We all go through seasons of our lives when we feel like we’re in exile. We feel cut off from, invisible to, and unnoticed by others. These are the seasons when we roll our eyes at the thought that “the best is yet to come” and when we spend the vast majority of our Bible reading in the Old Testament books written by the minor prophets.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing because those prophets spoke some powerful promises from God, and the very last verse written by the prophet Zephaniah is one of them.
First, a bit of context for the promise we’ll read. King Josiah is cleaning things up in Judea after a few of the previous kings had led the people away from God. Zephaniah’s message of repentance coincided with the king’s call to rebuild, and the book closes with a powerful glimpse at what would come as the people heeded both.
God would dwell among them (Zephaniah 3:15), He would rejoice over them (v. 17), and He would defend them (v. 19). But the final promise was the one that leaped off the page for me today: He would restore them.
On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction, among all the nations of the earth, as I restore your fortunes before their very eyes. I, the Lord, have spoken! (Zephaniah 3:20 NLT, emphasis mine)
God’s people would be home again, and not only that, but He would restore to them what had been taken from them in front of the very people who had done the taking. This would be a “preparing a table in the presence of their enemies” type of victory!
That’s what Jesus brought to us. It was through Jesus that God dwelt among us, rejoices over us, and defends us. Jesus is the One who leaves the 99 to find the one.
And today, if you’re feeling exiled, isolated, invisible, or alone, He’s coming for you because it’s time for you to come home again.
