A Day of Joy for the Remnant

June 19, 2016 Background Scripture: Zephaniah 3:9 – 20 Lesson Passage: Zephaniah 3:9 – 14, 20 If there were any sense of solace in the prophets of God who pronounced judgment upon God’s people, it was the knowledge that God always tempered His judgment with mercy. The prophetic word that pronounced doom also included the promise of hope for the people of God. Even when God’s people were punished, God always preserved a faithful remnant to carry forth the future hope based on God’s covenant with the patriarchs of Israel. The world was continuing to live contrary to the will of God. God’s people, who were called out from among the worldly, continued to show a preference for being like the world rather than holy like God. God’s final judgment would correct this and make way for the restoration of the world. The nations will be purified and the people of Zion will be held in high esteem by all nations. The Lord will be Israel’s king and will not allow evil to be present as He rules in the midst of His people. The future for God’s covenant people would be a bright future filled with joy and hope. God’s final judgment will be for purification. This is descriptive of the time of glorification as it is described in the book of Revelations. All sin and evil will be abolished. The saints who were saved from the penalty of sin and then progressively saved from the power of sin would now be saved from the presence of sin. The redemptive work of Christ on Calvary had made justification available and taken away the penalty of sin. The restorative work of the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ had sanctified believers and progressively delivered them from the power of sin. God’s final judgment would be the total destruction of evil, death, and the grave. That would remove the presence of sin and usher in glorification of the saints. With such promises in sight, the people were admonished to not cling to that which is destined to be destroyed but rather to serve the Lord. Just as there would surely be a day of judgment coming, there would also be a day of restoration following it. The wicked should tremble and forsake their ways and the just should be encouraged to persevere and look for the blessed hope. God would avenge the just for this would be a day of vindication for the faithful remnant. This is the day that many saints of old have longed for. This is the day that many saints of old sang songs about to encourage themselves. “I’m so glad, I know trouble don’t last always.” “We’ll understand it better by and by.” “I’m so glad, I done got over.” “My Lord is getting us ready for that great day.” “There’s a bright side somewhere.” Even as the patriarchs, the saints of old hoped against hope because they believed in the promises of God. The Psalmist declared that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning”. The day of joy would come for the remnant. The remnant of Israel saw this day when God restored many of them back to Palestine from the land of captivity. Thousands of years later, another remnant saw this day when God restored many of them from the dispersion throughout the world to modern day Israel in the first half of the twentieth century. There remains the final day of joy when Jesus returns to rule upon the earth and the remnant will be vindicated for the final time. Robert C. Hudson June 2, 2016

That Day is Coming

June 12, 2016 Background Scripture: Zephaniah 3:1 – 8 Lesson Passage: Zephaniah 3:1 – 8 The southern kingdom of Judah was facing the same plight the northern kingdom of Israel faced over a century earlier. So there is little wonder that Zephaniah’s prophecy bears some similarities to the prophecies of Amos, Micah, and Isaiah. Those prophets warned Israel earlier. God changes not. Divine justice and mercy ensures that the wicked are punished and the obedient are spared. The prophet’s declaration of impending judgment was also a warning to the people of God to return to Him and be spared. Israel had learned firsthand and should have been an example for Judah. Instead, the people of Judah ignored the history of their ancestors to the north and followed the same path of reckless living. God always punishes His enemies but His children are spared if and when they repent and return to obediently following Him. Zephaniah proclaimed God’s judgment upon the nations; none would be spared. After pronouncing judgment upon the nations, the prophecy turned then to the unrepentant among God’s people. They were trusting in their leaders more than they were trusting God. In a sense, the temple and the temple leaders in the capitol city of Jerusalem had become gods to them. Again and again the people of God had demonstrated their preference for physical things they could touch and see rather than an invisible and living God. They wanted to be more like the people around them than they were perhaps willing to admit. Such blatant apostasy would not be continuously overlooked by God. A day of reckoning was coming—even against the people of God. Just as Zephaniah pronounced God’s judgment upon the surrounding nations, he was also pronouncing God’s judgment against Jerusalem. Since Israel had been decimated by the Assyrians many years before Zephaniah’s ministry, the remaining Jews in Judah were represented symbolically by the capitol city of Jerusalem. Judgment against Jerusalem was clearly seen as judgment against the heart of the nation. Judgment against a nation’s capitol is, in fact, an absolute judgment against the nation. The fall of Jerusalem at the hands of her enemy would be the final evidence of the fall of Judah. God declared the failure and corruption of the leaders within Jerusalem who the people were depending on. Throughout the land of Judah, the people looked towards Jerusalem and the Temple for their sense of directions, independence, and protection. The princes, judges, prophets, and priests were all declared unqualified to serve in their respective offices by God but yet the people were still depending on them rather than relying on the Lord. Today’s lesson is a reminder that people of God are not at liberty to sin. I believe in the absolute security of the believer in Christ but that in no way purports to grant a license that permits believers to sin. All sin is against God. Believers don’t avoid sin to please God but rather we don’t sin because we are children of God. When we choose to walk contrary to God’s holiness, we dare not forget that there is a day of reckoning. That day is coming. Robert C. Hudson May 25, 2016