The Pulpit Commentary — Zephaniah — Section 11

we should earnestly seek their recovery. We should endea.vour by kindness o.nd gentleness to restore these erring ones. Although they ma.y be darkly stained by sin, ~-hey are still our brethren. ,vhilst they have Rtumbled aud fallen in the path, it is m ver_v weakness that we ourselves have trodden it. 'l'he tender, loving word may perchance win them back to holiness and to God, Iu voyaging, some vessel~ o.re completely lost,-they go down through the storm, and utterly perish; others arrive at the por~, but with masts broken and sails torn through battling with wiud and wave; whilst others outride every storm, and with full sa.il enter the destined haven, Thus was it, one has pointed out, with the three associates of St. Paul who are specially referred to in 2 Tim. iv.; and thus is it in the spiritual life. Demas, wrecked; Mark, overpowered by adverse gales and seemingly crushed, yet rising again and reaching the harbour at length in safety; but Luke, "the beloved physician," holding peacefully and tranquilly on his course all through, and having ministered to him an abundant entrance to the heavenly kingdom (see paper by Dr. Maclaren, Good Words, 1877, p. 595). May our course be as the last-named of these disciples, unmarked either by failure or even by temporary estrangement, but being steadfast and immovable! May no place be found by us amongst those "that lla.ve turned themselves back from following after the Lord"! May we, escaping the perils of the sea of life-all its shoals and quicksands-reach at last the haven of eternal rest and felicity I Ver. 6.-The sin of ind,-fference. ".And those that have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him." Various classes of transgressors are alluded to in these verses (vers. 4-6). The corrupt priests and their followers, those dividing their allegiance between God and Baal, the backsliders in heart, are e.11 spoken of in brief and forcible sentences. And now, in the expression before us, allusion is made to the unconcerned and indifferent, and who are described as "those that have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him." This class is, in some respects, the most hopeless of all. An idolater is interested in worship, and may become convinced of his folly in rendering this to " the work of his own hands." The divided heart is partially directed to God, and may be won over to complete loyalty. The backslider may remember the joys he has forfeited, and, by the sacred memories of the past, which even his estrangement cannot obliterate, may be constrained to return unto the Lord. But in proportion as a. man is callous and indifferent to the claims of God, he places himself outside the circle within which holy and gracious influences operate. Less fear need be cherished of the pernicions influence of the scepticism of the age than of the fatality attendant upon the spirit of indifferentism to God and bis claims which so widely prevails. Observe- L THE PREVALENCE OF THIS BPIRlT MAY BE ACCOUNTED FOR. 1. The reason of it is to be found in the fact of possession. Nothing is more calculated to lead a man to be indifferent in reference to higher claims than to :find property increasing in his hands. The consciousness of independence, the sense of self-sufficiency, and the feeling of comfort, all tend to lead him to think and act as though he had "need of nothing." "A certain man made a great supper, and bade many." One thus invited said, "I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused" (Luke xiv. 16-18). See well to it, ye who have secured the possessions of earth, that ye do not, through the influence of these material things, come short of participation in the true festal joys. 2. Another reason lies in the fact of familiarity. Is it not so that our very familiarity with anything is likely to lead us in a se.nse to be somewhat indifferent to it? A walk may appear long, and may be long; but take it frequently, and the distance will appear to lessen, and in time it will cease to affect you. View constantly the scenery of some charming dale, and however much of quiet enjoyment you will get out of it perpetually if you are a lover of natural beauty, yet you will not be so enthusiastic as a stranger who gazes upon it for the first time. And much of the prevailing indifference concerning God and his truth may be traced to this cause. When King Clovis heard for the first time the story of Calvary, it i8 said he grew excited, and cried out, "I wish I'd been there with my Franks; I'd soon have ~et tied those Jews!" The novelty charmed the rude king; but men all around us u.re so familiar with the story that they are not moved thus; and multitudes are so unconcerned respecting these great themes as that they may be described as " those who have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him." 3. This in<lifference may also on. I, 1-18.] THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH. 9