The Lord in Her Midst

Zephaniah 3:1-17

A. Our Problem

"The more things change, the more they stay the same" - saying in form of truism, seem to apply to opening of our text. Zephaniah prophesied during reign of Josiah, southern kingdom, between fall of Samaria (722) and fall of Jerusalem (586). He indicts the city of Jerusalem on charge of violating terms of God's covenant with his people.

John Winthrop, third governor of Massachusetts, wrote a discourse "A Modell of Christian Charity" in 1630 on board Arabella on journey to Mass. Bay Colony. Based on text of Mat_5:14 he wrote:

"The Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as his oune people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our wayes. Soe that wee shall see much more of his wisdome, power, goodness and truthe, than formerly wee haue been acquainted with. Wee shall finde that the God of Israell is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies; when hee shall make us a prayse and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations, "the Lord make it likely that of New England." For wee must consider that wee shall be as a citty upon a hill. The eies of all people are uppon us. Soe that if wee shall deale falsely with our God in this worke wee haue undertaken, and soe cause him to withdrawe his present help from us, wee shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. Wee shall open the mouthes of enemies to speake evill of the wayes of God, and all professors for God's sake. Wee shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause theire prayers to be turned into curses upon us till wee be consumed out of the good land whither wee are a goeing."

We don't need to look far or use much imagination to see strong parallels between circumstances in Jerusalem during Zephaniah's day and conditions in America in the 21st century.

• our cities and people in them are rebellious; oppression particularly of those with strongly held Christian principles is rampant Zep_3:1
• our culture goes its own way, rejecting the ways of God and refusing to be corrected Zep_3:2
• our political and judicial leaders/authorities serve their own ends and agendas without regard for those whom they should be serving Zep_3:3
• our religious leaders are unfaithful to the one whom they claim to represent and those who lead worship profane or make common what should be holy Zep_3:4

Then the prophet directs our attention to a resident of the city notable by his contrast: the Lord, Just Jehovah within, in her midst. The fact that this just God had executed judgment on the nations should have served notice on the holy city that his patience would reach an end. God's intent was that his people would fear his wrath, would follow his instruction, turn from their sinful ways back to him. Zep_3:6-7

The actual effect (which did not take God by surprise) was the exact opposite - fearing they would not have time to enjoy everything, they set their alarm clocks to awaken them earlier so they would have more opportunities for their sinful pursuits. Thus, an ideal opportunity for the covenant God to leave the city; his people had bailed out of the covenantal agreement, certainly no one would criticize him for saying "Enough".

Things looked very bad with Jerusalem in the foregoing verses; she has got into a very bad name, and seems to be incorrigible, incurable, mercy-proof and judgment-proof. Now one would think it should follow, Therefore expect no other but that she should be utterly abandoned and rejected as reprobate silver; since they will not be wrought upon by prophets or providences, let them be made a desolation as their neighbours have been. Matthew Henry

But he didn't leave the city, abandon his people, terminate the covenant. Instead he said, "But wait; I'm not through here, I'm not giving up on my people." How God had dealt with his people up until this point in their history had not resulted in what we would term success. The people were still rebellious sinners, determined to go their own way; yet this does not mean God's plan for his people to this point had failed.

But behold and wonder at the riches of divine grace, which takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious. They still grew worse and worse, therefore wait you upon me, saith the Lord, Zep_3:8. “Since the law, it seems, will make nothing perfect, the bringing in of a better hope shall. Let those that lament the corruptions of the church wait upon God, till he send his Son into the world, to save his people from their sins, ...” Henry

B. God's Solution

We learn from Keach's Catechism the offices Christ performs as our Redeemer.

Q. 27. What offices does Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executes the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in His estate of humiliation and exaltation.

1. The first office we see here in the text is that of Prophet.

Q. 28. How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by this Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.

Christ in this office brings about such a change in his people that they call upon the true God rather than the false gods they have been serving. He teaches them:

• how to call upon God Zep_3:9-10 - with pure language or speech, that is, he "will give them a pure way of worshipping [him], in prayer, praises, and the issue of a purified heart" Matthew Poole
• how to serve God - with one accord; Joh_17:20-21 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."
• how to please God Zep_3:11-12 - leaving pride behind and walking humbly with God in a spirit of meekness, cf Mic_6:8; gone is pride and arrogance, that attitude of superiority that comes from misapprehension of our true condition.

Christ first must teach us that even though the law is good, we are not and therein lies the problem. No matter how hard we try we can never be as good as we think we are; we have a highly inflated view of ourselves and greatly underestimate the heinousness of our sin. In his prophetic office, Christ teaches how far above us in every respect God is, how absolutely dependent we are on his grace and mercy, how little there is inherently within us that is commendable. When he has taught us the greatness of our sin, he can then teach us the greatness of his salvation.

2. The second office we find in our text is that of King.

Q. 30. How does Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executes the office of a king, in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all His and our enemies.

Senator Dennis Kucinich (D, Ohio) had following to say from floor of Congress 09/14/05:

"Mr. Speaker, from our deepest silence, from that place within each of us that knows peace, from our heart of hearts which connects us to the world and to the heart of the world, we know that fear leads to violence, that violence leads to war, that war leads to total destruction. Yet we do not want to fear, we do not want violence, we do not want war, we want peace. We desire peace so intensely that we are willing to do almost anything to achieve it, including spending half of our resources for arms to help feel secure.
"We know we cannot continue on this perilous path of seeking peace through violence. We know that this approach offers our children no future at all.
"So today we make a new beginning with House Bill 3760, legislation to create a Cabinet-level department of peace and nonviolence. In doing so, dozens of Members of this Congress announced that we choose courage over fear and hope over despair. We announce our desire to create a new America and a new world."

Proposals such as this stem from a genuine desire, even a passion, to see a world at peace and also from a genuine misunderstanding of mankind's basically sinful nature. Zephaniah saw a time when the unafraid righteous remnant would be at peace, but only because her enemies had been subdued. Zep_3:13-16

Christ in his Kingly office subdues:

• sin - the only way this remnant can "do no unrighteousness", "speak no lies", no longer have "a deceitful tongue", is if sin first has been conquered, something Christ accomplished at the Cross
• sinners - man by nature is an enemy of Christ; Rom_8:7 For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God's law, for it is unable to do so. HCSB

In subduing sinners to himself, Christ brings us under his governing authority; he is not only our Redeemer and our Teacher, he is our King also. We cannot count him our Savior if he is not also our Lord in deed as well as in word, i.e., we are actively following his teaching and submitting to his authority. The angelic announcement of his first advent declared that the Savior who was born was Christ the Lord.

3. Finally we see Christ in the office of Priest.

Q. 29. How does Christ execute the office of a priest?
A. Christ executes the office of a priest, in His once offering up of Himself, a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us.

It is almost more than we can comprehend - "Yahweh Elohim is in your midst".

This noun (qereb) denotes the internal. It can represent the inward part(s) of human or animal bodies, or of groups of people, or of social structures. TDNT

True, we have the prophet Isaiah's announcement that the virgin would have a son called Immanuel and Matthew's Gospel confirms the fulfillment of that prophecy. But still, God himself in our midst. And consider what his relationship is with his people, this mighty warrior King is also the Prince of Peace ministering to his subjects, those whom he has saved. Yet it is here in his eternal priestly office (Psa_110:4) that we find our greatest comfort.

Zep 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. ESV

Zephaniah tells us he will:

• rejoice over us - a holy God, a perfect Redeemer, a righteous King can only rejoice over subjects who are also holy; God can only find pleasure in us as he sees himself present there, in us, and reflected by us, all of which represents the good he himself has done for us.
• quiet us - true peace and quiet comes only through forgiveness and reconciliation; in his priestly office, he dispenses forgiveness when we repent, he maintains the relationship between us and God
• exult over or delight in us - three times, in three different ways, God expresses the fact that he takes great joy in what he has done for us, such joy that can only be expressed in the most profound ways. This joy is such that words cannot fully express it.

“He assumes the person of a mortal man, because, unless He stammers in this manner, He cannot sufficiently show how much He loves us. Thy God will therefore be quiet in His love, i.e., this will be the greatest delight of thy God, this His chief pleasure, when He shall cherish thee. As a man caresses his dearest wife, so will God then quietly repose in thy love.” - Calvin.

3. Our Comfort

The subject of every verb here is God; it is the all-powerful God of the universe who brings about our salvation, our reconciliation, our sanctification, our eventual glorification. If it depended on us, it would never happen; truly David was correct when he declared in Psa_37:39 that "the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord".

Just as God did not abandon his covenant people in the time of Zephaniah, neither will he abandon them now. God is not in the business of leaving projects half finished; he thought his plan before the beginning of time and he is in the process of bringing that plan to completion. It's on the basis of that principle that Paul could give assurance to the saints at Philippi, and to us as well, that "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" Php_1:6.

"Christian Love", Valley of Vision