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THROUGH THE RIBLE
By G. CAMPBELL MORGAN, Westminster Chapel, London, England.
Appearing Ebery Week During 1907. (Copyright American Strial Rights applied Tor by The Golden Wge Tublishing Co. All Eights Resorbed.)
ZEPHANIAH THE SEVERITY AND GOODNESS OF GOD.
A. The Day of Wrath With an Appeal. i.-ii. B. The Day of Wrath and Its Issue. ill.
I. The Day of Wrath. I. 2-18 I. The Day of Wrath. 1-8
i. Announced in general terms. 2-6 i. The Woe Declared. 1
ii. Described particularly. 7-13 ii. The Reasons declared. 2-7
iii. Described as to Character. 14-18 iii. The Final Word. 8
11. The Appeal. ii. ii- The Issue of the Day. 9-20
I. The Cry to the Nations. 1, 2 I. The Gathering of a Remnant. 9-13
ii. The Call to the Remnant. 3 ii. The Remnant addressed. J 14-20
iii. The Argument. 4-15
THE PROPHECY OF ZEPHANIAH.
T
HE prophecy is clearly dated in the
reign of Josiah. From the genealogy
of Zephaniah it is evident that he was
a prince of the royal house, and about
the same age as Josiah. In all prob
ability, therefore, he uttered his pro
phecy when the reformation of Josiah
was in progress. It is remarkable that
he makes no reference thereto, speak-
ing only of the sin of the people, and the conse
quent swift judgment of God upon them, finally
describing a restoration, the details of which had
no counterpart in the work of Josiah. This omis
sion is to be accounted for by a reference to the
story of the finding of the book of the law by
Hilkiah, and the word which Huldah the prophet
ess uttered in answer to the messengers sent by
Josiah. She declared that because the king was
sincere, God would spare him, and that he should
not share in nor even see the judgment; but she
emphatically declared that the curses written in
the book of the law were certain to fall upon the
sinning people. The people took part in the re
forms initiated by Josiah simply because the king
led, and not out of any real heart repentance.
Zephaniah, speaking under the inspiration of the
Spirit, and perfectly understanding that the out
ward appearance of reform was not indicative of a
true change of heart, ignored it. He therefore,
more defiantly, perhaps, than any other prophet,
declared the terrors of the Divine judgment against
sin. Yet to him fell the lot of uttering the very
sweetest love song in the Old Testament.
The great burden of the prophecy is that of the
Day of Wrath. It may be divided into two parts —
The Day of Wrath; with an Appeal i. 2 —ii. The
Day of Wrath, and Its Issue, iii.
A.—The Day of Wrath; With An Appeal.
The first movement of this section is that of the
prophet’s declaration of the coming judgment of
Jehovah. This he first announced in general terms,
then described more particularly as to procedure,
and finally as to character. This description opened
with a comprehensive announcement, “I will ut
terly consume all things frem off the face of the
ground, saith Jehovah.” Zephaniah then showed
that to be a description of the creation, in so far
as it had become evil; man and the sphere of his
dominion, the stumblingblocks with the wicked, and
the race, were to be consumed. The local applica
tion was that judgment would descend upon Judah
and Jerusalem, falling upon those who had practised
idolatry, those who had indulged in mixed worship,
those who had backslidden from following the Lord,
and those Who had never sought or inquired after
Him. Proceeding to describe more particularly
with the judgment, the prophet announced the pres
ence of Jehovah for the purpose of judgment. The
stroke of that judgment would fall first upon the
princes, then upon the extortioners, also upon the
merchantmen, and finally upon those who were
1 ‘settled on their lees,” that is, those who were
living on their wealth in idleness and indifference.
He finally gave a graphic description of the day in
which men should walk as blind, none being able
po deliver them because Jehpyah wouls inakp
en( b .... a terrible end,” of all them that
dwell in the land.
After this declaration he uttered his great ap
peal, first to tire nation as a whole, callins’ upon
it to pull itself together before the opportunity
for repentance should pass, before the hour of
judgment should arrive. As though conscious that
that larger appeal would be unavailing, he turned
to the remnant, to such as wore the “meek of the
earth,” and urged them to renewed devotion. This
appeal he enforced by argument, in which he again
set forth the fact of the coming judgment upon
the nations, interspersing his declaration with
words of hope concerning the remnant. He first
addressed the nations on the West, declaring that
they should be utterly destroyed, and in their place
the. remnant of the house of Judah should feed
their flocks. He next turned to the nations on the
East, declaring that they should become a perpet
ual desolation, and that the remnant should inhabit
their lands. He then turned to those on the South,
declaring that they should be slain by the sword.
Finally, he declared that those on the North should
be destroyed, and their cities made a desolation.
B.—The Day of Wrath and Its Issue.
In this section the prophet yet more clearly set
forth the sin of the people, and uttered the hope
lessness of the case from the human standpoint.
This gave him his opportunity to announce the vic
tory of God, Who, notwithstanding the utter failure
of His people, would ultimately accomplish the pur
pose of His love concerning them. The address
opened with a declaration of woe against Jerusa
lem, which the prophet described as rebellious, pol
luted and oppressing. The reason of the woe he
then set forth with great care, first describing the
city as a whole as one which “obeyed not .
received not correction, trusted not in Jehovah
. . . drew not near to her God.” The reason
of the sin of the city was that of the corruption of
the rulers who are all referred to. Princes, judges,
prophets, and priests had failed each in his dis
tinctive, office. In the midst of the city Jehovah,
the Righteous One, had brought forth His judg
ment, but His presence had been insulted. He
had moreover delivered the people, but their an
swer to His deliverance had been that of increased
and persistent corruption. In the presence of this
utter hopelessness the prophet cried, “Therefore,
wait ye for Me, saith Jehovah.” This was the
first gleam of hope. The very hopelessness and sin
of the people made Divine action necessary, and
that action would be that of judgment. The judg
ment, however, would be but the prelude, for, im
mediately the prophet had declared it to he in
evitable, he proceeded to describe the ultimate res
toration.
From ihis point the prophecy is clearlv Messianic.
Zephaniah gave no picture of the suffering Servant,
nor any hint of His method. He dealt only with
the ultimate result to Israel. This he first de
scribed as the turning “to the peoples of a pure
language” by Jehovah gathering again all His dis
persed ones. In that gathering the “proudly ex
ulting ones,” that is, the false rulers, would be de
posed, while in the midst of the city .the afflicted
people who trust in the name of Jehovah would be
established, then addressed himself to
the remnant, charging them to sing and rejoice be
cause their enemy should be cast out, and their
true King, Jehovah, be established in the midst of
them. He next called them to true courage and to
service. The prophecy reached its highest level as
Zephaniah described the attitude of God in poetic
language, under the figure of motherhood. Jeho
vah in the midst of His people will rejoice, and
from the silence of love will proceed to the song of
His own satisfaction.
R I?
Among the Workers.
(i A half-score of men whose names come quickly
io mind who have invested from $4,000 to $7,000
in their preparation for the v’ork of the ministry
of Jesus Christ, whose hearts are in the work and
who have marked and proved ability and against
whom there is not one breath of criticism,
would work in the ministry for hundreds of dollars
less than they can earn in other lines, but the door
is shut and they have entered the business world.”
—The Standard.
The preachers who are left out by the prejudice
against those who are unemployed will rise up in
the judgment against some leaders in the churches.
“Welcome News,” of Chicago, contains the fol
lowing story related by a correspondent:
As Amos Clarke, aged forty, a farmer, living
on the Lewiston reservation openly defied the Lord
he was struck dead in his front yard. Clarke had
been known as an atheist for years, and tonight,
in the presence of his family and several neighbors,
said there was no God, and defied tbe Supreme Be
ing to punish him. • No sooner had the words left
his lips than he was stricken and died a few min
utes later. His family is composed of Christian
boys and girls, who have been secretly trained and
instructed by the mother.
Revival Times of London tells of the coming to
gether of the three great Methodist bodies in Eng
land. It says:
“Last week three Methodist denominations
merged their separate life into one organization,
and are to be known henceforth as the United
Methodist Church. The Act of Union took place in
Wesley’s Chapel, Cityroad, London, and was rati
fied by the votes of 700 delegates appointed by
their respective circuits and district meetings.
“The Methodist New Connexion is the eldest of
the three contracting parties, and has been in ex
istence for 110 years. It represents the first di
vision that took place in Methodism after the death
of John Wesley. The second of the Uniting
Churches is the Bible Christian denomination, which
has behind it an unbroken and successful history
of 89 years of fervent evangelism. The third
church, the United Methodist Free Church, is itself
a union of denominations, each of which had un
successfully striven for certain reforms in the Wes
leyan Church, and, in consequence of their failure,
had formed themselves into separate denominations.
These denominations united in 1857, under the
name of the United Methodist Free Churches, and
for fifty years this denomination has been regarded
as the most democratic of the Methodist churches.
They have an aggregate membership of 181,189;
their places of worship number 2,265: and they
have 334,623 scholars in their Sunday schools.
“'The tendency among Christian bodies to come
together, when there is nc substantial difference be
tween them, as to matters of faith, is becoming
more and more manifest. In this country there
have been several instances of that sort. Where
creeds differ, no union can be effected unless one
or both should modify its creed. That can not be
done without securing the acquiescence of every in
dividual member of the uniting sects. That is
practically impossible, but the different branches
of Methodism are one in creed, and they may amal
gamate if they want to ”