Zephaniah 3
FROM Nineveh’s destruction and Assyria’s complete overthrow as a nation, of which the last verses of chapter 2 treat, God passes at once to Jerusalem. If the ancient city (Genesis 10:1111Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, (Genesis 10:11)) was shortly to perish forever, should Jerusalem, the city of God’s dwelling place, but now filthy (or rather, rebellions) and polluted (or corrupted), escape the sword of divine vengeance? Verses 1 to 8 furnish the answer.
The charges against the capital of Israel’s favored land are conclusive: there is rebellion, corruption, oppression there, and in such measure as to characterize the city. And did she heed the voice of God speaking through His servants? did she trust in Jehovah, or draw near to her God? The answer is definitely in the negative.
The princes (or rulers) were as roaring lions, the judges as evening wolves; the prophets (by profession, —not owned by God as His servants) were boastful and treacherous persons, and the priests profaned the holy place, did violence to the law given by Moses.
And had God failed them? had He withdrawn the light of His word from the city where He had set His name? He had not; indeed, He had caused the recovery of His word, long lost to sight through the failure of man (2 Chronicles 34:14-19, 27, 30-3314And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses. 15And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. 16And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it. 17And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen. 18Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. 19And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. (2 Chronicles 34:14‑19)
27Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord. (2 Chronicles 34:27)
30And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. 31And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. 32And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers. (2 Chronicles 34:30‑33)). He failed not, but the unjust (unrighteous) knew no shame.
God had cut off nations; their battlements were desolate, their streets waste, their cities left without inhabitant (referring to the countries overcome by the Assyrians and others); and He had said, “Only fear Me; receive correction”, so Jerusalem should not be cut off, however He might punish them; but they “rose early”—bent upon their evil course with full energy—and corrupted all their doings.
The shameful story is told, and Jerusalem is beyond recovery. “Therefore”, says Jehovah to the believing remnant of Judah, “wait ye for Me, until the day that I rise up for the prey.” Then shall all the world come under His executed wrath (verse 8).
From verse 9 to the end of the prophecy overflows with the wonders of His grace. “The people” in verse 9 is properly read “peoples”, referring to the nations in the Millennium. “From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia” (verse 10) refers to the most distant enemies of Israel when in their own land, the rivers being the Nile and the Euphrates, since Ethiopia meant the race, and not only the country now called by that name.
Is there in Scripture any language more touching than verse 17, recalling what Israel’s past has been?
Chapter 3, like the earlier chapters, has had a partial fulfilment; the prophecy awaits, for its full display, the Millennial judgments and blessings.
ML 07/04/1937