The Pulpit Commentary — Zephaniah — Section 72

Vers. 6-8.-Terri"ble calamities in hwman history. "I have cut off the nations: their towers a.re desolate ; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by : their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant. I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction," etc. In these verses the prophet sums up all that he had said in the preceding verses of this chapter, and thus closes his admonition to repentance with the announcement of tremendons judgments. These verees remind us of three great truths of universal importance, claiming the attention of men wherever they exist. L T:H.a.T THERE IB A BENSE IN WHICH THE MOST TERRIBLE CALAMITIES IN HUMAN HISTORY HAY BE ASCRIBED TO Goo. Here he is represented as cutting off the nations, rlestroying their " towers," making their " streets waste," so that " there is no man," and" none inhe.bita.nt." What particular nation is here referred to cannot be deter- mined with certainty. We know that he did destroy nations-the Canaanitish nations, also .Assyria e.nd Babylon. These calamities are here a.scribed to God. In Bible lan"uage he is frequently represented as doing that which he only permits. Nations destroy ea.eh other, he allows them to do eo. 'l'hough he does not give them the disposition for the work, he imparts the power and the opportunities. !I. THAT THE GRAND DESIGN OF BUCH 0ALAMITIEB IS THE PROMOTION OF HORAL IMPROVEMENT AJIONGST MANKIND. Why did he permit the wreck and ruin of those nations, and all the dire desolations here recorded? Here is the answer, "I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction." 'l'he grand end of all his dispensations with men is to generate within them the right state of mind in relation to himself; in other words, to make them "meet for the inheritance of the saints in 1igh t." "Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to enlighten him with the light of the living" (Joh xuiii. 29, 30). .As the storms the snows, the frosts, and the cutting winds of winter help to bring on the luxuriant ~pring, so the calamities in human life contribute to the more.I regeneration nf mankind. Ill. TE.AT THE NON-BEALlZATION OF TIUB DESIGN Al\lONGBT A PEOPLE EXPOSES  Oil. 111. 1-20.) THE BOOK or ZEPHANIAFl. TIIEM TO TEnRIBLE RETRIBUTION. "But they rose early, and corrupted all their doings." The men or Jerusalem, instead of becoming better for these terrible calamit\e!! grew worse. They "corrupted all their doings." 'l'his they did with assiduity'. They" rose early." They begnn their morning with it. "Therefore wait ye upon me eaith the Lord, until the day that I riee up to the prey; for my determination is ~ gather the nations, that I may aesemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce auger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy." Or, as Keil renders it, "Therefore wait for me, is the saying of Jehovah, for the day when I rise up to the prey; for it is my right to gather nations together, to bring kingdoms in crowds, to heap upon them my fury, all the burning of my wrath; for in the fire ofmy zeal will the whole earth be devoured." The Almighty here speaks after the manner of men, as he does almost everywhere in the Bible, in condescension to human infirmities. He speaks as if he were disappointed in the moral results of the calamities which he had Bent, and as if his nature now glowed with the fires of his indignation. There is, of course, really no disappointment for him, for he knows the future, and" fury" is not in him.-D. T. ' Vers. 9, 10.-The good time coming, "For then will I tum to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering." Henderson supposes that the poem from this verse to the end of the book relates to Messianic times; that the prophet points to that dispen- sation of remedial mercy under which we live, and which commenced more than eighteen hundred years ago. We may therefore regard these words as pointing to at least two of the great characteristic blessings that will come to the world during the continuance of the gospel age; and these two are moral purity of language and spiritual unity of worship. I. MORAL PURITY OF LANGUAGE. " Then will I turn to the people a pure language." Or, as Keil renders it, "a pure lip." Human language is looked upon in different aspects by different men. Some look upon it grammatically, trace its etymology, and arrange its words and sentences according to the conventional rules of speech; some look at it logically, study it in its relation to the law of human reasoning; some look upon it philosophically, view it in relation to the nature of the things it is intended t0 represent; and some look upon it morally, contemplate it in its relation to the la.w of conscienee and God. Grammatical language is mere conformity to acknowledged rules of speech; logical language, conformity to recognized principles of reasoning; phil'l- sophical language is conformity to the order of nature; moral language is conformity to the moral law of God. 'l'here is a regular gradation in the importance of these aspects of language. The first is of the least importance ; the second and third come next ; and the last is the most important of all. It is strange and sad to see that the amount of attention which men pay to these aspects is in the inverse ratio of their importance. The first, the least important, is the most attended to; the second, next ; the third, next ; and the last, the most important of all, almost entirely neglected. In the department of speech we have more grammarians than logicians, more logicians than philosophers, more philosophers than honest saints. It is moral purity of language that is wanted in the w<>rld, and that is here promised. Language that shall be used, not without meaning, as it is oftentimes used now, nor to misrepresent meaning, as is often the case. A "pure" moral language implies two things. 1. That the state of the heart should be in accord with Divine reality. 2. That the words of the lip should be in accord with the state of the heart. In other words, purity of soul and veracity of expression. II. SPIRITUAL UNITY OF woBBHIP. '' That they may all call upon the Name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent." "That they may serve him with one accord" (Henderson). Who are to serve him with one accord? The nations, partially speci- fied in the tenth verse. "From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia [Cush] my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall b1ing mine offering." 'fhe glorious point to be observed is not that all nations shall worship, for worship will ever bolong to the race ; hut that all nations will worship with one aocor_d. There is !1- onen_es_s in their _wors_hi p. Unity of worship does not necessarily mean unity 0f theological opm1on or of ntuahst1~ 70 THE BQOK OF ZEPRANIAlt. [on. m.1-20