Exposition by Max A Forsythe
The
Reformer's Fire
Exposition by Max A Forsythe
Zephaniah holds a special place in the ordering of the Twelve Minor Prophets. He is the last of the pre-exilic group. While he does not offer much that is unique, he definitely upholds and outlines the major themes of those who have prophesied earlier. Thus, as Carl Friedrich Kiel has it, Zephaniah's prophecy is a summary clarifying the "fundamental thoughts of judgment and salvation which are common to all the prophets". There is reason to believe that Zephaniah's work was written prior to the great revival which took place during King Josiah's reign.
The book is easily divided into three sections. In our selection for today, the theme is the coming Day of the Lord. The second section judgment against the surrounding nations and ends with an oracle against Jerusalem herself. The third section anticipates a bright new day of God's blessings.
Of course, most people today want to skip to the good news in the last chapter. Never mind hearing the bad news front loaded into this summary prophecy. However, if we never ever hear the bad news, we will hardly appreciate the good news that saves us from the bad or even worse events from which we might be saved! Did you catch my emphasis: "from events from which we might be saved"? The prophet Zephaniah is ever so much closer to the events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the marching away of the majority of Judeans into captivity. Thus, he has a special urgency to prepare the people for what must come to be. The Day of the Lord here in mind is to happen in the near history of God's people.
God does indeed us wars and rumors of wars to work out His providential will. And while only a handful of media personalities are concerned about the manner by which this nation is going to war today, the same majority that support the commander-in-chief are also supporting an expansion of his war against the sovereignty of an independent nation in the Balkans. Given the grave weakness in our present military establishment and the threats of more little wars than we can really handle - this nation's immediate future is less secure than it has been in many decades.
[Please note that the author was an E5 in the Regular Army during the sixties and is in no way criticizing the contemporary military establishment, which has suffered enough from political manipulation without needing any further abuse from a citizen.]
As if the coming domestic challenge of Y2K were not enough, on top of an unstable economy and the emotional hype of crossing a millennium, we as a nation have decided to take on a petty tyrant, whose population has successfully waged guerrilla warfare for hundreds of years against any and all occupying powers. The guilt in such undertakings is to assume blandly that if we make up our minds to do anything, then we as a nation can go on and do it. All the military has to do in this feel good era is to accept the correct assumption that wanting to win is more important than having the proper tools of the trade. While moral is important, as Napoleon well knew, even he was beaten by superior tactics, bad weather, poor health and allied troops who had just experienced a major religious revival which gave them the confidence to stand and die against every big battalion Napoleon's generals could throw against them!
But, I digress - an earlier King in Judea - Hezekiah was delivered from conquest by the Lord's hand alone. And in Zephaniah's time - another revival rescued thousands more from their hopeless dependence upon false religion, a corrupt social system, a confiscatory commerce and a general indifference to God's word and wisdom. Isn't it interesting how similar Zephaniah's time is to our own? One wag observed on the radio that he hadn't had a care in the world about the Y2K phenomenon until he read that the Dark Ages followed after the Y1K millennial crossing! In our time the vultures are gathering, and they are waiting to pick apart the secular New Jerusalem which we too often assume ourselves to be.
While, verses two and three can very well describe the final judgment and the consummation of the age, the threat to Judea and any culture which does not take the Lord seriously is still evident. He can and will stretch out His hand against the chosen people of every era. And in the middle verses of our selection today is an outline of four reasons for the Lord's coming judgment.
First and foremost is the matter of religion. Zephaniah's denunciation of the religious practices in Judea is thorough. The idolatrous worship of foreign gods is especially highlighted, but also the polytheistic toleration of the people is denounced. Syncretism was in the air, and people were more than willing to give God only a small share of their religious attention. Few it seems have sought the Lord alone or even inquired of Him. Oh how popular it is today to be all things to all people, to mix in any former idolatry with the worship of the One True God! Native Shamans, Indian Gurus and pagan philosophies abound as the New Age discovers a "christian" audience
The second reason for God's displeasure is the social posturing of what we would call the country club set! Now there are some very vague terms here in verses eight and nine involving foreign apparel and funny rituals of leaping over thresholds. We don't know for certain what is going on. Let me at least say that these verses remind me of some of the silly costumes and harebrained rituals of the elitist lodges, fraternities and "service" clubs common with our own upper crust. Even as the people had adopted into their religion the pagan gods, so had they adopted the social climbing antics of their enemies as well.
The third reason for God's coming judgment concerns the merchants and their customs of commerce. We can see in the specialization of a "fish gate" and a specific quarter zoned for business that the regulation of business in Jerusalem had been demeaned to what was common among thieves and a corrupt business community. Of what were they guilty? Of taking the wealth of the common people and making it more and more difficult for honest craftsmen and farmers to make a living. While we do all appreciate the wonders of our own market economy and the vast bonanza of choices, we need to realize how difficult it is for anyone to have a business apart.
One of the sad side effects of selling less pork to Asian markets is the growing concentration of pork production in the hands of three or four corporations. More and more, the "independent" farmers must do custom work for moneyed corporations. Just as the poultry industry has been monopolized in the forties through sixties, so other areas of enterprise are becoming incorporated. Few of us can remember when shoes were made locally and sewed together specially for our own feet. Thus, it once was for very much of our economy. And like the economy managed by Joseph for Pharaoh, once corporate socialism has concentrated all of the wealth in a handful of holdings, there will be a definite lack of further acquisition to fuel the stock market. One observer has publicly said that the reason for the increasing cost of stocks is the growing lack of offerings in the public sector. There are just not enough solid choices to satisfy the the market.
A fourth cause for denunciation is similar to the famous Amos passage where judgment is spoken to all of those who are "complacent in Zion". Life is good, we think in America, and all we have to do is protect the president from morality charges so that he can get back to working for America. And what do we get for letting him off the hook? War and rumors of more wars. James Montgomery Boice describes both the time of Zephaniah and our own in these words: "Surrounded by a corruption so great that it is bringing on the judgment of the almighty God, they are nevertheless quite unconcerned."
The complacency here in Zephaniah is a spiritual one and in this complacency we are right back where we started. And it is for this reason that the true faith is used so little to inform the church, the culture and the commerce of Jerusalem. No one cares! Therefore, since God's judgment is so richly deserved, in verses fourteen through eighteen we see the certain coming of the wrath of God upon those people who ignore Him and live, love and worship as if He didn't exist.
What were the people of Judah to do? In the first three verses of chapter two, there is the certain promise of God's plan for national and personal salvation. "Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the Lord's anger."
We know that there was a revival of sorts, but within another generation the dread Day of the Lord came upon Judah and Jerusalem. What about us? There was a similar revival in the fifties, when all of the churches in this country expanded their membership and built new buildings, seminaries and sent out more missionaries. Is this the Lord's time to visit judgment for a lack of sincerity in American life, where such a large "revival" had so little effect? Or is there another revival to come in the immediate future. We cannot say, because we do not know the mind of the Lord completely. But let us at the very least put our own material houses in order and go on to publicly support the principles of biblical wisdom as they apply to our faith, our fellowship of friends, and our economic practices as we await the coming providence planned in heaven. Let us account for ourselves a personal commitment to be the Lord's people and to represent Him in a corrupt and dying age.
Resources Used:
Baker, David W. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Nahum, Habakkk, Zephaniah.
Boice, James M. The Minor Prophets: An Expositional Commentary.
Places Preached:
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America)
Box 13926 -- Columbus, OH 43213
Zph 01a 11 April 99
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