CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zephaniah 3:18.] Those who pined in distance at the time of festivities, shall be gathered together. Of thee] The people are of thy origin and descent (Isaiah 58:12; Ezra 2:59; Psalms 68:27). Reproach] Presses upon them as a burden [cf. Lange].
Zephaniah 3:19. Undo] Lit. I will deal with all oppressors; heal the limping. Her that halteth] Weakness no barrier to restoration; gather together the dispersed, and will get] Lit. make them a praise and fame in lands where they have been reproached.
Zephaniah 3:20. Captivity] Lit. captivities of every age and kind shall end. God will lead them, finish the work begun, and, incredible as it may appear, their glorification shall be seen with their own eyes (Luke 24:41).
HOMILETICS
MOURNING FOR THE SOLEMN ASSEMBLY.—Zephaniah 3:18
The prophet concludes with the promise that all the dispersed—all who mourn because they do not share the joy of festal meetings in the temple—shall be restored to ancient privileges, and gathered into one fold. We have not to sorrow because deprived of Christian ordinances. Our temples stand, our Sabbaths are not taken away, yet there is reason to mourn for the condition of Zion.
I. Mourn when deprived of personal attendance. Domestic affliction, accidents, and trials may detain from its solemnities. Then the soul is cast down within us. God thus teaches us to value the means more highly, quickens our relish for the provisions of his house, and draws us nearer to himself. “When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalms 42:2).
II. Mourn when neglected by others. Many entirely forsake the assembling of themselves together (Hebrews 10:25). They do not see the utility and necessity of public worship. Others are kept away by most trifling excuses. In vain are all pretences to religion if the means of grace have no attraction. Resolve with Nehemiah and his friends, “We will not forsake the house of our God.”
III. Mourn when dishonoured by its attendants. It is dishonoured by a worldly spirit. Many have no serious heart in worship. “If familiarity does not breed contempt,” says one, “it must always tend to reduce veneration.” “In thy fear will I worship towards thy holy temple.”
2. It is dishonoured by inconsistent conduct. The apostasies, backslidings, and disgraceful conduct of professors bring reproach upon the house and the people of God. The enemies blaspheme, the way of truth is evil spoken of, and the Redeemer is wounded in the house of his friends. God’s people bear the reproach, and grieve at the dishonour cast upon solemn assemblies. To them, this “is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.”
IV. Mourn for its lack of spiritual prosperity. Its members lack fervour and power. They are faithless, unhappily divided, and do not heartily work together. Its agencies are few, and fail in their design. Sinners are not converted to God, and the world is prejudiced against Christianity. When the ways of Zion mourn, the sons of Zion are sorrowful also. God will not forget their distress, but gather them
(1) to feasts on earth, and
(2) to the assembly in heaven. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.”
THE WONDERFUL RESTORATION.—Zephaniah 3:19-20
God confirms his promise of restoration by removing all impediments. The prophecy closes with the final reversal of all which in this imperfect state of things seems turned upside down, when those who now mourn shall be comforted, they who now bear reproach and shame shall have glory, and those who now afflict the people of God shall be undone [Pusey].
I. A restoration glorious in its character. It will be a most signal day for Israel. What they could not do for themselves God will do for them.
1. It will be Divinely performed. “At that time will I bring—I gather you—I turn back,” &c. God manifests his interest in his people, and the greatest difficulties should not lead us to doubt the certainty of the promise.
2. It will be completely performed. God will bring home all banished ones, and recover all captives. (a) All infirmities within shall be healed. Their weakness and unworthiness only sets forth the freeness and fulness of Divine love. “Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord” (Ezekiel 36:22). (b) All dangers without shall be removed. The enemies will be repressed and rooted up, judged by God, to prepare for the restoration of Israel (Isaiah 66:15-16). Dignity for disgrace, mercy for misery, and honour for insult. In every land where they have been reproached shall they be praised by the foe. They will then be “high above all nations which he hath made in praise, and in name, and in honour,” &c. (Deuteronomy 26:19; Deuteronomy 30:3).
3. It will be visibly performed. “Before your eyes, saith the Lord.” However incredible, it shall be quite obvious to the sense. The testimony of the senses shall convince you. Believers will see the end of all their sufferings, realize all their hopes, and soon partake of the fulness of their redemption.
II. A restoration certain in its accomplishment. The promise is repeated to make the assurance greater. One act of God makes way for another. When he begins he will finish his work.
1. Unimpeded by outward enemies. “I will undo all that afflict thee.” God may be silent, but will not always sit still. He will deal with all according to their deserts.
2. Unimpeded by internal weakness. None can detain them in bondage. All difficulties will be easily surmounted. (a) The weak shall be strengthened. “I will save her that halteth. (b) The outcast shall be restored. “And gather her that was driven out.” (c) The captives shall be recovered. “When I turn back your captivity.” What a sublime prospect to God’s people! They shall be redeemed from oppression, called together from the utmost ends of the earth—the maimed and the halt, the peasant and the priest—to be owned, guided, and fixed in their kingdom. Jew and Gentile, Barbarian and Scythian, shall become one fold, become the praise of the earth, and the glory of the universe. “At that time,” the Christian Church will be a type of the Church of the first-born, which in the great day will be admired and glorified in Christ, and he in them. Then his kingdom will be established and perfected in the new Jerusalem. And the “redeemed out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” shall become kings and priests to God.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Zephaniah 3:20. The period of restoration distinctly prominent by pointed reference. The manner also remarkable. “I will bring you in.” I will lead you like a shepherd going before his flock, and gather you in due season, like the shepherd putting his flock into the fold. “For even these weak and helpless ones, who limp, and are burdened, and have been dispersed, are of the flock of the Lord, and will experience the faithful tender care of the Great Shepherd and Bishop of souls.” “That time is the whole time of the gospel; the one day of salvation, in which all who shall ever be gathered, shall be brought into the New Jerusalem. The words were fulfilled, when at our Lord’s first coming the remnant of the true Israel, those ordained to eternal life, were brought in. It shall be fulfilled again, when the fulness of the Gentiles shall be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved (Romans 11:25-26). It shall most perfectly be fulfilled at the end, when there shall be no going out of those once brought in, and those who have gathered others into the Church shall be a name and a praise among all people of the earth” [Pusey].
Your captivity, lit. captivities of different ages and countries in Jewish and gospel history. “All personal and social captivities will be turned back like a stream. ‘Turn our captivity, O Lord, as the rivers of the south’ (Psalms 126:5); they will all flow into the Church of Christ. (See Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1). ‘All nations shall flow into it’ ” [Wordsworth].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Zephaniah 3:18-20. So with this scene of quiet pastoral felicity the poem closes; and Zephaniah, whose earlier words seemed to bespeak a veritable “son of thunder,” proves himself to be a true “son of consolation,” even as the judgment he was sent to denounce proves to be an act of sovereign and Divine mercy. Harsh and severe in husk, in outward seeming, its heart is “made of tenderness.” It is like one of those fairy nuts in which, when they could be broken, there were found lustrous gems of price [S. Cox].