As is common in the
prophets, preaching concerning the immediate situation is then directed to the
future, latter days situation with
Israel. Now Judah and Jerusalem are
corrupt and deserving judgment. The day of the LORD will come and God’s
people will suffer terribly. But we have
already heard of a future remnant
that will possess the enemy nations. And now, the words wait for Me and until that
day tell us we are now moving to the end
of the story, the day when God’s full purpose will be fulfilled. He speaks not only of nations and Israel; He speaks
of all the earth, in that day and at that time, phrases that are common in passages that look to the
still-future day of the LORD.
·
3:8-10: In that day, after an earth-wide
judgment, the nations will be restored with a pure lip; no more will they speak the arrogance against the LORD
but they will call on the name of the
LORD and serve Him with one accord. The nations will give up the dispersed ones of Israel, even from
beyond Ethiopia. At the outset of the
earthly Millennial Kingdom of Christ the nations will be saved and will worship
in My holy mountain in Jerusalem.
·
3:11-13: In that day there will be a remnant of
Israel, a saved nation of meek and bumble
people who trust in the name of the
LORD. How glorious! How honoring to the LORD! As God was righteous in their midst, so His
people shall do no unrighteousness. Righteousness and peace will characterize the
Kingdom of Messiah.
·
3:14-20: In that day there will be great
rejoicing among God’s people. The final day of the LORD will be completed with
everything as it should be. The key to
this great joy is this: The King of
Israel, the LORD, is in your midst (3:15).
The LORD IS the King of Israel.
Because He is in their midst …
o
3:16: Jerusalem will no longer live in fear.
o
3:17: The nation of Israel will be saved. It will be the work of the Mighty One. As a saved people they will be blessed abundantly
with His love.
o
3:18-19: The meek and humble who were burdened
by Jerusalem’s sin will flourish. Truly the
humble will be exalted in Israel.
o
3:20: Israel itself will be exalted, given a
great name among all the nations. Israel
today and for centuries has been reproached by the nations. But that will cease in the Kingdom of
Messiah. And was that not what God
promised to Abraham? I will make you a great nation; I will bless
you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing (Gen. 12:2).
In the latter days
the greatest evidence of God’s faithfulness will be the way He brings Israel
through the fire, a saved remnant in whose midst the LORD Himself will rule
over the nations! What He will do for
Israel He is doing now among the nations in the Body of Christ. Read again Zeph. 3:17. This is what it is like in the Kingdom of
God! Is God reigning in your midst? In your life?
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