the King in your midst

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.

Zephaniah 3:15

The God Who judges is also the God Who forgives and restores. Despite all the stern language of wrath in the prophecies of Zephaniah, despite the exile of the Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem, God promises to bring back a people who will worship Him wholeheartedly. He will restore a cleansed and repentant people who will once again live under His rule, love His law, thrive under His blessing, and enjoy freedom from fear.

And how will this happen? The Lord will do it. It is God Who takes away His judgment (now accomplished by Christ). It is God Who clears away all Israel’s historic enemies (a promise as yet unfulfilled). God promises to directly rule in Jerusalem as King. That is yet to be realized in the return of Jesus. But God never lies. And this is why I still cling to an interpretive stance (ridiculed as it often is and sometimes rightly so for its extremes) that there are yet promises that Jesus will keep as King of Israel. Yes, the Jews must trust the gospel. They must see Jesus as Savior and Lord by virtue of His life, death, and resurrection. But God will not let His Word return to Him without accomplishing His purpose. It is for that reason that as I celebrate the first advent of Jesus in a manger, I also anticipate His coming advent as Messiah!

I’m completely unsure as to whether the current war in Israel has scriptural prophecy associated with it. I know it is NOT to be proof-texted by biblical citation. I am not compelled to do so. I do know that historically Gaza represents Philistine enemies of Israel. And even in my current reading of Zephaniah, I see that the prophet foretold of Gaza (and all Philistine oppression of Israel) to be made desolate and uninhabited (Zephaniah 2:4). Maybe that could happen now. Perhaps not. It seems to me that it would only occur as a prerequisite to Jesus doing this physically restorative work mentioned in Zephaniah 3:15 to rule as King. And that seems to be still on the horizon. I’ll never geek out on biblical prophecy concerning Israel. I want to understand it, but it is complex. Instead, I will always marvel at how it all points to Jesus, King of Kings, Messiah, and Lord of Lords!