (Zephaniah 3:14-20)
– ‘I will’ is found 21 times in Zephaniah, and there are a cluster of them at the end here (3:18-20). This is applied in a number of layers: to the return after the Babylonian exile, and to the rebuilding of the temple by 516 B.C.; to the coming of the Messiah and the expansion of the Church; and finally to the consummation of all things.
– we will leave verse 17 for next week as it is such a loaded verse.
1. God’s people are called upon to rejoice greatly.
– 3:14; Josh.6:10. Rejoice and exult with all your heart.
– After 1:14-16, we now have God telling His people to sing and shout and rejoice. Ps.126:4-6.
– Luke 10:17-20. Rejoice that your sins are forgiven, that God has dealt with them at Calvary, that you have an everlasting family, that the Spirit indwells you, and you are in God’s hands.
2. God has taken away their judgments.
– 3:15-16. The King of Israel, who is the Lord Himself, is in the midst of His people. This takes away fear and gives strength – Heb.12:12-13.
– John 1:49.
3. God will restore His weak people.
– 3:18-20. For verse 18, the ESV Study Bible comments that this is ‘very obscure’. Highlights can become a reminder of how far it had sunk – Lam.1:12.
– Ps.137:1-6; 14:21-23. Israel’s restoration will be such that it will win the praise of all the peoples of the earth. That is too much for what took place after Judah was restored – Ezra 3:10-13. There is joy, great joy at what had been overcome, but the joy was somewhat mixed. Obviously there was a greater fulfilment, a greater restoration, to come.