Zephaniah 3:14-17
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
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.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
“Fear not” is easier said than done, especially for the Israelites. After everything they’d been through, everything they’d faced, fear was a part of their lives. They had rejected God over and over again, spurning him for selfish desire and worshiping idols in his place. The consequences of their rebellion overwhelmed them, and many of their fears were grounded in God’s judgment.
But God wanted something different for them. Rather than being filled with fear, he wanted them to be filled with hope.
Hope that their past sin and rebellion could be forgiven, that their judgments would be cleared.
Hope that their present circumstances wouldn’t last forever, that God was using their trials to mold and shape them into his image.
Hope that their future was secure, that he would not abandon them, that he had a plan for them.
And he did. It was a plan that had been set in motion in the garden, a plan that would be fulfilled through a cradle, a cross, and a tomb.
knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
- 1 Peter 1:18-21
