Zephaniah 3:8-13: God's Plan for His Own Glory

            In my early twenties, I discovered God’s passion for his own glory, and it profoundly affected the way I thought about things; it completely changed my worldview. Jonathan Edwards wrote a book entitled The End for Which God Created the World about God’s passion for his own glory. Throughout the Bible, we find overwhelming evidence of God’s aim in glorifying himself. He does this through his own people. The entire purpose of God naming a people for himself is so that they would be his and would glorify his name. We see, in the Old Testament particularly, God’s people rebelling and God’s discipline being manifest and then his people once again returning to him. This happens to us. We are disciplined, and then eventually we somehow forget that we exist for God’s glory so we rebel and he again disciplines us because he loves us. My theory [and I believe biblically based] is that pride is at the root of all sin. It is mankind falsely believing that we deserve to act in a certain way or make a certain decision against God’s nature and character so we deceive ourselves and learn the hard way.

            Zephaniah 3:8-13 points to God’s plan for his own glory. Zephaniah, like most prophets, prophesied to the southern kingdom of Judah during the reign of Josiah. Israel only had three kings before the division into two kingdoms, and if you were to examine a timeline of the kings, Josiah would have been far down the line as one of the later kings. Zephaniah was a contemporary of Jeremiah so we see many of the same resounding themes from both prophets, although Jeremiah, being what scholars have deemed a major prophet, had much more to say. Zephaniah has a lot in these few verses to say about pride and specifically how God will destroy it to accomplish his own glory among his people.

Zephaniah 3:8-13 (ESV)

⁸ “Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord,
    “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.
For my decision is to gather nations,
    to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
    all my burning anger;
for in the fire of my jealousy
    all the earth shall be consumed.

The Conversion of the Nations

⁹ “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples
    to a pure speech,
that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord
    and serve him with one accord. ¹⁰ From beyond the rivers of Cush
    my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,
    shall bring my offering.

¹¹ “On that day you shall not be put to shame
    because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst
    your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty
    in my holy mountain. ¹² But I will leave in your midst
    a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, ¹³     those who are left in Israel;
they shall do no injustice
    and speak no lies,
nor shall there be found in their mouth
    a deceitful tongue.
For they shall graze and lie down,
    and none shall make them afraid.”

            These verses are laid out in such a way that every verse is related thematically to the third verse following. There are four aspects to God’s plan for his own glory I would like to examine. They are 1) pride’s destruction among God’s people, 2) the perseverance of God’s people, 3) provision for God’s people, and 4) the purpose of God’s people which is his own glory.

Pride’s Destruction among God’s People (vv. 8, 11)

            Pride is the direct opposite of God’s character. This may seem like a contradiction since he desires his own glory. However, God’s humility is exemplified in the person of Christ and through his atoning sacrifice on the cross. The purpose of that matchless love then is so that we, as his people, acknowledge his authority as God and as Lord. God’s glory is not a matter of him being prideful, but it is, in fact, about his desire for all people to worship him because he is God. In our pride, we do not rightfully acknowledge God’s sovereign control and preeminence over all things, which then is sin.

            Zephaniah proclaims that pride will be destroyed among God’s people because there is no place for it. Verse 8 ends a section of Zephaniah’s message in which he proclaims God’s judgment on Judah. He tells God’s people to wait for his coming judgment because he is jealous for his people. Note that God is not jealous of people, but he is jealous for his people. In other words, God’s desire is that his people would worship him, which cannot be done in pride. Worship is about God alone. God’s hatred for pride is made evident in verse 8.

Then in verse 11, Zephaniah further proclaims that pride will not be tolerated. “You shall no longer be tolerated in my holy mountain.” How do we show our pride in the context of our churches? This is played out in many ways, not the least of which is our subconscious attitude toward those we think are below us. We may say we love everyone or that God is loving and forgives everyone, but in our minds, we think that we are better than that person who has a different skin color, that person who perhaps lived a promiscuous life before they met Christ, that person who drinks when we don’t, that person who might use dirty language, or that person who watches movies or listens to music we don’t think they should. We often spend so much time looking at the wrongs of others when God is working on us and telling us things we need to change. We should never take our personal convictions that might not be explicitly stated in Scripture and assume they are wrong for someone else. If God has convicted you personally not to listen to secular music, then don’t, but don’t assume that someone else is wrong because they do not share that conviction. We far too often let culture dictate what we see as sin rather than the Bible. As God’s people, pride has no place. Our call is to serve him and to love others, and God will make sure pride is destroyed in our lives. Some of us know that from learning the hard way.

Perseverance of God’s People (vv. 9, 12)

            In verses 9 and 12, we see hope for God’s people. This is not hope for those who do not belong to our Lord. Ultimately those who are not his or who falsely take the name of Christ will be destroyed. Every person in history will glorify God by either receiving his just wrath poured out on Christ or on themselves. Ultimately the church will persevere, not the visible church but the remnant. There are those who profess the name of Christ who are truly not his, but those who are his will persevere. Zephaniah proclaims here that after the destruction of pride, God will leave a unified people who call upon the name of the LORD (YHWH – Adonai lower case is the name above all names to the Hebrews), who serve him, and who take refuge in his name. The prophet, Isaiah, gives a similar claim in Isaiah 57:13 when he says, “…he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain.” God’s people give evidence that they are his by honoring him and seeking him as a people. We are the people of God so do we honor him in humility together? I have heard people acknowledge that they do not believe they need the church to live for God or that they love God but hate the church. This is impossible because the church is the bride of Christ; one cannot love Christ and hate his bride. Those who truly belong to the Lord will persevere always. God will destroy pride, and we do not want to be on the side of pride when he does. The way then to fight pride is to take refuge in the Lord. How do we fight sin? In the refuge of the Lord. How do we serve God faithfully even when times are difficult? In the refuge of the Lord. How do we squash pride? In the refuge of the Lord. We must acknowledge that we are nothing without him. When we realize our weakness and our dependence on God, then and only then will be persevere as God’s people.

Provision for God’s People (vv. 10, 13)

            Why do we ever doubt God? Why is our faith so shaky? We have vast promises from God in his word, not the least of which is his promise to always provide for us and to take care of us. Verse 10 reads, “…beyond the rivers of Cush…,” implying that God’s people are vast, many, and diverse. A humble people will worship him; he will see to it, and these worshipers will not be limited by skin color, by ethnic background, by culture, or by money, for they will rely on their God to provide for them and worship him. We are promised in verse 13, “…they shall gaze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.” God provides for his people. Part of killing pride in our lives is a realization of God’s abundant mercy and his continuous provision in the midst of our incredible weakness. We have no power of our own apart from Christ. Even in our salvation, we did absolutely nothing to gain it. The Apostle Paul stated many times that we were dead in our trespasses. Many have the idea that we were drowning in sin when the reality is we were completely dead until God himself awakened us. That is everyone equally with no one being better than another. Part of God’s plan for his own glory is not only his people’s perseverance but also his provision for his people. As he provides for and takes care of us, we praise his name and glorify him by acknowledging his control and lordship over our lives.

God’s Purpose for God’s People: His Own Glory

            There is an age of philosophical question that asks what the meaning of life is. Even Monty Python tries to answer it. Our purpose though is none other than the glory of God. While this is carried out in many avenues, as his people, we are called to his glory. God removes pride from our lives and then allows his people to persevere through incredible trials while always providing for us so that we may glorify him. The purpose for God’s people then is his glory, his worship, and his fame. May we be a people ever changed in our mind’s attention and our heart’s affection by a merciful and loving God who is jealous for his people whom he loves and calls to worship him.