Rebuke to Restoration

Everyone thinks of love in the Bible as I Cor 13, or John 3:16 and those are FABULOUS examples of love.  We would have nothing without them.  No idea that Jesus gave His life for us because He loved us, nor would we have an idea about what true love is supposed to look like in our relationships.

But I adore how Zephaniah tells the Kingdom of Judah that God loved them with those words. 

And I wanted  you to see them before we get to WHY they were written....

God raised up Zephaniah for the purpose of telling the Southern Kingdom that disaster was headed their way if they did not get it together! And he did not sugar coat anything, he got to the point right away.  They were worshiping other gods, wearing clothing for said gods, demonstrating various rituals toward those gods & placing the gods on high hills no less.  And no one was above his judgement, Zephaniah told the people in Zeph 1:7-9 that even the king and his family would not be spared.  He prophesied the desolation and ruin of many cities. 

It is not that he was not being loving, it's just that sometimes reality is brutal!  (600 years before Christ and also today)  He even spoke of those who have become complacent, YIKES!  I am raising my hand in guilt with that one. Not one person, rich or poor, young or old will be able to hide from the lamp of God say verses 12-13. 

Verses 14-16 sound just awful: The great day of the LORD is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers. 
 

And then there is Chapter 2:  HOPE is given by Zephaniah if they seek to do what is right and live humbly. But that would be too easy!

So then there is Chapter 3:  WOE because Jerusalem refuses all correction. If you have ever tried to raise a toddler or teenager you know exactly what this means!  We try to give them an "out" but they are stubborn and do things their way.  (Just like we do with God)
 
But, at the end of Chapter 3:  RESTORATION

Can it get any more beautiful in the Old Testament than 3:17 ?

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.” 

Dear Lord!  In the midst of my unwillingness to love others, to snap at my husband and children, to pass by someone in need, to complain, to put other things before you, your desire is to save me? UNBELIEVABLE... And not only save me, but delight in me and rejoice over me with singing?  WOW!  But isn't that what we, as parents, do over our own children?  They disobey and rebel.  But we love unconditionally and do not take love away from them when they break the rules.  We discipline them and love them through it all. Just like God does for us...

The people of Judah had long since turned their backs on God, not only in their personal lives but also in their worship. This reflected the depth of their sin and the deep need for God’s people to be purged on their path to restoration.  Sound familiar? I often look at our nation, especially during last year's presidential election, and feel hopeless. But I am resting on and in the words of Zephaniah and his eloquent verbiage of just how God wants to love us through it all.  Love us beautifully.

I often lose my mind and my love for others at their stupidity.  It is easy to look at our young people and be afraid for our future. It is perfectly acceptable to be horrified as a nation with the options we had for president and currently have. It is difficult to see the news and know this is our reality and wonder how much worse can it get?   But it is not ok to look at any of it as doom, disaster, or destruction because:   

God is always a God of restoration and hope!  When we are in a tough spot it can feel like a disaster, but listen for the joyful singing at the end because it is there...