The Pulpit Commentary — Zephaniah — Section 23

crushing judgment comes. Finally, we he.ve set before us the careless seH-indulgence of tbo~e who are at ease e.mid e.11 this preve.iling e\·il, who have had no changes, and ha'l'e no fear of change, who say or think that neither good nor evil, blessing nor jurlgment, is to be looked for from God (ver. 12). All things continue as they were· a1:d the thonght of a present. living God, the Judge of the ee.rth, e.nd the Avenger of wr0ng, bas faded from men's minds. Such e.re the various forms of evil that e.re indir.ated by the prophet e.s the cause of the judgment which he e.nnounces. Can it be se.id that they are unknown in our day and in ourselves? No doubt the outward forms of idolatry and oppression then rampant are strange and repulsive to us; but ~re we free from the tendency to degrade the living God to a mere natnre-power, which JS the essence of idolatry? And e.re not ungodliness, neglect of God's spiritual worship ~el6sb ostentation and luxury, neglect and oppression of the poor, love of money, and careless self-indulgence, bnt too well known among us? The picture is not one of mere historical or antiquarian interest, but of ever-present moral significance. It teaches us that such evils always lead to ruiii, that they lay a nation helpless at the feet of its enemies, and make its continued existence impossible. All history confirms this lesson; and revelation bids us look beyond all merely historical catastrophes to that final judgment of the Lord which shall, in the fullest sense, be universal, embracing, not one nation only, but all mankind, and searching out each individual, to be confronted with his Judge and with the fruit of his own doings. II!. THE LESSON OF ALL TffiS IS EXPRESSED IN THE WORDS," HOLD THY PEACE AT THE PI<ESEKCE OF THE LoRD Goo." (Ver. 7.) This is the first and most urgent duty. The prophet bas further directions to give in following discourses; but this is the immediate effect that the announcement of jndgme'nt should have. A silence of awe and humility is what becomes men in the presence of God, when he rises up to judgment a.s the Lord of all the earth. "Be still, ·and know that I am God," is his voice as the day of the Lord approaches. This implies a recognition, on the one band, of the reality, and on the other ban<l, of the justice, of God'sjudgment. It should be received as a real exprC!lsion of God's wrath against the sins of men. Let not the evils that come upon nations or individuals in consequence of their sins be regarded as mere accidents, or as only due to the operation of natural laws. They may be brought about immediately by such second causes, but behind all these we are to recognize the mind and will of the living God. He speaks to us as truly by the ordinary courses of ne.ture as by the most. stupendous miracle, and if he shows us that earthly conceptions of the Divine degrale and brutalize man, that selfishness and selfish indulgence, luxury and oppres- sion, bring a people to ruin and lay them helpless at the feet of their foes, that is a real i.nd most solemn judgment of God against these things. Let us be silent also as recognizing the justice of this judgment. These things are evil, deserving of abhorrence and destrnction; and God, who in his laws of nature appoints ruin to be their consoquence, shows himself just and holy. Let us humbly acknowledge this; and in so fat as these evils of ungodliness and selfishness have found place in us, let us put our hand on onr month, acknowledging that we have nothing to answer to God, and are verily guilty in his sight. There is hope for us if we thus confess our sin. There is hope in the very fact that God announces his judgment against our sin. For what is the announcement? It is that God will utterly sweep away the evils that are done in the land; it is against those that the fire of his wrath is kindled; and if men will cling to these evils, and hug their sins to their bosom, be will sweep away the wicked with the stumbling-blocks. Both together shall be destroyed, for God will be rid at last of sin. But if any are willing to be separated from their sins, by however humble and painful a process that may be, then the assurance that God will utterly sweep away the evil will have hope for them. The fire that is to devour the whole land is a fire of jealousy as well as of wrath. Because the Lord loves his people with a jealous affection, in spite of all their unfaithfulness, he will, if they but silently trust themselves to him, make the fire of his anger against their sin to purify and perfect them. Thus this comiog of the Lord for judgment is the harbinger of final salvation to those who desire to be purged from those evils against which his wrath is revealed. Therefore "let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, an<l with him is plenteous redemption i and he will redeeQl IQr[\el frolll t\11 hi11 lniq uily."-C. • OIJ. I. 1-18.] 'l'llE IlOOK OF ZEPHANIAH, 21