Discovering Jesus in Zephaniah

Episode 33 of "Aliens on Earth," "The Day of the Lord and the Song of the King," explores Zephaniah's message of cosmic judgment, or "de-creation," brought on by the people's "spiritual atheism"—living as if God didn't matter. The host draws a connection to Jesus, explaining that the darkness of the Day of the Lord fell upon Christ on the Cross, transforming it into a day of arrival, not terror, for believers. The episode culminates in the discovery of Jesus as "The King in Your Midst" who is a mighty warrior that not only saves, but also takes great delight in His people and "will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

Transcript

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On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus prays to his father, I have given them your word, and the world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them from the world, but you keep them from the evil one. So we want to just say thank you guys, and we are grateful for each and every one of you. And even if it's your first time tuning in, whether you're in some quiet room in the middle of a chaotic commute or you just stumbled upon this podcast, I just want you to feel welcome. I want to invite you also to listen to our previous episodes. Just as we recap, last week we stood on this watchtower in the book of Habakkuk. We wrestled with the silence of God and learned that the righteous will live by faith. We found that Jesus is the God of our salvation, the Yeshua who gives us mountain climbing feet, even when the fields are empty and the fig tree doesn't bud. But today we're gonna we're gonna kind of move from that watchtower into another kind of setting, into a courtroom. We're gonna be diving into the book of Zephaniah. And if you've ever looked at the news, especially lately, and felt like the world is just either so broken or upside down and needs a complete reboot, a hard reset, then Zephaniah is definitely a book that you want to read. And the prophet himself is very passionate. He talks about the day of the Lord, which it's kind of a day of darkness and gloom, but it's also a day of incredible light. And as aliens on earth, we live in the tension of the already, but not yet. So knowing the king has come, but waiting for him to set all things right. Today we're gonna discover Jesus as the king who doesn't just judge the world, but the king who sings over his people. Let's get into the day of the Lord. Grab your coffee, get your drinks, get your notebook, and let's jump right in. Hey guys, real quick, before we jump in, if you've been blessed by this podcast or find it impactful, I'd like you to hit the follow button. Be a partaker of spreading God's truth by sharing this with your friends, coworkers, family, or even strangers. Let's spread the truth of Christ together. Now, back to this episode. So, Zephaniah starts with a shock to the system. In the first few verses, he describes God as sweeping away everything from the face of the earth. And this kind of almost sounds like Genesis, but in reverse, it's the D-Creation, but it kind of makes you wonder like, why such a harsh thing? Why such harsh language? But it's truly because the people had become complacent, like wine left in its dregs, according to Zephaniah 1:12. They were saying, Oh, the Lord will do nothing, either good or bad. So they weren't necessarily shouting that, oh, God doesn't exist anymore, or you know, who is this guy? They were living as if he didn't matter at all. They were, in a sense, spiritual atheists. But you may be thinking, okay, yeah, what what does that even mean? What does that look like? So if you believe God isn't sitting in heaven doing nothing, how do you live? So it's not really about grand or philosophical arguments, it's about where you put your feet every morning. You build your beautiful paneled house while the temple of God, the place of his presence, sits in ruins. Or you look at your bank account and feel so secure, not realizing that your material wealth is what you've put your trust in. It actually is your real God. You engage in sort of ethical compromise at work or in your relationship because hey, if God isn't gonna reward you for doing good or punish you for doing bad, then who cares, right? You hear the prophets' warnings and dismiss them as background noise. So the sign of a spiritual atheist isn't the denial of God's existence, but it's the absolute irrelevance of God in their Monday morning choices, in their day-to-day life decisions. So feeling like who cares if I sin or do good, there's no difference. I'll just do me, right? That is a dangerous place to be. And this is what Zephaniah is talking about. The day of the Lord is this shadow of the final judgment that Jesus spoke about in the Gospels. When Jesus talked about the sun being darkened and the stars falling from heaven, he was using Zephaniah's vocabulary. But here's the alien-like twist. For those in Christ, the day of the Lord isn't a day of terror, it's the day our king arrives to stay. Jesus took the darkness and gloom of Zephaniah's prophecy upon himself at the cross. So when the sky went dark at noon and on that good Friday, that was the day of the Lord falling on Jesus, so that it would never have to fall on you or me. He became the decreated one so that we could be the new creation through him. And I hope you caught that. So if you're a believer in Christ, your punishment and your judgment has been taken. But if you're not, that judgment day, that day of the Lord awaits you. It's not enough simply to profess belief in Jesus. Even the devil in the demons believe, but you have to surrender to the Lordship of Christ in your day-to-day life in each and every aspect. So as we move on, after two chapters of this intense judgment, Zephaniah makes this stunning pivot in chapter three. He tells people to sing, daughter of Zion, sing aloud, O Israel. But why? Because of Zephaniah 3:15. This is where he says, The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you. Never again will you fear any harm. Think about that phrase for a second. The king is in your midst. He is with you. So when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he was Emmanuel, God with us. The king was literally in our midst, walking these dusty streets and roads. But in the New Testament, Jesus promises, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Zephaniah is describing this alien reality of this Christian life. We live in a world facing judgment, but we live with the judge. We are the only people who can sing in the middle of this day of gloom. Because number one, the king of Israel is standing right next to us and he's already taken the judgment for us. When Jesus walked on that boat in the middle of the storm and said, Peace be still, he was fulfilling Zephaniah 3.15. He was the king in the midst of the storm, ending the fear of harm. So this brings us to one of actually a really breathtaking verse. Zephaniah 3.17 says, The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty warrior who will save. Wow, imagine that. You know, we spend a lot of time singing to God, but have you ever stopped to think for a second that God is singing over you? And not singing in a boring, monotone dull, you know, because he has to, because someone dragged him here to do it, but he's singing with delight over you. The mighty warrior, Jesus, the warrior who saves. He fought the battle against sin and death and won. Jesus didn't just save you because he had to, he saved you because he delights in you. Think about that. At the Last Supper, the Gospels tell us that after the meal, Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn. Jesus, knowing he was about to be betrayed, knowing he was about to be on that cross, was singing. But why? Because he was looking past the cross to the delight of having you back. Zephaniah shows us a Jesus who isn't just some stoic judge, but a beautiful, joyful savior who breaks into song when he looks at his redeemed people. So as an alien on earth, when you feel unwanted or forgotten, listen for the song of the king. He's rejoicing over you right now. And Zephaniah reminded us of this. He reminds us that while the world may be headed for this sort of decreation, those in Christ are headed for new creation. The king is in our midst, the judgment has been cast out, and the song has begun. You aren't just a survivor of the day of the Lord, you're the very reason why he sang. But what happens when the singing ends and the practical work begins? So after the people returned from exile, they had to rebuild the ruined temple. But they got tired, they got discouraged, and they focused on their own houses and let God's house stay in ruins. Next week, we'll move into the book of Haggai, where we talk about the priorities for an alien on this earth, and we'll discover Jesus as the desired of all nations, the one who makes the glory of the new house greater than the old. So I want you to remember this week that the king is in your midst. Live in the rhythm of his song today, right now. So until next week, this is Aliens on Earth, and I'm your host, Nate Gazau. Peace.