Zephaniah 2:1-2 - Homilies By T. Whitelaw

I. THE CONDITION OF THE NATION DESCRIBED . Not its physical or material, but its moral or religious, condition. The former prosperous and fitted to inspire vain thoughts of stability and permanence. Its upper classes devoted to money making and pleasure seeking ( Zephaniah 1:8 , Zephaniah 1:12 ; cf. Jeremiah 4:30 ); its lower orders, here not the victims of oppression ( Zephaniah 1:9 ; Zephaniah 3:1 ; cf. Jeremiah 5:27 , Jeremiah 5:28 ; Jeremiah 6:6 ), well fed and comfortable ( Jeremiah 5:7 , Jeremiah 5:17 ). The latter degenerate and deserving of severe reprehension.

1 . Irreligious . According to the marginal rendering of both the Authorized and Revised Versions, the nation was "not desirous," i.e. possessed no longing after Jehovah, his Law, or worship, but had forsaken him, and sworn by them that are no gods ( Jeremiah 5:7 ), offering up sacrifices and pouring out drink offerings unto other divinities in the open streets, and even setting up their abominations in the temple ( Jeremiah 7:17 , Jeremiah 7:18 , 80). For a nation no more than for an individual is it possible to remain in a state of irreligious neutrality or indifference. The people whose aspirations go not forth after him who is the King of nations as well as King of saints will sooner or later find themselves trusting in "lying vanities," or creating divinities out of their own foolish imaginations ( Romans 1:23 ). Between theism and polytheism is no permanent half way house for either humanity as a whole or man as an individual.

2 . Shameless. This translation (Grotius, Gesenius, Ewald, Keil and Detitzsch, Cheyne, and there) depicts the moral and spiritual hardening which results from sin long continued, passionately loved, and openly gloried in, as Judah's apostasy had been ( Zephaniah 3:5 ). A whole diameter of moral and spiritual being lies between the shamelessness of innocence ( Genesis 2:25 ) and the shamelessness of sin ( Philippians 3:19 ). The former is beautiful and excites admiration; the latter is loathsome and evokes reprehension and pity. "A generation," says Pressense, "which can no longer blush is in open insurrection against the first principles of universal morality" ('The Early Years of Christianity,' 4:892).

3 . Hateful. So the Authorized Version, followed by Pusey. The degenerate nation, addicted to idolatry and sunk in immorality, was not desired or loved by God; but, on account of its wickedness, was an object of aversion to God. No contradiction to the truth elsewhere stated that God still loved the people and desired their reformation ( Jeremiah 2:2 ; Jeremiah 3:14 ); neither is it inconsistent to preach that "God is angry with the wicked every day" ( Psalms 7:11 ); and that, nevertheless, "he wilteth not that any should perish, but that all should turn to him and live" ( 2 Peter 3:9 ).

II. THE DUTY OF THE NATION DEFINED . To "gather themselves together." The figure, derived from the gathering together or collecting of stubble or dry sticks, "which are picked up one by one, with search and care" (Pusey), points to that work of self-examination which, in nations as in individuals, must precede conversion, and must be conducted:

1 . With resoluteness. Being a work to which their hearts were naturally not disposed, it could not be entered upon and far less carried through without deliberate and determined personal effort. Hence the prophet's reduplication of his exhortation. To make one's self the subject of serious introspection, never easy, is specially difficult when the object is to detect one's faults and pronounce judgment on one's deeds.

2 . With inwardness. A merely superficial survey would not suffice. An action outwardly correct may be intrinsically wrong, Hence the individual that would conduct a real work of self-examination must withdraw himself as much as possible from things eternal, take his seat on the interior tribunal of conscience, and gather round him all that forms a part of his being, in addition to his spoken words and finished deeds, the feelings out of which these have sprung, the motives by which they have been directed, the ends at which they have aimed, and subject the whole to a calm and impartial review.

3 . With minuteness. The things to be reviewed must be taken one by one, and not merely in the mass. Words and deeds, motives and feelings, when only glanced at in the heap, seldom reveal their true characters; to be known in their very selves they must be looked at, considered, questioned, weighed separately. All about them must be brought to light and placed beneath the microscope of conscientious investigation.

4 . With thoroughness. As each word, act, feeling. motive, so all must be taken. None must be exempted from scrutiny. Nor will it suffice that they be passed through the ordeal of examination once; the process must be repeated and re-repeated till the exact truth is known. "For a first search, however diligent, never thoroughly reaches the whole deep disease of the whole man; the most grievous sins hide other grievous sins, though lighter. Some sins flash on the conscience at one time, some at another; so that few, even upon a diligent search, come at once to the knowledge of all their heaviest sins" (Pusey).

III. THE DANGER OF THE NATION DECLARED . Unless the duty recommended and prescribed were immediately and heartily entered upon and carried through, the judgment already lying in the womb of God's decree would come to the birth, and the day of his fierce anger would overtake them.

1. The event was near . Should Judah continue unrepentant, the hour of doom would be on her before she was aware. It was rapidly approaching, like chaff driven before the wind. So will the day of the Lord come upon the wicked unawares ( Luke 16:1-31 :35).

2 . The issue was certain. Like chaff before the wind, too, her people would be driven away to pitiless destruction. The like fate is reserved for ungodly men generally ( Psalms 1:4 ; Job 21:18 ). Nothing can avert the final overthrow of the unbelieving and impenitent, whether nation or individual, but repentance and reformation, not outward but inward, not seeming but real, not temporary but permanent.

Learn:

1 . The reality of national no less than of individual wickedness.
2 . The responsibility that attaches to nations as well as men.
3 . The necessity of self-examination for communities as well as for private persons. — T.W.

Zephaniah 2:3 . - An exhortation to the meek, addressed to the believing remnant of Judah.

I. A CHEERING TESTIMONY .

1 . To the existence of a believing remnant. Dark as the outlook for Judah was, degenerate as the mass of her people had become, there were yet those belonging to her community who either had not apostatized from Jehovah or had reverted to their allegiance (see 2 Kings 22:1-20 ; 2 Kings 23:1-37 .; 2 Chronicles 34:1-33 ; 2 Chronicles 35:1-27 .). Since "the days that were before the Flood" ( Genesis 6:5-7 , Genesis 6:12 , Genesis 6:13 ), God has never wanted a seed to serve him, though oftentimes it has been small, and as in the days of Elijah ( 1 Kings 19:10 , 1 Kings 19:18 ) scarcely perceptible, at least by man. Compare the times after the exile ( Malachi 3:16 ) and those preceding the birth of Christ ( Luke 2:25 ). "Even so at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace" ( Romans 11:5 ). However discouraging in some respects the present aspect of Society may be — what with infidelity in the upper and learned classes, indifference towards religion among the masses, and lukewarmness on the one hand with fanaticism on the other in the Church itself — there are, nevertheless, those who fear God and think upon his Name, who believe in Christ and seek to follow in his steps, who sigh and cry for the irreligion of the age, mourn over the deadness and divisions of the Church, and pray for the coming of that happy era when "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord," etc. ( Isaiah 11:9 ).

2 . To the beauty of their characters, Designated "the meek of the earth." Indicating

3 . To the piety of their lives. They had "wrought Jehovah's judgment," i.e. had honestly endeavoured to carry out what Jehovah had prescribed as the right thing to do in the matter of worship and duty. This, after all, the ultimate test of sincerity in religion, which signifies not the mere acceptance of certain propositions relating to God, his worship, and his commandment, but the carrying out of God's will in respect of both. Compare what Samuel said to Saul ( 1 Samuel 15:22 ), what Christ explained to his followers ( John 14:15 ; John 15:14 ), and what Paul wrote to the Corinthians ( 2 Corinthians 10:5 ).

II. AN URGENT ADMONITION .

1 . Its import. Explained by two clauses: "Seek righteousness, seek meekness." Only in these ways could Jehovah be sought — neither by coveting the material and temporal tokens of his favour, such as health, comfort, protection, prosperity, nor by maintaining the external forms of his worship, however elaborate or costly, but by aspiring after inward and outward, spiritual and moral conformity to his Law (righteousness) and character (meekness). The same sense attaches to the phrase when addressed to Christians, who are exhorted to follow after righteousness and meekness ( 1 Timothy 6:11 ), and to seek both in Christ ( Matthew 11:29 ; Romans 10:4 ).

2 . Its incidence. Declared by the words, "all ye meek." Addressed to the humble hearted, first in Judah, and then in the whole world. The obligation to seek Jehovah grounded for both on

3 . Its urgency. Proclaimed by the threefold "seek." The like diligence demanded of all in the matter of religion.

III. AN ENCOURAGING CONSOLATION .

1 . A promise of salty for the righteous. Not a doubtful promise, though introduced by "it may be." From this phrase it cannot be inferred that the prophet was uncertain whether the meek in the laud would be protected in the day when Jehovah poured out his wrath upon Judah and Jerusalem; or whether the meek generally would be sheltered in the day of judgment. Merely he intimated that the hiding would be difficult; not the hiding of them by Jehovah, with whom nothing could be hard or easy, but the supplying by them of the moral and spiritual conditions without which God's hiding of them could not come to pass. The ultimate salvation of the meek is guaranteed ( Psalms 149:4 ; Matthew 5:5 ); but the actual process, in time, of saving them is attended by so many difficulties that throe is need for constant watchfulness against the danger of coming short.

2 . A threatening of doom for the ungodly. If the difficulty of saving the righteous be so great, what possible loophole of escape can there be for the ungodly ( Luke 23:31 ; 1 Peter 4:17 , 1 Peter 4:18 )? The overthrow of the wicked an additional security to the salvation of the righteous. — T.W.

Zephaniah 2:4-15 . - Divine judgments upon heathen nations.

I. THE NATIONS SPECIFIED .

1 . Philistia in the west.

2 . Moab and Ammon in the east. In the Assyrian inscriptions Ma ' -ab, Ma ' aab, Muaba, and Bit Amman. Here conjoined probably because

3 . Ethiopia in the south. The land of Cush, in Assyrian Kusu, the furthest south territory known to the Hebrews, was probably regarded as embracing Nabian Ethiopia and Arabia ( Genesis 2:13 ; 2 Chronicles 21:16 ; Esther 1:1 ; Isaiah 18:1 ; Ezekiel 29:10 ; Ezekiel 30:5 ). Its inhabitants, dark-skinned ( Jeremiah 13:23 ), were of a warlike character ( Jeremiah 46:9 ). Ethiopians composed part of Shishak's army ( 2 Chronicles 12:3 ). Zerah their king was defeated by Asa ( 2 Chronicles 14:9-15 ; 2 Chronicles 16:8 ). "They were a race cognate with the Egyptians, but darker in complexion and coarser in feature — not by any means negroes, but still more nearly allied to the negro than the Egyptians were".

4 . Assyria in the north. Founded by Asshur ( Genesis 10:11 ), who appears to have given his name first to the city he founded, and then to the empire it began, Assyria had as its capital Nineveh, the modern Koujunjik. (On the history of Nineveh as detailed by the cuneiform inscriptions, see Layard's 'Nineveh;' Sayce's 'Assyria, its Princes, Priests, and People;' and Schroder's 'Keilinschriften'). "The Assyrians were allied in blood and language to the Hebrews, the Aramaeans, and the Arabs;" "were a military people, caring for little else save war and trade;" and "if less luxurious than their Babylonian neighbours, were also less humane" (Sayce). Israel's contact with Assyria began in B.C. 853, with Ahab's contribution of ten thousand infantry and two thousand chariots to assist Benhadad II . of Damascus against Shalmaneser II . of Assyria ('Records of the Past,' 3:99), and ended, with the tall of Nineveh in B.C. 606.

II. THEIR SINS RECORDED .

1 . Idolatry. All alike guilty of worshipping false gods — the Philistines of doing homage to Ashtaroth, Dagon, and Beelzebub; the Moabites, to Baalpeor and Chemosh; and the Ammonites, to Moloch; the Ethiopians, most likely to the gods of Egypt, Amen-Ra, Ptah, Osiris, Anubis, Thoth, Isis, Hathor, etc.; and the Assyrians, to the old Babylonian divinities, Bel, Anu, and Ea. Idolatry regarded as a sin not in Israel alone ( Exodus 20:3-5 ), but in heathen peoples as well ( Psalms 97:7 ; Romans 1:25 ).

2 . Enmity against Israel. In this also all had been partakers — the Philistines from the days of the judges ( 10:7 ); the Moabites and Ammonites from the same period ( 3:13 ); the Ethiopians in the times of Rehoboam and Asa ( 2 Chronicles 12:3 ; 2 Chronicles 14:9 ); and the Assyrians under Tiglath-Pileser II ; who first invaded the northern kingdom in the reign of Menahem ( 2 Kings 4:19 ). In particular the Philistines of Gaza, in the days of Jeroboam II ; had sold captive Israelites to Edom ( Amos 1:6 ); the Moabites under Mesha the sheepmaster, in the days of Jehoram, son of Ahab, not only revolted against Israel ( 2 Kings 3:5 ), but carried the torch of war into Israelitish territory, defeating the Israelitish king and making many prisoners ('Records of the Past,' 2nd series, 2:200); while the Assyrians invaded Judah so late as the days of Manasseh, and even deported that king to Babylon ( 2 Chronicles 33:11 ).

3 . Pride. This more especially the sin of Moab (Verse 10) and of Assyria (Verse 15), of whom the former despised and magnified herself against Israel, and the latter exulted in her own fancied security and superlative greatness.

III. THEIR JUDGMENTS PRONOUNCED .

1 . In character equally severe.

2 . In incidence equally certain. All rested on a common ground, and were pronounced by a common voice, that of Jehovah. "The word of Jehovah was against the]and of the Philistines" (Verse 5). Unto Moab and Ammon Jehovah had undertaken to be terrible (Verse 11). Jehovah's sword was to slay the Ethiopians (Verse 12). He should also stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria (Verse 13). What God directly by his own voice, or indirectly through the voice of another, undertakes to do is as good as done.

3 . In result equally good. In threatening to destroy the above-mentioned nations — from their number and situation obviously designed to represent the whole heathen world — Jehovah practically engaged that the issue of his judgments would be to famish all the gods of the earth (Verse 11), i.e. cut off their worshipper's, and so starve or make them lean, and in this way cause them to vanish from the face of the earth. Thus the ultimate result of his punishing the heathen would be

Learn:

1 . That God sees and notes the attitudes of nations towards himself and his kingdom.

2 . That God is as much against nations that do wickedly as he is against individuals that sin.

3 . That the strongest and most flourishing empires can be easily overthrown when God becomes their assailant.

4 . That social and political convulsions are all hastening on the era when "the meek shall inherit the earth."

5 . That national judgments are a prelude and premonition of the judgments of the great day When "before him shall be gathered all nations." — T.W.