Advent Week 3

Good morning everyone. Today we are on the third Sunday of Advent, which from our reading we see is on the topic of Joy. Advent, like Lent, is a time of repentance, of turning back to God, but on this third week we specifically think about the joy that we have in Christ. For today then, we are going to look at the end of the book of Zephaniah, and the joy that he writes about there. Let’s read our passage together and then pray together. ‌ Zephaniah 3:14-20

Zephaniah 3:14–20 NIV

14 Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! 15 The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. 16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. 17 The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” 18 “I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you. 19 At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have suffered shame. 20 At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.

Prayer

Engage / Tension

As we look at this passage it is important to know the original context in which it was given. It was likely written during the late 7th Century BC in the southern kingdom of Judah when Josiah was the king. He was the king from 640-609. Josiah is the king that we might remember because of his age when he became king. Josiah was only 8 years old when he became king. The first two chapters of Zephaniah were likely written at the beginning of Josiah’ reign before he tried to bring spiritual reform to the nation. In 2 Kings we find out that during his 18th year as king, the high priest at the time discovered the book of the law while the temple was being renovated. It sounds like a weird episode of a house remodeling show, but that’s how they found it. When it was read to Josiah he realized the nation had not been faithful and so he attempted to lead the nation into some reforms that would take away idol worship.

The book of Zephaniah is a little weird in how it is laid out. The first two chapters invite the nation to reform, to change, the first part of chapter 3 rebukes them for their failure to change, but then we get the end of chapter three right after this rebuke and are given a complete change in tone. The tone shifts dramatically from judgement to one of hope.

This transition is jarring. In her commentary about this passage, Deborah Block says, “God’s promised salvation interrupts a tirade of judgment with a song of joy. The ‘day of darkness and gloom’ (1:15) is supplanted by a day of gladness.” Zephaniah was writing of the injustices Judah continued to commit and the consequences of their moral failure. These words had likely spanned a generation, first a call to repentance, and then a rebuke for a lack of repentance. On top of this, the end of Josiah’s reign was a bit crazy. Josiah died in battle against the king of Egypt who had formed an alliance with the Assyrians. There was much uncertainty for those who would have originally heard Zephaniah’s words.

In the midst of that turmoil and uncertainty, with the country on the brink of disaster, Zephaniah invited Judah to sing and shout aloud, to rejoice, even! Their fortunes were to be restored. They would be gathered together again, no longer needing to fear their enemies. God was with them, in their midst. And this is where the transition comes in. This is where Zephaniah speaks about the hope and joy that is possible during this difficult time as a nation.

Our Hope (3:14-15)

Zephaniah 3:14–15 NIV

The transition happens when the people are told to sing, be glad, and rejoice with all of their heart. Why should they? Because verse 15 says that the Lord has taken away their punishment, he has pushed their enemies away, and on top of all of that, we are told in the last part of verse 15 that the Lord is with them. They no longer have to fear because of the presence of God. While this was true for the people of Judah back then, it is also still true for us now. Think about verse 15 and how it applies to us because of Jesus. This is what John invites us to see in John 1.

John 1:11–16 NIV

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.

The birth of Jesus means that God has come to be with us and that with him we can now receive grace upon grace. This is even more fulfillment of what verse 15 says, “The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you.” We recognize Jesus as the fulfillment of this especially from the term Immanuel which is given to us in Isaiah 7. Immanuel literally means, “God with us.” This is the same hope that Zephaniah is giving to us here at the end of chapter 3.

This is what allows us to have the joy that we celebrate during the Advent season. Even though things in your life might not look very good, even though things in the world might not look very good, through Jesus, God is literally with us. We don’t have to fear anything. Jesus is our king and Lord. And he, while strong and mighty, is also strong in his love for his people. Jesus, our Lord and King, is actually the king of love who dwells in our midst. And this is cause for celebration. It gives us hope in the midst of suffering, peace in the midst of uncertainty, and joy in the midst of sorrow so that we can love others with the same love of the Messiah.

Strength For Today (3:16-20)

Now I want us to see what this is supposed to mean for us. What does it mean that Jesus is Immanuel, that he is God with us? Look at verse 16.

Zephaniah 3:16 NIV

16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp.

So here is the message to us. Do not be afraid. Do not grow weary. Do not let your hands hang limp. Do not weaken. Why? What is supposed to keep us strong and keep us from fear? Zephaniah gives us these reasons that keep us from fear and give us joy.

The Lord is with you (3:17).

Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

17 The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

You are not alone. God is with you. Think about how many times God tells people in the scriptures to not be afraid because he is with them. It happens many times. God is telling people like Moses, Joshua, and Elijah that they can continue forward because God is with them. They are not alone.

We’re also given this imagery of God as a Mighty Warrior who will fight for his people. And we can find joy and comfort in knowing that God is our warrior.

(Illustration on feeling like people wanted to fight Noah J and I, but I wasn’t worried at all because I had Noah J.)

Jesus is this mighty warrior for us, he conquers death and sin on our behalf, he watches over us and protects us.

The Lord will rejoice over you with gladness (3:17).

God is pictured in having joy and delight in us. This is hard to get our minds around sometimes to think that God can take pleasure in us. But if we think about this like parents and children, then the image becomes much easier to grasp. Parents take great joy in the joy of their children. What happens to the children directly affects the parents. Your salvation and your transformation is what gives the Lord great joy. He takes delight in you moving from darkness to light. You can be strengthened knowing that God takes joy in you. In fact, the end of verse 17 pictures God singing over you because of his great joy and because of his great love for you.

The Lord gathers the outcasts and the broken (3:18-19).

Zephaniah 3:18–19 NIV

18 “I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you. 19 At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have suffered shame.

This is a promise that God makes in Isaiah that Jesus said was fulfilled when he came (Luke 4:16-21). God has compassion for his broken people. God did not come to us and tell us to shape up or ship out. He does not come to us with harshness. Jesus came to restore us. He comes and gathers the broken to himself.

Finally, the Lord will restore our fortunes (3:20)

Zephaniah 3:20 NIV

20 At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.

This is another promise that the prophets repeatedly made throughout the scriptures. God will restore us. We cannot begin to understand the full restoration that we will enjoy when Jesus returns and brings us to the Father.

These truths are given to us so that we don’t give up. The motivation to continue serving the Lord and being transformed by his grace is found in knowing that the Lord is with you, a mighty warrior who saves, who rejoices over you, who gathers the outcasts and quiets them with his love, promising to restore their conditions and their fortunes.

Conclusion

Out of Darkness, Joy

These verses first speak of a hope to the people of Judah – even though they’ve been unfaithful, God will restore them because God is in their midst. Second, Christians derive hope in this passage as we see its fulfillment in Jesus. Through Jesus, God is in our midst. Third we see even today that Christ is in our midst still, through the Holy Spirit, and Christ will return one day to restore all creation. For these reasons, God’s people throughout the centuries have ongoing reason to celebrate with joy.

What does joy look like when life still has struggles? That’s the power of this passage. These words of restoration were not uttered in a vacuum. They come after two and a half chapters of judgment and pronouncement of doom. How much more powerful are these words, then, when considering all that’s come before? We, too, even when we see challenges around us, can celebrate God’s ongoing and future restorative work. Joy is more than a feeling. It requires a choice. We choose joy. We choose to remember God’s promise and recognize that God is in our midst. While we await Christ’s return, in faith, we choose joy now. We remember God’s faithfulness. We worship our Lord and King, who is strong and mighty, and who is for us and with us.

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