Guadete Sunday is based on rejoicing as we turn toward the first Advent. Our passage starts with the very word.
The security of the remnant as a humble people is an unexpected view of restoration. This is less a vision of empire than of Tolkien’s shire. (3:11-13).This seems to be an ethical paradise where people do no wrong.The golden age ending of v. 13 is a striking image, reminiscent of the 23rd psalm or Micah’s declaration of a similar hope (4:4).
As we move into 3:15 - the Lord is in the midst of human life itself.the judgements are taken away and better times, restoration is ahead-the threat seems to perish here too
note.The theme of shame and haughtiness recurs in a new key. Instead of the confusion of the close of the primeval history, are we getting a restoration of unity, of serving with one accord/ standing shoulder to shoulder?
Zephaniah ends on an upbeat, visionary note as it closes Again we hear the great biblical call to not fear. Instead of the repeated cry of joy as a shout of woe and a broken heart, we hear songs and shouts of victory.God with you (NIV) in your midst-My mind goes to Revelation 7 and the song of the martyrs in the very throne room of God.
Again we hear the great Biblical call to not fear (3:15-16). The command to sing could be a lyric of joy or a victory hymn and shout is to really shout out loud. Instead of the repeated cries of lament as a shout of woe and a broken heart, we hear songs and shouts of vindication and surprise.Twice, we now hear that God is with them, in their midst, not against them, not distant but in their very midst (3:3:15,17). The judgments are taken away, and restoration is ahead-the threat seems to perish here too. Singing is more a victory hymn and shout is to really shout. Instead of the repeated cry of joy as a shout of woe and a broken heart, we hear songs and shouts of victory.
God with you (NIV) in your midst-My mind goes to Revelation 7 and the song of the martyrs in the very throne room of God.
Instead of the confusion of the close of the primeval history, are we getting a hindu restoration of unity, of serving with one accord/ standing shoulder to shoulder?
Opponents of the way of God seem to be the proud, the haughty. As an American, it gave me chills to read this as we reign as a military superpower.
In our time, we certainly can grasp the issue of a purified speech. In an image saturated culture, when do we hear or speak a transparent truth. Our political discourse has become so debased that it seems that basic facts are dispensed with in the name of ideological purity.Social media such as twitter becomes the den of the sarcastic and the angry, over such invaluable objects as the outcome of a single sporting contest.Spin is the operative word. We cannot agree on facts, so we readily accept distortion in their stead.
I am fascinated how differently 3:17 is translated.v.17 will quiet you or be silent or renew you in his love.
the masoretic text has be silent in love, by seeing the root as hrs,and the NIV has to quiet you in love, but the NRSV has renew you in love, by going with the Greek translation that assume a misreading (In Hebrew script, the r is rounded just as in English script, but the d is written at a ninety degree angle, and sometimes they can easily be mistaken for each other).. Zepheniah's name may have the sense of God sheltering us. Yes, we can be in difficult times, but it does not always have to be that way. End times vision gives purpose, a goal, a compass point to our travels. When your heart gets broken, you are engulfed by the sheer weight of pain. You cannot imagine that you will feel better again. You will. One day you will be able to rejoice again, to love again, to see the rainbow and not only the rain, again. Ministry needs a future orientation, beyond the brute tyranny of the way things are but imagine the way things could or should be. Is v. could be, what if. It is good not to live in the future, but the future does give us direction and energy to work toward its shape. Bonhoeffer said "the will of God is not a system of rules established at the outset, but a living will, the grace of God that is new every morning." We get a great banquet image here.
At the beginning the people are told to be quiet, to hush. At the end, it is God who quiets in the divine embrace, in divine care and, yes, love.he first image is commanding and fearsome, and the second strikes me as exceedingly tender.
The Advent vision here is one of the vulnerable being rescued (for Tiny Tim, for instance). The scattered ones will be gathered together( 19-20).
We rarely think of God rejoicing over us with singing. At this time of year, what Christmas carol would fit for God over you, over all of us.?
Part of the Biblical vision is security. Here the enemy is turned back, and no harm will come to them. God has a shield of protection over Israel (15).
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