Sing Aloud!

1. SingAloud! Zephaniah 3:14-20

2. If anyone has a reason to smile, it’s we Christians.

3. If anyone has a reason to smile, it’s we Christians. • God has done so very much for us.

4. If anyone has a reason to smile, it’s we Christians. • God has done so very much for us. • No wonder Scripture urges us to rejoice.

5. If anyone has a reason to smile, it’s we Christians. • God has done so very much for us. • No wonder Scripture urges us to rejoice. • “Rejoice in hope” (Rom 12:12, ESV).

6. If anyone has a reason to smile, it’s we Christians. • God has done so very much for us. • No wonder Scripture urges us to rejoice. • “Rejoice in hope” (Rom 12:12, ESV). • “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Phil 4:4, ESV).

7. Zephaniah encourages the Israelites to be joyful!

8. Zephaniah 3:14-20 Zephaniah encourages the Israelites to be joyful!

9. What could possibly cause the Israelites to rejoice?

10. What could possibly cause the Israelites to rejoice? • Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah, a king who “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (2 Ki 22:2, ESV).

11. What could possibly cause the Israelites to rejoice? • Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah, a king who “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (2 Ki 22:2, ESV). • But, Josiah reigned immediately after his evil father & grandfather.

12. What could possibly cause the Israelites to rejoice? • Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah, a king who “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (2 Ki 22:2, ESV). • But, Josiah reigned immediately after his evil father & grandfather. • Amon, Josiah’s father, “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them. He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD” (2 Ki 21:20-22, ESV).

13. What could possibly cause the Israelites to rejoice? • Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah, a king who “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (2 Ki 22:2, ESV). • But, Josiah reigned immediately after his evil father & grandfather. • Amon, Josiah’s father, “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them. He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD” (2 Ki 21:20-22, ESV). • Manasseh, Josiah’s grandfather, was one of the most evil kings ever to reign in Judah.

14. Manasseh “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ‘In Jerusalem will I put my name.’ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, ‘In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them.’ But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel” (2 Ki 21:2-9, ESV).

15. The Book of Zephaniah explains how God will judge Judah for the sins of Manasseh & Amon.

16. The Book of Zephaniah explains how God will judge Judah for the sins of Manasseh & Amon. • “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests, those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom” (1:4-5, ESV).

17. The Book of Zephaniah explains how God will judge Judah for the sins of Manasseh & Amon. • “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests, those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom” (1:4-5, ESV). • “‘Wait for me,’ declares the LORD, ‘for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed’” (3:8, ESV).

18. But, in the midst of such indignation, God offers hope.

19. But, in the midst of such indignation, God offers hope. • Those who turn to the Lord can escape his judgment.

20. But, in the midst of such indignation, God offers hope. • Those who turn to the Lord can escape his judgment: “Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD” (2:3, ESV).

21. But, in the midst of such indignation, God offers hope. • Those who turn to the Lord can escape his judgment: (2:3). • God has a long history of offering hope in the midst of judgment.

22. But, in the midst of such indignation, God offers hope. • Those who turn to the Lord can escape his judgment: (2:3). • God has a long history of offering hope in the midst of judgment. • Jesus to Laodicea: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16, ESV).

23. But, in the midst of such indignation, God offers hope. • Those who turn to the Lord can escape his judgment: (2:3). • God has a long history of offering hope in the midst of judgment. • Jesus to Laodicea: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16, ESV). • But, Jesus still offers hope.

24. But, in the midst of such indignation, God offers hope. • Those who turn to the Lord can escape his judgment: (2:3). • God has a long history of offering hope in the midst of judgment. • Jesus to Laodicea: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16, ESV). • But, Jesus still offers hope: “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Rev 3:19-21, ESV).

25. At the end of the age, God will offer great hope in the midst of judgment.

26. At the end of the age, God will offer great hope in the midst of judgment. • “God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess 1:6-8, ESV).

27. At the end of the age, God will offer great hope in the midst of judgment. • “God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess 1:6-8, ESV). • There is great judgment in those two verses.

28. At the end of the age, God will offer great hope in the midst of judgment. • “God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess 1:6-8, ESV). • There is great judgment in those two verses. • But, there is also great hope—those in Christ will have “relief.”

29. In this morning’s text, God offers hope & pardon in the midst of judgment.

30. In this morning’s text, God offers hope & pardon in the midst of judgment. • Therein is the cause of singing & rejoicing!

31. In this morning’s text, God offers hope & pardon in the midst of judgment. • Therein is the cause of singing & rejoicing! • The daughter of Jerusalem is encouraged to sing a song of praise unto God.

32. In this morning’s text, God offers hope & pardon in the midst of judgment. • Therein is the cause of singing & rejoicing! • The daughter of Jerusalem is encouraged to sing a song of praise unto God. • This is A SWEEPING SONG & A STOUT SONG.

33. v 15 A sweeping song

34. The Israelites need to sing “A Sweeping Song,” for the Lord will sweep away their judgments.

35. The Israelites need to sing “A Sweeping Song,” for the Lord will sweep away their judgments. • “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” (v 15, ESV).

36. The Lord has swept away the judgments of Judah.

37. The Lord has swept away the judgments of Judah. • “Judgments” certainly refers to the Babylonian Captivity.

38. The Lord has swept away the judgments of Judah. • “Judgments” certainly refers to the Babylonian Captivity. • God had promised to send judgment upon Israel for their sins.

39. The Lord has swept away the judgments of Judah. • “Judgments” certainly refers to the Babylonian Captivity. • God had promised to send judgment upon Israel for their sins. • Even after Josiah’s reforms: “Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. And the LORD said, ‘I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there’” (2 Ki 23:26-27, ESV).

40. The Lord has swept away the judgments of Judah. • “Judgments” certainly refers to the Babylonian Captivity. • God had promised to send judgment upon Israel for their sins. • Even after Josiah’s reforms: “Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. And the LORD said, ‘I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there’” (2 Ki 23:26-27, ESV). • Throughout Zephaniah, God promised judgment upon Judah.

41. The Lord has swept away the judgments of Judah. • But, there was coming a time when God would remove their sins.

42. The Lord has swept away the judgments of Judah. • But, there was coming a time when God would remove their sins. • If God planned to judge Judah, why would he sweep away her sins?

43. The Lord has swept away the judgments of Judah. • But, there was coming a time when God would remove their sins. • If God planned to judge Judah, why would he sweep away her sins? • God sent the Babylonian Captivity to humble the people.

44. The Lord has swept away the judgments of Judah. • But, there was coming a time when God would remove their sins. • If God planned to judge Judah, why would he sweep away her sins? • God sent the Babylonian Captivity to humble the people. • When they were humbled, he would remove his judgment.

45. “Thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile” (Jer 29:10-14, ESV).

46. Here’s the point for us: God will bring great judgment on the earth!

47. It will be a complete destruction.

48. It will be a complete destruction: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (2 Pet 3:10, ESV).

49. It will be a complete destruction: (2 Pet 3:10). • But, the Lord promises us an opportunity to have our sins swept away.

50. It will be a complete destruction: (2 Pet 3:10). • But, the Lord promises us an opportunity to have our sins swept away. • If anyone sins, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn 2:1-2, ESV).