God’s Word is filled with awesome promises that, if taken to heart, fill God’s children with hope for a bright future. A bright future not within this world system, but in the City of God, the New Jerusalem, the new heavens and the new earth. HE will not let the guilty go unpunished, and HE WILL discipline HIS children. Where you find bright promises of God typically just before those bright awe inspiring promises you will find HORRIFIC judgments and chastisements.
Everyone loves to read and quote Jeremiah 29:11… “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
This is a wonderful verse and should be delighted in, but please read Jeremiah chapters 27–33 to get the context…from a human perspective some horrible things are going to happen…things that if they happened to you and I…I hope and pray that I know how I would respond…I don’t think anyone can until they are there…I pray that none of us ever are. Keep in my that Christians around the world do experience these horrors.
Another passage that is, apart from the Spirit, impossible to process is Deuteronomy chapter 28…Don’t read it alone or at night…I’m really not kidding.
OK Mark what is this all about, well a passage like this for me is Zephaniah 3:17–18. There are some powerful images of our heavenly Father, some powerful promises from Abba, but they come after a painful, painful purification process. God is jealous for HIS children, HE fully and perfectly knows what sin does to us and HE will be faithful to root it out, to destroy sin in our lives. This past Sunday Bro. Steve said that God will not leave sin unpunished in one of HIS children.
So delight in these promises, enjoy, enjoy and meditate on them, but don’t miss the context and don’t think that HE will leave you with a pet sin in your life!
The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
"I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly, Who are among you, To whom its reproach is a burden.
Background information…
Zephaniah, like young Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Micah, ministered during the reign of Josiah of Judah. The emergence of so many powerful prophets during this king’s reign suggests how significant the moment was. As Josiah, who became king at age eight, matured, Assyrian power was at a low ebb. The nation enjoyed a brief period of relief from foreign intervention, and attention was focused on internal affairs. The primary concern of the young king, which was increasingly evident, was the moral and spiritual reform of his people. We can divide Josiah’s reign into three stages: a pre–reformation time, from 640 to 628 b.c., a period of intense reform, from about 629–622 b.c., and a post–reform period from 622 to Josiah’s death in 609 b.c.
Commentators debate which of these periods Zephaniah’s messages belong to. Yet it is clear from history and from the other prophets that despite Josiah’s personal commitments, the people remained indifferent to Yahweh and involved in pagan religious practices. So at this critical time Zephaniah, whose name means “Yahweh protects” or perhaps “Precious to Yahweh,” boldly announced his grim message of imminent judgment. Yet the same God who announces through Zephaniah that “I will sweep away everything” has a promise for His people. In a coming Day of the Lord, God’s judgment will extend to all people. Then, with Judah’s evil purged, the Lord at last “will gather you; at that time I will bring you home.”
ZEPHANIAH AT A GLANCE
MAJOR THEMES OF ZEPHANIAH
Pride. Arrogance is mankind’s major sin (2:10; 3:11), and produces rebellion against God (3:1–4), idolatry (1:4–6, 8–9) and injustice (1:7–13; 3:3–5).
Judgment. God will respond to mankind’s pride by a judgment expressed in the “Day of the Lord,” which is to have an immediate impact on Judah (1:14–17 a future impact on all nations (2:4–15).
Purification. God’s judgment will have a purifying effect on the survivors of Judah (2:7; 3:9–20) and thus is intended to correct as well as punish. A humbled and believing Israel will be returned to the Promised Land (3:14–20).
Richards, L. O. (1991; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996). The Bible readers companion (electronic ed.) (565). Wheaton: Victor Books.
I love this picture of our heavenly Father and I love that HE uses HIS personal name, Yahweh, “Yahweh protects” or perhaps “Precious to Yahweh,”
As HIS children we are precious to HIM, HE, Jesus, purchased us with HIS own blood…I pray that each of us would invite the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and root out any idols within our hearts that we might repent and return to our first love.
HE IS SO GOOD!