MIGHTY TO SAVE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve Him shoulder to shoulder. From beyond the rivers of Cush, My worshipers, My scattered people, will bring Me offerings. On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to Me,
because I will remove from you your arrogant boasters. Never again will you be haughty on My holy hill. But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the Lord. They will do no wrong; they will tell no lies. A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.”

“Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! 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.”

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

“I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you. 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. 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.

Zephaniah 3:9-20

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Throughout the Book of Zephaniah, we have seen God’s promises of judgment on His people in Judah and Jerusalem as well as their surrounding nations. Perhaps the theme here could be this:

Our God is mighty to punish.

Indeed, one might carry this viewpoint if they like but they would only have half of the picture when it comes to the God who created all things, the Lord who is the Maker and Master over mankind. This is why these concluding verses from Zephaniah are so important because they round out the image one has to understand about God, a God who is mighty to punish but also mighty to save. Look again at today’s scripture passage:

“Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve Him shoulder to shoulder. From beyond the rivers of Cush, My worshipers, My scattered people, will bring Me offerings. On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to Me, because I will remove from you your arrogant boasters. Never again will you be haughty on My holy hill. But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the Lord. They will do no wrong; they will tell no lies. A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.”

“Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! 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.”

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

“I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you. 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. 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.  Zephaniah 3:9-20

Yes, the Israelites had sinned against God and in a big way. Yes, they had abandoned Him to give their love and devotion to other gods and idols. Yes, they had blown off the warnings of the prophets to turn from their wicked ways, repent, and turn back to the Lord. And yes, because of all this, they fully deserved God’s punishment executed by the Assyrians and Babylonians, a punishment that left the entire nation destroyed and the Israelites taken into captivity for seventy years.

But there was an end game to God’s wrath and punishment, a deliverance and restoration that would take place after the Israelites had served their penalty. For God would allow a remnant of the deposed Israelites to return to their homeland to rebuild the nation, a remnant that would learn from the mistakes of their ancestors and “trust in the name of the Lord”. They would not do wrong nor tell lies. And because they were once again God’s people and He their God, they would live in solace and safety. No one would make them afraid.

This would be a time of rejoicing and celebration, a time of joy as the Israelites reveled in returning to God’s favor. God once again would “take great delight” in not having to rebuke them but instead loving them. He would restore their fortunes in plain sight of their enemies who would no longer hold any power over them because God was with them and for them. Those enemies would be relegated to bring honor and praise to the re-established Israelites.

All this is a wonderful happy ending to a book that spent a lot of time on the consequences the Israelites would face. For it to end any other way would have left us with an incomplete understanding of who God truly is.

In the end translation, we serve a Lord who is mighty to punish but even more so mighty to save, a truth underscored by God’s willingness to sacrifice His one and only Son Jesus to pay the debt for sin that mankind should have paid. Out of love, God did not wish for anyone to perish but have the chance to live with Him and His Son forever. To gain this salvation gift, all one needs to do is believe in Jesus as Savior.

That’s it. It’s as easy as that.

I think I can be safe in saying that you’ll never do something so simple to gain so much.

Have you done so yet?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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