Why We Need Zephaniah
Written by Daniel C. Timmer |
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
When Zephaniah describes how God supernaturally transforms human hearts and turns their desires to him, the prophet consistently integrates the relational, behavioral, and internal dimensions of this change. Those who holistically embrace his will pursue righteousness (v. 3), unity (3:9), proper worship (vv. 9–10), and humility (2:3; 3:11). In the end, God’s saving work will completely remove the pride that motivated his people’s rebellion (3:11) along with their corrupt desires that produced sinful words and deeds (v. 13).
Apart from Zephaniah’s depiction of God’s exuberant joy over his redeemed people (3:17) that John Piper has popularized in his preaching, the book of Zephaniah hasn’t received the attention it merits. This neglect is unwarranted not only because the prophecy is God’s Word but because Zephaniah’s bold, broad, and beautiful presentation of God at the center of redemptive history makes his book as relevant to contemporary readers as it was to its initial audience.
The prophet’s presentation of sin and its remedy is particularly potent. Zephaniah’s message moves far beyond predictions of judgment against the sins prevalent in Judah in the late seventh century BC. It also presents glorious salvation promises of salvation and the superlative restoration of God’s repentant people (vv. 14–17).
Three facets of the book’s message capture this redemptive movement.
1. Sin and Its Consequences
Zephaniah’s diagnosis of the world’s fundamental problem is bold. The book begins with a blunt announcement that God will meet humanity’s rebellion with the direst consequences imaginable (1:3). And more immediately, Zephaniah makes clear that due to Babylon’s rise and the predations of Judah’s neighbors, severe judgment is no idle threat; it’s standing at the door.
In his first chapter, Zephaniah emphasizes Judah’s violations of the first commandment as the grounds for God’s judgment (vv. 4–6). Rather than trusting that God would protect and preserve his people when they remained faithful to him, Judah responded to geopolitical threats by attempting to ensure its stability and success outside the boundaries of the covenant: by looking to other nations for help. Many in Judah assumed God would do neither good nor ill in response to this sinful autonomy (v. 12). They’d turned God into an abstract idea with no relevance for their daily lives or for the future. But this way of thinking and living was tragically mistaken.
God refutes Judah’s rebellion in absolute terms, weaving announcements of judgment into the litany of Judah’s sins (vv. 4–13). Then, Zephaniah 1 culminates in the foreboding day of the Lord that’ll bring the irreversible destruction of sinners worldwide (vv. 14–18). Contrary to the mistaken belief of many Judeans, divine justice will bring their imagined self-sufficiency and immunity from the covenant crashing down on their heads.
Zephaniah’s uncompromising and unflattering evaluation of humanity at large, and of God’s old covenant people in particular, reminds believers they must take their sins seriously and practice repentance habitually. Zephaniah’s message also refutes visions of justice and liberty that look to social or political efforts to bring the transcendent change only God’s saving power can deliver.
2. Grace and Repentance
In light of these dire threats, it’s surprising that Zephaniah offers hope in the very next section (2:1–3). But God’s immense patience makes a way for rebellious Judah to escape his punishment. Zephaniah calls the people to repentance, and his call is uncompromising. It demands a radical reorientation of the heart, for the Lord to be made absolutely central by the “humble of the land, who do his just commands.”
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Is Israel Still Holy?
The God of grace is still saving both Jew and Gentile, reconciling them to Himself through the blood— and only through the blood—of Jesus Christ. But is the land and the nation that goes by the name Israel still holy? Based on what I believe the Scriptures make clear, I contend that the answer is no.
For the last several weeks, our headlines have been dominated with coverage of the ongoing conflict between the modern nation-state of Israel and Hamas/Palestine. With the increased recent attention, I thought it would be timely to set some thoughts down about how to think biblically about the current geo-political entity we call Israel and the Israel we find in the Bible. I am afraid that there are many Christians who assume that because the words are the same the entities are the same and the current Israel, along with the contested land, has remaining theological significance. This becomes even more important considering that the nearly unquestioning support for the modern Israel—or the pressure to declare the same—among Christians is motivated by theological conviction. While often well intended, my argument is that this is misguided.
The biblical nation of Israel originated as the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the latter being renamed to Israel by God Himself (Gen. 32:28). They were His special treasure above all people (Ex. 19:5), the tribe of His inheritance (Jer. 10:16). To them God gave all the special blessings of His word, promises, covenant, worship, and grace (see Rom. 9:1-5). This story of redemption in the Bible is dominated by two great themes: the faithfulness of God and the faithlessness of His people (Mal. 3:6-7). To illustrate the latter with just one verse, here is what the Lord said concerning Israel, “O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away” (Hos. 6:4). Why did God stay faithful to them for so long, despite grievous sins like rampant idolatry (Jer. 2:11), child sacrifice (Ezek. 16:20-21), and Sabbath breaking (Ezek. 20:13), which led them to exile (Neh. 1:8)? The first reason was His promise (Is. 49:16) and the second is His promised Son, Jesus Christ.
Concerning His promise, we must remember that God is not a man that He can lie (Num. 23:19). He gave Abraham an unbreakable promise that from him would come blessing for all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:1-3; see also Heb. 6:13-18). God’s gracious promise is the only reason behind bringing Israel back from their bondage in Egypt (Exod. 2:24), back from their exile in Babylon (Ezek. 36:22-24), and continuing to save physical descendants of Jacob who may even now be living in unbelief (Rom. 11:25-32).
The physical nation of Israel had one grand purpose in the Bible: in keeping with God’s promise, they were to be the people through whom the Messiah, the Savior of sinners and crusher of Satan, would come (Gen. 3:15). The reason God gave them circumcision, sacrifices, the tabernacle and temple, all His laws, and His gracious covenant as He worked through time was to preserve this people until the promised Seed came: “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘and to your Seed,’ who is Christ” (Gal. 3:16). Once Jesus Christ came, who is not only the Second Adam (Rom. 5:18-21) but the One who fulfilled everything Israel failed to do (Heb. 10:5-7), Israel’s redemptive necessity ceased.
I cannot go into this at too much length here, but consider this big-picture perspective. Those things that specifically delineated Israel from the nations were entirely abolished after the coming of Christ. Circumcision was replaced by baptism (see Acts 15 and Galatians). The necessity of ongoing sacrifice ceased because of the once-and-for-all death of Jesus (see Hebrews). Later the temple would be destroyed in AD 70, precisely as Jesus said in Matthew 24 and parallel passages. Because of the death and resurrection of Christ, ceremonial and dietary laws were removed so that there no longer remained a barrier for fellowship for anyone in Christ (see Acts 10-11; Gal. 2:11-16). In fact, even the distinguishing blessings given exclusively to Old Testament Israel were explicitly bestowed upon the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, including the status of a holy ethnicity (compare Exod. 19:5-6 and 1 Pet. 2:9-10).
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A Verse for Marriage
When a man and a wife try to outdo one another in showing honor, the amazing thing is that both end up honored. And this is what the gospel does. The gospel transforms us. It causes us to think less of ourselves and more of others. Jesus says, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” (Matt 20:28). Even so, those who have come to know and love the Lord also seek to serve.
My wife and I have a competition. We are not normally competitive people, but we’ve been trying to outdo one another ever since we’ve been married. I’ll be honest; sometimes I win, and sometimes she wins. We find ourselves competing in the morning, in the evening, and even at night. I’m trying to outdo her while I’m at work, and she’s trying to outdo me when I’m at home. Honestly, we are always trying to win this competition. Even on holidays you can find my wife and I steadily trying to outdo one another. Now, before you tell me to cool my jets, let me tell you about the competition.
We got into this competition by reading the book of Romans, and when we got married, this became our marriage verse. Right after Paul spent 11 chapters really digging into the glorious gospel, he begins to unpack how we can live in light of that good news. God through Paul begins to show His people what it is to be a living sacrifice in light of the mercies of God. And in this list of instructions we are given a holy competition to participate in. He tells his people to, “outdo one another in showing honor” (Rom 12:10).
That’s right.
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God’s Loving Goodness to His People
In the Proverbs Solomon spends much time helping us to see that walking in the paths opened by God for us is the only means by which we can flourish. The goodness of God is what we are denying when we choose a different path. We are saying to the Creator that His plan is wrong and that we have a better idea on how to get to Point A than the one who made the map.
If we were to name the number one problem amongst all men, but especially Christians who should know better it would be: sin. Why is sin such a problem? Because we are sinners. Why are we sinners? Because Adam sinned. Why do we refuse to deal with sin? Because we love sin. Why do we love sin? Because there is no fear of God in our eyes. We are the captains of our own desires.
That little syllogism matters due to the fact that we, and obviously unbelievers, forget the reality of the subject of our Larger Catechism question and answer for today. Eternal damnation by its very definition is forever. Whatever enjoyment/blessing/gift we receive from sin will never last that long, nor will it actually provide what we desire for the time period we want. We know that, or at least we should, in our heads. So how do we keep the truth of the consequences of sin in the forefront of our mind in order that we might be wise to its pain? The Bible tells us that each and every transgression of the law is equally deserving the full and complete condemnation by God of the individual who sins. We know this, but continue to do it anyway. Why?
It is a good question, one that every human being needs to be able to give an answer to. Today’s Q/A will be taken up with providing a workable and straight-forward solution that as usual has its grounding in the Lord’s triune nature. Let’s get to it:
Q. 152. What does every sin deserve at the hands of God?
A. Every sin, even the least, being against the sovereignty, goodness, and holiness of God, and against his righteous law deserves his wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come; and cannot be expiated but by the blood of Christ.
While last week we talked about the gradations of sin in regard to their heinousness we should not allow that simple fact to get in the way of how all men should revolt at the idea, let alone the act, of sin. We should hate sin with a perfect hatred. In the WLC above the first item that the writers bring up as an assistance in this matter is the concept of God’s sovereignty. How does this provide help in remembering why we should not sin? First it humbles us. Our desire to sin usually arises from our hope to organize our life according to our own wisdom, aka pride. In Ephesians 1:4 the word says, “. . . just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Notice in the construction of the verse by Paul that our divine election is the source of our obedience.
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