mh_parser/scraps/Zeph_1_1-Zeph_1_6.html

<p>Here is, I. The title-page of this book (<a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.1" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.1">Zeph. 1:1</a>), in which we observe, 1. What authority it has, and who gave it that authority; it is from heaven, and not of men: It is <i>the word of the Lord</i>. 2. Who was the instrument of conveying it to the church. His name was Zephaniah, which signifies the <i>servant of the Lord</i>, for God <i>revealed his secrets to his servants the prophets</i>. The pedigree of other prophets, whose extraction we have an account of, goes no further back than their father, except Zecharias, whose grandfather also is named. But this of Zephaniah goes back four generations, and the highest mentioned is <i>Hizkiah</i>; it is the very same name in the original with that of Hezekiah king of Judah (<a class="bibleref" title="2Kgs.18.1" href="/passage/?search=2Kgs.18.1">2 Kgs. 18:1</a>), and refers probably to him; if so, our prophet, being lineally descended from that pious prince, and being of the royal family, could with the better grace reprove the folly of the king’s children as he does, <a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.8" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.8">Zeph. 1:8</a>. 3. When this prophet prophesied—<i>in the days of Josiah king of Judah</i>, who reigned well, and in the twelfth year of his reign began vigorously, and carried on a work of reformation, in which he destroyed idols and idolatry. Now it does not appear whether Zephaniah prophesied in the beginning of his reign; if so, we may suppose his prophesying had a great and good influence on that reformation. When he, as God’s messenger, reproved the idolatries of Jerusalem, Josiah, as God’s vice-gerent, removed them; and reformation is likely to go on and prosper when both magistrates and ministers do their part towards it. If it were towards the latter end of his reign that he prophesied, we sadly see how a corrupt people relapse into their former distempers. The idolatries Josiah had abolished, it should seem, returned in his own time, when the heat of the reformation began a little to abate and wear off. What good can the best reformers do with a people that hate to be reformed, as if they longed to be ruined?</p>
<p class="tab-1">II. The summary, or contents, of this book. The general proposition contained in it is, That utter destruction is coming apace upon Judah and Jerusalem for sin. Without preamble, or apology, he begins abruptly (<a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.2" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.2">Zeph. 1:2</a>): <i>By taking away I will make an end of all things from off the face of the land, Saith the Lord</i>. Ruin is coming, utter ruin, destruction from the Almighty. He has said it who can, and will, make good what he has said: “<i>I will utterly consume all things</i>. I will <i>gather</i> all things” (so some); “I will recall all the blessings I have bestowed, because they have abused them and so forfeited them.” The consumption determined shall take away, 1. The inferior creatures: <i>I will consume the beasts, the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.3" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.3">Zeph. 1:3</a>), as, in the deluge, <i>every living substance was destroyed that was upon the face of the ground</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Gen.7.23" href="/passage/?search=Gen.7.23">Gen. 7:23</a>. The creatures were made for man’s use, and therefore when he has perverted the use of them, and made them <i>subject to vanity</i>, God, to show the greatness of his displeasure against the sin of man, involves them in his punishment. The expressions are figurative, denoting universal desolation. Those that fly ever so high, as the fowls of heaven, and think themselves out of the reach of the enemies’ hand—those that hide ever so close, as the fishes of the sea, and think themselves out of the reach of the enemies’ eye—shall yet become a prey to them, and be utterly consumed. 2. The children of men: “<i>I will consume man; I will cut off man from the land</i>. The land shall be dispeopled and left uninhabited; I will destroy, not only Israel, but <i>man</i>. The land shall enjoy her sabbaths. I will cut off, not only the wicked men, but all men; even the few among them that are good shall be involved in this common calamity. Though they shall not be cut off from the Lord, yet they shall be <i>cut off from the land</i>.” It is with Judah and Jerusalem that God has this quarrel, both city and country, and upon them he will <i>stretch out his hand</i>, the hand of his power, the hand of his wrath; and <i>who knows the power of his anger</i>? <a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.4" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.4">Zeph. 1:4</a>. Those that will not humble themselves under God’s mighty hand shall be humbled and brought down by it. Note, Even Judah, where God is known, and Jerusalem, where his dwelling-place is, if they revolt from him and rebel against him, shall have his hand stretched out against them. 3. All wicked people, and all those things that are the matter of their wickedness (<a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.3" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.3">Zeph. 1:3</a>): “<i>I will consume the stumbling-blocks with the wicked</i>, the idols with the idolaters, the offences with the offenders.” Josiah had taken away the stumbling-blocks, and, as far as he could, had purged the land of the monuments of idolatry, hoping that there would be no more idolatry; but <i>the wicked will do wickedly</i>, the dog will return to his vomit, and therefore, since the sin will not otherwise be cured, the sinners must themselves be consumed, even the <i>wicked with the stumbling-blocks</i> of their iniquity, <a class="bibleref" title="Ezek.14.3" href="/passage/?search=Ezek.14.3">Ezek. 14:3</a>. Since it was not done by the sword of justice, it shall be done by the sword of war. See who the sinners are that shall be consumed. (1.) The professed idolaters, who avowed idolatry, and were wedded to it. The <i>remnant of Baal</i> shall be <i>cut off</i>, the images of Baal, and the worshippers of those images. Josiah cut off a great deal of Baal; but that which was so close as to escape the eye, or so bold as to escape the hand, of his justice, God will cut off, even all the remains of it.
init 2023-12-17 20:08:46 +00:00				<p>Here is, I. The title-page of this book (<a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.1" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.1">Zeph. 1:1</a>), in which we observe, 1. What authority it has, and who gave it that authority; it is from heaven, and not of men: It is <i>the word of the Lord</i>. 2. Who was the instrument of conveying it to the church. His name was Zephaniah, which signifies the <i>servant of the Lord</i>, for God <i>revealed his secrets to his servants the prophets</i>. The pedigree of other prophets, whose extraction we have an account of, goes no further back than their father, except Zecharias, whose grandfather also is named. But this of Zephaniah goes back four generations, and the highest mentioned is <i>Hizkiah</i>; it is the very same name in the original with that of Hezekiah king of Judah (<a class="bibleref" title="2Kgs.18.1" href="/passage/?search=2Kgs.18.1">2 Kgs. 18:1</a>), and refers probably to him; if so, our prophet, being lineally descended from that pious prince, and being of the royal family, could with the better grace reprove the folly of the king’s children as he does, <a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.8" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.8">Zeph. 1:8</a>. 3. When this prophet prophesied—<i>in the days of Josiah king of Judah</i>, who reigned well, and in the twelfth year of his reign began vigorously, and carried on a work of reformation, in which he destroyed idols and idolatry. Now it does not appear whether Zephaniah prophesied in the beginning of his reign; if so, we may suppose his prophesying had a great and good influence on that reformation. When he, as God’s messenger, reproved the idolatries of Jerusalem, Josiah, as God’s vice-gerent, removed them; and reformation is likely to go on and prosper when both magistrates and ministers do their part towards it. If it were towards the latter end of his reign that he prophesied, we sadly see how a corrupt people relapse into their former distempers. The idolatries Josiah had abolished, it should seem, returned in his own time, when the heat of the reformation began a little to abate and wear off. What good can the best reformers do with a people that hate to be reformed, as if they longed to be ruined?</p>
				<p class="tab-1">II. The summary, or contents, of this book. The general proposition contained in it is, That utter destruction is coming apace upon Judah and Jerusalem for sin. Without preamble, or apology, he begins abruptly (<a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.2" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.2">Zeph. 1:2</a>): <i>By taking away I will make an end of all things from off the face of the land, Saith the Lord</i>. Ruin is coming, utter ruin, destruction from the Almighty. He has said it who can, and will, make good what he has said: “<i>I will utterly consume all things</i>. I will <i>gather</i> all things” (so some); “I will recall all the blessings I have bestowed, because they have abused them and so forfeited them.” The consumption determined shall take away, 1. The inferior creatures: <i>I will consume the beasts, the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.3" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.3">Zeph. 1:3</a>), as, in the deluge, <i>every living substance was destroyed that was upon the face of the ground</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Gen.7.23" href="/passage/?search=Gen.7.23">Gen. 7:23</a>. The creatures were made for man’s use, and therefore when he has perverted the use of them, and made them <i>subject to vanity</i>, God, to show the greatness of his displeasure against the sin of man, involves them in his punishment. The expressions are figurative, denoting universal desolation. Those that fly ever so high, as the fowls of heaven, and think themselves out of the reach of the enemies’ hand—those that hide ever so close, as the fishes of the sea, and think themselves out of the reach of the enemies’ eye—shall yet become a prey to them, and be utterly consumed. 2. The children of men: “<i>I will consume man; I will cut off man from the land</i>. The land shall be dispeopled and left uninhabited; I will destroy, not only Israel, but <i>man</i>. The land shall enjoy her sabbaths. I will cut off, not only the wicked men, but all men; even the few among them that are good shall be involved in this common calamity. Though they shall not be cut off from the Lord, yet they shall be <i>cut off from the land</i>.” It is with Judah and Jerusalem that God has this quarrel, both city and country, and upon them he will <i>stretch out his hand</i>, the hand of his power, the hand of his wrath; and <i>who knows the power of his anger</i>? <a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.4" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.4">Zeph. 1:4</a>. Those that will not humble themselves under God’s mighty hand shall be humbled and brought down by it. Note, Even Judah, where God is known, and Jerusalem, where his dwelling-place is, if they revolt from him and rebel against him, shall have his hand stretched out against them. 3. All wicked people, and all those things that are the matter of their wickedness (<a class="bibleref" title="Zeph.1.3" href="/passage/?search=Zeph.1.3">Zeph. 1:3</a>): “<i>I will consume the stumbling-blocks with the wicked</i>, the idols with the idolaters, the offences with the offenders.” Josiah had taken away the stumbling-blocks, and, as far as he could, had purged the land of the monuments of idolatry, hoping that there would be no more idolatry; but <i>the wicked will do wickedly</i>, the dog will return to his vomit, and therefore, since the sin will not otherwise be cured, the sinners must themselves be consumed, even the <i>wicked with the stumbling-blocks</i> of their iniquity, <a class="bibleref" title="Ezek.14.3" href="/passage/?search=Ezek.14.3">Ezek. 14:3</a>. Since it was not done by the sword of justice, it shall be done by the sword of war. See who the sinners are that shall be consumed. (1.) The professed idolaters, who avowed idolatry, and were wedded to it. The <i>remnant of Baal</i> shall be <i>cut off</i>, the images of Baal, and the worshippers of those images. Josiah cut off a great deal of Baal; but that which was so close as to escape the eye, or so bold as to escape the hand, of his justice, God will cut off, even all the remains of it.