Zephaniah 2:1-3 - Homilies By D. Thomas

"Gather yourselves together," etc. Here is an exhortation to the men of Judah to repent ere the Chaldean invaders approach, and wreak destruction on their land. Two thoughts are suggested.

I. SIN EXPOSES MAN TO RUIN . It was sin, in the form of idolatry and gross immorality, that exposed the Jewish people to the terrible doom that was now hanging over them. Sin is evermore the cause of all human suffering. Corporeal sin brings corporeal suffering; moral sin brings moral suffering; national sin brings national suffering. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."

1 . The suffering that follows sin is sometimes very terrible. It was so now. Sin brings upon a people famines, pestilences, wars, perdition.

2 . The suffering expresses God's antagonism to sin. "The fierce anger of the Lord," or, as Henderson has it, "the burning anger of Jehovah." God's anger is not a passion, but a principle; and the principle is antagonism, not to the happiness of his creatures, but to their sin and their wickedness. The connection between sin and misery is a beneficent arrangement. It is well that misery should pursue wrong.

II. THAT REPENTANCE DELIVERS MAN FROM RUIN . To prepare for the coming doom, the men of Judah are called upon to repent. "Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired," which may mean, "not worthy of the grace or favour of God." Some translate it, "not waxing pale," meaning, "being dead to a sense of shame." Others regard the expression as meaning, "not desiring to repent."

1 . The preparation for repentance. "Gather yourselves together," etc. "Gather yourselves together" in connection; deliberate together as to the best way of securing the friendship and protection of God. "Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders" ( Joel 2:16 ). It is well for sinners, in the prospect of their doom, to meet and confer concerning their relations to Almighty God.

2 . The nature of repentance. It is here represented as seeking the Lord. "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth;" or, as Henderson renders it, "Seek ye Jehovah, all ye humble of the earth." There are two seekings here.

3 . The urgency of repentance. Do it now. "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." It wilt be too late to repent when the judgment comes. "They shall call upon me, and I will not answer;" "Many shall say to me at that day," etc. ( Matthew 7:22 ).

CONCLUSION . As sin is in the world, judgments are in the world. Retribution, like an invading army, is always marching toward the victim. Repentance is the only means of deliverance. "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." — D.T.

Zephaniah 2:4-7 . - The sinner's baleful influence, and God's disposal of all.

"For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon," etc. Here the prophet makes the punishment awaiting the neighbouring states, which he goes on to specify, an argument for immediate repentance. "For Gaza shall be forsaken." Gaza was one of the five principalities of the Philistines, and was situated on the coast, of the Mediterranean at the southern extremity of Canaan. "Ashkelon a desolation." This was another of the fenced cities of the Philistines, situated on the shore of the Mediterranean. between Gaza and Ashdod. "Ekron shall be rooted up." Another philistine city, lying northwest of Gath, and north of Ashdod. "Woe unto the inhabitants of the seacoast!" The Philistines dwelling on the seacoast southwest of Canaan. "The nation of the Cherethites" — the Cretans, the name applied to the Philistines that sprang from Crete. "O Canaan, the land of the Philistines." They occupied the strip of land on the south shore of the Mediterranean ( Joshua 13:3 ). Two facts are here suggested.

I. THAT THE CALAMITIES FALLING UPON ONE SINNER OFTEN INVOLVE OTHERS . It was so now. The ruin that was approaching the Hebrew nation would be most calamitous to the Philistine cities, and indeed to the neighbouring states. Gaza would be "forsaken," Ashkelon would be a "desolation," Ashdod would be "driven out," Ekron would be "rooted up," the inhabitants of the seashore, the Cherethites, the Canaanites, all would be involved. So vital, strong, and numerous are the ties that connect man with man in this world, that the condition of one must affect the condition of others. It is so:

1 . With nations. At no period in the world's history was it more manifest than now. No one state or kingdom of Europe can be affected without influencing others. What was called "the Eastern question," in that terrible war between the sultan and the czar, affected every part of the civilized world.

2 . With individuals. A man cannot fail in health, in business, or in character, without painfully affecting others in some way or other. What sufferings the failures of the Gurneys, the Petos, and the Grants have brought upon thousands in this country! This shows:

II. THAT THE LOT OF MAN IS AT THE DISPOSAL OF ALMIGHTY GOD . "And the seacoast 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 He down in the evening: for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity." "And the line of the sea shall be pastures, with cisterns for shepherds and folds for sheep. Yea, the line shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah, thereupon shall they feed; in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down at even; for Jehovah their God shall visit them, and reverse their captivity" (Henderson). Here the Almighty is represented as arranging the future home and circumstances of "the remnant of the house of Judah." Paul at Athens said that God had "determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation" ( Acts 17:26 ). Though we are free and conscious of our freedom, we are at the disposal of One above us. He has appointed:

1 . Our place in the world. He has set bounds to our habitation "that we cannot pass."

2 . Our period in the world. "My times are in thy hand." The periods of our birth and death are all arranged by him. "Man's days are determined; the number of his months is with thee" ( Job 14:5 ). We are often tempted to imagine that chance rules us. We are struck with the apparent contingency when we look at men's circumstances in connection with their choice. None of us has any choice as to the condition, the place, the time, in which we are to be born or brought up. We are struck with the apparent contingency also when we look at men's circumstances in connection with their merits. How often do we find feeble-minded men in eminent positions, and men of talents and genius in obscurity! some, by what is called a hit, making fortunes and earning fame, whilst honest industry plods on with little or no success; vice in mansions, and virtue in the pauper's hut! Verily the race is not always to "the swift, nor the battle to the strong." But amidst all this feeling of contingency, and over all, there is the ruling plan of the beneficent God. — D.T.

Zephaniah 2:8-10 . - The persecution of the good.

"I have heard the reproach," ere. "The threat now turns from the Philistines in the west to the two tribes in the east, viz. the Moabites and the Ammonites, who were descended from Lot, and therefore blood relations, and who manifested hostility to Israel on every possible occasion." The passage suggests three facts.

I. THAT GOOD MEN ARE OFTEN SUBJECT TO ANNOYANCES FROM THE UNGODLY WORLD . "I have heard the reproach [abuse] of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people [abused my nation], and magnified themselves against their border." These people, the Moabites and the Ammonites, were constantly annoying and abusing the chosen people in the time of Moses. Balak, the King of the Moabites, sought to destroy the Israelites by means of Balaam's curses ( Numbers 22:1-41 .). And in the time of the judges, both peoples endeavoured to oppress Israel ( 3:12 ; 10:7 ). The charge here probably refers to the hostile attitude assumed by both tribes at all times toward the people of God. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah accused them of annoying them ( Isaiah 16:6 ; Jeremiah 48:29 ). The hostile conduct of Moab and Ammon towards Israel is only a specimen and an illustration of the antagonism of wicked men towards the truly pious. They "reproach" them; they charge them with superstition, fanaticism, cant, hypocrisy. Their revilings are often bitter and constant. "It has been," says an old writer, "the common lot of God's people in all ages to be reproached and reviled on one account or another." There is an eternal enmity between the two seeds — the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. The conduct of a truly good man can scarcely fail to exasperate worldly and ungodly people. It condemns their selfishness, their greed, their falsehood, their pleasures. "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before," etc.; "If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call those of the household!" "Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother; and wherefore slew he him? because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." In corrupt society, we may lay it down as a truth that the better a man is, the more pure, honest, true, righteous, the more he will be hated and annoyed by his neighbours. The best men, the men of whom "the world is not worthy," are always persecuted.

II. THAT THESE ANNOYANCES ESCAPE NOT THE NOTICE OF GOD . "I have heard the reproach of Moab." I have heard the whole, all their calumnies, reproaches, revilings not a word has escaped me, not a syllable has been lost. Observe:

1 . God's attention to the minute concerns of human life. He who is the Maker and Manager of the universe, to whom the creation is as nothing and less than nothing, is not indifferent to the utterances of little human creatures on this earth, which is itself a mere speck in space. "I have heard the reproaches." "He sees with equal eye, as God of all A hero perish, or a sparrow fall."

2. God's special interest in his people. Good men are his children, as dear to him as the apple of the eye; and whatever happens to them, even a reproachful word, affects him. It is truly consoling, it is energizing, to know that the great Father is interested in all that pertains to us. "Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings" ( Jeremiah 32:19 ).

III. THAT GOD WILL NOT FAIL TO CHASTISE THE AUTHORS OF SUCH ANNOYANCES . "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 salt pits, 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." Mark:

1 . The doom of those reproachers. "They shall be as So, lore and Gomorrah." "This simile," says Keil, "was rendered a very natural one by the situation of the two lands in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea. It affirms the utter destruction of the two tribes." Their land is to abound with "nettles and salt pits," the products and proofs of utter ruin.

2 . The cause of their doom. "This shall they have for their pride." All the persecutors of the good will meet with a terrible chastisement. Sooner or later God will avenge his own elect. Hence let the godly victims of persecution, when they are "reviled, revile not again;" "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord;" "Blessed are they which and persecuted," etc. ( Matthew 5:10 ). — D.T.

Zephaniah 2:11 . - Good things in the future.

"The Lord will be terrible unto them," etc. "'Jehovah is to be feared above all the gods of the earth, for he will cause them to waste away; and all the inhabitants of the maritime regions shall worship him, each from his place.' While announcing the destruction of the surrounding idolatrous nations, the prophet was inspired to predict the gradual but certain destruction of idolatry universally throughout the earth. The period predicted should be one in which all peculiarity of local worship should cease, and Divine worship be acceptable wherever presented in sincerity and truth" (Henderson). The passage reminds us of two good things that are in the future of our world.

I. THE DESTRUCTION OF IDOLATRY . What is idolatry? It is the giving of our supreme affection to creature objects. It is not confined to the worship of heathen deities, which are for the most part the productions of human invention and art. The spirit of idolatry often exists where heathen idolatry is denounced. Whatever objects a man loves most is his god. In our England and throughout Christendom there are gods many, although they have no recognized temple. Wealth is a mighty god, power is a mighty idol, pleasure is a mighty idol, fame is a mighty idol. Before these idols the vast majority of the civilized world prostrate their souls in the ardour of devotion. The destruction of idolatry, therefore, does not mean the beating to dust or the consuming to ashes the idols that fill the temples of heathendom, but means the withdrawal of man's supreme love from every object short of God. You may bum up all heathen temples, and leave idolatry as rampant as eVerse To "famish all the gods of the earth" is to draw man's supreme sympathy from all things except God. This is the great moral famine that is to be desired, to be prayed for and struggled after. The other good thing in the future of our world is —

II. THE ADVANCEMENT OF TRUE WORSHIP . "And men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen." Observe:

1 . The object of true worship. "Men shall worship him," that is, Jehovah. Him, not it — not the universe, but the infinite Personality that created it, the Fountain of all existence, all energy, all love, all blessedness. Him — the Creator of the material, the Father of the spiritual.

2 . The scene of true worship. "Every one from his place." Wherever he is. The worshipper need not go to any particular scene — no temple, chapel, or cathedral. "From his place." It may be in solitude or in society, on the mountain brow or the seashore. "Neither in this mountain" nor on that mountain, but everywhere, "God is a Spirit."

3 . The extent of true worship. "Even all the isles of the heathen."

CONCLUSION . What a glorious future awaits the world! How blessed will those ages be when every man of every tribe and clime shall have his heart centred in supreme love upon the one great Father of all! — D.T.

Zephaniah 2:13-15 . -National pride and national ruin.

"And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations," etc. Dr. Henderson's translation of this passage is not only beautiful, but seems so faithful and clear as scarcely to require any exposition.

"And he will stretch his hand over the north,

And destroy Assyria.

Idle will also make Nineveh waste,

An arid region like the desert.

And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her,

All the wild beasts of the nations:

Both the pelican and the porcupine

Shall take up their abode in her capitals:

A voice shall sing in the windows,

Desolation shall be in the thresholds,

For the cedar work is laid bare.

This is the exulting city which dwelt securely,

Which said in her heart,

I am, and beside me there is none.

How she is become desolate!

A resting place for wild beasts!

Every one that passeth by her shall hiss,

He shall shake his head."

Two facts are suggested.

I. THAT MEN ARE OFTEN PRONE TO PRIDE THEMSELVES ON THE GREATNESS OF THEIR COUNTRY . The men of the city of Nineveh — the capital of Assyria — were proud of their nation. It is called the "rejoicing city," and represented as saying, "I am, and there is none beside me." This was the voice of the population. There was much in the city of Nineveh to account for, if not to justify, the exultant spirit of its population. It was the metropolis of a vast empire; it was a city sixty miles in compass, it had walls a hundred feet high, and so thick and strong that three chariots could be driven abreast on them; it had twelve hundred massive towers. The boasting spirit of the men of Nineveh concerning the grandeur of their country is by no means uncommon; it beats in the hearts of modern nations. Italy, Austria, Germany, America, England, each says in its spirit, "I am, and there is none beside me." Nations are egotistic, they exult in their own greatness, they sing their own praises. This spirit of national boasting is unjustifiable. There is nothing in a nation of which it should be proud, except moral excellence; and, alas! how little moral excellence there is in the most virtuous kingdom of the earth! On the contrary, how much ignorance, sensuality, worldliness, intolerance, impiety, that should humble us in the dust! It is, moreover, a foolish spirit. It is a check to true national progress, and its haughty swaggerings tend to irritate other countries.

II. THAT THE GREATEST COUNTRY MUST SOONER OR LATER FALL TO RUIN . "He will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria," etc. This great city, peopled with pompous boasters, became a receptacle for beasts. "Flocks shall lie down in the midst of her," etc. "All the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant [the pelican] and the bittern [the porcupine] shall lodge in the upper lintels of it." The wild grim birds that haunt all ruins, Not only a receptacle for beasts, but a derision to travellers. "Every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand." Such was the doom that came on this great city when Cyaxares and Nabopolassar, 600 years B.C struck it down. This is the fate that awaits all the nations under heaven, even the greatest. Egypt, Syria, Babylon, Rome, Greece, have risen, prospered, and decayed. The symptoms of decay are manifest in many of the grandest nations of Europe. The more thoughtful amongst us discover those symptoms in the life of our England. England has nothing more to become, they say; the plum is overripe, and it must rot; the tree has exhausted all its latent vitality, and it must wither; the sun has passed the meridian, and it must go down. Thoughtful men point to the sad lack of capacity in our statesmen, the unscrupulous greed of our traders, the grumbling of our artisans, the weakness of our pulpits, the haughtiness of our ecclesiastics, the hollowness of our religion, the infidelities of our scientists, the diminution of our revenue and the increase of our pauperism, the arrogance of one class and the flunkeyism of another, pampered indolence here and starving toil there, jobbery in politics, swindling in commerce, cant in religion, and strikes in trade, — and say these are unmistakable marks of national corruption. — D.T.