The Pulpit Commentary — Zephaniah — Section 57

RETRIBUTION THAT SHOULD BE EXPERIENCED BY THE EVIL-DOERS, (Vers. 6, 1, 8.) God is righteous (ver. 5). He is so absolutely o.nd essentially. His perfections are nil conformed to this, and, when truly contemplated by us, only render his righteousness the more manifest and intense to us. His Law is distinguished by this, and all his doings are guided by this. "He thinks, and feels, and purposes, nnd acts always according to what ought to be, and never in accommodation to what is; he makes uncompromising rectitude the rule of a.ll his judgments and proceedings in a.11 his dealings with men. He is not facile and bending, open to appeals and appliances from witho~t, but inherently and unalterably righteous" (Candlish). And God being thus essennally and eternally righteous, iniquity cannot go unpuniEhed; and transgressors persisting shamelessly in wrong-doing must reap the due reward of their deeds. In no spirit of vindictiveness, but in strict accordance with this rectitude, so perfect and entire, by which he is characterized, God here, by "the mouth of his holy prophet," pronounced "woe" unto Jerusalem (ver. 1), and declared his "determination" to gather the godless nations and to assemble the rebellious kingdoms, and to pour upon them his indignation, etc. (ver. 8). Ill. THE PROPHET INDICATED THE TRUE ATTITUDE OF THE GOOD IN THE LAND '\\'HILST THE PREVAILING INIQUITY WAS REACHING ITS CULMINATION AND WHEN THE JUDGllIEKTS OF HEAVEK SHOULD FALL. They should wait in the exercise of patience and of hope, assured that out of the chaos wrought by sin God would evolve his purposes of love, bringing good to the race. "Therefore wait for me, saith Jehovah" (ver. 8). \ er. 9.-Symbols of the final prosperity of God's spiritual kingdom. This verse introduces us to brighter scenes. The writer has unfolded the guilt of his own and other nations, and has declared the terrible judgments which, in consequence of the pre~ailing iniquity, should be experienced; and now, in the closing portion of bis prophecy, he seeks to comfort the true-hearted in such troublous times by lingering upon the glorious future of the Church of the living God. His faith pierces the mist11 and clouds, and apprehends tbe noble victories to be won in the coming time by the Lord and bis Christ, and the he.lycon days that lay beyond. We are not to imagine that the ancient prophets realized the full significance of the predictions they uttered respecting the glory of" the latter day." Tbey wrote under the inspiration of God's Spirit, and we doubt not there was often a deeper meaning underlying their. utterances than even they supposed. Unconsciously they "testified beforehand" of a "glory" such as, if fully seen by them, would have dazzled and bewildered them by its very splendour. We must avoid placing narrow interpretations upon their words io reference, to these high themes. It were weak indeed to seek the complete fulfilment of the glowin~ predictions which form the closing portion of this prophecy in any one nation, aud still less in any particular event in that nation's history. 'fhe prophets them- selves, partial although the light they possessed was, would not thus have restricted their own words, for they recognized and rejoiced in the thought of God as working in the interests of the whole race; and we, with the increased light possessed by us, ough~ not to be Jess comprehensive than they. Viewing this verse (ver. 9) in this spirit, we may see set forth in it a striking symbol, the characteristics of the Rincere and genuine subjects of the spiritual kingdom of God. Such are distinguished by- I. Pc-RITY IN HEART AND LIFE. "For then will I tum to the peoples a pure language;" literally," a purified. life" (ver. 9). Degeneracy reveals itself in a marked manner in the evil utterances of men. The filthy jest, the coarse oath, the brutal curse, the foul names, which have often offended our ears as we have walked along the public streets, indicate the depravity of hardened hearts. Equally expressive of this is uncharitable speech, whether taking the form of open reproaches or the cowardly and more dan"'erous form of secret slander. Double-tongued utterances, too, reveal the wickednes~ of the human heart-utterances which appear to convey a twofold meaning, good and evil, the good being simply a. kind of disguise employed for the purpose of renderino- the evil the more effective. And vain and frivolous speech likewise serves to indicate ~ongness of heart; "idle words," useless effectless words, words which some spend so much time in dropping from house to house, words very unsavoury to all sensible minds, and which, if they accomplish anything, only work mischief and mistrust. In contrast to this, and as indicating the opposite disposition of mind and Olt. tn. 1-20.J THE BOOK OF ZEPHANIA:tt.