CRITICAL NOTES.] Summons to repent. Gather] As stubble (Exodus 5:7-12); then generally, to collect; in this sense, to gather one’s self, to examine one’s self. Desired] A word which signifies primarily, to turn pale, become white with shame (cf. Isaiah 29:22); unworthy persons, not desired by God.
Zephaniah 2:2.] Reason for exhortation. Decree] (ch. 1). Forth] As the embryo, hid in the womb, is brought forth in due time. Day] Lit. as chaff the day passes; “the day comes like chaff” [Keil].
Zephaniah 2:3.] Because judgment will suddenly come, the pious exhorted especially, the quiet and humble before God (cf. Micah 6:8). Right.] Not loved strange apparel and practised idolatry. May be] Not doubtful, but difficult.
HOMILETICS
THE CALL TO REPENTANCE.—Zephaniah 2:1-3
God had threatened his people, now withholds judgment, and urges them to repent, earnestly to seek and serve him, before the day of punishment comes.
I. The necessity of repentance. “Gather yourselves together.” Men are distant from God and alienated from one another; dissipated by lusts, and live in forgetfulness of their highest interests. Hence they have no desire to turn to God, and are unworthy of his blessing; “not desired.” They must be gathered into one feeling of penitence, one assembly of solemn worship, and one fold of God.
1. The impenitent must seek the Lord. Judgment is threatened against “sinners and their offences.” The proud must be humbled, the unrighteous be holy, and the backslider return.
2. The meek must seek the Lord. The submissive and quiet must be more humble; those who do right must know more perfectly, and act more constantly. Meekness, righteousness, and holiness must adorn their conduct. “He that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.”
3. The whole nation must seek the Lord. National repentance is the only safeguard against national overthrow. An elect nation may become proud, undaunted in sin, and unappalled in danger. “A nation not desired,” which does not blush in shame; yet a nation whom God urges to turn to him and live. “Seek the Lord, and ye shall live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph and devour it.”
II. The method of repentance. “Gather yourselves together.”
1. By self-examination. A man must know himself thoroughly, examine himself closely, and ascertain how he stands in the sight of God. “Prove your own selves.” As we collect stubble from the fields, so must we search with diligence, and pick up “the withered leaves of past life.” The chaff must be burned up, all the dead and worthless must be destroyed in heart and conduct. It is better to judge ourselves than be judged of God. “Let us search and try our way, and turn again to the Lord.”
2. By earnest reformation. We must begin with self-examination, and end with amendment of life. The first earnest search must be continued, until all sin is discovered, abandoned, and pardoned. “Bring forth fruits meet for repentance.” “That vice may be uneasy, and even monstrous unto thee,” says Sir Thomas Browne, “let iterated good acts and long-confirmed habits make virtue almost natural, or a second nature in thee. Since virtuous superstructions have commonly generous foundations, dive into thy inclinations, and early discover what nature bids thee to be, or tells thee thou mayest be. They who timely descend into themselves, and cultivate the good seeds which nature hath set in them, prove not shrubs but cedars in their generation.”
(1) Sin must be forsaken in act and deed.
(2) Humility must be cherished.
(3) Righteousness must be followed. In this radical change of disposition, attitude, and conduct, lies the sole chance of escape. “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his face evermore.”
3. By public confession. “Gather yourselves” to a religious assembly, and avert the judgment by united prayer and confession. The Jews forsook the worship of God for idolatry. Many neglect to assemble themselves together now. If we sin together we should confess together. Religion renders social intercourse sacred, and binds men in public acts of praise and prayer. “Call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord.”
III. The motives to repentance.
1. Danger threatens. “Before the decree bring forth.” Men suppose that there is no approaching peril, no need for instant amendment. But the decree is uttered, and God cannot change. “The error of one moment may become the sorrow of a whole life.”
2. Time is given for repentance. Space is afforded before the day of grace pass away. Time, on which eternity hangs, is a light, uncertain thing. Like chaff before the wind it is driver. onward, and when it is passed the wicked will be overthrown. “They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.”
3. There is now a possibility of escape. “It may be ye shall be hid.” Not much chance appeared to the Jews, but God discovered one. Judgment looms over the impenitent. The slightest advantage, the least hope of safety, stimulate to diligence in temporal matters. You may secure a hiding-place in that day. In Christ we have shelter. “A man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tempest.”
4. If the season pass, helpless will be the situation of those who meet the day.
(1) Destruction will be total. “Before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you.”
(2) Destruction will be without remedy. The warning is twice given, to impress the certainty and speed of its coming. “Take heed lest that day come upon you unawares.”
“God stays long, but strikes at last.”
“The higher the fool, the greater the fall.”
“In every fault there is folly.”
“What is not wisdom is danger” [Old English Proverbs].
SEEK THE LORD.—Zephaniah 2:3
Observe four purposes for which we are to seek God, and which enter essentially into genuine religion. First, we are to seek to know him. Here religion begins. “This is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” “I will give them a heart that they may know me.” Secondly, we must seek to enjoy him. In order to this we must be reconciled. He cannot comfort us till we are reconciled to him. We cannot rejoice in Christ till we have received the atonement. Then we can draw to him as our exceeding joy; our souls can be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. In his favour we live, and his loving-kindness is better than life. Thirdly, we must seek to serve him. He is not only our portion to enjoy, but our master to obey and wait upon. “On thee do I wait all the day,” not only as an expectant to receive supplies, but as a servant to receive and execute orders, and to inquire, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” His service is perfect freedom, his work honourable and glorious, his yoke easy, and his burden light; and in keeping his commandments there is great reward. Fourthly, we must seek to resemble him. It is the essence of religion to be like him whom we worship. We are to “show forth his praises (margin, virtues).” God’s virtues are God’s perfections, and the best way to show them forth is to follow and exemplify them. We cannot resemble his natural perfections, eternity, omnipotence, and omniscience; but we may resemble his moral attributes—in our measure and degree be holy, do good, and forgive like him. “Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” As we advance in this grace, we are “renewed after the image of him who created us in righteousness and true holiness.” “We are changed from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord” [W. Jay].
THE THREEFOLD CALL.—Zephaniah 2:3
Divine judgments should rouse all to reflection, and lead them to test their thoughts and actions. The wicked do not seek God, but fall under his just displeasure. But the meek are exhorted to bend under his chastening rod, to seek him in outward ordinances and in active exercises. There is a threefold call here, or three special blessings to be sought.
I. Seek the Lord. This is most needful and important. We naturally seek God in his works and word, in history, and in ourselves even. When we find him our hearts and intellects are satisfied. “Lord,” says Augustine, “I have viewed the world over, in which thou hast set me; I have tried how this and that thing will fit my spirit and the design of my creation; and can find nothing in which to rest, for nothing here doth itself rest. Lo, I come to thee, the eternal Being, the Spring of life, the Centre of rest, the Fulness of all things!” “Lord. show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.”
II. Seek righteousness. The knowledge of God must be evinced in holy life. “He lived his religion,” was said of one.
1. Righteousness with men. If wrong with our fellow-creatures, we cannot be right with God. We must do justice and love mercy—fulfil the royal law of loving our neighbour as ourselves. “Charity is the scope of all God’s commandments,” says Chrysostom.
2. Righteous with God. This is more than a good moral life; paying your way, and being kind to all men. We must seek and possess the righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ. “Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
“Their religion titled them the sons of God” [Milton].
III. Seek meekness. The virtue of lowliness (humilitas), known to heathens, was dignified into humility by Christianity. It is the first of Christian graces in order and rank—the very root of religion. Men teach us to cherish “spirit and pluck” in opposition and insult. Meekness is weakness in their estimation. But Christ demands it from his disciples. To be meek is to be like him. “I am meek and lowly in heart.” “By pride have we fallen from the kingdom of God, and by humility must we again enter it” [Starke].
“From purity of thought all pleasure springs;
And from a humble spirit all our peace” [Young].
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
1. We may read an invitation to repentance in the darkest times. “A fruitful rain falls on the soil through which the ploughshare has been driven. The gracious intention of the Divine ‘doom’ is disclosed.”
2. All repentance begins and continues in self-examination. “Gather yourselves, so as to rid yourselves of all chaff-like vanities and sins. Self-confidence and corrupt desires are the dissipations from which they are exhorted to gather themselves” [Calvin]. Collect yourselves, and be ye collected—i.e. collect your thoughts, and look into your state of mind [Gesenius]. The gathering is opposed to scattering, dissipation, and distance.
“Mankind is broken loose from moral bands” [Dryden].
The precept is doubled, as it is likewise Numbers 3:40; 2 Corinthians 13:5, to show the necessity of our doing it, as also the utility if well done; and lastly, our crossness and averseness thereunto, together with God’s exceeding great desire that it should be done thoroughly for our greatest good [Trapp].
Zephaniah 2:2. Before. God’s word is full (as it were) of the event which it foretelleth; it contains its own fulfilment in itself, and travaileth until it come to pass, giving signs of its coming, yet delaying until the full time. Time it said to bring forth what is wrought in it [Pusey]. Here are three cautionary “befores,” as there are four comfortable “yets” to be read (Zechariah 1:17). God yet offers them mercy, as Alexander did those he warred against, whiles the lamp burned; and as Tamerlane, whiles the white flag was hung out (cf. Jeremiah 18:7-8) [Trapp].
Zephaniah 2:3. Seek.
1. The objects of search. God and holiness of life.
2. The method of search. (a) To work judgment, not merely zealous about outward forms. (b) To seek diligently, for the Hebrew form is intensive.
3. The result of search; mitigation, if not prevention, of calamity; pardon of sin, and hid when others are exposed to punishment.
Seek righteousness, seek meekness, i.e. further measures of holiness and degrees of grace. Let him that is holy be holy still; let him persevere, grow, and advance forward towards the prize proposed unto him, taking for his motto that of Charles V., “Plus ultra,” further yet; perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1) [Trapp]. Ye meek.
1. In times of decline God hath a peculiar eye towards the godly, and expects much from them. He leaves the wicked nations, and turns to them in exhortation and promise.
2. The truth and reality of their graces must be manifest in humility of spirit, subjection to the word, fear of judgments, and tenderness towards others.
3. Then God puts their safety beyond all doubt.
4. Hence, in dangers, uncertainties, and troubles, they must seek him, trust his goodness and grace [Hutcheson].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Zephaniah 2:1-3. Meekness. Is it not as the steps of degree in the Temple, whereby we descend to the knowledge of ourselves, and ascend to the knowledge of God? Would we attain mercy? humility will help [C. Sutton].