John Calvin, Commentary on Zephaniah



Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets by John Calvin.

Now first translated from the original Latin, by the Rev. John Owen,
vicar of Thrussington, Leicestershire.

Volume Fourth. Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai

WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1950, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America.



The Commentaries of John Calvin on the Prophet Zephaniah



Calvin's Preface to Zephaniah

Zephaniah is placed the last of the Minor Prophets who performed
their office before the Babylonian Captivity; and the inscription
shows that he exercised his office of teaching at the same time with
Jeremiah, about thirty years before the city was destroyed, the
Temple pulled down, and the people led into exile. Jeremiah, it is
true, followed his vocation even after the death of Josiah, while
Zephaniah prophesied only during his reign.
    The substance of his Book is this: He first denounces utter
destruction on a people who were so perverse, that there was no hope
of their repentance; - he then moderates his threatening, by
denouncing God's judgments on their enemies, the Assyrians, as well
as others, who had treated with cruelty the Church of God; for it
was no small consolation, when the Jews heard that they were so
regarded by God, that he would undertake their cause and avenge
their wrongs. He afterwards repeats again his reproofs, and shortly
mentions the sins which then prevailed among the elect people of
God; and, at the same time, he turns his discourse to the faithful,
and exhorts them to patience, setting before them the hope of favor,
provided they ever looked to the Lord; and provided they relied on
the gratuitous covenant which he made with Abraham, and doubted not
but that he would be a Father to them, and also looked, with a
tranquil mind, for that redemption which had been promised to them.
This is the sum of the whole Book.



Commentaries on the Prophet Zephaniah


Chapter 1.

Lecture One Hundred and Eighteenth

Zephaniah 1:1
The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the
son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days
of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah

    Zephaniah first mentions the time in which he prophesied; it
was under the king Josiah. The reason why he puts down the name of
his father Amon does not appear to me. The Prophet would not, as a
mark of honor, have made public a descent that was disgraceful and
infamous. Amon was the son of Manasseh, an impious and wicked king;
and he was nothing better than his father. We hence see that his
name is recorded, not for the sake of honor, but rather of reproach;
and it may have been that the Prophet meant to intimate, what was
then well known to all, that the people had become so obdurate in
their superstitions, that it was no easy matter to restore them to a
sound mind. But we cannot bring forward anything but conjecture; I
therefore leave the matter without pretending to decide it.
    With regard to the pedigree of the Prophet, I have mentioned
elsewhere what the Jews affirm - that when the Prophets put down the
names of their fathers, they themselves had descended from Prophets.
But Zephaniah mentions not only his father and grandfather, but also
his great-grandfather and his great-great-grandfather; and it is
hardly credible that they were all Prophets, and there is not a word
respecting them in Scripture. I do not think, as I have said
elsewhere, that such a rule is well-founded; but the Jews in this
case, according to their manner, deal in trifles; for in things
unknown they hesitate not to assert what comes to their minds,
though it may not have the least appearance of truth. It is possible
that the father, grandfather, the great-grandfather, and the
great-great-grandfather of the Prophet, were persons who excelled in
piety; but this also is uncertain. What is especially worthy of
being noticed is - that he begins by saying that he brought nothing
of his own, but faithfully, and, as it were, by the hand, delivered
what he had received from God.
    With regard, then, to his pedigree, it is a matter of no great
moment; but it is of great importance to know that God was the
author of his doctrine, and that Zephaniah was his faithful
minister, who introduced not his own devices, but was only the
announcer of celestial truth. Let us now proceed to the contents -

Zephaniah 1:2,3
I will utterly consume all [things] from off the land, saith the
LORD.
I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the
heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the
wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD

    It might seem at the first view that the Prophet dealt too
severely in thus fulminating against his own nation; for he ought to
have begun with doctrine, as this appears to be the just order of
things. But the Prophet denounces ruin, and shows at the same time
why God was so grievously displeased with the people. We must
however remember, that the Prophet, living at the same period with
Jeremiah, had regard to the stubbornness of the people, who had been
already with more than sufficient evidence proved to have been
guilty. Hence he darts forth as of a sudden and denounces the
wickedness of the people, which had been already exposed; so there
was to be no more contention on the subject, for their iniquity had
become quite ripe. And no doubt it was ever the object of the
Prophets to unite their endeavors so as to assist one another: and
this united effort ought ever to be among all the servants of God,
that no one may do anything apart, but with joined efforts they may
promote the same object, and at the same time strive mutually to
confirm the common truth. This is what our Prophet is now doing.
    He knew that God would have used various means to restore them,
had not the corruption of the people become now past recovery.
Having observed that all others had spent their labour in vain, he
directly attacks the wicked men who had, as it were designedly, cast
aside every fear of God, and shook off every shame. Since, then, it
was openly evident that with determined rebellion they resisted God,
it was no wonder that the Prophet began with so much severity.
    But here a difficulty meets us. He said in the first verse,
that he thus spoke under Josiah; but we know that the land was then
cleansed from its superstitions. For we learn, that when that pious
king attained manhood, he labored most strenuously to restore the
pure worship of God; and when all places were full of wicked
superstitions, he not only constrained the tribe of Judah to adopt
the true worship of God, but he also stimulated his neighbors who
had remained and were dispersed through the land of Israel. Since,
then, the pious king had strenuously and courageously promoted the
interest of true religion, it seems a wonder that God was still so
much displeased. But we must remember, that though Josiah sincerely
worshipped God, yet the people were not really changed; for it has
often happened, that God roused the chief men and leaders, while
few, or hardly any, followed them, but only yielded a feigned
obedience. This was no doubt the case in the time of Josiah; the
hearts of the people were alienated from God and true religion, so
that they chose rather to rot in their filth than to return to the
true worship of God. And that this was the case soon appeared by the
event; for Josiah did not reign long after he had cleansed the land
from its defilements, and Jehoahaz succeeded him; and then the
people immediately relapsed into their idolatry; and though for
three months only his successor reigned, yet true religion was in
that short time abolished. It is hence an obvious conclusion, that
the people had ever been wedded to impiety, and that its roots were
hidden in their hearts; though they apparently pretended to worship
God, and, in order to please the king, embraced the worship divinely
prescribed in their law; yet the event proved that it was a mere act
of dissimulation, yea, of perfidy. Then after Jehoahaz followed
Jehoiakim, and no better was their condition down to the time of
Zedekiah; in short, no remedy could be found for their unhealable
wound.
    It hence plainly appears, that though Josiah made use of all
means to revive the true and unadulterated worship of God in Judea,
he did not yet gain his object. And we hence clearly learn how hard
were the trials he sustained, seeing that he effected nothing,
though at great hazard he attempted to restore the worship of God.
When he found that he labored in vain, he no doubt had to contend
with great difficulties; and this we know by our own experience.
When hope of success shines on us, we easily overcome all troubles,
however arduous our work may be; but when we see that we strive in
vain, we become dejected: and when we see that our labour succeeds
only for a few years, our spirit grows faint. Josiah surmounted
these two difficulties; for the perverseness of the people was
sufficiently evident, and he was also reminded by two Prophets,
Jeremiah and Zephaniah, that the people would still cherish their
impious perverseness. When, therefore, he plainly saw that his
labour was almost in vain, he might have fainted in the middle of
his course, or, as they say, at the starting-place. And since the
benefit was so small during his reign, what could he have hoped
after his death?
    This example ought at this day to be carefully observed: for
though God now appears to the world in full light, yet very few
there are who submit themselves to his word; and of this small
number fewer still there are who sincerely and without any
dissimulation embrace sound doctrine. We indeed see how great is
their inconstancy and indifference. For they who pretend great zeal
for a time very soon vanish and fall away. Since then the perversity
of the world is so great, sufficient to deject the minds of God's
servants a hundred times, let us learn to look to Josiah, who in his
own time left undone nothing, which might serve to establish the
true worship of God; and when he saw that he effected but little and
next to nothing, he still persevered, and with firm and invincible
greatness of mind proceeded in his course.
    We may also derive hence an admonition no less useful not to
regard ours as the golden age, because some portion of men profess
the pure worship of God: for many, by no means wicked men, think,
that almost all mortals are like angels, as soon as they testify in
words their approbation of the gospel: and the sacred name of
Reformation is at this day profaned, when any one who shows as it
were by a nod only that he is not wholly an enemy to the gospel, is
immediately lauded as a person of extraordinary piety. Though then
many show some regard for religion, let us yet know that among so
large a number there are many hypocrites, and that there is much
chaff mixed with the wheat: and that our senses may not deceive us,
we may see here, as in a mirror, how difficult it is to restore the
world to the obedience of God, and utterly to root up all
corruptions, though idols may be taken away and superstitions be
abolished. No doubt Josiah had regard to everything calculated to
cleanse the Church, and had recourse to the advice of Jeremiah and
also of Zephaniah; we yet see that he did not attain the object he
wished, for God now became more grievously displeased with his
people than under Manasseh, or under Amon. These wicked kings had
attempted to extinguish all true religion; they had cruelly raged
against all God's servants, so that Jerusalem became almost drenched
with innocent blood: and yet God seems here to have manifested
greater displeasure under Josiah than during the previous cruelty
and so many impieties. But as I have already said, there is no
reason why we should despond, though the world by its ingratitude
may close up the way against us; and however much may Satan also by
this artifice strive to discourage us, let us still perseveringly go
on according to the duties of our calling.
    But it may be now asked, why God denounces his vengeance on the
beasts of the field, the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the sea;
for how much soever the Jews may have provoked him by their sins,
innocent animals ought to have been spared. If a son is not to be
punished for the fault of his father, (Ezek. 18: 4,) but that the
soul that has sinned is to die, why did God turn his wrath against
fishes and other animals? This seems to have been a hasty and
unreasonable infliction. But let this rule be first borne in mind -
that it is preposterous in us to estimate God's doings according to
our judgment, as froward and proud men do in our day; for they are
disposed to judge of God's works with such presumption, that
whatever they do not approve, they think it right wholly to condemn.
But it behaves us to judge modestly and soberly, and to confess that
God's judgments are a deep abyss: and when a reason for them does
not appear, we ought reverently and with due humility to hook for
the day of their full revelation. This is one thing. Then it is meet
at the same time to remember, that as animals were created for man's
use, they must undergo a lot in common with him: for God made
subservient to man both the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the
sea, and all other animals. It is then no matter of wonder, that the
condemnation of him, who enjoys a sovereignty over the whole earth,
should reach to animals. And we know that the world was not made
subject to corruption willingly - that is, naturally; but because
the contagion from Adam's fall diffused itself through heaven and
earth. Hence the sun and the moon, and all the stars, and also all
the animals, the earth itself, and the whole world, bear marks of
God's wrath, not because they have provoked it through their own
fault, but because the whole world is involved in man's curse. The
reason then is, because all things were created for the sake of man.
Hence there is no ground to conclude, that God acts with too much
severity when he executes his vengeance on innocent animals, for he
can justly involve in the same ruin with man whatever he has created
for his use.
    But the reason also is sufficiently plain, why the Prophet
speaks here of the beasts of the earth, the fishes of the sea, and
the birds of heaven: for we find that men grow torpid, or rather
stupid in their own indifference, except they are forcibly roused.
It was, therefore, necessary for the Prophet, when he saw the people
so hardened in their wickedness, and that he had to do with men past
recovery, to set clearly before them these judgments of God, as
though he had said - "Ye lie down securely, and indulge yourselves,
when God is coming forth prepared for vengeance: but his wrath shall
not only proceed against you, but will also lay hold on the harmless
animals; for ye shall see a horrible judgment executed on your oxen
and asses, on the birds and the fishes. What will become of you when
God's wrath shall be thus kindled against the unhappy creatures who
have committed no sins? Shall ye indeed escape unpunished?" We now
understand why the Prophet does not speak here of men only, but
collects with them the beasts of the earth, the fishes of the sea,
and the birds of the air.
    He says first, "By removing I will remove all things from the
face of the land"; he afterwards enumerates particulars: but
immediately after he clearly shows, that God would not act rashly
and inconsiderately while executing his vengeance, for his sole
purpose was to punish the wicked, "There shall be, he says,
stumblingblocks to the ungodly"; it is the same as though he said -
"When I cite to God's tribunal both the fishes of the sea and the
birds of heaven, think not that God's controversy is with these
creatures which are void of reason, but they are to sustain a part
of God's vengeance, which ye have through your sins deserved." The
Prophet then does here briefly show, that what he had before
threatened brute creatures with, would come upon them on men's
account; for God's design was to execute vengeance on the wicked;
and as he saw that they were extremely torpid, he tried to awaken
them by manifest tokens, so that they might see God the avenger as
it were in a striking picture. And at the same time he also adds, "I
will remove man from the face of the land". He does not speak now of
fishes or of other animals, but refers to men only. Hence appears
more clearly what I have said - that the Prophet was under the
necessity of speaking as he did, owing to the insensibility of the
people. He now adds -

Zephaniah 1:4
I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal
from this place, [and] the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
    
    The Prophet explains still more clearly why he directed his
discourse in the last verse against the beasts of the earth and the
birds of heaven, even for this end - that the Jews might understand
that God was angry with them. I will stretch forth, he says, my hand
on Judah and on Jerusalem. God, then, by executing his vengeance on
animals, intended to exhibit to the Jews, as in a picture, the
dreadfulness of his wrath, which yet they despised and regarded as
nothing. The stretching forth of God's hand I have elsewhere
explained; and it means even this - that he stretches forth his hand
when he acts in an unusual manner, and employs means beyond what is
common. We indeed know that God has no hands, and we also know that
he performs all things by his command alone: but as everything seen
in the world is called the work of his hands, so he is said to
stretch forth his hand when he mentions a work that is remarkable
and worthy of being remembered. In a like manner, when I intend to
do some slight work, I only move my hand; but when I have some
difficult work to do, I prepare myself more carefully, and also
stretch forth my arms. This metaphor, then, is intended only for
this purpose, to render men more attentive to God's works, when he
is set forth as stretching forth his hand.
    But he says, "on Judah and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem".
The kingdom of Israel had now been abolished, and the ten tribes had
been led into exile; and a few only of the lowest and the poorest
remained. The Jews thought themselves safe for ever, because they
had escaped that calamity. This is the reason why the Prophet
declares that God's judgment was impending not only over the kingdom
of Judah, but also over the holy city, which thought itself exempt
from all such evil, because there were the sacrifices performed, and
there was the royal city, and, in short, because God had testified
that his habitation was to be there for ever. Since, then, by this
vain confidence the inhabitants of Jerusalem deceived themselves and
others, Zephaniah specifically addresses them. And as he had before
spoken of the wicked, he intended here, no doubt, sharply to reprove
the Jews, as though he said by way of anticipation, "There is no
reason for you to enquire who are the wicked; for ye yourselves are
they, even ye who are the holy people of God and God's chosen
inheritance, ye who are the race of Abraham, who flatter yourselves
so much on account of your excellency; ye are the wicked, who have
not hitherto ceased to provoke the vengeance of God." And at the
same time he shows, as it were by the finger, some of their sins,
though he mentions others afterwards: but he speaks now of their
superstitions.
    "I will cut off, he says, the remnants of Baal and the name of
Chamerim". The severity of the Prophet may seem here again to be
excessive, for being so incensed against superstitions which had
been abolished by the great zeal and singular diligence of the king;
but, as we have already intimated, he regarded not so much the king
as the people. For though they dared not openly to adulterate God's
worship, they yet cherished those corruptions at home to which they
had before been accustomed, as we see to be done at this day. For
when it is not allowed to worship idols, many mutter their prayers
in secret and invoke their idols: and, in short, they are restrained
only by the fear of men from manifesting their own impiety; and in
the meantime, they retain before God the same abominations. So it
was in the time of Josiah; the people were wedded to their
corruptions, and this we may easily conclude from the words of
Zephaniah: for the remnants of Baal were not seen in the temple, nor
in the streets, nor in their chapels, nor in the high places; but
their hidden impiety is here discovered by the Spirit of God; and no
doubt their sin was the more heinous and less excusable, because the
people refused to follow their pious leader. It was indeed the most
abominable ingratitude; for when they saw that the right worship was
restored to them, they preferred to remain fixed in their own filth,
rather than to return to God, even when they had liberty to do so,
and also when that pious king extended his hand to them.
    As to the word "kemarim", it designated either the worshipers
of Baal or some such men as our monks at this day: and they are
supposed by some to have been thus called, because they were clothed
in black vestments; while others think that they derived this name
from their fervor, because they were madly devoted to their
superstitions, or because they had marks on their foreheads, or
because they imposed, as is commonly the case, on the simple by the
ardor of their zeal. The name is also found in 2 Kings 23 in the
account given of Josiah: for it is said there, that the "kemarim"
were taken away, together with other abominations of superstition.
But as Zephaniah connects priests with them, it is probable that
they were a kind of people like the monks, who did not themselves
offer sacrifices, but were a sort of attendants, who undertook vows
and offered prayers in the name of the whole people. For what some
think, that they were thus called because they burnt incense,
appears not to me probable; for then they must have been priests.
They were then inferior to the sacrificers, and occupying a station
between them and the people, like the monks and hermits of this day,
who deceive foolish men by their sanctity. Such, then, were the
Camerim.
    But as Josiah could not attain his object, so as immediately to
cleanse the land from these pollutions, we need not wonder that at
this day we are not able immediately to remove superstitions from
the world: but let us in the meantime ever proceed in our course.
Let those endued with authority, who bear the sword, that is, all
magistrates, perform their office with greater diligence, inasmuch
as they see how difficult and protracted is the contest with the
ministers of idolatry. Let also the ministers of the gospel
earnestly cry against idolatry, and all ungodly ceremonies, and not
desist. Though they may not effect as much as they wish, yet let
them follow the example of Josiah. If God should in the meantime
thunder from heaven, let them not be discouraged, but, on the
contrary, know that their labour is approved by him, and never doubt
of their own safety; for though all were destroyed, their godly
efforts would not be in vain, nor fail of a reward before God. Thus,
then, ought all God's servants to animate themselves, each in his
particular sphere and vocation, whenever they have to contend with
superstitions, and with such corruptions as vitiate and adulterate
the pure worship of God.
    
Prayer.
    
Grant, Almighty God, that as we are so prone to corruptions, and so
easily turn from the right course after having commenced it, and so
easily degenerate from the truth once known, - O grant, that, being
strengthened by thy Spirit, we may persevere to the end in the right
way which thou showest to us in thy word, and that we may also
labour to restore the many who abandon themselves to various errors;
and though we may effect nothing, let us not yet be led away after
them, but remain firm in the obedience of faith, until having at
length finished all these contests, we shall be gathered into that
blessed rest which is prepared for us in heaven, through Christ our
Lord. Amen.


Lecture One Hundred and Nineteenth

Zephaniah 1:5
And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and
them that worship [and] that swear by the LORD, and that swear by
Malcham;
    
    Zephaniah pursues the subject contained in the verse I
explained yesterday. For as the majority of the people still adhered
to their superstitions, though the pure worship of the law had been
restored by Josiah, the Prophet threatens here, that God would
punish such ingratitude. As then he had spoken in the last verse of
the worshipers of Baal and their sacrifices, so now he proceeds
farther - that the Lord would execute vengeance on the whole people,
who prayed to the host of heaven, or bowed themselves down before
the host of heaven. It is well known that those stars are thus
called in Scripture to which the gentiles ascribed, on account of
their superior lustre, some sort of divinity. Hence it was, that
they worshipped the sun as God, called the moon the queen of heaven,
and also paid adoration to the stars. The people, then, did not only
sin in worshipping Baal, but were also addicted to many
superstitions, as we see to be the case whenever men degenerate from
the genuine doctrine of true religion; they then seek out various
inventions on all sides, so that they observe no limits and keep
within no boundaries.
    But he says, that they worshipped the stars on their roofs. It
is probable that they chose this higher place, as interpreters
remind us, because they thought that they were more seen by the
stars the nearer they were to them. For as men are gross in their
ideas they never think God propitious to them except he exhibits
some proof or sign of a bodily presence; in short, they always seek
God according to their own earthly notions. Since, then, the Jews
thought that there were so many Gods as there are stars in heaven,
it is no wonder that they ascended to the roofs of their houses,
that they might be, as it were, in the sight of their gods, and thus
not lose their labour; for the superstitious never think that their
devotion is observed by God, unless they have before their eyes, as
we have just said, some sign of his presence.
    We now then see how this verse stands connected with the last.
God declares that he would punish all idolaters; but as the Jews
worshipped Baal, the Prophet first condemned that strange religion;
and now he adds other devices, to which the Jews perversely devoted
themselves; for they worshipped also all the stars, ascribing to
them some sort of divinity. Then he mentions all those who
worshipped and swore by their own king, and swore by Jehovah.
    By these last words the Prophet intimates, that the Jews had
not so repudiated the law of God but that they boasted that they
still worshipped the God who had adopted them, and by whom they had
been redeemed, who had commanded the temple to be built for him, and
an altar on mount Sion. They then did not openly reject the worship
of the true God, but formed such a mixture for themselves, that they
joined to the true God their own idols, as we see to be the state of
things at this day under the Papacy. It seems a sufficient excuse to
foolish men that they retain the name of God; and they confidently
boast that the true God is worshipped by them; and yet we see that
they mix together with this worship many of the delusions of Satan;
for under the Papacy there is no end to their inventions. When any
devise some peculiar mode of worship, it is then connected with the
rest; and thus they form such a mixture, that from one God, divided
into many parts, they bring forth a vast troop of deities. As then
at this day the Papists worship God and idols too, so Zephaniah had
to condemn the same wickedness among the Jews.
    We here learn that God's name was not then wholly obliterated,
as though the world had openly fallen away from God; for though they
worshipped Jupiter, Mercury, Apollo, and other fictitious gods, they
yet professed to worship the only true and eternal God, the Creator
of heaven and earth. What then was it that the Prophet condemned
that they were not content with what the law simply and plainly
prescribed, but that they devised for themselves various and strange
modes of worship; for when men take to themselves such a liberty as
this, they no longer worship the true God, how much soever they may
pretend to do so, inasmuch as God repudiates all spurious modes of
worship, as he testifies especially in Ezek. 20 - "Go ye," he says,
"worship your idols." He shows that all kinds of worship are
abominable to him whenever men depart in any measure from his pure
word. For we must hold this as the main principle - that obedience
is more valued by God than all sacrifices. Whenever men run after
their own inventions they depart from the true God; for they refuse
to render to him what he principally requires, even obedience.
    But our Prophet speaks according to the common notions of men;
for they pretended to be the true worshipers of God, while they
still adhered to their own inventions. They did not, indeed,
properly speaking, worship the true God; but as they thought, and
openly professed to do this, Zephaniah, making this concession, says
- "God will not suffer his own worship to be thus profaned: ye seek
to blend it with that of your idols; this he will not endure. Ye
worship the true God, and ye worship your idols; but he would have
himself to be worshipped alone; and this he deserves. But the
partition which ye make is nothing else than the mangling of true
worship; and God will not have himself to be thus in part
worshipped." We now understand what the Prophet means here; for the
Jews covered their abominations with the pretext that their purpose
was to worship the God of Abraham: the Prophet does not simply deny
this to be done by them, but declares that this worship was useless
and disapproved by God; nay, he proceeds farther, and says that this
worship, made up of various inventions, was an abominable corruption
which God would punish; for he can by no means bear that there
should be such an alliance - that idols should be substituted in his
place, and that a part of his glory should be transferred to the
inventions of men. This is the true meaning.
    We hence learn how greatly deceived the Papists are, who think
it enough, provided they depart not wholly from the worship of the
only true God; for God allows and approves of no worship except when
we attend to his voice, and turn not aside either to the left hand
or to the right, but acquiesce only in what he has prescribed.
    It is nothing strange that he connects swearing with worship,
for it is a kind of divine worship. Hence the Scripture, stating a
part for the whole, often mentions swearing in this sense, as
including the service due to God. But the Prophet pronounces here
generally a curse on all the superstitious, who worshipped
fictitious gods; and then he adds one kind of worship, and that is
swearing. I shall not here speak at large, nor is it - necessary, on
the subject of swearing. We know that the use of an oath is lawful
when God is appealed to as a witness and a judge, on important
occasions; for God's name may be interposed when a matter requires
proof, and when it is important; but God's name is not to be
introduced thoughtlessly. Hence two things are especially required
in an oath - that all who swear by his name should present
themselves with reverence before his tribunal, and acknowledge him
to be the avenger if they take his name falsely or inconsiderately
This is one thing. Then the matter itself, on account of which we
swear, must be considered; for if men allow themselves to swear by
God's name respecting things which are trifling and frivolous, it is
a shameful profanation, and by no means to be borne. For it is a
singular favor on the part of God, that he allows us to take his
name when there is any controversy among us, and when a confirmation
is necessary. As then we thus receive through kindness the name of
God, it is surely a great favor; for how great is the sanctity of
that name, though it serves even earthly concerns? God then does so
far accommodate himself to us, that it is lawful for us to swear by
his name. Hence a greater seriousness ought to be observed by us in
oaths, so that no one should dare to interpose an oath except when
necessity requires; and we should also especially take heed lest God
be called a witness to what is false. For how great a sacrilege it
is to cover a falsehood with his name, who is the eternal and
immutable truth! They then who swear falsely by his name change God,
as far as they can, into what he is not. We now sufficiently
understand how swearing is a kind of divine worship, because his
honor is thereby given to God; for his majesty is, as it were,
brought before us, and as it is his peculiar office to know and to
discover hidden things, and also to maintain the truth, this his own
work is ascribed to him. Now when any one swears by a mortal, or by
the sun, or by the moon, or by creatures, he deprives God in part of
his own honor.
    We hence see that in superstitious oaths there was a clear
proof of idolatry. This is the reason why the Prophet here condemns
those who did swear by Jehovah and by Malkom; that is, who joined
their idols with the true and eternal God when they swore. For it is
a clear precept of God's law, 'By the name of thy God shalt thou
swear.' (Deut. 6: 13.) And when the Prophets speak of the renovation
of the Church, they use this form - 'Ye shall swear by the name of
God;' 'To me shall bend every knee;' 'Every tongue shall swear to
me.' What does all this mean? "The whole world shall acknowledge me
as the true God; and as every knee shall bow to me, so every one
will submit himself to my judgment." We may hence doubtlessly
conclude, that God is deprived of his right, whenever we swear by
the sun, or by the moon, or by the dead, or by any creatures.
    This evil has been common in all ages; and it prevails still at
this day under the Papacy. They swear by the Virgin, by angels, and
by the dead. They do not think that they thus take away anything
from the sovereignty of the only true God; but we see what he
declares respecting them. The Papists therefore foolishly excuse
themselves, when they swear by their saints: for they cannot elude
the charge of sacrilege, which the Holy Spirit has stamped with
perpetual infamy, since he has said, that all those are abominable
in the sight of God who swear by any other name than his own: and
the reason is evident, for the sun, moon, and stars, and also dead
or living men, are honored with the name of God, when they are set
up as judges. For they who swear by the sun, do the same as though
they said - "The sun is my witness and judge;" that is, "The sun is
my God." They who swear by the name of a king, or as profane men
swore formerly, "By the genius of their king," ascribe to a mortal
what is peculiar to the true God alone. But when any one swears by
heaven or the temple, and does not think that there is any divinity
in the heavens or in the temple, it is the same as though he swore
by God himself, as it appears from Matt. 23: 20-22; and Christ, when
he forbade us to swear by heaven or by the earth, did not condemn
such modes of swearing as inconsistent with his word, but as only
useless and vain. At the same time he showed that God's name is
profaned by such expressions: 'They who swear by heaven, swear also
by him who inhabits heaven; they who swear by the temple, swear also
by him who is worshipped in the temple, and to whom sacrifices are
offered.' When one swears by his head or by his life, it is a
protestation, as though he said - "As my life is dear to me." But
they who swear by the saints, either living or dead, ascribe to
mortals what is due to God. They who swear by the sun, place a dead
created thing on the throne of God himself.
    As to the term "malkam", it may be properly rendered, their
king; for "melech", as it is well known, means a king; but it is
here put in construction, "malkam", their king; they swear by their
own, king. The Prophet, I doubt not, alludes to the word "Moloch",
which is derived from the verb, to reign: for though that word was
commonly used by all as a proper name, it is yet certain that that
false god was so called, as though he was a king: and the Prophet
increases the indignity by saying - They swear by Malkom. He might
have simply said, "They swear by Moloch;" but he says, They swear by
Malkom; that is, "They forget that I am their king, and transfer my
sovereignty to a dead and empty image." God then does here, by an
implied contrast, exaggerate the sin of the Jews, as they sought
another king for themselves, when they knew that under his
protection they always enjoyed a sure and real safety. Let us now
proceed -

Zephaniah 1:6
And them that are turned back from the LORD; and [those] that have
not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
    
    The Prophet seems here to include, as it were, in one bundle,
the proud despisers of God, as well as those idolaters of whom he
had spoken. It may yet be, that he describes the same persons in
different words, and that he means that they were addicted to their
own superstitions, because they were unwilling to serve God
sincerely and from the heart, and even shunned everything that might
lead their attention to true religion. And this view I mostly
approve; for what some imagine, that their gross contempt of God is
here pointed out, is not sufficiently supported. I therefore rather
think that the idolaters are here reproved, that they might not
suppose that they could by subterfuges wash away their guilt; for
they were wont to cover themselves with the shield of ignorance,
when they were overcome, and their impiety was fully proved: "I did
not think so; but, on the contrary, my purpose was to worship God."
Since, then, the superstitious are wont to hide themselves under the
covering of ignorance, the Prophet here defines the idolatry of the
people, and briefly shows that it was connected with obstinacy and
wickedness.
    They did "not seek Jehovah"; but, on the contrary, they turned
willfully away from him, and sought, as it were designedly, to
extinguish true religion. Nor was it to be wondered at, that so
grievous and severe a sentence was pronounced on them; for they had
been taught by the law how God was to be served. How was it, then,
that errors so gross had crept in? Doubtless, God had kindled the
light of celestial truth, which clearly showed the way of true
religion; but as men ever seek to perform some frivolous trifles,
the Israelites and the Jews, when they felt ashamed openly and
manifestly to reject the true God, labored at the same time to add
many ceremonies, that their impiety might be thus concealed. This is
the reason why the Prophet says that they turned back; that is, that
they could not be excused on the ground of ignorance, but that they
were perfidious and apostates, who had preferred their own idols to
the true God; though they knew that he could not be rightly
worshipped, but according to the rule prescribed in the law, they
yet neglected this, and heaped together many superstitions.
    And, doubtless, we shall find that the fountain of all false
worship is this - that men are unwilling truly and from the heart to
serve God; and, at the same time, they wish to retain some
appearance of religion. For there is nothing omitted in the law that
is needful for the perfect worship of God: but as God requires in
the law a spiritual worship, hence it is that men seek
hiding-places, and devise for themselves many ceremonies, that they
may turn back from God, and yet pretend that they come to him. While
they sedulously labour in their own ceremonies, it is indeed true
that the worship of God and religion are continually on their lips:
but, as I have said, it is all hypocrisy and deception; for they
accumulate ceremonies, that there might be something intervening
between God and them. It is not, therefore, without reason that the
Prophet here accuses the Jews that they "turned back from Jehovah,
and that they sought him not". How so? For there was no need of a
long, or of a difficult, or of a perplexed enquiry; for the Lord had
freely offered himself to them. How, then, was it that they were
blind in the midst of light, except that they knowingly and
willfully followed their own inventions?
    The same is the case at this day with the Papists: for though
they may glamour a hundred times that they seek to worship God, it
is quite evident that they willfully go astray; inasmuch as they so
delight themselves with their own inventions, that they do not
purely and from the heart devote and consecrate themselves to God.
    We now, then, see that this verse was added, as an explanation,
by the Prophet, that he might deprive the Jews of their false plea
of ignorance, and show that they sinned willfully; for they would
have been sufficiently taught by the law, had they not adopted their
own inventions, which dazzled their eyes and all their senses. It
follows -

Zephaniah 1:7-9
7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the
LORD [is] at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath
bid his guests.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD's sacrifice, that
I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as
are clothed with strange apparel.
9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the
threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and
deceit.
    
    The Prophet confirms here what he has previously taught, when
he bids all to be silent before God; for this mode of speaking is
the same as though he had said, that he did not terrify the Jews in
vain, but seriously set before them God's judgment, which they would
find by experience to be even more than terrible. He also records
some of their sins, that the Jews might know that he did not
threaten them for nothing, but that there were just causes why God
declared that he would punish them. This is the substance of the
whole.
    Let us first see what the Prophet means by the word, silence.
Something has been said of this on the second chapter of Habakkuk.
We said then that by silence is meant submission; and to make the
thing more clear, we said that we were to notice the contrast
between the silence to which men calmly submit, and the contumacy,
which is ever clamorous: for when men seek to be wise of themselves,
and acquiesce not in God's word, it is then said, that they are not
silent, for they refuse to give a hearing to his word; and when men
give loose reins to their own will, they observe no bounds. Until
God then obtains authority in the world, all places are full of
clamour, and the whole life of men is in a state of confusion, for
they run to and fro in their wanderings; and there is no restraint
where God is not heard. It is for the same reason that the Prophet
now demands silence: but the expression is accommodated to the
subject which he handles. To be silent at the presence of God, it is
true, is to submit to God's authority; but the connection is to be
considered; for Zephaniah saw then that God's judgment was despised
and regarded as nothing; and he intimates here that God had so
spoken, that the execution was nigh at hand. Hence he says, "Be
silent", that is, "Know ye, that I have not spoken merely for the
purpose of terrifying you; but as God is prepared to execute
vengeance, of this he now reminds you, that if there be any hope of
repentance, ye may in time seek to return into favor with him; if
not, that ye may be without excuse."
    We now then understand why the Prophet bids them to be silent
before the Lord Jehovah: and the context is a confirmation of the
same view; for the reason is added, Because the day of Jehovah is
nigh. For profane men ever promise to themselves some respite, and
think that they gain much by delay: the Prophet, on the contrary,
does now expose to scorn this self-security, and says, that the day
of Jehovah was nigh at hand. It is then the same thing as though he
had said, that his judgment ought to have been quickly anticipated,
and even with fear and trembling.
    He afterwards employs a metaphor to set forth what he taught, -
that God had prepared a sacrifice, yea, that he had already
appointed and set apart his guests. By the word, sacrifice, the
Prophet reminded them, that the punishment of which he had spoken
would be just, and that the glory of God would thereby shine forth.
We indeed know how ready the world is to make complaints; when it is
pressed by God's hand, it expostulates on account of too much rigor;
and many in an open manner give utterance to their blasphemies. As
then they own not God's justice in his punishment, the Prophet calls
it a sacrifice; and sacrifices, we know, are evidences of divine
worship, and he who offers a sacrifice to God, owns him to be just.
So also by this kind of speaking Zephaniah intimates that God would
not act a cruel part in cutting off the city Jerusalem and its
inhabitants; for this would be a sacrifice, according to the
language often employed by the Prophets, and especially by Isaiah,
who says of Bozrah, 'A sacrifice is prepared in Bozrah,' (Is. 34:
6;) and who says also of Jerusalem itself, 'Oh! Ariel! Ariel! ' (Is.
29: 1.) where Jerusalem itself is represented as the altar; as
though he had said, "In all the streets, in the open places, there
shall be altars to me; for I will collect together great masses of
men, whom I shall slay as a sacrifice to me." For all who were not
willing to render worship to God, and who did not freely offer
themselves as spiritual victims to him, were to be drawn to the
slaughter, and were at the same time called sacrifices. So the
executions on the gallows, when the wicked suffer, may be said to be
sacrifices to God: for the Lord arms the magistrate with the sword
to restrain wickedness, that the wicked may not have such liberty as
to banish all equity from the world. The cities also, which, being
forcibly taken, are subject to a slaughter, and the fields, where
armies are slain, become altars, for God makes the rebellious a
sacrifice, because they refuse willingly to offer themselves.
    So also in this place the Prophet says, "Jehovah has prepared
for himself a sacrifice", - Where? At Jerusalem, through the whole
city, as it has appeared from the quotation from Isaiah; for as they
had not rightly sacrificed to God on Mount Sion, but vitiated his
whole worship, God himself declares, that he would become a priest,
that he might slay, as he thought right, those beasts, who had
obstinately refused his yoke: And he has prepared his guests. But I
cannot finish to-day.
    
Prayer.
    
Grant, Almighty God, that as we continue in so many ways to provoke
against us thy wrath, we may patiently bear the punishment, by which
thou wouldest correct our faults, and also anticipate thy judgment:
and since thou art pleased to recall us in due time to thyself, let
us not turn deaf ears to thy counsels, but so obey and submit
ourselves to thee, that we may become partakers of that mercy, which
thou offerest to us, provided we seek to be reconciled to thee, and
so proceed in thy service, that under the government of Christ thy
Son, whom thou hast appointed to be our supreme and only king, we
may so strive to be wholly devoted to thee that thou mayest be
glorified through our whole life, until we become at length
partakers of that celestial glory, which has been procured for us by
the blood of thy only-begotten Son. Amen
    

Lecture One Hundred and Twentieth
    
    We stated yesterday why God compares the slaughter of the
wicked to a sacrifice, - because in punishing the ungodly, he shows
himself to be the judge of the world: and this slaying is a
sacrifice of sweet odour, because it makes known this glory. And he
immediately adds, that he had prepared his guests. The word he uses
is "kadash", which means to sanctify, but is often to be taken in a
different sense. It may be explained as meaning, that God had
prepared his guests: but as there is an express mention made of
sacrifice, Zephaniah, I have no doubt, continues the same metaphor.
The meaning then is, that the Chaldeans, who were ministers of God's
vengeance, were already not only chosen for the purpose of executing
it, but were divinely consecrated for that end: and this unwelcome
saying was uttered by the Prophet, that he might more sharply touch
the feelings of his own nation. The Jews ought indeed to have
acknowledged God's judgment even when executed by heathens; but this
they would not have done, had they not understood, that these were,
in exercising their cruelty, as it were, the priests of God; for the
royal priesthood at Jerusalem had been profaned. We now then see why
the Prophet says, that those were sanctified by the Lord who had
been invited to feed on the flesh of the chosen people, as they were
wont to eat of the remainder of their sacrifices on festal days. Let
us now proceed.
    I yesterday repeated this verse, "And it shall be, on the day
of the sacrifice of Jehovah, that I will then visit the princes, and
the sons of the king, and those who are clothed with strange
apparel". The Prophet shows, that he not only threatened the common
people, but also the chief leaders, so that he spared not even the
king's sons. He attacks then here the principal men among the
people; for they were justly led to punishment in the first place,
as they had been to others the cause of their errors. We indeed
know, that they who excel in dignity give a much greater offense
when they abuse their power in promoting what is sinful. Hence it
was, that God seemed often to have sent his Prophets to them only.
For though the low and the humble in the community were not exempt
from punishment, yet it was but reasonable that God should more
severely punish their leaders. Hence the Prophet now says, that God
would "visit the princes and the king's sons". He did not indeed
intend here to flatter obscure men, as though God meant to overlook
them: but as the king and his counselors had more grievously sinned,
the more angry was God with them. We also know, that kings and
others, who exercise power, are not easily moved, for the splendor
of their fortune blinds them; and they think that they are in a
manner exempt from laws, because they occupy a higher station. We
now then see why the Prophet speaks especially of the princes and
the king's sons.
    He also adds, "And those who wear foreign apparel". Some refer
this to the worshipers of Baal, or his priests; but the context does
not allow us to apply it to any but to courtiers, whose great
delight was in apparel: for what Christ says is proved by the
experience of all ages to be too true, - that they who wear soft
clothing are in king's courts. (Matt. 11: 8.) And it is probable,
that courtiers, through a foolish affectation, often changed their
clothes; as it is the case with men who seek to appear great, they
devise daily some new way for spending money; and though they may be
more splendidly clothed than needful, yet they think it almost too
sordid to wear the same apparel for a whole month; and that their
prodigality may be more evident, they change also the forms of their
dress. This affectation prevails far too much at this day in the
world. But even then in the age of the Prophet, as it appears, the
courtiers and those who had power among the people, often changed
their dress, that they might the more display their pomp and attract
the admiration of the simple and poor people. And it was not simple
ambition, but it brought with it a contempt for others; for the rich
in this way upbraided the poor, that they themselves were alone
worthy of this superfluity and opulence. It was not enough for them,
that they were clothed for their own comfort, and also that ornament
and splendor were added; but they would have willingly made bare all
others: and as it was a shame to do this, they yet showed, as far as
they could, by their superfluous abundance, that they were alone
worthy of such display. It was then no wonder that the Lord
threatened them with so much severity.
    As this vice in course of time had greatly increased, this
passage of the Prophet deserves particular notice. And the more
luxurious men become and the more they indulge in such varieties,
and thus manifest their pride, the more carefully we ought to learn
to restrain the desires of our flesh, that they may not leap over
the bounds of moderation; and let those who abound in wealth be
contented with what is modest and becoming; and let them especially
abstain from that absurd affectation, which the Prophet evidently
condemns here. It may however have been, that the Jews then sought
new and unusual fashions as to their clothes from remote countries,
like the French at this day, who delight in the Turkish habit; for
they have too much intercourse with Turkey. So also at that time a
foolish desire had possessed the hearts of the people, so as to wish
to ingratiate themselves with the Chaldeans, and to make friends of
them by a likeness in dress. And we may learn this from a passage in
Ezekiel, where he compares them to harlots or to foolish lovers
(Ezek. 23: 2, &c.:) for as lovers paint harlots on walls, and
whoremongers and adulterers do the same; so Ezekiel accuses the
Jews, that they were so inflamed with a mad desire of making a
covenant with the Chaldean nation, that they had their images
painted in their chambers. They also no doubt imitated their dress,
in order to show that they regarded it a great happiness, if they
became their friends and confederates.
    Now follows what I repeated also yesterday, "I will visit every
one who danceth on the threshold". Some explain this of the
worshipers of Baal, but improperly; for as I have already said, the
context will not allow us to understand this except of the servants
of princes, who cruelly harassed the people and deprived helpless
men of their property, who were not able to resist them. The Prophet
then, after having spoken of the chief governors of the kingdom and
of the king's sons, now comes to their servants, who, like hunting
dogs, were ready to seize everywhere on the prey. They who
understand this to be said of the sacrifices of Baal, adduce a
passage from sacred history, - that since the image of Dagon had
been found on the threshold of the temple, they dared not to tread
on the threshold, but leaped over it: but this is too far-fetched.
Others also bring expositions of a different kind; but the Prophet,
I have no doubt, refers here to the liberty they took in plundering,
when he says, that they danced on the threshold, as persons
triumphing; for he afterwards adds, that they filled, by rapine and
fraud, the houses of the princes. To leap or dance then on the
threshold is no other thing than to take possession of the houses of
other people, and insolently to triumph over them, as it is usually
done by conquerors. For he who takes possession of what belongs to
another, does not quietly rest there as in his own habitation, but
boasts and exults. So also here, the Prophet paints to the life that
wantonness, which the servants of princes showed, when they entered
into the houses of others. He therefore says, that they danced, and
said, "This is my house; and who will dare to say a word to the
contrary?" Since then the servants of princes took so much liberty,
the Prophet here denounces on them the vengeance of God.
    He then adds, that they filled their masters' houses by rapine
and fraud. By rapine and fraud he means the prey gathered, partly by
armed force, and partly by deceit and craft; for courtiers have
their nets by which they lay in wait for helpless men. But if they
cannot obtain by fraud what they hope for, they leave recourse to
armed force. However this may be, they enrich themselves, sometimes
by plundering, and sometimes by fraud. Hence the Prophet mentions
both here. It follows -

Zephaniah 1:10
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, [that there
shall be] the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from
the second, and a great crashing from the hills.
    
    He confirms here the same truth, and amplifies and illustrates
it by a striking description; for we know how much a lively
representation avails to touch the feelings, when the event itself
is not only narrated, but placed as it were before our eyes. So the
Prophet is not content with plain words, but presents a scene, that
the future destruction of Jerusalem might appear in a clearer light.
But as I have elsewhere explained this mode of speaking, I shall not
dwell on the subject now.
    He says, that there would be "the voice of crying from the gate
of the fishes". He names here three places in Jerusalem, and
afterwards he adds a fourth. But as we do not understand the
situation of the city, sufficient for us is this probable
conjecture, - that he refers to parts opposite to one another; as
though he had said, that no corner of the city would be in a quiet
state, when the Lord roused up war. Let us then suppose it to be
triangular, and let the gate of the fishes be one side, and let the
second gate or the school be on the other; and let the part nigh the
hills form the third side. What some say, that the hills mean
palaces, I do not approve of; nor is it consistent with the context:
but we ought to bear in mind what I have already stated, that the
Prophet here denounces ruin on every part of the city, so that the
Jews would in vain seek refuges for themselves; for by running here
and there, they would find all places full of crying and howling.
There shall be then the voice of crying from the gate of the fishes.
Why the Prophet calls it the gate of the fishes we cannot for
certainty say, except that it is a probable conjecture, that either
some fish-pond was near it, or that the fish-market was nigh.
    As to the word "mishneh", the majority of interpreters think
that it means the place where the priests explained the law and
devoted themselves to the study of it; and they adduce a passage
from 2 Kings 22: 14, where it seems, as there is mention made of
priests, the word is taken in this sense. But as gates are spoken of
here, and as the Hebrews often call whatever is second in order by
this word, as the second part in buildings and also in towns and in
other places, is thus called, we may take it here in this sense,
that is, as meaning that gate which was next to the first in general
esteem. But as the subject has little to do with the main point, I
dismiss it.
    He says in the last place, that there "would be a great breach
in the hills". He refers, I have no doubt, to that part of the city
which was contiguous to the mountains. However this may be, it was
the Prophet's object to include here the whole city, that he might
shake off from the Jews all vain confidence, and show that there
would be no escape, when the Lord stretched forth his hand to punish
their sins. It now follows -

Zephaniah 1:11
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut
down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
    
    The Prophet addresses the merchants here who inhabited the
middle part of the city, and hence thought themselves farther off
from all danger and trouble. As then they were concealed as it were
in their hiding-places, they thought that no danger was nigh them;
and thus security blinded them the more. After having spoken of the
king's palace and of the princes and their servants, Zephaniah now
turns his discourse to the merchants.
    And he calls them the inhabitants of the hollow place,
"machtesh". The verb "katash" means to be hollow; hence the Hebrews
call a hollow place "machtesh". So Solomon calls a mortar by this
name, because it is hollow: and we learn also from other parts of
scripture that the word means sometimes either a cavern or some low
place. But we know that merchants have for the most part their
streets on level ground, and it is for their advantage, as they have
goods to carry. It may then have been, that at Jerusalem there was a
large company of merchants in that part of the city, which was in
its situation low. But they who regard it as a proper name, bring
nothing either of reason or probability to confirm their opinion:
and it is also evident from the context that merchants are here
addressed, for cut off, he says, is the mercantile people. The word
"kena'an" means a merchant. Some think that the Jews are here, as
often elsewhere, called Canaan, because they were become degenerate,
and more like the Canaanites than the holy fathers, from whom they
descended. But the Prophet speaks here no doubt of merchants, for an
explanation immediately follows, all who are laden with money. And
he says that merchants were laden with money, because they would not
transact business without making payments and counting money, and
also, because merchants for the most part engrossed by their gainful
arts a great portion of the wealth of the world.
    We now then understand what the Prophet means: He threatens
howling to the merchants, who were concealed in their hidden places,
for they occupied that part of the city, as I have already said,
which was below the hills; and he then makes use of the word
"kena'an", a trafficker; and lastly he speaks of their wealth, as it
is probable that they became rich through frauds and most dishonest
means, and shows that their money would be useless to them, for they
would find in it no defense, when the Lord extended his hand to
punish them. It now follows -

Zephaniah 1:12
And it shall come to pass at that time, [that] I will search
Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their
lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither
will he do evil.
    
    The Prophet addresses here generally the despisers of God, who
were become hardened in their wickedness. But before he openly names
them, he says that the visitation would be such, that God would
search every corner, so that no place would remain unexplored. For
to visit with candles, or to search with candles, is so to examine
all hidden places or coverts, that nothing may escape. When one
intends to plunder a city, he first enters into the houses, and
takes away whatever he finds; but when he thinks that there are some
hidden treasures, he descends into the secret cells; and then if
there be no light there, he lights a candle, and carefully looks
here and there, that he may not overlook anything. By this
comparison then God intimates, that Jerusalem would be so plundered,
that nothing whatever would remain. Hence he says, "I will search it
with candles". We indeed know that nothing is hid from God; but it
is evident, that he is constrained to borrow comparisons from the
common practice of men, because he could not otherwise express what
is necessary for us to know. The world indeed deal with God as men
do with one another; for they think that he can be deceived by their
craftiness. He therefore laughs to scorn this folly, and says, that
he would have candles to search out whatever was concealed.
    Now, as impiety had possessed the minds of almost all the
people, he says, I will visit the men, who on their lees are
congealed. This may indeed be only understood of the rich, who
flattered themselves in their prosperity, and feared nothing, and
were thus congealed on their lees: but Zephaniah shows in the words
which follow, that he had in view something more atrocious, that is,
that they said that neither good nor evil proceeded from God. At the
same time, these two things may be suitably joined together - that
he reproves here their self-security, produced by wealth - and that
he also accuses the careless Jews of that gross contempt of God
which is afterwards mentioned. And I am disposed to take this view,
that is, that the Jews, inebriated with prosperity, became hardened,
as men contract hardness often by labour - and that they so
collected lees through too much quietness and abundance of things,
that they became wholly stupid, and could be touched by no truth
made known to them. Hence in the first place the Prophet says, that
God would visit with punishment a carelessness so extreme, when men
not only slumbered in their prosperity, but also became congealed in
their own stupidity, so as to be almost void of sense and
understanding. When one addresses a dead mass, he can effect
nothing: and so the Prophet compares careless men to a dead and
congealed mass; for stupidity had so bound up all their senses, that
they could not be either allured by the goodness of God, or
terrified by his threatenings. Congealing then is nothing else but
that hardness or contumacy, which is contracted by self-indulgences,
and particularly when the minds of men become almost stupefied. And
by lees he means sinful indulgences, which so infatuate all the
senses of men, that no light nor sincerity remains.
    He then mentions what they said in their hearts. He expresses
here what that carelessness which he condemned brings with it - even
that wicked men fearlessly mock God. What it is to speak in the
heart, is evident from many parts of Scripture; it means to
determine anything within: for though the ungodly do not openly
proclaim what they determine in their minds, they yet reason within
themselves, and settle this point - that either there is no God, or
that he rests idly in heaven. 'Said has the ungodly in his heart, No
God is.' Why in the heart? Because shame or fear prevents men from
openly avowing their impiety; yet they cherish such thoughts in the
heart and assent to them. Now here is described by the Prophet the
height of impiety, when he says, that men drunk with pleasures
robbed God of his office as a judge, saying, that he does neither
good nor evil. And it is probable that there were then many at
Jerusalem and throughout Judea who thus insolently despised God as a
judge. But Zephaniah especially speaks of the chief men; for such
above all others deride God, as the giants did, and look down as
from on high on his judgments. There is indeed much insensibility
among the common people; but there is more madness in the pride of
great men, who, trusting in their power, think themselves exempt
from the authority of God.
    But what I have just said must be borne in mind, that an
unhealable impiety is described by the Prophet, when he accuses the
Jews, that they did not think God to be the author either of good or
of evil; because God is thus deprived of his dignity; for except he
is owned as the judge of the world, what becomes of his dignity? The
majesty, or the authority, or the glory of God does not consist in
some imaginary brightness, but in those works which so necessarily
belong to him, that they cannot be separated from his very essence.
It is what peculiarly belongs to God, to govern the world, and to
exercise care over mankind, and also to make a difference between
good and evil, to help the miserable, to punish all wickedness, to
check injustice and violence. When any one takes away these things
from God, he leaves him an idol only. Since, then, the glory of God
consists in his justice, wisdom, judgment, power, and other
attributes, all who deny God to be the governor of the world
entirely extinguish, as much as they can, his glory. Even so do
heathen writers accuse Epicures; for as he dared not to deny the
existence of some god, like Diagoras and some others, he confessed
that there are some gods, but shut them up in heaven, that they
might enjoy there their leisure and delights. But this is to imagine
a god, who is not a god. It is then no wonder that the Prophet
condemns with so much sharpness the stupidity of the Jews, as they
thought that neither good nor evil proceeded from God. But there was
also a greater reason why God should be so indignant at such
senselessness: for whence was it that men entertained such an
opinion or such a delirious thought, as to deny that God did either
good or evil, except that they attempted to drive God far away from
them, that they might not be subject to his judgment. They therefore
who seek to extinguish the distinction between right and wrong in
their consciences, invent for themselves the delirious notion, that
God concerns not himself with human affairs, that he is contented
with his own celestial felicity, and descends not to us, and that
adversity as well as prosperity happens to men by chance.
    We hence see how men seek willfully and designedly to indulge
the notion, that neither good nor evil comes from God: they do this,
that they may stupefy their own consciences, and thus precipitate
themselves with greater liberty into sin, as though they were free
to do anything with impunity, and as though there was no judge to
whom an account is to be rendered.
    And hence I have said, that it is the very summit of impiety
when men strengthen themselves in this error, that God rests in
heaven, and that whatever miseries they endure in this world happen
through fortunes and that whatever good things they have are to be
ascribed either to their own industry or to chance. And so the
Prophet briefly shows in this passage that the Jews were past
recovery, that no one might feel surprised, that God should punish
with so much severity a people who had been his friends, and whom he
had adopted in preference to the whole world: for he had set apart
the race of Abraham, as it is well known, as his chosen and holy
people. God's vengeance on the children of Abraham might have
appeared cruel or extremely rigid, had it not been expressly
declared that they had advanced so far in impiety as to seek to
exclude God from the government of the world, and to deprive him of
his own peculiar office, even that of punishing sin, of defending
his own people, of delivering them from all evils, of relieving all
their miseries. Since, then, they thus shut up God in heaven, and
gave the governing power on earth to fortune, it was an intolerable
stupidity, nay, wholly diabolical. It was therefore no wonder that
God was so severely indignant, and stretched forth his hand to
punish their sin, as their disease had become now incurable.
    
Prayer.
    
Grant, Almighty God, that as almost the whole world breaks out into
such excesses, that there is no moderation, no reason, - O grant,
that we may learn not only to confine ourselves within those limits
which thou dost approve and command, but also to delight and glory
in the smallness of our portion, inasmuch as the wealth, and honors,
and pleasures of the world so fascinate the hearts and minds of all,
that they elevate themselves into heaven, and carry on war, as it
were, avowedly with thee. Grant also to us, that in our limited
portion we may be in such a way humbled under thy powerful hand, as
never to doubt but that thou wilt be our deliverer even in our
greatest miseries; and that ascribing to thee the power over life
and death, we may feel fully assured, that whatever afflictions
happen to us, proceed from thy just judgment, so that we may be led
to repentance, and daily exercise ourselves in it, until we shall at
length come to that blessed rest which is laid up for us in heaven,
through Christ our Lord. Amen.


Lecture One Hundred and Twenty-First.

Zephaniah 1:13
Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a
desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit [them];
and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
    
    Zephaniah pursues the same subject - that God, after long
forbearance, would punish his rebellious and obstinate people. Hence
he says, that they were now delivered, even by God himself, into the
hands of their enemies. They indeed knew that many were inimical to
them; but they did not consider God's judgment, as God himself
elsewhere complains - that they did not regard the hand of him who
smote them. (Is. 9: 13.) Our Prophet, therefore, declares now that
they were given up to destruction, and that their enemies would find
no trouble nor difficulty in invading the land, since all places
would be open to plunder. And he recites what is found in Lev. 26:
20; for the Prophets were interpreters of the law, and the only
difference between Moses and them is, that they apply his general
truth to their own time. The Prophet now pursues this course, as
though he had said, that God had not in vain or to no purpose
threatened this evil in his law; for the Jews would find by
experience that this would really be the case, and that it had been
truly said, that the fruit of the land, their habitations, and other
comforts of life, would be transferred to others. It now follows -

Zephaniah 1:14
The great day of the LORD [is] near, [it is] near, and hasteth
greatly, [even] the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man
shall cry there bitterly.
    
    The Prophet in this verse expresses more clearly what I have
already stated - That God would be the author of all the evils which
would happen to the Jews; for as they grew more insensible in their
sins, they more and more provoked God's wrath against themselves. It
is therefore no common wisdom to consider God's hand when he strikes
or chastens us. This is the reason why the Prophet now calls the
attention of the Jews to God, that they might not fix their minds,
as it is commonly done, on men only. At the same time, he tries to
shake off their torpor by declaring that the day would be terrible,
and that it was also now near at hand. We indeed know that
hypocrites trifle with God, except they feel the weight of his
wrath, and that they protract time, and promise themselves so long a
respite, that they never awake to repentance. Hence the Prophet in
the first place shows, that whatever evils then impended over the
Jews were not only from men, but especially from God. This is one
thing; and then, in order thoroughly to touch stupid hearts, he
says, that the day would be terrible; and lastly, that they might
not deceive themselves by vain flatteries, he declares that the day
was at hand. These three things must be noticed in order that we
understand the Prophet's object.
    But he says at the beginning of the verse, that the great day
of Jehovah was nigh. In these words he includes the three things to
which I have already referred. By calling it the day of Jehovah, he
means, that whatever evils the Jews suffered, ought to have been
ascribed to his judgment; and by calling it the great day, his
object was to strike terror; as well as by saying, in the third
place, that it was nigh. We hence see that three things are included
in these words. But the Prophet more fully explains what might, on
account of the brevity of his words, have seemed not quite clear.
    "Near, he says, is the day, and quickly hastens". Men, we know,
are wont to extend time, that they may cherish their sins; for
though they cannot divest themselves of every feeling as to
religion, or shake it off, they yet imagine for themselves a long
distance between them and God; and by such an imagination they find
ease for themselves. Hence the Prophet declares the day to be nigh;
and as it was hardly credible that the destruction of which he spake
was near, he adds, that the day was quickly hastening; as though he
had said, that they ought not to judge by the present state of
things what God would do, for in a moment his wrath would pass
through from east to west like lightning. Men need long preparation
when they determine to execute their vengeance; but God has no need
of much preparation, for his own power is sufficient for him when he
resolves to destroy the wicked. We now, then, see why it was added
by the Prophet, that the day would quickly hasten.
    He now repeats that the day of Jehovah and his voice would cry
out bitterly. I have stated three renderings as given by
interpreters. Some read thus - "The day of Jehovah shall be bitter;
there the strong shall cry aloud." This meaning is admissible, and a
useful instruction may from it be elicited; as though the Prophet
had said, that no courage could bring help to men, or be an aid to
them, against God's vengeance. Others give this rendering, that the
day would bitterly cry out, for there would be the strong, that is,
the strength of enemies would break down whatever courage the Jews
might have. But this second meaning seems forced; and I am disposed
to adopt the third - that the voice of the day of Jehovah would
bitterly cry out. And he means the voice of those who would have
really to know God as a judge, whom they had previously despised;
for God would then put forth his power, which had been an object of
contempt, until the Jews had by experience felt it.
    As to the Prophet's design, there is no ambiguity: for he seeks
here to rouse the Jews from their insensibility, who had so hardened
themselves against all threatening, that the Prophets were not able
to convince them. Since, then, they had thus hardened themselves
against every instruction and all warnings, the Prophet here says,
that the voice of God's day would be different: for God's voice had
sounded through the mouth of the Prophets, but it availed not with
the deaf. An awful change is here announced; for the Jews shall then
cry aloud, as the roaring of the divine voice shall then terrify
them, when God shall really show that he is the avenger of
wickedness - "When therefore he shall ascend his tribunal, then ye
shall cry. His messengers now cry to you in vain, for ye close up
your ears; ye shall cry in your turn, but it will be in vain."
    But if one prefers to take it as one sentence, "The voice of
the day of Jehovah, there strong, shall bitterly cry out," the
meaning will be the same as to the main point. I would not,
therefore, contend about words, provided we bear in mind what I have
already said - that Zephaniah sets here the cry of the distressed
people in opposition to the voices of the Prophets, which they had
despised, yea, and for the most part, as it appears from other
places, treated with ridicule. However this may have been, he
indirectly condemns their false confidence, when he speaks of the
strong; as though he had said, that they were strong only for their
own ruin, while they opposed God and his servants; for this strength
falls at length, nay, it breaks itself by its own weight, when God
rises to judgment. It follows -

Zephaniah 1:15,16
That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day
of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day
of clouds and thick darkness,
A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and
against the high towers.
    
    The Prophet shows here how foolish they were who extenuated
God's vengeance, as hypocrites and all wicked men are wont to do.
Hence he accuses the Jews of madness, that they thought that the way
of reconciliation would be easy to them, when they had by their
perverseness provoked God to come against them as an armed enemy.
For though the ungodly do not promise to themselves anything of
God's favor, yet they entertain vain imaginations, as though he
might with no trouble be pacified: they do not think that he will be
propitious to them, and yet in the meantime they deride his
vengeance. Against this kind of senselessness the Prophet now
inveighs. We have stated in other places, that these kinds of
figurative expressions were intended solely for this end - to
constrain men to entertain some fear, for they willfully deluded
themselves: for the Prophets had to do, partly with open despisers
of God, and partly with his masked worshipers, whose holiness was
hypocrisy.
    This, then, was the reason why he said, that that day would be
a day of wrath, and also a day of distress and of affliction, of
tumult and desolation, of darkness and of thick darkness, of clouds
and of mist. In short, he intended to remove from the Jews that
confidence with which they flattered themselves, yea, the confidence
which they derived from their contempt of God: for the flesh is
secure, while it has coverts, where it may withdraw itself from the
presence of God. True confidence cannot exceed moderation, that is,
the confidence that is founded on God's word, for thus men come nigh
to God: but the flesh wishes for no other rest but in the
forgetfulness of God. And we have already seen in the Prophet Amos,
(Amos 5: 18,) why the day of Jehovah is painted as being so
dreadful; he had, as I have said, to contend with hypocrites, who
made an improper use of God's name, and at the same time slumbered
in gross insensibility. Hence Amos said, "It will be a day, not of
light, but of darkness; not of joy, but of sorrow. Why then do ye
anxiously expect the day of the Lord?" For the Jews, glorying in
being the chosen people of God, and trusting only in their false
title of adoption, thought that everything was lawful for them, as
though God had renounced his own authority. And thus hypocrites ever
flatter themselves, as though they held God bound to them. Our
Prophet does not, as Amos, distinctly express these sentiments, yet
the meaning of the words is the same, and that is, that when God
ascends his tribunal, there is no hope for pardon. He at the same
time cuts off from them all their vain confidences; for though God
excludes all escapes, yet hypocrites look here and there, before and
behind, to the right hand and to the left.
    The Prophet therefore intimates, that there would be everywhere
darkness and thick darkness, clouds and mists, affliction and
distress, - Why? because it would be the day of wrath; for God,
after having borne patiently a long time with the Jews, and seen
that they perversely abused his patience, would at length put forth
his power. And that they might not set up their own strongholds
against God, he says, that war was proclaimed against the fortified
cities and high citadels. We hence see that he deprives the Jews of
all help, in order that they might understand that they were to
perish, except they repented, and thus return into favor with God.
It shall then be a day of the trumpet and of shouting, - How? on all
fortified cities. For the Jews, as it is usually done, compared the
strength of their enemies with their own. It was not their purpose
to go forth beyond their own borders: and they thought that they
would be able to resist, and be sufficiently fortified, if any
foreign enemy invaded them. The Prophet laughs to scorn this notion,
for God had declared war against their fortified cities. It follows
-

Zephaniah 1:17
And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind
men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood
shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
    
    He confirms what I have already stated - that though other
enemies, the Assyrians or Chaldeans, attacked the Jews, yet God
would be the principal leader of the war. God then claims here for
himself what the Jews transferred to their earthly enemies: and the
Prophet has already often called it the day of Jehovah; for God
would then make known his power, which had been a sport to them. He
therefore declares in this place, that he would reduce man to
distress, so that the whole nation would walk like the blind - that,
being void of counsel, they would stumble and fall, and not be able
to proceed in their course: for they are said to go astray like the
blind, who see no end to their evils, who find no means to escape
ruin, but are held as it were fast bound. And we must ever bear in
mind what I have already said - that the Jews were inflated with
such pride, that they heedlessly despised all the Prophets. Since
then they were thus wise in themselves, God denounces blindness on
them.
    He subjoins the reason, "Because they had acted impiously
towards Jehovah". By these words he confirms what I have already
explained - that the intermediate causes are not to be considered,
though the Chaldeans took vengeance on the Jews; for there is a
higher principle, and another cause of this evil, even the contempt
of God and of his celestial truth; for they had acted impiously
towards God. And by these words the Prophet reminds the Jews, that
no alleviation was to be expected, as they had not only men hostile
to them, but God himself, whom they had extremely provoked.
    Hence he adds, "Poured forth shall be your blood as dust." They
whom God delivered up to extreme reproach were deserving of this,
because he had been despised by them. "Their flesh, he says, shall
be as dung". Now, we know how much the Jews boasted of their
preeminence; and God had certainly given them occasion to boast, had
they made a right and legitimate use of his benefits; but as they
had despised him, they deserved in their turn to be exposed to every
ignominy and reproach. Hence the Prophet here lays prostrate all
their false boastings by which they were inflated; for they wished
to be honorable, while God was despised by them. At last he adds -

Zephaniah 1:18
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in
the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by
the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance
of all them that dwell in the land.
    
    He repeats what he has already said - that the helps which the
Jews hoped would be in readiness to prevent God's vengeance would be
vain. For though men dare not openly to resist God, yet they hope by
some winding courses to find out some way by which they may avert
his judgment. As then the Jews, trusting in their wealth, and in
their fortified cities, became insolent towards God, the Prophet
here declares, that neither gold nor silver should be a help to
them. "Let them," he says, "accumulate wealth; though by the mass of
their gold and silver they form high mountains for themselves, yet
they shall not be able to turn aside the hand of God, nor be able to
deliver themselves," - and why? He repeats again the same thing,
that it would be the day of wrath. We indeed know, that the most
savage enemies are sometimes pacified by money, for avarice
mitigates their cruelty; but the Prophet declares here, that as God
would be the ruler in that war, there would be no redemption, and
therefore money would be useless: for God could by no means receive
them into favor, except they repented and truly humbled themselves
before him.
    He therefore adds, that the land would be devoured by the fire
of God's jealousy, or indignation. He compares God's wrath to fire;
for no agreement can be made when fire rages, but the more materials
there are the more will there be to increase the fire. So then the
Prophet excludes the Jews from any hope of deliverance, except they
reconciled themselves to God by true and sincere repentance; for a
consummation, he says, he will make as to all the inhabitants of the
land, and one indeed very quick or speedy. In short, he means, that
as the Jews had hardened themselves against every instruction, they
would find God's vengeance to be such as would wholly consume them,
as they would not anticipate it, but on the contrary enhance it by
their pride and stupidity, and even deride it. Now follows -


Chapter 2.

Zephaniah 2:1,2
Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not
desired;
Before the decree bring forth, [before] the day pass as the chaff,
before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of
the LORD'S anger come upon you.

    The Prophet, after having spoken of God's wrath, and shown how
terrible it would be, and also how near, now exhorts the Jews to
repentance, and thus mitigates the severity of his former doctrine,
provided their minds were teachable. We hence learn that God
fulminates in his word against men, that he may withhold his hand
from them. The more severe, then, God is, when he chastises us and
makes known our sins, and sets before us his wrath, the more clearly
he testifies how precious and dear to him is our salvation; for when
he sees us rushing headlong, as it were, into ruin, he calls us back
by threatening and chastisements. Whenever, then, God condemns us by
his word, let us know that he will be propitious to us, if, touched
with true repentance, we flee to his mercy; for to effect this is
the design of all his reproofs and threatening.
    There follows then a seasonable exhortation, after the Prophet
had spoken of the dreadfulness of God's vengeance. "Gather
yourselves, he says, gather, ye nation not worthy of being loved".
Others read - "Search among yourselves, search;" and interpreters
differ as to the root of the verb; some derive it from "kashash",
and others from "kush"; while some deduce the verb from the noun
"kash", which signifies chaff or stubble. But however this may be, I
consider the real meaning of the Prophet to be - "Gather yourselves,
gather;" for this is what grammatical construction requires. I do
not see why they who read "search yourselves," depart from the
commonly received meaning, except they think that the verb gather
does not suit the context; but it suits it exceedingly well. Others
with more refinement read thus - "Gather the chaff, gather the
chaff," as though the Prophet ridiculed the empty confidence of the
people. But as I have already said, he no doubt shows here the
remedy, by which they might have anticipated God's judgment, with
which he had threatened them. He indeed compares them to stubble, as
we find in the next verse, but he shows that still time is given
them to repent, so that they might gather themselves, and not be
dissipated; as though he said - "The day of your scattering is at
hand; ye shall then vanish away like chaff, for ye shall not be able
to stand at the breath of the Lord's wrath. But now while God
withholds himself, and does not put forth his hand to destroy you,
gather yourselves, that ye may not be like the chaff." There are
then two parts in this passage; the first is, that if the Jews
abused, as usual, the forbearance of God, they would become like the
chaff, for God's wrath would in a moment scatter them; but the
Prophet in the meantime reminds them that a seasonable time for
repentance was still given them; for if they willingly gathered
themselves, God would spare them. Before then the day of Jehovah's
wrath shall come; gather, he says, yourselves.
    But the way of gathering is, when men do not vanish away in
their foolish confidences, or when they do not indulge their own
lusts; for whenever men give loose reins to wicked licentiousness,
and thus go astray in gratifying their corrupt lusts, or when they
seek here and there vain confidences, they expose themselves to a
scattering. Hence the Prophet exhorts them to examine themselves, to
gather themselves, and as it were to draw themselves together, that
they might not be like the chaff. Hence he says, - "gather
yourselves, yea, gather, ye nation not loved."
    Some take the participle "nichsaf" in an active sense, as
though the Prophet had said that the Jews were void of every
feeling, and had become wholly hardened in their stupidity. But I
know not whether this can be grammatically allowed. I therefore
follow what has been more approved. The nation is called not worthy
of love, because it did not deserve mercy; and God thus amplifies
and renders illustrious his own grace, because he was still
solicitous about the salvation of those who had willfully destroyed
themselves, and rejected his favor. Though then the Jews had by
their depravity so alienated themselves from God, that there was no
reason why he should save them, he yet still continued to call them
back to himself. It is therefore a remarkable proof of the unfailing
grace of God, when he shows love to a nation wholly worthy of being
hated, and is concerned for its safety.
    He then adds, "before the decree brings forth." Here the
Prophet asserts his own authority, and that of God's other servants:
for the Jews thought that all threatening would come to nothing, as
it is the case with most men at this day who deride every true
doctrine, as though it were nothing but an empty sound. Hence the
Prophet ascribes birth to his doctrine. It is indeed true, that the
word decree has a wider meaning; but the Prophet does not speak here
of the hidden counsel of God. He therefore calls that a decree,
which God had already declared by his servants: and the meaning is,
that it is not beating the air when God denounces his vengeance on
sinners by his Prophets, but that it is a fixed and unchangeable
decree, which shall at length be effected. But the similitude of
birth is most apposite; for as the embryo lies hid in the womb, and
then emerges in due time into light; so God's vengeance, though hid
for a time, will yet in due season be accomplished, when God sees
that men's wickedness is past a remedy. We now understand why the
Prophet says, that the time was near when the decree should bring
forth.
    Then he says, "Pass away shall the chaff in a day". Some read,
"Before the day comes, when the stubble (or chaff) shall pass away."
But I take "yom" in another sense, as meaning that the Jews shall
quickly pass away as the chaff; the like expression we have also met
in Hosea. He says then that the Jews would perish in a day, in a
short time, and as it were in a moment; though they thought that
they would not be for a long time conquered. Pass away, he says,
shall they like chaff.
    Then he adds, "Before it comes, the fury of Jehovah's wrath";
the day of Jehovah's wrath, gather ye yourselves. He says first,
"before it comes upon you, the fury of wrath," and then, "the day of
wrath." He repeats the same thing; but some of the words are
changed, for instead of the fury of wrath, he puts in the second
clause, the day of wrath; as though he had said, that they were
greatly deceived if they thought that they could escape, because the
Lord deferred his vengeance. How so? For the day, which was nigh,
though not yet arrived, would at length come. As when one trusting
in the darkness of the night, and thinking himself safe from the
danger of being taken, is mistaken, for suddenly the sun rises and
discovers his hiding-place; so the Prophet intimates, that though
God was now still, it would yet be no advantage to the Jews: for he
knew the suitable time. Though then he restrained for a time his
wrath, he yet poured it forth suddenly, when the day came and the
iniquity of men had become ripe.
    
Prayer.
    
Grant, Almighty God, that as we continue in various ways to provoke
thy wrath, we may at length be awakened by the blasting of that
trumpet which sounds in our ears, when thou proclaimest that thou
wilt be the judge of the world, and testifies also the same so
plainly in the gospel, so that we may, with our minds raised up to
thee, learn to renounce all the depraved lusts of the world, and
that having shaken off our torpidity, we may so hasten to repent,
that we may anticipate thy judgment, and so find that we are
reconciled to thee, as to enjoy thy goodness, and ever to retain the
taste of it, in order that we may be enabled to renounce all the
allurements and pleasures of this world, until we shall at length
come to that blessed rest, where we shall be filled with that
unspeakable joy, which thou hast promised to us, and which we hope
for in Christ our Lord. Amen.


Lecture One Hundred and Twenty-second

Zephaniah 2:3
Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his
judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be
hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.

    Here the Prophet turns his discourse to a small number, for he
saw that he could produce no effect on the promiscuous multitude.
For had his doctrine been addressed in common to the whole people,
there were very few who would have attended. We would therefore have
been discouraged had he not believed that some seed remained among
the people, and that the office of teaching and exhorting had not
been in vain committed to him by God. But he shows at the same time
that the greater part were wholly given up to destruction. We now
see why the Prophet especially addresses the meek of the land; for
few undertook the yoke, though they had been already broken down by
many calamities. And it hence appears that the fruit of correction
was not found equal in all, for God had chastised the good and the
bad, the whole people, from the least to the greatest; they had all
been laid prostrate by many evils, yet the same ferocity remained,
as God complains in Isaiah, that he labored in vain in punishing
that refractory nation. (Isa. 1: 5.)
    But we are here taught that though ministers of the word may
think that they spend their labour to no purpose, while they sing to
the deaf, as the proverb is, they ought not yet to depart from the
course of their vocation; for there will ever be some who will
really show, after a long time, that they had been divinely and
wonderfully saved, so as not to perish with others. But what the
Prophet had especially in view was to show, that the faithful ought
not to regard what the multitude may do, or how they live; but that
when God invites them to repentance, and gives them a hope of
pardon, they ought without delay to come to him, that they might not
perish with the rest. And it deserves to be noticed, that when God
raises his voice, some harden others, and thus men lead one another
into ruin. Thus it happens that all teaching becomes unsuccessful.
Hence the Prophet applies a remedy, by showing how preposterous it
is when some follow others; for in this way they increase the ranks
of the rebellious; but that if there be any who are meek, they ought
to be teachable, when God stretches forth his hand and shows that he
will be propitious, provided they return to the right way.
    He calls them meek who had profited under the scourges of God;
for the Hebrews consider "'anawim" to be the afflicted, deriving the
word from "'anah", to afflict, or to be humble. But as men for the
most part are not subdued except by scourges, they call, by a
metaphor, "'anawim" the meek, such as have been subdued: for men
grow wanton in their pleasures, and abundance commonly produces
insolence; but by adversity they learn to become meek. Hence our
Prophet calls those the meek of the land who were submissive to God,
after having been chastised by him. For we know, that though God may
smite the wicked, they yet continue to have a stiff and iron neck
and a brazen front: but the faithful are tamed, as Jeremiah
confesses as to himself; for he says that he was like an untamed
heifer before he was chastised by God's scourges. So the Prophet
directs his discourse to the few who had felt the afflicting hand of
God, and had been thus humbled.
    He bids them to seek Jehovah, and yet he says that they had
wrought his judgment. These two clauses seem inconsistent with each
other; for if they had been previously alienated from God, justly
might the Prophet bid them to return to the right way; but as they
had devoted themselves to religion, and formed their life according
to the rule of uprightness, the Prophet seems to have exhorted them
without reason to seek God. But the passage is worthy of special
notice; for we hence learn that even the best are roused by God's
scourges to seek true religion with greater ardor than they had
before done. Though then it be our object to serve God and to follow
his word, yet when calamities arise and God appears as a judge, we
ought to be stimulated to greater care and diligence; for it never
is the case that any one of us fully performs his duty. Let us then
remember, that we are roused by God whenever adversity impends over
us, and when God himself shows by manifest signs that he is
displeased. This is the reason why the Prophet bids the pious doers
of righteousness to seek God, however much they were before devoted
to what was just and upright.
    There was also another reason: we know how grievously faith is
tried, when the good and wicked are indiscriminately and without any
difference chastised by God's hand; for the godly are then tempted
to think that it avails them nothing that they have labored
sincerely to serve God; they think that this has all been in vain
and to no purpose, for they are brought into the same miseries with
others. As then this temptation is enough to shake even the
strongest, the Prophet here exhorts the faithful to persevere, as
though he had said, that in the first confusion no difference would
be found between the good and the wicked as to their circumstances,
for God would afflict both alike, but that the end would be
different; and that there was therefore no reason for them to
despond or to think it of no advantage to seek God: for he would at
length really show that he approved of their integrity; as though he
had said, "God will not remunerate you at the first moment; but your
patience will at length find that he is a just judge, who has regard
for his people, and delivers them in their extremity."
    To do the judgment of God in this place is to form the life
according to the righteousness of the law. The word "mishpat" has
various meanings in Scripture. Sometimes, and indeed often, it
designates the punishment which God allots to the wicked: but it
frequently means equity or the rule of right living. Hence to do
judgment is to observe what is righteous and just, to abstain from
what is wrong and injurious. But the Prophet calls it the judgment
of God, because it is what he prescribes in his word and what he
approves. For we know that men blend various things, by which they
would prove themselves to be just and righteous: but they deceive
themselves, except they form their life especially according to what
God requires. We now perceive what the Prophet means; and he
afterwards defines what it is to seek God; for the latter part of
the verse is added as an explanation, that the faithful might
understand how God is to be sought.
    For hypocrites, as soon as God invites them, accumulate many
rites, and weary themselves much in things of no value. In short,
they think that they have sufficiently sought God when they have
performed a number of ceremonies. But by over-acting they trifle as
it were with God, and thus deceive themselves. Thus we see
repentance profaned. They under the Papacy prattle enough about
repentance, but when they are asked to define it, they begin with
contrition; and yet no displeasure at sin is mentioned by them, nor
any real love of righteousness, but they talk about attrition and
contrition, and then immediately they leap to confession; and this
is the principal part of repentance: they afterwards come to
satisfactions. Thus repentance among the Papists is nothing else but
a some kind of mistaken solicitude, by which they labour to pacify
God, as though they came nigh him: nay, the satisfactions of the
Papacy are nothing else but obstructions between God and men.
    This evil has been common in all ages. The Prophet, therefore,
does not without reason define what the true and rightful way of
seeking God is, and that is, when righteousness is sought, when
humility is sought. By righteousness he understands the same thing
as by judgment; as though he had said, "Advance in a righteous and
holy course of life, for God will not forget your obedience,
provided your hearts grow not faint, and ye persevere to the end."
We hence see that God complains, not only when we obtrude external
pomps and devices I know not what, as though he might like a child
be amused by us; but also when we do not sincerely devote our life
to his service. And he adds humility to righteousness; for it is
difficult even for the very best of men not to murmur against God
when he severely chastises them. We indeed find how much their own
delicacy embitters the minds of men when God appears somewhat severe
with them. Hence the Prophet, in order to check all clamors, exhorts
the faithful here to cultivate humility, so that they might
patiently bear the rigor by which God would try them, and might
suffer themselves to be ruled by his hand. Peter had the same thing
in view when he said, "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of
God." (1 Pet. 5: 6.) We now then see why the Prophet requires from
the faithful not only righteousness but also humility; it was, that
they might with composed minds wait for the deliverance which God
had promised. They were not in the interval to murmur, nor to give
vent to their own perverse feelings, however severely God might
treat them.
    We may hence gather a profitable instruction: The Prophet does
not address here men who were depraved and had wholly neglected what
was just and right, but he directs his discourse to the best, the
most upright, the most holy: and yet he shows that they had no other
remedy, but humbly and patiently to bear the chastisement of God. It
then follows that no perfection can be found among men, such as can
meet the judgment of God. For were any to object and say, that they
devoted themselves to righteousness, there is yet a just reason why
they should humble themselves; for we are all guilty before God, and
no one can clear himself, inasmuch as when any one examines his own
conscience, he finds that he is not free from sin. However conscious
then we may be of acting uprightly, and God himself may be a judge
to us, and the Holy Spirit the witness of our true and real
integrity; yet when the Lord summons us before his tribunal, let us
all, from the least to the greatest, learn to confess ourselves
guilty and exposed to judgment.
    He afterwards adds, "If it may be (or, it may be) ye shall be
concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger". The Prophet speaks not
doubtingly, as though the faithful were uncertain as to God's favor:
but he had another thing in view, - that though no hope remained as
to the perceptions of men, yet the faithful would not lose their
labour, if they sought God; for in their worst circumstances they
would find him propitious to them and their safety secured by his
kindness. Hence we see, that the Prophet in these words points out
the disastrous character of the event, but no deficiency in the love
of God. Though the Lord is ready to pardon, nay, of his own self
anticipates his people, and kindly invites them to himself; it is
yet necessary for them to consider how wonderful is his power in
preserving his elect, when all things seem desperate. It may then
be, he says, when the Jews understood that all things were in a
state of extreme despair: and the Prophet said this, partly that the
reprobate and the perverse might know that they were to perish, and
partly that the faithful might appreciate the more the favor of God,
when they saw themselves delivered from death by a miracle, and
found that it would be a kind of resurrection, when God became their
deliverer. Hence the Prophet, in order to commend to God's children
his salvation, which he offers them, and to render more illustrious
God's favor, makes use of the particle "'ulay", it may be. In the
meantime he fulminates, as I have already said, against the
reprobate, that they might understand that it was all over with
them. It follows -

Zephaniah 2:4,5
For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall
drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the
Cherethites! the word of the LORD [is] against you; O Canaan, the
land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall
be no inhabitant.
    
    The Prophet begins here to console the elect; for when God's
vengeance had passed away, which would only be for a time against
them, the heathens and foreigners would find God in their turn to be
their judge to punish them for the wrongs done to his people; though
some think that God's judgment on the Jews is here described, while
yet the Prophet expressly mentions their neighbors: but the former
view seems to me more suitable, - that the Prophet reminds the
faithful of & future change of things, for God would not perpetually
afflict his chosen people, but would transfer his vengeance to other
nations. The meaning then is - that God, who has hitherto threatened
the Jews, would nevertheless be propitious to them, not indeed to
all the people, for a great part was doomed to destruction, but to
the remnant, whom the Lord had chosen as a seed to himself, that
there might be some church remaining. For we know, that God had
always so moderated the punishment he inflicted on his people, as
not to render void his covenant, nor abolish the memory of Abraham's
race: for this reason he was to come forth as their Redeemer.
    Since then the Prophet speaks here against Gaza, and Ashkelon,
and Ashdod, and Akron, and the Philistine, and the Cretians and
others, he intended no doubt to add courage to the faithful, that
they might not despair of God's mercy, though they might find
themselves very grievously oppressed; for he could at length put an
end to his wrath, after having purged his Church of its dregs. And
this admonition the faithful also need, that they may not envy the
wicked and the despisers of God, as though their condition were
better or more desirable. For when the Lord spares the wicked and
chastens us, we are tempted to think that nothing is better than to
shake off every yoke. Lest then this temptation should have assailed
the faithful, the Prophet reminded them in time, that there was no
reason why the heathens should flatter or congratulate themselves,
when God did not immediately punish them; for their portion was
prepared for them.
    He mentions Gaza first, a name which often occurs in scripture.
The Hebrews called it Aza; but as "'ayin" is the first letter, the
Greeks have rendered it Gaza, and heathen authors have thought it to
be a Persia word, and it means in that language a treasure. But this
is a vain notion, for it is no doubt a Hebrew word. He then adds
Ashkelon, a city nigh to Gaza. In the third place he mentions
Ashdod, which the Greeks have translated Azotus, and the Latins have
followed the Greeks. He names Ekron in the last place. All these
cities were near to the Jews, and were not far from one another
towards the Moabites and the Idumeans.
    He then adds, Ho! (or, woe to, "ho") the inhabitants of the
line of the sea. The region of the sea he calls Galilee; and he
joins the Kerethites and the Philistine. Some think that he alludes
to the troops, who carried on war under David; for he had chosen his
garrison soldiers from that nation, that is, from the people of
Galilee, and had called them Kerethites and Philistine. But I know
not whether the Prophet spoke so refinedly. I rather think, that he
refers here to those heathen nations, which had been hostile to the
Jews, though vicinity ought to have been a bond of kindness. Hence
he includes them all in the name of Canaan: for I do not take it
here, as some do, as signifying merchants; for the Prophet evidently
means, that however called, they were all Canaanites, who had been
long ago doomed to destruction. Since then those regions had been
enemies to the Jews, the Prophet intimates that God would become the
defender of his chosen people.
    "The word of Jehovah is against you". "God, who has hitherto
threatened his own people, summons you to judgment. Think not that
you will escape unpunished for having vexed his Church." For though
God designed to prove the patience of his people, yet neither the
Moabites, nor the rest, were excusable when they cruelly oppressed
the Jews; yea, when they purposed through them to fight with God
himself, the creator of heaven and earth. He afterwards adds, There
shall be no inhabitant, for God would destroy them all. We now see
that the Prophet had no other design but to alleviate the bitter
grief of the faithful by this consolation, - that their miseries
would be only for a time, and that God would ere long punish their
enemies. It follows -

Zephaniah 2:6,7
And the sea coast shall be dwellings [and] cottages for shepherds,
and folds for flocks.
And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they
shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down
in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn
away their captivity.
    
    The Prophet confirms what he has before said respecting the
future vengeance of God, which was now nigh at hand to the Moabites
and other neighbouring nations, who had been continually harassing
the miserable Jews. Hence, he says, that that whole region would
become the habitation of sheep. It is a well known event, that when
any country is without inhabitants shepherds occupy it; for there is
no sowing nor reaping there, but grass alone grows. Where,
therefore, there is no cultivation, where no number of men are
found, there shepherds find a place for their flocks, there they
build sheep cots. It is, therefore, the same as though the Prophet
had said, that the country would be desolate, as we find it
expressed in the next verse.
    He immediately adds, but for a different reason, that the coast
of the sea would be a habitation to the house of Judah. And there is
here a striking divergence from the flocks of shepherds to the tribe
of Judah, which was as it were, the chosen flock of God. The Prophet
then, after having said that the region would be waste and desolate,
immediately adds, that it would be for the benefit of the chosen
people; for the Lord would grant there to the Jews a safe and secure
rest. But the Prophet confines this to the remnant; for the greater
part, as we have already seen, were become so irreclaimable, that
the gate of mercy was completely closed against them. The Prophet,
at the same time, by mentioning a remnant, shows that there would
always be some seed from which God would raise up a new Church; and
he also encourages the faithful to entertain hope, so that their own
small number might not terrify them; for when they considered
themselves and found themselves surpassed by a vast multitude, they
might have thought that they were of no account. Lest then they
should be disheartened the Prophet says that this remnant would be
the object of God's care; for when he would visit the whole coast of
the sea and other regions, he would provide there for the Jews a
safe habitation and refuge.
    "That line then, he says, shall be for the residue of the house
of Judah; feed shall they in Ashkelon, and there shall they lie down
in the evening"; that is, they shall find in their exile some
resting-place; for we know that the Jews were not all removed to
distant lands; and they who may have been hid in neighboring places
were afterwards more easily gathered, when a liberty to return was
permitted them. This is what the Prophet means now, when he says,
that there would be a refuge in the night to the Jews among the
Moabites and other neighboring nations.
    A reason follows, which confirms what I have stated, "for
Jehovah their God, he says, will visit them". We hence see that the
Prophet mitigates here the sorrow of exile and of that most grievous
calamity which was nigh the Jews, by promising to them a new
visitation of God; as though he had said, "Though the Lord seems now
to rage against you, and seems to forget his own covenant, yet he
will again remember his mercy, when the suitable time shall come."
And he adds, he will restore their captivity; and he added this,
that he might show that his favor would prove victorious against all
hindrances. The Jews might indeed have raised this objection, "Why
does not the Lord help us immediately; but he, on the contrary,
allows our enemies to remove us into exile?" The Prophet here calls
upon them to exercise patience; and yet be promises, that after
having been driven into exile, they should again return to their
country; for the Lord would not suffer that exile to be perpetual.
It now follows -

Zephaniah 2:8
I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children
of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified
[themselves] against their border.
    
    The Prophet confirms what I have just said of God's vengeance
against foreign enemies. Though all the neighboring nations had been
eager in their hostility to the Jews, yet we know that more hatred,
yea and more fury, had been exhibited by these two nations than by
any other, that is, by the Moabites and the Ammonites,
notwithstanding their connection with them by blood, for they
derived their origin from Lot, who was Abraham's nephew. Though,
then, that connection ought to have turned the Moabites and the
Ammonites to mercy, we yet know they always infested the Jews with
greater fury than others, and as it were with savage cruelty. This
is the reason why the Prophet speaks now especially of them. Some
indeed take this sentence as spoken by the faithful; but the context
requires it to be ascribed to God, and no doubt he reminds them that
he looked down from on high on the proud vauntings of Moab which he
scattered in the air, as though he had declared that it was not
hidden or unknown to him how cruelly the Moabites and Ammonites
raged against the Jews, how proud and inhuman they had been. And
this was a very seasonable consolation. For the Jews might have been
swallowed up with despair, had not this promise been made to them.
They saw the Moabites and the Ammonites burning with fury, when yet
they had not been injured or provoked. They also saw that they made
gain and derived advantage from the calamities of a miserable
people. What could the faithful think? These wicked men not only
harassed them with impunity, but their cruelty and perfidy towards
them was gainful. Where was God now? If he regarded his own Church,
would he not have interposed? Lest then a temptation of this kind
should upset the faithful, the Prophet introduces God here as the
speaker, -
    "I have heard, he says, the reproach of Moab; I have heard the
revilings of Amman": "Nothing escapes me; though I do not
immediately show that these things are regarded by me, yet I know
and observe how shamefully the Moabites and the Ammonites have
persecuted you: they at length shall find that I am the guardian of
your safety, and that you are under my protection." We now apprehend
the Prophet's design. Near]y the same words are used by Isaiah, ch.
16, and also by Jeremiah ch. 48: but they both pursue the subject
much farther, while our Prophet only touches on it briefly, for we
see that what he says is comprised in very few words. But by saying
that the reproach of Moab and the revilings of the children of Amman
had come into remembrance before God, what he had in view was - that
the Jews might be assured and fully persuaded that they were not
rejected and forsaken, though for a time they were reproachfully
treated by the wicked. The Prophet indeed takes the words reproach
and revilings, in an active sense.
    He then adds, "By which they have upbraided any people". God
intimates here that he does not depart from his elect when the
wicked spit, as it were, in their faces. There is indeed nothing
which so much wounds the feelings of ingenuous minds as reproach;
there is not so much bitterness in hundred deaths as in one
reproach, especial]y when the wicked licentiously triumph, and do
this with the applauding consent of the whole world; for then all
difference between good and evil is confounded, and good conscience
is as it were buried. But the Prophet shows here, that the people of
God suffer no loss when they are thus unworthily harassed by the
wicked and exposed to their reproach.
    He at last subjoins that they had enlarged over their border.
Some consider "mouth" to be understood - "they have enlarged the
mouth against their border;" and the word, it is true, without any
addition, is often taken in this sense; but in this place the
construction is fuller, for the words "'al-gevulam", over their
border, follow the verb. The Prophet means that God's wrath had been
provoked by the petulance of both nations, for they wished to break.
up, as it were, the borders, which had been fixed by God. The land
of Canaan, we know, had been given to the Jews by an hereditary
right; - "When the Most High," says Moses, "divided the nations, he
set a line for Jacob." (Deut. 32: 8.) It is indeed true that the
possessions of the nations were allotted to them by the hidden
counsel of God; but there was a special reason as to his chosen
people; for the Lord had made Abraham the true possessor of that
land, even for ever. (Gen. 17: 8.) Now the Moabites were confined,
as it were, to a certain place; the Lord had assigned to them their
own inheritance. When, therefore, they sought to go beyond and to
invade the land of the Jews, God's wrath must have been kindled
against them; for they thus fought, not against mortals, but against
God himself; for by removing the borders fixed by him, they
attempted to subvert his eternal decree. We now then understand why
the Prophet says that the children of Moab and of Ammon had enlarged
over the border of those who had been placed in the land of Canaan
by God's hand; for they not only sought to eject their neighbors,
but wished and tried to take away from God's hand that inheritance
which the Lord had given to Abraham, and given, as I have said, in
perpetuity.
    
Prayer.
    
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast been pleased to consecrate us
a peculiar people to thyself, we may be mindful of such an
invaluable favor, and devote ourselves woody to thee, and so labour
to cultivate true sincerity as to bear the marks of thy people and
of thy holy Church: and as we are so polluted by so many of the
defilements of our own flesh and of this world, grant that thy Holy
Spirit may cleanse us more and more every day, until thou bringest
us at length to that perfection to which thou invites us by the
voice of thy gospel, that we may also enjoy that blessed glory which
has been provided for us by the blood of thy only begotten Son.
Amen.


Lecture One Hundred and Twenty-third.

Zephaniah 2:9,10
Therefore [as] I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as
Gomorrah, [even] the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a
perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and
the remnant of my people shall possess them.
This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached
and magnified [themselves] against the people of the LORD of hosts.
    
    In order to cheer the miserable Jews by some consolation, God
said, in what we considered yesterday, that the wantonness of Moab
was known to him; he now adds, that he would visit with punishment
the reproaches which had been mentioned. For it would have availed
them but little that their wrongs had been observed by God, if no
punishment had been prepared. Hence the Prophet reminds them that
God is no idle spectator, who only observes what takes place in the
world; but that there is a reward laid up for al the ungodly. And
these verses are to be taken in connection, that the faithful may
know that their wrongs are not unknown to God, and also that he will
be their defender. But that the Jews might have a more sure
confidence that God would be their deliverer, he interposes an oath.
God at the same time shows that he is really touched with when he
sees his people so cruelly and immoderately harassed, when the
ungodly seem to think that an unbridled license is permitted them.
God therefore shows here, that not only the salvation of his people
is an object of his care, but that he undertakes their cause as
though his anger was kindled; not that passions belong to him but
such a form of speaking is adopted in order to express what the
faithful could never otherwise conceive an idea of, that is, to
express the unspeakable love of God towards them, and his care for
them.
    He then says that he "lives", as though he had sworn by his own
life. As we have elsewhere seen that he swears by his life, so he
speaks now. Live do I, that is, "As I am God, so will I avenge these
wrongs by which my people are now oppressed." And for the same
reason he calls himself Jehovah of hosts, and the God of Israel. In
the first clause he exalts his own power, that the Jews might know
that he was endued with power; and then he mentions his goodness,
because he had adopted them as his people. The meaning then is that
God swears by his own life; and that the Jews might not think that
this was done in vain, his power is brought before them, and then
his favor is added.
    "Moab, he says, shall be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like
Gomorrah, even for the production of the nettle and for a mire of
salt;" that is, their lands should be reduced to a waste, or should
become wholly barren, so that nothing was to grow there but nettles,
as the case is with desert places. As to the expression, the mine
(fodina) or quarry of salt, it often occurs in scripture: a salt-pit
denotes sterility in Hebrew. And the Prophet adds, that this would
not be for a short time only; It shall be (he says) a perpetual
desolation. He also adds, that this would be for the advantage of
the Church; for the residue of my people shall plunder them, and the
remainder of my nation shall possess them. He ever speaks of the
residue; for as it was said yesterday, it was necessary for that
people to be cleansed from their dregs, so that a small portion only
would remain; and we know that not many of them returned from exile.
    The import of the whole is, that though God determined to
diminish his Church, so that a few only survived, yet these few
would be the heirs of the whole land, and possess the kingdom, when
God had taken vengeance on all their enemies.
    It hence follows, according to the Prophet, that this shall be
to them for their pride. We see that the Prophet's object is, to
take away whatever bitterness the Jews might feel when insolently
slandered by their enemies. As then there was danger of desponding,
since nothing, as it was said yesterday, is more grievous to be
borne than reproach, God does here expressly declare, that the proud
triumph of their neighbours over the Jews would be their own ruin;
for, as Solomon says, 'Pride goes before destruction.' (Prov. 16:
18.) And he again confirms what he had already referred to - that
the Jews would not be wronged with impunity, for God had taken them
under his guardianship, and was their protector: Because they have
reproached, he says, and triumphed over the people of Jehovah of
hosts. He might have said, "over my people," as in the last verse;
but there is something implied in these words, as though the Prophet
had said, that they carried on war not with mortals but with God
himself, whose majesty was insulted, when the Jews were so unjustly
oppressed. It follows -

Zephaniah 2:11
The LORD [will be] terrible unto them: for he will famish all the
gods of the earth; and [men] shall worship him, every one from his
place, [even] all the isles of the heathen.
    
    He proceeds with the same subject, - that God would show his
power in aiding his people. But he calls him a terrible God, who had
for a time patiently endured the wantonness of his enemies, and thus
became despised by them: for the ungodly, we know, never submit to
God unless they are constrained by his hand; and then they are not
bent so as willingly to submit to his authority; but when forced
they are silent. This is what the Prophet means in these words; as
though he had said, that the wicked now mock God, as they disregard
his power, but that they shall find how terrible an avenger of his
people he is, so that they would have to dread him. And then he
compares the superstitions of the nations with true religion; as
though he had said, that this would be to the Jews as a reward for
their piety, inasmuch as they worshipped the only true God, and that
all idols would be of no avail against the help of God. And this was
a necessary admonition; for the ungodly seemed to triumph for a
time, not only over a conquered people, but over God himself, and
thus gloried in their superstitious and vain inventions. The
Prophet, therefore, confirms their desponding minds; for God, he
says, will at length consume all the gods of the nations.
    The verb "razah" means strictly to make lean or to famish, but
is to be taken here metaphorically, as signifying to consume. God
then will famish all the inventions of the nations: and he alludes
to that famine which idols had occasioned through the whole world;
as though he had said, that God's glory would shortly appear, which
would exterminate whatever glory the false gods had obtained among
them, so that it would melt away like fatness.
    He at last adds, that the remotest nations would become
suppliants to God; for by saying, "adore him shall each from his
place", he doubtless means, that however far off the countries might
be, the distance would be no hindrance to God's name being
celebrated, when his power became known to remote lands. And, for
the same reason, he mentions the islands of the nations, that is,
countries beyond the sea: for the Hebrews, as it has been elsewhere
observed, call those countries islands which are far distant, and
divided by the sea. In short, the Prophet shows, that the redemption
of the people would be so wonderful, that the fame of it would reach
the farthest bounds of the earth, and constrain foreign nations to
give glory to the true God, and that it would dissipate all the
mists of superstition, so that idols would be exposed to scorn and
contempt. It follows -

Zephaniah 2:12
Ye Ethiopians also, ye [shall be] slain by my sword.
    
    The Prophet extends farther the threatened vengeance, and says,
that God would also render to the Ethiopians the reward which they
deserved; for they had also harassed the chosen people. But if God
punished that nation, how could Ammon and Moab hope to escape? For
how could God spare so great a cruelty, since he would visit with
punishment the remotest nations? For the hatred of the Moabites and
of the Ammonites, as we have said, was less excusa