Zephaniah (The Song of Salvation) Manuscript

SERMON: Zephaniah (The Song of Salvation)
TEXT:  Zephaniah 3:9-20 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 7-4-21

You can watch the sermon here.
You can find the sermon notes here.

WELCOME

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I always want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshipping with us in person at our North Main campus or are joining us online — the one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too. 

SERIES INTRODUCTION

A month ago, we began this year’s version of our Finding Jesus series. This is a series where we look at different books in the Old Testament and see how the whole Bible is ultimately telling one story — the story of Jesus. In previous years we’ve looked at the Pentateuch — the first five books of the Old Testament. We’ve looked at the Major Prophets — the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. And last year we looked at the first half of a group of books known as the Minor Prophets.

Each week I introduce you to a book of the Bible that you may or may not be familiar with. We do an overview of the book and then look more closely at one section of it. And finally we discover a way to find Jesus in our book. Because — as I said — the whole Bible is ultimately pointing us to him. 

And in this year’s version of our Finding Jesus series — we’re looking at the final six books that are part of the group known as the Minor Prophets. And — today — we’ll be looking at the book of Zephaniah. So if you have your Bible, please turn with me to Zephaniah chapter 3.

Previously, we’ve looked at the books of Nahum and Habakkuk. And in coming weeks we’ll look at Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. And I hope that you’ll grow to know and love these books of the Bible and spend time in them — finding Jesus — and the joy that’s found only in him.

BACKGROUND OF ZEPHANIAH

So let’s begin by getting our bearings in the book of Zephaniah — and I hope you’ll see that Zephaniah is a book you’ll want to go read for yourself.

First, what do we know about Zephaniah? Well — and this is something you’ve heard before — Zephaniah was a prophet — which means he spoke on behalf of God. He lived during the late seventh century BC — making him a contemporary of Jeremiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk. 

In the opening verse we learn that Zephaniah is the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah. Now — there are a few Hezekiah’s found in the Old Testament — but this Hezekiah most likely refers to King Hezekiah who was a previous king of Judah. Now — in Zephaniah’s day — the king of Judah is Josiah. 

Now to give you an idea of what’s going on in history — originally — there were twelve tribes of Israel. And the tribes eventually ask for a king. The first king was Saul. Next came David. Then David’s son — Solomon — became king. 

After Solomon, there’s conflict over who should be king and the nation ends up dividing. Ten tribes join together and keep the name Israel — they’re in the north — and two tribes join together and are named Judah — they’re in the south. This all takes place roughly 300 years before Zephaniah’s lifetime.

Now for a while, neither Israel nor Judah experience external conflict but they have significant internal problems. Evil kings. Moral corruption. The people abandon God. Things are a big mess — which you can read about in the books 1st and 2nd Kings.

But here’s what’s crazy. The people of both Israel and Judah assume that the lack of external conflict — the fact they’re not at war with other nations — is because God approves of the way they’re living. But they’ve abandoned God! So they think that God approves of all that they’re doing — that is — until the Assyrians show up. 

The Assyrians come from the north and invade and conquer Israel. This all happens around 150 years before Zephaniah. In the south — in Judah — things are a little better than in Israel — but not much. They don’t get conquered by the Assyrians — though they are under their control — until the capital of Assyria — Nineveh — is conquered in 612 BC. Egypt comes in and overpowers Judah. And Egypt’s in power for a quick minute until the Babylonians come in and defeat them in 605 BC. 

Now — earlier — I mentioned that Zephaniah’s ministry takes place during the reign of King Josiah. Overall, Josiah was a good king — especially if you compare him to his predecessors. He led Judah through some major reforms due to the Word of God — in written form — what we know as the Old Testament Law — well it was rediscovered under Josiah’s leadership. And it’s hard to tell if Zephaniah’s prophecy comes before, during, or after the reform that Josiah brings to the nation — this return to God. 

But what we do know is that Nineveh hasn’t fallen yet — Zephaniah predicts Nineveh’s fall as coming in the future. But he’s mainly focused on Judah and — specifically — the city of Jerusalem. And we’re in the midst of a time of external peace for Judah but — remember — even though Josiah is bringing reform to the nation — the previous two kings — Manasseh and Amon — have led the nation far from God — these evil kings led the nation to worship false gods. 

And — because of their worship of false gods — God sends Zephaniah to announce that judgment is about to come upon Judah and Jerusalem. But the judgment comes with something unexpected: comfort and hope. God promises that he will save a remnant who are faithful to him. And this means that God’s coming judgment won’t be a total annihilation of the people — not because they deserve to be saved — but because God is faithful to his promise. Which promise? His promise that he will be a blessing to the nations through his people — so his judgement won’t be their eternal destruction. 

OVERVIEW OF ZEPHANIAH

So that’s the background of what’s going on. Now, let’s turn to the book itself. What’s the layout of the book? The book contains 3 chapters consisting of 53 verses.

Chapter 1 announces that God’s judgement is coming and that the Day of the Lord is near. And this will be a day of fire — but not an annihilating fire — a purifying fire. One Bible scholar writes, “Obadiah, Joel, Amos, and Isaiah had all spoken of this day, but Zephaniah alone emphasized more strenuously than them all the universality of its judgment while also surprisingly predicting the conversion of the nations as one of its fruits.” So there’s hope for the nations in the midst of judgement.

Chapter 2 zeroes in on God’s judgement of Judah’s enemies. As we’ve seen in previous Minor Prophets — though God will use their enemies as his instrument of judgment — he will hold these nations accountable for their wickedness. And in the midst of this judgement talk — Zephaniah announces hope for those who are humble and obedient — hope for those who seek righteousness and humility. 

Then we come to chapter 3 — which focuses on God’s judgment of Jerusalem. Yet we also find a beautiful portrayal of a future Jerusalem — the city of God where a remnant will live and be restored and be a blessing to the nations.

MAIN PASSAGE

Which leads us to the section of the book we’re looking at today. So let’s turn to our passage. Hopefully you’ve had time to find Zephaniah chapter 3. We’ll begin in verse 9 as we discover a way to find Jesus in the book of Zephaniah — and in all of the Bible. 

“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. 10 From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. 11 “On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. 12 But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, 13 those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.” 14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 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. 18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. 19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.” (Zephaniah 3:9-20 ESV)

SERMON INTRODUCTION

Have you paid attention to what we sing about as a society — those things that we praise? We — humans — love to praise ourselves, don’t we? We put up statues. We name awards after ourselves. Memorials, scholarships, buildings, national holidays. And what we’re told is to value self-promotion and — for many — self-promotion is the goal of life. Thus — whatever stands in your way — even if it's other people — is an obstacle to get out of your way as you write the song of your life that others are to sing.

Now — it’s by no means wicked or evil to honor others — the Bible has much to say about honoring others — or praise them for their accomplishments. It’s also not wrong to receive honor from others.

Yet, our culture has seemingly taken a thing that — can be good — and has severely twisted it into something not good. Because honoring others has — in many ways — turned into a worship of others. Our world worships celebrities — we look to them as experts in things that — though it seems ridiculous to have to say — but being famous doesn’t mean you’re an expert in whatever you want to talk about or post on social media. But when we elevate others to a god-like status — we find ourselves captured by their every word. We try to imitate them. We sing songs of their praise. 

Here’s a kind of crazy example. Do you know what the deaths of Elvis, Kurt Cobain, Tupac, and Michael Jackson all have in common — bet you never thought you’d hear me bring up those names in a sermon — do you know what they have in common? It’s not a conspiracy theory about them all still being alive — no conspiracy about Kurt Cobain being alive — though that sure looks like Elvis standing in line behind John Candy in the first Home Alone movie.

So what do their deaths have in common? We mourned their deaths as though they were gods. It’s estimated that 2.5 billion people tuned in to watch Michael Jackson’s memorial service. Elvis, Cobain, Tupak, and Jackson are considered the best in their musical genre. But — being the best isn’t enough for society — we need gods. So we worship fellow humans — as such — and mourn their deaths as if a god has died.

And though this is how we treat celebrities — our society is quick to reject God simply because he desires to be praised by all of his creation. We think of God as some sort of insecure egomaniac — but celebrities desiring our praise — well that’s perfectly normal.

Yet the gospel informs us that there’s only one person worthy of our worship — his name is Jesus. And why is he worthy of our worship? Because he’s the only person mighty enough to save us from the biggest enemies we face. And — when we understand this about Jesus — we turn to him and sing songs of praise that he alone deserves. But this only happens if we simultaneously turn from those people and things that our lives have been singing songs of praise to — why sing their songs when there’s only one who is mighty to save?

In fact, our worship — when we gather together — cannot exceed the awareness we have of our need of salvation. Or to say it another way. If our view of salvation is low — or if it’s decreasing — as a people — our level of worship will be low — because our worship decreases as our view of our salvation decreases. 

But good news! Our worship increases as our view of salvation increases. And this is why we remind ourselves of the wonderful news of salvation each and every week here at Gateway. No matter how long you’ve been a Christian — you and I — we all need to be reminded of the Good News that our God is mighty to save and that we — those who were in mighty need of a Savior — are the recipients of his salvation. For this increases our awareness of who we are and who God is and it increases our worship as his people. And this is the spiritual war we find ourselves in — who will we worship? Ourselves or God?

BABEL’S REVERSAL

So let’s return to Zephaniah as we explore this worship war — but more importantly — the song we should all be singing with our lives. Back to verse 9.

“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. 10 From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. 11 “On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. 12 But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, 13 those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”” (Zephaniah 3:9-13 ESV)

Just before our verses is God’s judgement against Jerusalem. The people are given the consequences for their abandoning of God. Instead of worshipping him alone — they’ve worshipped other things. But our verses contain words of hope — but not just for the Jews — I hope you see the hope for all people — including us — in these verses.

This hope begins with a reversal of speech. Changing the speech of the people back to a pure speech — a unified speech — so that all people — not just the Jews — but all may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him. And this change of speech reminds us of the tower of Babel — for this is Babel’s reversal.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the story of the tower of Babel. It’s found early in the book of Genesis.

“At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. 3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.” 5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.” 8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.” (Genesis 11:1-9 NLT)

The people thought building a tower to the heavens would make them famous. Their desire was to be god-like — so God confused their speech. They went from one language — to many — and they couldn’t communicate with each other any longer. So they each went their own way and gave up building the tower.

And — in Zephaniah — we see the reversal of Babel. For here God promises to change the speech of people — from all languages — into a unified pure speech. And this new speech being pure is key because — biblically — a person’s words are an indicator of what’s going on inside them. Our words reveal who we are on the inside — what we really value and think — and so on.

For example, once — when confronted by some Pharisees — Jesus had this to say. He said, ““A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. 34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. 36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”” (Matthew 12:33-37 NLT)

Luke records it this way. ““A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” (Luke 6:43-45 NLT)

So an impure heart produces impure speech. It can’t help but produce impure speech — in fact — it can’t produce anything else. And — what God’s promising to us — is a day when he will change the speech of people — from all nations — into pure speech. Which means people from all nations will be given pure hearts. And — God giving people pure hearts — is known as regeneration — the new birth — being born again. Where God removes our impure hearts — what the Bible sometimes calls a hard heart or a heart of stone — and replaces it with a spiritually alive heart. 

And — again — Zephaniah describes this “pure speech people” as coming from all kinds of nations and lands. Yes — this includes God’s people who’ve been displaced as they’ve been conquered — but something we see — throughout the Bible — is God calling to himself a people — not just of Jews — but a people of all nations — worshippers of all languages who will one day all speak a language of pure speech as they sing songs of praise to their God. When the war of worship is finally over — the words of their mouths will express the purity of their heart as they praise their God together. What a beautiful, hope-giving picture of what is to come for the people of God.

THE SONG OF SALVATION

Which leads us to the song of salvation. Let’s begin in verse 14. 

“Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 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. 18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. 19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.” (Zephaniah 3:14-20 ESV)

People of God sing! Worship! Praise God who’s defeated your enemies. Praise him who’s rescued you and removed your guilt and shame! Praise him because your God is mighty to save! He’s more powerful than your greatest foes and he’s promised that victory is yours. So sing!

This is the song of your salvation. Praising God for what he’s done. Praising him for forgiving you of your sins. Praising him for delivering you from your enemies. Praising him because he is sovereign and is ruling in our midst. 

But — in addition — what’s expected of the people of God is the praising of him for things yet to come. So we gather together to praise God — not only because of what he’s done — we’re to praise him because of the promises we’ve yet to experience the fulfillment of — yet — these promises have been guaranteed to us. Promises like eternal life with God. And no more sorrow. No more pain. No more death. Only joy — unimaginable joy — day after day after day — forever. Just think of all the reasons we have to sing a song of joy — the song of salvation — to our God. Our lives should be bursting with songs of praise to our God.

And examples — of others singing the song of salvation — are found throughout Scripture.

The psalmist writes, “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous.” (Psalm 118:14-15 ESV)

Sing the song of salvation!

Isaiah writes, “You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. 2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. 6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”” (Isaiah 12:1-6 ESV)

God is your salvation — so sing songs of joy to him!

Or Moses’ song — after he and the people were rescued from the Egyptians. “Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. 2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” (Exodus 15:1-2 ESV)

God has rescued them — so they sing a song of salvation and rejoice in their God. God is your rescuer — if you believe in Christ — so sing the song of salvation and rejoice in him!

Or David’s song of praise. “David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. 2 He sang: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; 3 my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence. 4 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.” (2 Samuel 22:1-4 NLT)

And to give you an idea of his circumstances — continuing on — we read, ““The waves of death overwhelmed me; floods of destruction swept over me. 6 The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. 7 But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I cried to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry reached his ears.” (2 Samuel 22:5-7 NLT)

When the waves of death are overwhelming you and the floods of destruction are sweeping over you — as the grave wraps its ropes around you — and death is before you — in moments of distress — like these — know dear Christian — that you can sing praises to your God because you have a joy that the waves of death and the floods of destruction can’t rob you of. Joy in your God. Joy in your God who is rescuing you from your oppressors — who is gathering his people together — to be with him forever. 

Moses, Isaiah, David, and others show us that the higher our view of salvation — when we realize what God’s done for us in rescuing us and saving us from our enemies — the higher our praise will be. For our praise cannot rise above our view of salvation. What does your praise say about your view of your salvation? And not just your salvation — how is God’s saving work among the nations causing you to rejoice and praise the mighty one who saves?

FINDING JESUS

Now — we haven’t even gotten to the most astonishing part of our verses. What’s most astonishing — is not that we have a song to sing — a song of salvation to sing — what’s astonishing is that God is singing a song over us. In verse 17 we read, “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.” (Zephaniah 3:17 ESV)

The God we worship — the God who is mighty to save — is a singing God. And he’s singing his song of salvation over his people — including you — if you believe in Jesus. And the song he’s singing of you is a song of hope. It’s a song of assurance. A song of his guaranteed promises to his children. It’s God’s song of rejoicing for we — who are in Christ — make him glad — how astonishing is that? With all of our — let’s just call it junk — because we’re in Christ — we put a smile on our Heavenly Father’s face. Our saving God is a singing God. 

And — if you believe in Jesus Christ — your God is singing the song of salvation over you. No matter what you’re facing. No matter if your circumstances are easy or difficult. When life’s good and when it isn’t — your “mighty to save” God is joyfully singing his song of salvation over you. Can you hear him singing over your life? Do you hear his delight in you because of your faith in his Son? Do you hear his words of promise and pleasure? He’s singing his song of salvation over you and he’s inviting you to join him in singing his song. Let’s pray together.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we’re in awe of who you are. You are the one who has created us. The one who has given us undeserved promises. The one who is mighty to save. And you’re the one who is singing over us — singing your sweet song of salvation over each of your children.

Jesus, without your work on our behalf, there would be no song of salvation. No song for us to sing and no song for us to receive. We would have kept singing the songs of praise of people who are in just as much need of a Savior as we are. Thank you doesn’t seem enough — but it’s what we have — so it’s what we offer. Thank you for all that you’ve done.

And Spirit of God, increase our awareness of our need for salvation. Remind us of how utterly hopeless we were on our own. Increase our awareness that we needed a mighty Savior. And that — by God’s grace — we have been saved. Increase our awareness of what our salvation means so that our worship of our Savior increases. May our lives sing a joyous song of praise to our Savior.

And for those in need of salvation — for those who are singing the praises of those who can’t save them — may you open their eyes and hearts so they turn to Jesus, trusting in him alone, for their salvation. And we pray all of these things in his name. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May you go knowing that God is singing his song of salvation over you and is inviting you to join him in singing his song. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.