mh_parser/vol_split/36 - Zephaniah/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Zeph.ii" n="ii" next="Zeph.iii" prev="Zeph.i" progress="91.00%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Zeph.ii-p0.1">Z E P H A N I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Zeph.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Zeph.ii-p1" shownumber="no">After the title of the book (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.1" parsed="|Zeph|1|1|0|0" passage="Zep 1:1">ver. 1</scripRef>) here is, I. A threatening of the
destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, an utter destruction, by the
Chaldeans, <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.2-Zeph.1.4" parsed="|Zeph|1|2|1|4" passage="Zep 1:2-4">ver. 2-4</scripRef>. II. A
charge against them for their gross sin, which provoked God to
bring that destruction upon them (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.5-Zeph.1.6" parsed="|Zeph|1|5|1|6" passage="Zep 1:5,6">ver. 5, 6</scripRef>); and so he goes on in the rest of
the chapter, setting both the judgments before them, that they
might prevent them or prepare for them, and the sins that destroy
them, that they might judge themselves, and justify God in what was
brought upon them. 1. They must hold their peace because they had
greatly sinned, <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.7-Zeph.1.9" parsed="|Zeph|1|7|1|9" passage="Zep 1:7-9">ver. 7-9</scripRef>.
But, 2, They shall howl because the trouble will be great. The day
of the Lord is near, and it will be a terrible day, <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.10-Zeph.1.18" parsed="|Zeph|1|10|1|18" passage="Zep 1:10-18">ver. 10-18</scripRef>. Such fair and timely
warning as this did God give to the Jews of the approaching
captivity; but they hardened their neck, which made their
destruction remediless.</p>
<scripCom id="Zeph.ii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1" parsed="|Zeph|1|0|0|0" passage="Zep 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Zeph.ii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.1-Zeph.1.6" parsed="|Zeph|1|1|1|6" passage="Zep 1:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Zeph.ii-p1.8">
<h4 id="Zeph.ii-p1.9">Judgment Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p1.10">b. c.</span> 612.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Zeph.ii-p2" shownumber="no">1 The word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p2.1">Lord</span> which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi,
the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the
days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.   2 I will
utterly consume all <i>things</i> from off the land, saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p2.2">Lord</span>.   3 I will consume man
and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes
of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will
cut off man from off the land, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p2.3">Lord</span>.   4 I will also stretch out mine hand
upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will
cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, <i>and</i> the name of
the Chemarims with the priests;   5 And them that worship the
host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship <i>and</i>
that swear by the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p2.4">Lord</span>, and that
swear by Malcham;   6 And them that are turned back from the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p2.5">Lord</span>; and <i>those</i> that have not
sought the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p2.6">Lord</span>, nor enquired for
him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zeph.ii-p3" shownumber="no">Here is, I. The title-page of this book
(<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.1" parsed="|Zeph|1|1|0|0" passage="Zep 1:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), 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 (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.18.1" parsed="|2Kgs|18|1|0|0" passage="2Ki 18:1">2 Kings
xviii. 1</scripRef>), 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, <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.8" parsed="|Zeph|1|8|0|0" passage="Zep 1:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. 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="indent" id="Zeph.ii-p4" shownumber="no">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 (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.2" parsed="|Zeph|1|2|0|0" passage="Zep 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <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> (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.3" parsed="|Zeph|1|3|0|0" passage="Zep 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), as, in the deluge, <i>every
living substance was destroyed that was upon the face of the
ground,</i> <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.7.23" parsed="|Gen|7|23|0|0" passage="Ge 7:23">Gen. vii. 23</scripRef>.
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> <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.4" parsed="|Zeph|1|4|0|0" passage="Zep 1:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. 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 (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.3" parsed="|Zeph|1|3|0|0" passage="Zep 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): "<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,
<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.14.3" parsed="|Ezek|14|3|0|0" passage="Eze 14:3">Ezek. xiv. 3</scripRef>. 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. The Chaldeans would spare none of the
images of Baal, or the worshippers of those images. The
<i>Chemarim</i> shall be <i>cut off;</i> we read of them in the
history of Josiah's reformation. <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.23.5" parsed="|2Kgs|23|5|0|0" passage="2Ki 23:5">2
Kings xxiii. 5</scripRef>, <i>He put down the idolatrous
priests:</i> the word is the <i>Chemarim.</i> The word signifies
<i>black men,</i> some think because they wore black clothes,
affecting to appear grave, others because their faces were black
with attending the altars, or the fires in which they burnt their
children to Moloch. They seem to have been immediate attendants
upon the service of Baal. They shall be <i>cut off with the
priests,</i> the regulars with the seculars. The very name of them
shall be cut off; the order shall be quite abolished, so as to be
forgotten, or remembered with detestation. And, among other
idolaters, the <i>worshippers of the host of heaven upon the
house-tops</i> shall be cut off (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.5" parsed="|Zeph|1|5|0|0" passage="Zep 1:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), who justified themselves in
their idolatry with those that did not worship images, the work of
their own hands, but offered their sacrifices and burnt their
incense to the sun, moon, and stars, immediately upon the tops of
their houses. But God will let them know that he is a jealous God,
and will not endure any rival; and, though some have thought that
the most specious and plausible idolatry, yet it will appear as
great an offence to God to give divine honours to a star as to give
them to a stone or a stock. Even the worshippers of the host of
heaven shall be consumed as well as the worshippers of the beasts
of the earth or the fiends of hell. The sin of the adulteress is
not the less sinful for the gaiety of the adulterer. (2.) Those
also shall be consumed that think to compound the matter between
God and idols, and keep an even hand between them, that halt
between God and Baal, and worship between Jehovah and Moloch, and
<i>swear by both;</i> or, as it might better be read, swear <i>to
the Lord and to Malcham.</i> They bind themselves by oath and
covenant to the service both of God and idols. They have a good
opinion of the worship of the God of Israel; it is the religion of
their country, and has been long so, and therefore they will by no
means quit it; but they think it will be very much improved and
beautified if they join with it the worship of Moloch, for that
also is much used in other countries, and travellers admire it;
there is a great deal of good fancy and strong flame in it. They
cannot keep always to the worship of a God whom they have no
visible representation of, and therefore they must have an image;
and what better than the image of <i>Moloch—a king?</i> They think
they shall effectually atone for their sin if they <i>swear to
Moloch,</i> and, pursuant to that oath, burn their children in
sacrifice to that idol; and yet, if they do amiss in that, they
hope to atone for it in worshipping the God of Israel too. Note,
Those that think to divide their affections and adorations between
God and idols will not only come short of acceptance with God, but
will have their doom with the worst of idolaters; for what
communion can there be between light and darkness, Christ and
Belial, God and mammon? She whose own the child is not pleads for
the dividing of it, for, if Satan have half, he will have all; but
the true mother says, <i>Divide it not,</i> for, if God have but
half, he will have none. Such waters will not be long sweet, if
they come from a fountain that sends forth bitter water too; what
have those to do to swear by the Lord that swear by Malcham? (3.)
Those also shall be consumed that have apostatized from God,
together with those that never gave up their names to him,
<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p4.9" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.6" parsed="|Zeph|1|6|0|0" passage="Zep 1:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. I will cut off,
[1.] Those <i>that are turned back from the Lord,</i> that were
well taught, and began well, that had given up their names to him,
and set out at first in the worship of him, but have flown off, and
turned aside, and fallen in with idolaters, and deserted those good
ways of God which they were brought up in, and despised them. Those
God will be sure to reckon with who are renegadoes from his
service, who began in the Spirit and ended in the flesh; they shall
be treated as deserters, to whom no mercy is shown. [2.] Those that
<i>have not sought the Lord,</i> nor ever <i>enquired for him,</i>
never made any profession of religion, and think to excuse
themselves with that, shall find that this will not excuse them;
nay, this is the thing laid to their charge; they are atheistical
careless people, that <i>live without God in the world;</i> and
those that do so are certainly unworthy to live upon God in the
world.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Zeph.ii-p4.10" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.7-Zeph.1.13" parsed="|Zeph|1|7|1|13" passage="Zep 1:7-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Zeph.ii-p4.11">
<h4 id="Zeph.ii-p4.12">Judgment Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p4.13">b. c.</span> 612.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Zeph.ii-p5" shownumber="no">7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord
<span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p5.1">God</span>: for the day of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p5.2">Lord</span> <i>is</i> at hand: for the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p5.3">Lord</span> hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his
guests.   8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p5.4">Lord</span>'s sacrifice, that I will punish the
princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with
strange apparel.   9 In the same day also will I punish all
those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses
with violence and deceit.   10 And it shall come to pass in
that day, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p5.5">Lord</span>, <i>that
there shall be</i> the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an
howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.
  11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant
people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.  
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, <i>that</i> I will
search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled
on their lees: that say in their heart, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p5.6">Lord</span> will not do good, neither will he do evil.
  13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their
houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit
<i>them;</i> and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine
thereof.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zeph.ii-p6" shownumber="no">Notice is here given to Judah and Jerusalem
that God is coming forth against them, and will be with them
shortly; his <i>presence,</i> as a just avenger, <i>his day,</i>
the day of his judgment and his wrath, are not far off, <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.7" parsed="|Zeph|1|7|0|0" passage="Zep 1:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Those that improve not
the presence of God with them as a Father, but sin away that
presence, may expect his presence with them as a Judge, to call
them to an account for the contempt put upon his grace. The <i>day
of the Lord</i> will come. Men have their day now, when they take a
liberty to do what they please; but <i>God's day is at hand;</i> it
is here called his <i>sacrifice,</i> a sacrifice of his preparing,
for the punishing of presumptuous sinners is a sacrifice to the
justice of God, some reparation to his injured honour. Those that
brought their offerings to other gods were themselves justly made
victims to the true God. On a day of sacrifice great slaughter was
made; so shall there be in Jerusalem; men shall be killed up as
fast as lambs for the altar, with as little regret, with as much
pleasure: <i>The slain of the Lord shall be many.</i> On a day of
sacrifice great feasts were made upon the sacrifices; so the
inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem shall be feasted upon by their
enemies the Chaldeans; these are the guests God has prepared and
invited to come and glut themselves—their revenge with slaughter
and their covetousness with plunder. Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zeph.ii-p7" shownumber="no">I. Who those are that are marked to be
sacrificed, that shall be visited and punished in this day of
reckoning, and what it is they shall be called to an account for.
1. The royal family, because of the dignity of their place, shall
be first reckoned with for their pride, and vanity, and affectation
(<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.8" parsed="|Zeph|1|8|0|0" passage="Zep 1:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>I will
punish the princes, and the king's children,</i> who think
themselves accountable to God, and that, high as they are, he is
above them. They shall be punished, and all such as, like them, are
clothed <i>with strange apparel,</i> such as, in contempt of their
own country (where, probably, it was the custom to go in a very
plain dress, as became the seed of Jacob that <i>plain man</i>),
affected to appear in the fashion of other nations and introduced
their modes in apparel, studying to resemble those from whom God
had appointed them, even in their clothes, industriously to
distinguish themselves. <i>The princes and the king's children</i>
scorned to wear any home-made stuffs, though God had provided them
<i>fine linen</i> and <i>silks</i> (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.16.10" parsed="|Ezek|16|10|0|0" passage="Eze 16:10">Ezek. xvi. 10</scripRef>), but they must send abroad to
strange countries for their clothes, which would not please unless
they were far-fetched and dear-bought; and even those of inferior
rank affected to imitate the princes and the king's children. Pride
in apparel is displeasing to God, and a symptom of the degeneracy
of a people. 2. The noblemen, and their stewards and servants, come
next to be reckoned with (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.9" parsed="|Zeph|1|9|0|0" passage="Zep 1:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>): <i>In the same day will I punish those that leap on
the threshold,</i> a phrase, no doubt, well understood then, and
which probably signified the invading of their neighbour's rights.
Entering their houses by force and violence, and seizing their
possessions, they <i>leap on the threshold,</i> as much as to say
that the house is their own and they will keep their hold of it;
and, accordingly, they make all in it their own that they can lay
their hands on, and so <i>fill their masters' houses</i> with goods
gotten <i>by violence and deceit</i> and with all the guilt thereby
contracted. Nor shall it suffice them to say that the ill-gotten
gains were not for themselves but for their masters, and that what
they did was by their order; for the obligations we lie under to
keep God's commandments are prior and superior to the obligations
we lie under to serve the interests of any master on earth. 3. The
trading people, and the rich merchants, are next called to account.
Iniquity is found in their end of the town, among <i>the
inhabitants of Maktesh,</i> a low part of Jerusalem, deep like a
mortar (for so the word signifies); the <i>goldsmiths</i> lived
there (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Neh.3.32" parsed="|Neh|3|32|0|0" passage="Ne 3:32">Neh. iii. 32</scripRef>) and the
merchants; and they are now <i>cut down</i> (they are broken, and
have shut up their shops, and become bankrupts); nay, <i>All those
that bear silver are cut off,</i> in the first place, by the
invaders, for the sake of the silver they carry, which is so far
from being a protection to them that it will expose and betray
them. The conquerors aimed at the wealthy men, and carried them off
first, while <i>the poor of the land escaped.</i> Or it may be
meant of a general decay of trade, which was a preface and
introduction to the general destruction of the land. It is the
token of a declining state when great dealers are cut down, and
great bankers are cut off and become bankrupts, who cannot fall
alone, but with themselves ruin many. 4. All the secure and
careless people, the sons of pleasure, that live a loose idle life,
are next reckoned with (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.12" parsed="|Zeph|1|12|0|0" passage="Zep 1:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>); they come from all parts of the country, to take up
their quarters in the head-quarters of the kingdom, where they take
private lodgings, and indulge themselves in ease and luxury; but
God will find them out, and punish them: <i>At that time I will
search Jerusalem with candles,</i> to discover them, that they may
be brought out to condign punishment. This intimates that they
conceal themselves, as being either ashamed of the sin or afraid of
the punishment of it; when the judgments of God are abroad they
hope to escape by absconding and getting out of the way, but God
will <i>search Jerusalem,</i> as search is made for a malefactor in
disguise, that is harboured by his accomplices. God's hand will
<i>find out all his enemies,</i> wherever they lie hid, and will
punish not only the secret idolaters, but the secret epicures and
profane; and those are the persons that are here described, and
marks are given by which they will be discovered when strict search
is made for them. (1.) Their dispositions are sensual: They <i>are
settled on their lees,</i> intoxicated with their pleasures,
strengthening themselves in their wealth and wickedness; they are
secure and easy, and, because they have had no changes, they fear
none, as Moab, <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.48.11" parsed="|Jer|48|11|0|0" passage="Jer 48:11">Jer. xlviii.
11</scripRef>. They <i>have not been emptied from vessel to
vessel.</i> They <i>fill themselves with wine and strong drink,</i>
and banish all thought, saying, <i>To-morrow shall be as this
day,</i> <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.56.12" parsed="|Isa|56|12|0|0" passage="Isa 56:12">Isa. lvi. 12</scripRef>.
Their being <i>settled on their lees</i> signifies the same with
being <i>enclosed in their own fat,</i> <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.17.10" parsed="|Ps|17|10|0|0" passage="Ps 17:10">Ps. xvii. 10</scripRef>. (2.) Their notions are
atheistical. They could not live such loose lives but that they say
<i>in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do
evil;</i> that is, <i>He will do nothing.</i> They deny his
providential government of the world: "What good and evil there is
in the world comes by the wheel of fortune, and not by the disposal
of a wise and supreme director." They deny his moral government,
and his dispensing rewards and punishments: "<i>The Lord will not
do good</i> to those that serve him, nor <i>do evil</i> to those
that rebel against him; and therefore there is nothing got by
religion, nor lost by sin." This was the effect of their
sensuality; if they were not drowned in sense, they could not be
thus senseless, nor could they be so stupid if they had not
stupefied themselves with the love of pleasure. It was also the
cause of their sensuality; men would not make a god of their belly
if they had not at first become so vain, so vile, in their
imaginations, as to think the God that made them <i>altogether such
a one as themselves.</i> But God will <i>punish them; their end is
destruction,</i> <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p7.9" osisRef="Bible:Phil.3.19" parsed="|Phil|3|19|0|0" passage="Php 3:19">Phil. iii.
19</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zeph.ii-p8" shownumber="no">II. What the destruction will be with which
God will punish these sinners, and what course he will take with
them. 1. He will silence them (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.7" parsed="|Zeph|1|7|0|0" passage="Zep 1:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>Hold thy peace at the
presence of the Lord.</i> He will force them to hold their peace,
will strike them dumb with horror and amazement. They shall be
speechless. All the excuses of their sin, and exceptions against
the sentence, will be overruled, and they shall not have a word to
say for themselves. 2. He will <i>sacrifice</i> them, for it is
<i>the day of the Lord's sacrifice</i> (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.8" parsed="|Zeph|1|8|0|0" passage="Zep 1:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>); he will give them into the hands
of their enemies, and glorify himself thereby. 3. He will fill both
city and country with lamentation (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.10" parsed="|Zeph|1|10|0|0" passage="Zep 1:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>In that day there shall be
a noise of a cry from the fish-gate,</i> so called because near
either to the fish-ponds or to the fish-market. It belonged to the
city of David (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.14 Bible:Neh.3.3" parsed="|2Chr|33|14|0|0;|Neh|3|3|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:14,Ne 3:3">2 Chron.
xxxiii. 14; Neh. iii. 3</scripRef>); perhaps the same with that
which is called the <i>first gate</i> (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Zech.14.10" parsed="|Zech|14|10|0|0" passage="Zec 14:10">Zech. xiv. 10</scripRef>), and, if so, it will explain
what follows here, <i>And a howling from the second,</i> that is,
the second gate, which was next to that <i>fish-gate.</i> The alarm
shall go round the walls of Jerusalem from gate to gate; and there
shall be <i>a great crashing from the hills,</i> a mighty noise
from the mountains round about Jerusalem, from the acclamations of
the victorious invaders, or from the lamentations of the timorous
invaded, or from both. The inhabitants of the city, even of the
closest safest part of the city, shall <i>howl</i> (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.11" parsed="|Zeph|1|11|0|0" passage="Zep 1:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), so clamorous shall the
grief be. 4. They shall be stripped of all they have; it shall be a
prey to the enemy (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.13" parsed="|Zeph|1|13|0|0" passage="Zep 1:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): <i>Their household goods,</i> and
<i>shop-goods,</i> shall <i>become a booty,</i> and a rich booty
they shall be; <i>their houses shall be</i> levelled with the
ground and be <i>a desolation;</i> those of them that have
<i>built</i> new houses <i>shall not inherit them,</i> but the
invaders shall get and keep possession of them. And the
<i>vineyards</i> they have planted they shall not <i>drink the wine
of,</i> but, instead of having it for the relief of their friends
that faint among them, they shall part with it for the animating of
their foes that fight against them, <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p8.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.30" parsed="|Deut|28|30|0|0" passage="De 28:30">Deut. xxviii. 30</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Zeph.ii-p8.9" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.14-Zeph.1.18" parsed="|Zeph|1|14|1|18" passage="Zep 1:14-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Zeph.ii-p8.10">
<h4 id="Zeph.ii-p8.11">Judgment Predicted. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p8.12">b. c.</span> 612.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Zeph.ii-p9" shownumber="no">14 The great day of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p9.1">Lord</span> <i>is</i> near, <i>it is</i> near, and
hasteth greatly, <i>even</i> the voice of the day of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p9.2">Lord</span>: the mighty man shall cry there
bitterly.   15 That day <i>is</i> a day of wrath, a day of
trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of
darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,  
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and
against the high towers.   17 And I will bring distress upon
men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned
against the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p9.3">Lord</span>: and their blood
shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.   18
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them
in the day of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Zeph.ii-p9.4">Lord</span>'s wrath; but
the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for
he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the
land.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zeph.ii-p10" shownumber="no">Nothing could be expressed with more spirit
and life, nor in words more proper to startle and awaken a secure
and careless people, than the warning here given to Judah and
Jerusalem of the approaching destruction by the Chaldeans. That is
enough to make the sinners in Zion tremble—that it is <i>the day
of the Lord,</i> the day in which he will manifest himself by
taking vengeance on them. It is <i>the great day of the Lord,</i> a
specimen of the day of judgment, a kind of doom's-day, as the last
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans is represented to be in our
Saviour's prediction concerning it, <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.27" parsed="|Matt|24|27|0|0" passage="Mt 24:27">Matt. xxiv. 27</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zeph.ii-p11" shownumber="no">I. This <i>day of the Lord</i> is here
spoken of as very near. The vision is not <i>for a great while to
come,</i> as those imagine who <i>put the evil day far from
them.</i> Those deceive themselves who look upon it as a thing at a
distance, for <i>it is near—it is near—it hastens greatly.</i>
The prophet gives the alarm like one that is in earnest, like one
that awakens a family with the cry of <i>Fire! fire!</i> when it is
at the next door that the danger is: "<i>It is near! it is
near!</i> and therefore it is high time to bestir yourselves, and
do what you can for your own safety before it be too late." It is
madness for those to slumber whose <i>damnation slumbers not,</i>
and to linger when it hastens.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zeph.ii-p12" shownumber="no">II. It is spoken of as a very dreadful day.
The very <i>voice</i> of this <i>day of the Lord,</i> the noise of
it, when it is coming, shall be so terrible as to make <i>the
mighty men cry there bitterly,</i> cry for fear as children do.
<i>It shall be a vexation</i> to <i>hear the report</i> of it. In
the last great day of the Lord the mighty men shall cry bitterly to
rocks and mountains to shelter them; but in vain. Observe how
emphatically the prophet speaks of this day approaching (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.15" parsed="|Zeph|1|15|0|0" passage="Zep 1:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): It is <i>a day of
wrath,</i> God's wrath, wrath in perfection, wrath to the utmost.
It will be a day of <i>trouble and distress</i> to the sinners;
they shall be in pain, and shall see no ways of easing or helping
themselves. The miseries of the damned are summed up (perhaps with
reference to this) in the <i>indignation and wrath of God,</i>
which are the cause, and the <i>tribulation and anguish</i> of the
sinner's <i>soul,</i> which are the effect, <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.8-Rom.2.9" parsed="|Rom|2|8|2|9" passage="Ro 2:8,9">Rom. ii. 8, 9</scripRef>. It will be a day of <i>trouble
and distress</i> to the inhabitants, and a day of <i>wasteness and
desolation</i> to the whole land; that fruitful land shall be
turned into a wilderness. It shall be <i>a day of darkness and
gloominess;</i> every thing shall look dismal, and there shall not
be the least gleam of comfort, or glimpse of hope; look round, and
it is all black. It is <i>a day of clouds and thick darkness;</i>
there is not only nothing encouraging, but every thing threatening;
the thick clouds are big with storms and tempests.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zeph.ii-p13" shownumber="no">III. It is spoken of as a destroying day,
<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.16-Zeph.1.17" parsed="|Zeph|1|16|1|17" passage="Zep 1:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16, 17</scripRef>. It
shall be destroying, 1. To places, even the strongest and best
fortified: <i>A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced
cities,</i> to break into them, and against the <i>high towers,</i>
to bring them down; for what forts, what fences, can hold out
against the wrath of God? 2. To persons (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.17" parsed="|Zeph|1|17|0|0" passage="Zep 1:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): "<i>I will bring distress upon
men,</i> the strongest and stoutest of men; their hearts and hands
shall fail them; they shall <i>walk like blind men,</i> wandering
endlessly, <i>because they have sinned against the Lord.</i>" Note,
Those that walk as bad men will justly be left to walk as blind
men, always in the dark, in doubt and danger, without any guide or
comfort, and falling at length into the ditch. Because they have
<i>sinned against the Lord</i> he will deliver them into the hands
of cruel enemies, that shall <i>pour out their blood as dust,</i>
so profusely, and with as little regret, and <i>their flesh</i>
shall be thrown <i>as dung</i> upon the dunghill.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Zeph.ii-p14" shownumber="no">IV. The destruction of that day will be
unavoidable and universal, <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.18" parsed="|Zeph|1|18|0|0" passage="Zep 1:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>. 1. There shall be no escaping it by ransom:
<i>Neither their silver nor their gold,</i> which they have hoarded
up so covetously against the evil day, or which they have spent so
prodigally to make friends for such a time, <i>shall be able to
deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath.</i> Another prophet
borrowed these words from this, with reference to the same event,
<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.19" parsed="|Ezek|7|19|0|0" passage="Eze 7:19">Ezek. vii. 19</scripRef>. Note, Riches
profit not in the day of wrath, <scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.11.4" parsed="|Prov|11|4|0|0" passage="Pr 11:4">Prov.
xi. 4</scripRef>. Nay, riches expose to the wrath of men (<scripRef id="Zeph.ii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.5.13" parsed="|Eccl|5|13|0|0" passage="Ec 5:13">Eccl. v. 13.</scripRef>), and riches abused to
the wrath of God. 2. There shall be no escaping it by flight or
concealment; for the <i>whole land shall be devoured by the fire of
his jealousy,</i> and where then can a hiding-place be found? See
what the fire of God's jealousy is, and what the force of it; it
will devour whole lands; how then can particular persons stand
before it? He shall make riddance, <i>a speedy riddance, of all
those that dwell in the land,</i> as the husbandman, when he rids
his ground, cuts up all the briers and thorns for the fire. Note,
Sometimes the judgments of God make riddance, even utter riddance,
with sinful nations, a speedy riddance; their destruction is
effected, is completed, in a little time. Let not sinners be laid
asleep by the patience of God, for when the measure of their
iniquity is full his justice will both overtake and overcome, will
make quick work and thorough work.</p>
</div></div2>