CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zephaniah 3:8. Wait] The prophecy returns to its starting-point in Zephaniah 3:2-3, to bring it to a close [Keil], Prey] (cf. Genesis 49:27; Isaiah 33:23). Determination] is fixed, or my right or justice to do this (Zephaniah 3:5). “My justice, i.e. the justice which I shall bring to the light, consists in the fact that I pour my fury upon all nations, to exterminate the wicked by judgments, and to convert the penitent to myself, and prepare myself worshippers out of all nations” [Keil]. Gather] To sift and convert them by judgments.
HOMILETICS
THE WAITING ATTITUDE OF GOD’S PEOPLE IN TIMES OF TROUBLE.—Zephaniah 3:8
The prophecy now returns to its starting-point. The faithful are called upon to wait upon God, as formerly they were exhorted to repentance (ch. Zephaniah 2:3). Judgments had thundered forth in terror, the impenitent were to be swept away, and the fire of Divine wrath to consume the whole earth. But after the storm comes a calm. Consolation is given in calamity. The judgments upon the enemies will issue in the salvation of the sons of Israel, the purification of the earth, and the glory of the Lord. Good, not evil, will spring out of present trials. “Therefore wait” a little longer, the day will surely come. God’s people must hope in him.
I. The basis of hope. “Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord.” Salvation could not come from the people, even of favoured Israel, who had corrupted themselves. Princes plundered, and judges bribed, to get wealth; prophets deceived, and priests consecrated themselves to idols. There was no hope in the government nor in the priesthood. All were silent and all were guilty. Law makes nothing perfect, Christ alone brings in a better hope.
II. The discouragements of hope. Sad must have been the heart of God’s people under their oppression. Many things would tend to weaken their faith in God.
1. Inward decay. Leaders became unfaithful. When those upon whom we depend for help, and who should be examples of virtue, become faithless, we doubt all men and call them liars (Psalms 116:11).
2. Foreign invasion. The enemies came, like wave after wave, and swept the land. The innocent suffered with the guilty, and none escaped.
3. Long delay of help. How can God be holy, when vice unfolds itself and pollutes the whole nation? How can God be kind, when the righteous are overwhelmed with the wicked? Where is God’s providence in punishing the evil and rewarding the good? Disappointment and dejection seize the mind, and we forget to wait upon God. It is not the intenseness, but the length of trials, which test our patience. “The patience of hope,” says one, “will end” in the full assurance of hope—
“Our lives, discolour’d with our present woes,
May still grow white, and smile with happier hours” [Addison].
III. The rewards of hope. Wait for me, the day is at hand; I will seize my prey, and accomplish my purpose (Zephaniah 3:9-20).
1. The enemy would be subdued. Gathered together for cruel ends, God would snatch the prey out of their mouth, and crush their opposition.
2. They would be sheltered in the day of wrath. God not only overthrows hostility to his people in its powerful juncture of circumstances, but makes a complete destruction of heathenism and a full salvation to his chosen.
3. A purified earth would be created. The earth would be consumed with the fire of insulted love, and out of it would spring a new order of things. Christendom will yet become pure in life, united in effort, and all “with one mind and one mouth shall glorify God” (Romans 15:6).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Zephaniah 3:8. Prey. Divine justice, like eagles, ready to fall upon the prey, the carcase of corruption (Matthew 24:28). Taking prey as booty, we have the picture of the warrior leading to victory. Hence—
1. Danger from sin and enemies.
2. Divine power in deliverance. “Through the judgment Jehovah obtains from among the nations those who will confess his name, so that the souls from among the nations which desire salvation fall to Him as prey (cf. Isaiah 53:12, with Isaiah 52:15, and Isaiah 49:7)” [Keil].
Fierce anger, or God’s judgments, a fire.
1. To consume; or—
2. To cleanse. The wicked are exterminated, the penitent are converted, and worshippers are prepared out of all nations. “In the first place, there is a work of judgment, as purifying, struggling, and demolishing to the last. In the second place, there is a work of salvation, a new-creating work, so that the same history is presented as a progressive communication of the Divine life-germ, advancing to the complete re-creation of that which has become corrupt by sin. These views cannot be separated; each receives its internal form by the irradiating lines of the other” [Lange].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Zephaniah 3:8. The terrors of the Lord are great, but they do not exercise supreme sway in a human heart, and lead all its affections whithersoever they will. His anger is not a ruling, leading, drawing power. It is mighty, but not to save [W. Arnot].