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Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing.”

“I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you. At that time, I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they have suffered shame. At that time, I will gather you; at that time, I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord (Zephaniah 3:14-20).

Overall, Zephaniah’s prophecies are a lament. There is not much good in Israel. Nor does he prophecy good things for Israel. Yet, his book ends inviting God’s people to rejoice. Suffering and pain are ahead of her, so how can she rejoice? Because after her punishment God will act to heal her. Through the lens of the New Testament, we see that Jesus acted just as God promised. Let’s have a look.

First, God will pardon Israel for her sins. Much of the book explores God as Israel’s judge. His people are guilty of breaking covenant. Zion was a rebellious, polluted, and oppressing city (3:1). That forgiving sin is central to Jesus’ mission is clear from the outset. The angel said to Joseph, “you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Several times in his ministry, Jesus heals people with the words, “Your sins are forgiven” (Luke 5:23, 7:48). Christmas is only an empty holiday filled with trivialities if there is no sin to forgive. Our joy will be empty and vague if we cannot rejoice in being forgiven sinners.

Second, God comes to Israel as the Divine Warrior to defeat all her enemies. “Never again does Israel need to fear any harm,” says Zephaniah. Jesus’s first disciples portray him as this Divine Warrior, though he defeated the principalities and powers who ruin human life in a most unexpected way. “Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death— that is, the Devil— and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Third, Zephaniah says, “The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you” (15,17). In the dark days, God seemed absent. But God will return to his people. We see here hints of Jesus name, Immanuel. Paul wrote that once we were "without hope and without God in this world" (Ephesians 2:12). But now in Christ Jesus we who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ (13). Jesus gives us his Holy Spirit so that he is with us all the time. Indeed, God is with us, Immanuel.

Fourth, God comes acting as Israel’s shepherd. He deals with the wolves and false shepherds who oppressed his flock and he “rescues the lame and gathers those who have been scattered.” Picking up this image, Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd who gathers all his lost sheep into the fold (John 10:14-16). We witness Jesus doing this very thing with incredible tenderness.

Finally, the shame of God’s defeated people will be replaced by “praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame.” In every way, God will come and “restore your fortunes.” Paul writes, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6-7).

Some of this we already experience today, but much of it is still waiting for us. Already now, in Christ we can know the forgiveness of our sins; we can experience Jesus gathering us into the fellowship of his people. We’d love to connect with you so you can know more about these things.

Like Israel, we are invited to rejoice not only in what we have now, but in what God is still preparing for us. For us Christmas is more than just looking back to Jesus’ birth. It is also looking forward with expectation to his return and the fulfillment of all these promises.