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Zephaniah 3:9-17
“Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings.
On that day you will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from this city those who rejoice in their pride. Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill.
But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the Lord.
The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will speak no lies, nor will deceit be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.
Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp.
The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Several times a year I get some version of the following question:
“Pastor Brian, I’ve been trying to read the Old Testament but there’s just so much judgment and violence! How can that be the same God we see in Jesus in the New Testament? Why do we as Christians have to read the Old Testament at all?”
It’s a good question!
The answer lies in a full understanding of the gospel; for before the gospel is good news it is bad news. Before we can talk about the grace of Jesus Christ, we must understand the absolute holiness of God. And when we understand even a part of God’s holiness we begin to see the ugliness of sin.
In the prophet Isaiah we read:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple…
(v.3) And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
The whole earth is filled with his glory.”
(v.5) “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty,”
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Isaiah 6:1-6 selected)
Here we see what might be called the “gospel pattern” quite clearly. Isaiah begins with the absolute holiness of the Lord Almighty; which, in turn, makes him acutely aware of his own “uncleanness”; which then allows him to experience the forgiving grace of God.
And this is why, in the big picture, we must venture into the strange and sometimes frightening world of the Old Testament! From beginning to end; from Genesis to Malachi; the Old Testament overwhelms us with the holiness and glory of Almighty God. In fact, one could accurately say that without an understanding of the Old Testament the New Testament doesn’t make much sense!
Think about it. If God is not absolutely holy; if sin is not a life and death issue; if the eternity of every human soul isn’t hanging in the balance, why would God send his own Son to take on human flesh through incarnation, die a horrific death on a Roman cross, and then rise from the dead to demonstrate his authority over death and sin so that we can experience his salvation? None of it makes sense without the holiness of God!
But because God is holy our sin matters to him. And because our sin matters to him God not only calls us to himself in repentance, but provides for our atonement and forgiveness through his great love for us.
Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm.
If you’ve seen any of the Olympic coverage at all you’ve undoubtedly watched as the camera is turned on an athlete’s parents as they are watching their son or daughter compete. You can almost feel their anxiety as they root their children on toward a medal of some kind. When their child falls off the balance beam you can see their obvious pain and disappointment. But when their child wins the race or performs a near-perfect routine; when their son or daughter stands on the podium to receive a gold medal, you can see the joy and pride explode from their hearts with tears and great laughter. And in both cases, when the competition is over and their son of daughter finds them in the stands, they embrace them with both tenderness and delight.
This is the image in my mind as I read the words of the prophet:
The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
Pastor Brian Coffey
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1 comment:
Pastor Brian, I agree with you 100% on the studying and understanding the Old Testament. The Old Testament is, among other things, a history of people, mainly Jews, and their relationship with God. It show a need for people obey the boundaries set by God.
I know now that as a child, my parents loved me. Sometimes I didn't see it that way. I got praises, sometimes a scolding and less often a whack on the rear. The whack on the rear with a hair brush didn't feel like love at the time. It felt like anger. It wasn't. It was my parents way to setting boundaries of good behavior.
The Old Testament tells us that God has, can and will use a whack on the butt if needed. Perhaps it is time for God to bring out the hairbrush.
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