Zephaniah 3 Reflection

Yesterday, a dear friend had shared with me Zeph. 3:17—and another friend had shared it with me on my birthday!!! Anyway, I looked it up on my phone last night. So this morning when insomnia resulted in my pulling up my Bible app—I thought to read 1 John!—God had this passage for me to reflect on instead. I’m so thankful, because it really ministered to multiple points of this chapter of my story. These are my brief thoughts from meditating on this passage this morning.

3:8 The command to wait for God and His day of indignation, anger, and jealousy (El Qanna!!!).* Devouring of all the earth is coming.**

3:9 Why wait for that? “For then I will restore”—God will purify His people to call on His name and serve Him!!!

3:10 Irony is—Uganda is kind of beyond Ethiopia…..  Beautiful promise!

3:11 As someone who has struggled with pride as a self-protection mechanism, I am super thankful for this verse!!!!!

3:12 The positive side of the promise in the previous verse: Amen, Lord, may it be so!!!!!

3:13 The Promise of a righteous remnant who will speak the truth and NOT be made afraid by anyone, as they feed their flocks.

3:14 Be glad and rejoice with all your heart! Sing and shout!

3:15 Such an amazing, beautiful promise!! Our King is (will be?**) in our midst, and He has cast out our enemy!!!

3:16 Do not fear—let not your hands be weak! (“Be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might!” – Eph. 6:10)

3:17 Such beauty & grace in that promise, it overwhelms me!

3:18-19 God taking the sorrowful & the reproached and the lame and the outcast & the shamed and restoring them!!! Dealing with the perpetrators of affliction.

3:20 Promise of fame & praise to them – those who had formerly suffered affliction! By God’s work of restoring the captives!!!

*Those who have watched The Truth Project by Focus on the Family may recognize this name of God. Del Tackett, the host, talks about El Qanna—literally, the jealous God—in one of the video sessions. I don’t remember which one, sorry! But he talks about how we can be grateful that God is so passionate for the faithful covenant love of His people that He will let nothing stand in the way of His sanctification process….or something along those lines :)

**This verse makes me a bit uncertain of whether the rest of this passage falls under the “already” or the “not yet” category of prophecy fulfillment. Any thoughts from my readers? I can see how some of these things have already been fulfilled through Jesus’ redemptive work, but at the same time I can see how some of these promises are still to be fulfilled in the future.