Zephaniah 3:14-20 (NRSV)
Read Zephaniah 3:14-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 14Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! Verse 15The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. Verse 16On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. Verse 17The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing Verse 18as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. Verse 19I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. Verse 20At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; 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.
Devotion
Twice we are told that God is in the midst of Israel (15, 17). That presence is highly disruptive. Judgments are withdrawn. Enemies are deflected and disaster is no longer to be feared for it is removed. The reproach experienced by the lame and outcast is transformed into renown. Because God is in the midst of Israel the present cannot stay the same. What characterizes the present? Disasters (15, 18), a need for renewal (17), oppressors (19), being scattered and no longer at home (20)—all of these cannot remain no matter how entrenched they are. The future (“at that time”) is not the status quo infinitely extended. God is disrupting the present. That’s a promise.
In the opening verse Israel is summoned to “sing aloud…shout…rejoice and exult.” The first to do so is God, who rejoices with gladness and loud singing (17). When you sing your Advent carols, imagine God leading the chorus!
Prayer
God, renew us so that we might join in your rejoicing and gladness over the renewal of your people. Amen.
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