Who is our God and What Does He Do? (Zephaniah 3:17)
At first glance, how would we grade this verse? Do we find its statements as exaggerated, hyperbole, too good to be true? Or do we think that they can only be true for special saints, such as apostles and prophets, but never possible for run of the mill believers? Or do they describe what happens to ordinary Christians living here on earth?
Zephaniah, in this passage, is describing the restoration of God’s people. One of the privileges of restoration is the presence of God. There are other privileges such as the dispersal of enemies and the removal of a sense of reproach. The question that we have to ask first concerns the time when Israel will be restored.
We know that this question was of interest to the apostles after the resurrection of Jesus because they asked him if the time was near when he would restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6). They did realise that Jesus would be the Restorer. At the time they asked the question, he did not give a precise answer except to tell them to wait for the coming of the Spirit, which occurred on the Day of Pentecost. Once he came, they would be able to understand, and we can see from their sermons in the Book of Acts that they realised that the restoration of Israel was taking place when Jews and Gentiles believed in Jesus. Since that is the case, it means that Old Testament prophecies, such as this one, describe the experiences of the church.
In this prediction, Zephaniah mentions five benefits that believers will observe and experience as God acts. They are his presence, his deliverance, his rejoicing, his resting and his exulting. It is God who does them, but the experience is not limited to him because each has an effect on his people. Think about it this way. If someone should ask us about our time together this morning, we should be able to say that we were in the presence of God, we were aware of his deliverances, we sensed his great joy, we experienced the calming effects of his love, and we heard his loud singing.
The presence of the Restorer
Zephaniah reminds his listeners that the God who restored was the God who judged. In his judgement he had banished them from the promised land because of their sins. Banishment from his comforting presence is always the punishment he inflicts on sin. This was true of the Israelites when they were sent away from the promised land. On a bigger scale, it was also true in the Garden of Eden when the human race was exiled from the place where divine benefits could be enjoyed by them. But the God who banished also wanted to restore. In Eden, after the Fall, he provided details of the promised Deliverer, and we know that he is Jesus. God also promised through prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah that the Jews, or at least some of them, would return from the captivity in Babylon. And God promised Israel that in the future the Messiah would deliver them, and we know that Jesus is the Messiah.
We will think shortly about the deliverance, but for now we can ask for a description of its consequences as far as God was concerned. How would we explain the main outcome? Surely, it must be that believers in Jesus discover that they have been restored to the presence of God. Jesus promised that this would happen when he said in the Upper Room that he would send the Holy Spirit to be with his people. In the same context, he also said that the Father and the Son would come and dwell within believers. At another time, he informed the disciples that when two or three would meet in his name, he would be in their midst.
This is an astonishing blessing that the exiled and the banished can be restored to the presence of God. This restoration is personal, God in three persons is really with his people wherever they are. Moreover, it is permanent because although they will change their location when they die, they do not leave the presence of God. And the experience of the divine presence will be progressive as far as believers are concerned because they will discover more and more about him. Imagine being in the biggest building in the world. In a sense, we are in its presence and it would take some time for us to discover all that was meant by its presence. Eventually we would, and we could then say that we know everything about its presence. But we will never be able to say that about God. We will always be in the presence of the infinite God, and there will always be much more to be known, no matter how much he reveals to us.
At the same time we can see here the condescension of God. Zephaniah does not actually say that we are in God’s presence, although what he says indicates that is the case. Rather, he says that God is in our presence, not because we are so great, but because the Lord humbles himself. Whenever he speaks to a creature, even the most exalted of creatures, it is an expression of divine condescension. We may have gone up, but he also has come down. Heaven itself is a place of divine condescension as well as delight because the great God of eternity meets with his creatures forever.
The purpose of the Restorer
Zephaniah points out that the Lord is ‘a mighty one who will save’. Save from what, we ask. The answer is that he saves from us from sin and its consequences. We know that God made the universe easily by merely speaking and it appeared in the order that he chose. Yet, it was different with regard to providing deliverance from sin.
We are familiar with the threefold description of the divine purpose concerning sin. Every one of his people has to be delivered from the penalty, power and presence of sin. We tend to focus on the reality of the pardon that is freely given when we believe in Jesus. Pardon is a divine declaration which is not difficult for God to announce, but the reason why it is not difficult is because the biggest obstacle to pardon was removed when Jesus paid the penalty for sin on the cross. I once needed some money to pay for something that I owed. At that time, I did not have what was needed, so I asked my father for it. He had worked hard for it, and I used the benefits of his hard work to pay my debt. In a far higher sense, I receive pardon for my debt because Jesus earned it by his work on the cross.
As Christians, the Holy Spirit deals with the power of sin in our lives, but that activity is also connected to the role of Jesus as our King who subdues us. And one day, the mighty God will deliver his people from the presence of sin. That happens when they die, but sin is still around the earth that they left, but it will not be there after the resurrection at the second coming of Jesus. The Restorer will have achieved his purpose of saving his people and they and God will be together forever in the new heavens and new earth.
The pleasure of the Restorer
Zephaniah then says that God ‘will rejoice over you with gladness’. We can see that there is a double emphasis here on the happiness of God – he rejoices and is glad. Yet the extraordinary aspect of his happiness is where he finds it and how he expresses it. Jesus points to this divine joy in his parable of the lost sheep who was found by the shepherd. The shepherd was glad to find the sheep, the shepherd was glad to carry the sheep, and the shepherd was pleased to rejoice when the sheep was back in the fold. Is that not a picture of God’s amazing delight in his people all through their experiences of his grace?
This divine joy is not based on the perfection of the Christian because they are not perfect when they are converted, and they are not perfect throughout their Christian lives. Nor is this divine joy based on their competence, as if they were just a little less able than God. The fact is that they are totally dependent on him, that without him they can do nothing. They cannot earn his rejoicing.
The joy that God has when rejoicing over his people is connected to his own displays of grace in their lives. We would expect God to rejoice most in what is best among his own actions. God did have pleasure in his work of creation as we can see from Genesis 1, yet even among his actions at that time he rejoiced more in the creation of man in his image than over the other creatures he brought into existence. But he has higher joys than that of creation. The joy connected to it has gone, but he expresses great joy in his own work of salvation. In an amazing way, the church is where God is full of joy because he sees the work of his hands.
The peace of the Restorer
Zephaniah continues with his amazing description of the restoration God has brought about and is bringing about. Action number 4 is that ‘he will quiet you by his love’. There are at least two ideas in this statement. One is that he will find rest in his people and the other is that they will enjoy the effects of him being at rest.
The idea of God finding rest appears several times in the Bible. It is mentioned at the beginning when God introduced the Sabbath into the sequence of time. We miss out of much of the blessing of rest if we forget that our rest must follow on from his, because without his rest we cannot have rest. God did not rest because he was tired; instead he rested because he was pleased. He looked out on the wonderful universe he had made and was delighted.
Another reference to God finding rest is in Psalm 132 which describes him coming to rest in the temple. The arrival of the ark of the ark of the covenant was symbolic of the coming of God to dwell happily with his people and the psalmist lists the various blessings that would follow on as a result. It is the same idea as in creation – God rested after engaging in a work, except now the work was linked to his temple where he could live among his people. Sadly, their sins led to the exile.
But now, the people have been regathered, or are being gathered. The place they are gathered to is the location where God rests. That place is not geographical; instead it is the salvation that he has provided through Jesus. The consequences of the work of Jesus are that his peace is given to his people. He promised that would be the case when he spoke to his disciples in the Upper Room.
The only place where we can enjoy quietness of soul is in the same place as where God is at rest. Obviously, if God does not find a place restful, we cannot have rest there. Jesus promised us that if we come to him we would find rest, and that if we obey his teachings we will find rest. The logical deduction is that if we do not have peace we are going to places where he is not resting.
Why would they need to be quieted? Because something or somethings were disturbing them. We can think of several things that may disturb us. Temptations, failures, providences, natural dispositions, memories, changes – such things can disturb and distress us. What is the remedy? Zephaniah tells us – it is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by himself.
5. The praise of the Restorer
Can Zephaniah say more about what will take place when God will restore his people? In this verse, he mentions one more thing, although he also refers to other activities in the passage. Action 5 by God, says Zephaniah, is that ‘he will exult over you with loud singing’. This is almost the opposite of what he did in Action 4. Then he quieted his people, but now he sings loudly. If it was not stated here, we would be reluctant to use such a posture for God. But since it is stated here, we should think about it.
According to Psalm 22:22, and repeated in Hebrews 2:12, Jesus says that he will sing to the Father: ‘I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.’ It will be a family gathering when it occurs; it will be an instructive gathering because it will involve explanations of the name of God; and it will be a happy gathering marked by praise. Jesus will lead the praise of his redeemed people.
Yet Zephaniah’s description seems to go a step further, as it were. He does not say that it is Jesus singing to God; rather he says that God is singing to or about his restored people, and that he will do so loudly. What can be deduced about the God of love from this description? Surely, there is admiration, absorption and affection. Each of his people are the work of his hands, and his hands work in conjunction with his heart.
Application
Paul describes his message as ‘the gospel of the glory of the blessed [happy] God’. The glory of the Trinity is displayed in the church and there each of the divine Persons expresses delight. It is not only the recipients who are truly delighted with the consequences of the gospel. So, too, are the Senders.
What picture goes through our minds when we think of God? Zephaniah, under the inspired and unerring guidance of the Spirit, tells us the illustrations that he used. No doubt, the illustrations fall short of their actual meaning, as is the case with all illustrations. But we are called to reflect on the benefits of being in the presence of the God who is purposed to save a people, who is pleased with the outcome, who conveys his peace to them, and sings in celebration over them.