Just a few years ago, an angry man ran into a museum in Amsterdam until he reached Rembrandt’s famous painting “Night Watch.” He took out a knife and slashed it a number of times before he could be stopped. A short time later, another troubled man slipped into St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome and with a hammer began to smash Michelangelo’s sculpture “The Pieta”. Two beautiful works of art were severely damaged. But officials didn’t throw them out and forget about them. Using the best experts, who worked with the utmost care and precision, they made every effort to restore the treasures.
Even when damaged, something that is cherished and valuable is restored and not discarded. That was the message that God gave to Israel and to the nations of the world through the prophet Zephaniah. In this short book of three chapters, we read that mankind had effectively damaged the image of God in himself by idolatry and selfishness. God declares that he would judge the wickedness of man with many statements that begin with “I will”. Yet that is not the end of the story. God also declares that he will restore.
Things were bad. People were sacrificing their children to the Ammonite idol Milcom. The poor were being suppressed by the wealthy. One would be just in destroying such people, but God restores.
Zephaniah 2:3 is God’s cry to mankind. “Seek the Lord, all who are humble, and follow his commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you – protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.”
In Genesis 32, we read that Jacob fought with God. Instead of just destroying this crook, God left him with a limp as a reminder, and then he changed him into Israel, Prince of God.
Yes, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God but he does not give up on anyone. The last three verses of Zephaniah record God’s promise to restore. No matter how we have marred God’s image in us by sin, he desires to restore us. Praise God!
In his second sermon in Acts, Peter said, “Brethren, repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things”. (Acts 3:19- 21) Peter was speaking to Jews. Even hundreds of years later, God had not given up on Israel. His mercy for the rebelliousness is remarkable.
God is not willing that anyone should perish. The apostle Paul wrote that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”. (1 Timothy 2:4)
We were created for relationship with the creator and so restoration is not just health or wealth but more importantly it’s the kind of relationship that God had with mankind in the garden before sin.
You and I may be damaged goods because of sin but God considers us his masterpieces. He desires to restore his beauty in us. If we will only humbly bow to him and repent, he will do amazing things.
His heart of love calls us to respond to him. We appreciate your Comments