Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Zephaniah
Book: Zephaniah
Chapter: 1
Overview:
Threatenings against sinners.
(1-6) More threatenings.
(7-13)
Distress from the approaching judgments.
(14-18)
1-6 Ruin is coming, utter ruin;
Destruction from the Almighty.
The servants of
God all proclaim, There is
No peace for the
wicked. The expressions are figurative, speaking every where
Desolation; the land shall be left without inhabitants. The
sinners to be consumed are, the professed idolaters, and those
that
Worship Jehovah and idols, or swear to the
Lord, and to
Malcham. Those that think to divide their affections and
Worship
between
God and idols, will come short of acceptance with
God;
for what
Communion can there be between
Light and
Darkness? If
Satan have half, he will have all; if the
Lord have but half, he
will have none. Neglect of
God shows impiety and contempt. May
none of us be among those who draw back unto perdition, but of
those who believe to the saving of the soul.
7-13 God's
Day is at
Hand; the
Punishment of presumptuous
sinners is a
Sacrifice to the
Justice of God. The Jewish royal
family shall be reckoned with for their pride and vanity; and
those that leap
On the
Threshold, invading their neighbours'
rights, and seizing their possessions. The trading people and
the rich merchants are called to account. Secure and careless
people are reckoned with. They are secure and easy; they say in
their
Heart, the
Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil;
that is, they deny his dispensing rewards and punishments. But
in the
Day of the
Lord's
Judgment, it will clearly appear that
those who perish, fall a
Sacrifice to Divine
Justice for
breaking
God's
Law, and because they have
No interest
By Faith
in the
Redeemer's atoning
Sacrifice.
14-18 This warning of approaching
Destruction, is enough to
make the sinners in Zion tremble; it refers to the great
Day of
the
Lord, the
Day in which he will show himself
By taking
vengeance
On them. This
Day of the
Lord is very near; it is a
Day of
God's wrath, wrath to the utmost. It will be a
Day of
trouble and distress to sinners. Let them not be laid asleep
By
the patience of
God. What is a
Man profited if he gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul? And what shall a
Man give in
exchange for his soul? Let us flee from the wrath to come, and
choose the good part that shall never be taken from us; then we
shall be prepared for every event; nothing shall separate us
from the
Love of
God in
Christ Jesus our
Lord.