“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.” (Zephaniah 3:14-15 ESV).
As we enter the latter part of Advent, it is quite appropriate to meditate upon these words of the prophet, Zephaniah. In Advent we look back at the first coming of Christ Jesus as a baby, but we also look forward to His second coming as King. The prophet describes the joys of the coming Kingdom that the Lord will establish once He has purified the earth and cleansed it from its wickedness. He will deliver those who put their trust in Him because He loves them so very much. No longer will they be an object of derision and subject to violence and persecution at the hands of their oppressors.
This is cause for great rejoicing. The Lord will return again to set all things right. But there is cause for sorrow as well, at least for the unbelievers. The Lord is surely going to execute judgment upon them for their sins and their unbelief. He has sent enough warnings to them in the scriptures and through His church of these coming days of tribulation. These warnings are designed to lead people to Him so that He might have mercy on them and forgive them. The calamities themselves have the same intended purpose as do the promises of a blessed future for those who repent.
Now we must know that the humble will inherit the kingdom, not bullies or arrogant and boastful people. What keeps us humble is the knowledge that none of us is saved by works or good deeds, but by the unmerited grace of God. It is inappropriate for any believer, therefore, to gloat over the sure punishments which will befall the wicked or to look forward to them with glee. Instead we should pray that we may endure with steadfast faith in God through these rough times. We should also work to show the mercy and love of Christ to everyone that does not deserve it with the hope that they may indeed turn to the Lord and repent.