ZEPHANIAH. Chiiiied.13—15:
and glory. The Targum renders it, ‘a meek ‘© people, and receiving injuries;” quietly and patiently: and they foall truft in the name of the Lord; not in men, but in the Lord; not in defcent from men, from the patriarchs, as the ews were wont to do; not in Mofes, as they, in his law and obedience to it; not in any creature or creature-enjoyment; not in wealth and riches; nor in their own hearts, or in their own righteoufnefs; but in the name of the Lord Jefus Chrift; in his perfon for acceptance with God; in his righteoufnefs for ju- {tification; in his blood for pardon and cleanfing; in ‘his: facrifice for atonement; in his fulnefs. for fupplies of grace; in his power and ftrength for protection and prefervation; and in his obedience, fufferings and death for falvation and eternal life. This truft fignifies, according to the fenfe of the word *, a betaking of themfelves to Chrift as a refuge; a hiding themfelves under the fhadow of his wings; under his perfon, blood and righteouf- ’ nefs, where they are covered and fheltered from the avenging juftice of God; from the curfes of the law, and wrath to come: it is a committing themfelves into the hands of Chrift; a leaning and ftaying upon him, expecting grace and glory from him; trufting him with all they have, and for all they want in time and eternity: and this the chofen, redeemed and called ones, /ball: do; for thro’ the efficacious grace of God, faith is given to them, and wrought in them; and this is drawn forth into aét and exercife, by the fame grace, and is continued in them, and fhall never fail thro’ the powerful interceffion of Chrift for them; they fhall believe, and go on believing, to the faving of their fouls. E v.13. The remnant of Ifrael fhall not do inigaity, &c.] This is the remnant, according to the election of grace, the few the Lord referved for himfelf, left in the land, and in his church, for his own glory; who being truly convinced of fin, and brought to believe in Chrift; fhould leave and forfake their former courfe of finning; not that they fhould be without fin, or none be committed by them; but fhould. not live in it, and: be workers of it; make a trade of finning, and continue therein; or fhould not commit the fin againft the Holy Ghoft, as great numbers of the Yews did, in rejecting Jefus as the Meffiah, againft clear evidence, and the light of their own confciences: or, {peak lies; in common talk and converfation; which a child of God, a true believer in Chrift, a real chriftian fhould not, and dare not-do, Jf Ixiii. 8. or doétrinal lies, lies in hypocrify; fuch doétrines as are not of the truth of the gofpel, but contrary to it; fuch as the doctrine of juftification by works; atonement by ceremonial facrifices; acceptance with God, thro’ the merits of their fathers; and keepine the traditions of the elders; and other Fewi/h lies and fables of the fame ftamp; but rejected by thofe who have embraced the truth, as it is in Jefus: neither fhall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; having clean hearts created, and right fpirits renewed in them; being J/raelites indeed, in whom there is no guile, and true followers of Jefus, in whom nothing of this kind could be found: for they fall feed, like a flock: of fheep, to which they may be compared for their innocence and harmlefinefs, meeknefs and patience; feed in the fat paftures of the word, and ordinances of Chrift, under the care and guidance of him the good fhepherd; and fo go in and out, and find pafture, food, and fulnefs of it, in him, his flefh; and bloods in his precious truths, and gofpel-provifions made in his houfe: and lie down, in green paftures of ordinances, befides the {till waters of everlafting love and divine grace, and in the good fold of the. church; all which is a reafon why they do not, and cannot fin, as others do; nor tell lies, and be guilty of deceit and falfhood; for they are better taught; and the grace of God in giving them {piritual food and reft, influences and engages them to fuch a conduct and behaviour: or, therefore they fhall feed °, &c. being truly gracious and fincere fouls, who cannot indulge themfelves in fin, nor acta falfe and deceitful part: and none fball make them afraid, of feeding in thofe paftures, and lying down in thofe folds; or fhall deter them from an attendance on the word and ordinances; or joining in fellowfhip with the churches of Chrift therein; neither fatan, the roaring lion, nor falfe teachers, and perfecuting tyrants, thofe grievous wolves, and cruel bears; or fo frighten them, that in their fright they fhall tell lies, and ufe deceit. ¥. 14: Sing, O daughter of Zion, &c.] The congregation of Zion, as the Targum; the church of Chrift in gofpel-times, which has great reafon to fing and rejoice, becaufe of the coming of Chrift, redemption by him, and all other benefits and blefiings of grace; becaufe of the gofpel, and the ordinances: of it, and the numbers of fouls converted, both among Fews and Gentiles; efpecially the. church in the latter day is here called upon to fing for joy, when the Fews will be converted; to which thefe words, and what follow relate: fhout, O I/rael; the ten tribes, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; which fhall now return, and all J/rae/ thall be faved, Rom. xi. 26. and therefore juft caufe of fhouting, and of keeping a jubilee on that account: Je glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Ferufalem; the metropolis of the two tribes; for now the children of Lrael and of Fudab fhall be together, and feek the Lord their God, and the true Meffiah, and find him; and fhall embrace him, profefs and ferve him; which will be matter of great joy; and this will be fincere and hearty, and devoid of all hypo- _crify.. Several terms are ufed, defcribing the people of the ews, to comprehend them all; and feveral words to expreis their joy, in order to fet forth the greatnefs of it, as their happy cafe would require; as follows: mt y¥. 15. Lhe Lord bath taken away thy judgements, &c.] Both outward and inward; not only exile, poverty, contempt and reproach, among the nations of the earth; but hardnefs of heart, blindnefs of mind, impenitence and unbelief, to which the ‘Yews are now given up, ina judicial way; burat this time thefe fhall be removed, thro’ the goodnefs of God unto them, and the power of divine grace upon them: they will be brought to a fenfe of fin, and an acknowledgment of it; their iniquities will be pardoned; and the caufe being removed, the effects will ceafe; and all calamities, correcs tions, and punifhment will end; and they will be ut into the poffeffion of their own land, and enjoy all the privileges of the church of God; and fo will have juft reafon to fing, thout and rejoice;
be hath caft out thine enemy that is, the Lord has removed the enemy that was in pofleflion of their land, and fo made way, and prepared it for them; he has fwept him away, as the word? fignifies, with great force, with much eafe, and like fo much dirt and filth; he ftood in their way, nor could they have eafily removed him; but the Lord did it, or will do it; tho’ ic may be by inftruments, by means of the chriftian princes. This is to be underftood of the eaftern antichrift, the Turk, now in poffeffion of the land of J/rae/; but fhall be obliged to quit it, when this prophecy fhall take place, for a reafon following: the king of Ifrael, even the Lord is in the midft of thee; that is, the Lord Jefus Chrift, the true Meffiah; one of whofe titles is the king of J/rael, of the fpiritual J rael, king: of faints, both Fews and Gentiles; in whofe hearts he rules by his Spirit and grace; and to this pafiage the ews in Chrift’s time feem to have refpect, allowing this to be the character of the:
Mefliah, Matt. xxvii. 42. and allo Nathanael, ‘fobn i. 49. now at this time Chrift will be in the midft of the converted Fews, by his fpiritual and gracious: prefence, as their king to reign over them, to whom they will be fubjeét; and to protect and defend them, and deliver them out of the hands of all their enemies; and fo he is in all his churches, and will be to the end of the world: thou shalt not fee evil any more; the evil of affliction or punifhment;, the evil of captivity, difgrace and contempt. This fhows that this prophecy does not refpect the Babyloni/h captivity, and deliverance from that; for fince that time, they have.feen evil by Antiochus Epiphanes, in the times of the Maccabees; and by the Romans; and have hada large and long experience of it; but when they are converted, and returned to their own land in the latter day, all their afflictions and troubles will be at an end, they'll know them no more. The Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, thou halt not fear evil any more. So the Zargum, *¢ thou fhalt not be afraid from ‘¢ before evil any more.” In the fame fenfe Aven Ezra underftands it, ‘* thou fhalt not be afraid “* of the enemy any more;” taking the word to come from another root 4.
y. 16, In that day it foall be faid to Ferufalem, fear thou not, &c.} Don’t be afraid of any enemies; neither outward ones, the armies of Gog and Magog, the Turk, who will threaten, and will attempt to difpoffefs them of their land, now returned to it; nor inward and {piritual enemies, fin, fatan, death and hell, being all vanquifhed and fubdued by Chrift: this will be faid, not by the enemies themfelves, who will confefs they have no power to ftand before the mighty God, as en Lzra; but either by the prophets of the Lord, or by the people themfelves, encouraging one another, every man his neighbour, as Kimchi; or rather by the Lord himfelf, as the Septuagint and Arabic verfions fupply it, ** the Lord fhall fay to << Ferufalem;” this will be faid at the time of the. Jews converfion, when. re-inftated in their own land, and fhall be threatened with another remove from it, which they will have no reafon to fear: and to Zion, let not thine hands be flack; weak, re- -mifs, hang down thro’ fear of mind, and fainting of fpirit; and fo unfit to meet the enemy, or perform duty; but on the contrary, pluck up a good heart, be of good courage, fear not the enemy, be vigorous, active and diligent in the performance of the fervice of the Lord, animated by the following confiderations.
‘¥.17. The Lord thy God in the midft of thee is mighty, &c.] Every word carries in it fomething; very encouraging to the church and people of God; and is an antidote againft thofe fears and faintings they are fubjeét to; Chrift is in the midft of them; near at hand to fupport and fupply them, to affitt and ftrengthen them, to protect and defend them; he is not only near by his effential prefence, which is every where; and by his providential prefence, which is concerned with all his creatures; but by his gracious prefence, peculiar to his church and people; and which gives them. unfpeakable joy, and is a fufficient fecurity from all fears and difmayings; fee Jf: xli. 10. and he, who is in the midit of them, is the Lord, Febovab, the being of beings, eternal, immutable, and all-fuficient, poffefied of all divine perfections; and their God, God in their nature, Immanuel God with us; and who is mighty, the Almighty God, the mighty Mediator, who has all power in heaven and earth; and as man, the man of God’s right-hand, made {trong for himfelf, and fo able to fave his people to the uttermoft; to deliver them out of the hands of every enemy; to raife up his intereft when ever fo low, and to maintain and fupport it; to help and affift his people in every duty and fervice he calls them to: be will fave; he is as willing to fave, as he is able; he readily undertook in council and covenant to fave the chofen ones; he came in the fulnefs of time to feek and to fave that which was loft; he has wrought out falvation for them, and fees that is is applied unto them, and will comeagain to put them into the full poffeffion of it: he faves them freely, fully and everlaftingly, he faves them from fin, fatan, the law, hell and wrath, and every fpiritual enemy; nor has the church of Chrift any thing to fear from any temporal enemy; the converted Fews will have no reafon to fear the Zurk that will come againfl them with a vaft army; for Chrift, who will be in the midft of them, and at the head of them, will fave them from him; to which falvation this paffage has chiefly a refpet: be will reoice over thee with joy; with exceeding great joy, not to be conceived of, or expreffed; as a-bridegroom rejoiceth over his bride: this will be the time of the open marriage of the Lamb with the Jewih church; and | there will be ftrong expreffions of joy on this occafion; Chrift will rejoice over them to do them good; and there will be fuch fingular inftances of his goodnefs to them, as will abundantly fhew the joy he will have in them: be will ret in bis love; continue in his love, without any variation or change; nothing fhall feparate from it; it fhall always remain the fame; he will take up his contentment and fatisfaction in it; he will folace himfelf with it; it will be a pleafing thing to him to love his people, and to fhew it to them; he will take the utmoft complacency and delight in expreffing his love by words and deeds unto them:
“quod timeas amplius quicquam mali, Burkius.
or, as fome render it, Be twill be filent becaufe of his love; and not upbraid them with their fins; or reproye, correct and chaftize them in his hot difpleafure'; or fay one word in a way of vindictive wrath’; and he wi//’make-all. others /ilent; every enemy, or whatever is contrary to them; fuch is his ‘great love to them '; he will forgive their iniquities, and‘ cover their fins, and in love to them caft them behind his ‘back: or, will be dumb *; and not fpeak;as fometimes perfons, when their affections are ftrong, and their hearts are filled with love-at the fight of one they bear a great regard unto, are not able to fpeak a word. “The phrafe expreffes the greatnefs of Chrift’s love to ‘his ae ple; the ftrength, fulnefs, and continuance of it: words feem ‘to be wanted,-and more are added: be will joy over thee with finging; there is a pleo~ nafm ‘of joy in Chrift’s heart towards his people, and foa redundancy in. his expreffion of it; he rejoices with joy, and joys with finging; which fhows how delighted he is'with his people, as they are his chofen, redeemed, and calted ones; as they have his own righteoufnefs upon them, and his own ‘grace in them; they are his Hephzibah, in whom he delights;: his Beulah, to whom he’ is married; and it is his love of complaceney and delight, which is the fource of all the grace and glory he beftows upon them; fee J/ Ixit. 3, 4, 5. Lukexv.'23, 24, 25.
¥, 18. [will gather them that are forrowful for the folemn affembly, &c.| ' Who are’ gtieved and troubled; becaufe they-cannot meet at the time and place of religious worfhip, or attend the word and Ordinances of the Lordy; either thro’ diftance of place, or infirmity of body; or thro” the menaces and perfecutions of men: ‘and to be prevented the ufe of the means of grace upon any account, isa great concern of mind'to truly gracious‘fouls: or who are filled with grief'and forrow, for the appointed time”; for the time of the Fews deliverance fram’ their prefent exile, and return ‘to their own land, which: feems to be delayed, and’ thought long; and fo it may feem to fome of them in diftant parts, after they are converted; and for whofe encouragement this is faid, that the Lord will in his own due time and way gather fuch out of all places where they are, into his church, and among his people, to join with them in religious worfhip, and partake of all the ordinances and ‘privileges of his houfe; and alfo gather them into their own land, and comfortably fettle them there: who are of ibee; belong to the church of Chrift; or however Have a ticht to, and meetnefs-for,’a place init; are her true and genuine children, ‘being born again; and which appears by the tafte they have for, and their defire after, the word and ordinances: to whom the reproach of it was a barden, it being grievous and burdenfome’ to them, to hear the enemy reproach them with their exile and difperfion; with their diftance from the place of worfhip, and their want of opportunity ‘of ‘attending to it: this was intolerable, a burden’ too heavy tor them; it was like a {word in their bones, when ‘they were afked, where is your God? “and where are ‘the ordinances of ‘divine worfhip?- and)
Hl. ¥. 18——20. when will it ever be that you will attend them? fee Pfxlii. 1, 2,° 95! FOV by:
and make an entire deftrucétion of them, as. the”
Targim; bring them to utter ruin. ‘This muft be underftood of antichrifty both eaftern and weftern, the Turk and pope, and all the antichriftiam ftates that have afflicted the ‘Yews, or fhalb attempt to diftrefS them at the time of their converfion; and will be fulfilled at the time of the pouring out of the feven vials. of God’s wrath upon them, which will iffie in the entire undoing and ruin of them,
| efpecially the feventh and laft of them; which, when poured out, will clear the world of all the
“enemies of Chrift, his church, and people; and becaufe this will be a wonderful event, and of great moment and importance, hence the word; bebold! is prefixed to it, as exciting attention, as well as‘a note of admiration and affeveration: and I will fave her that halteth; that has*finned, and is weak in faith, and cannot walk, at leaft but haltingly; which is like a lame and. maimed fheep, of which there is danger of its being left behind and loft; but the Lord here promifes’ he'll take care of fuch, and fave them from all their-fins, and out of the hands’ of all their enemies; and bring them thro’ all’ difficulties and difcouragements into his church, and to their own: land; they fhall none of them be. loft, even the meaneft and weakeft of them, any more than-the healthful and ftrong: and gather her that was drivem out, even every one that was fcattered abroad in the feveral' nations ‘of the world; fee the note‘on AG. iv. 6,7: and I will ‘get them praife and fame in every land, where they have been put to foame'; being converted, they fhall be {poke well of every where; they fhall be praifed for their ingenuous acknowledgment of their fins; for their fincere repentance of them; and for their faith in Chrift, and for their ready {ubmiffion-to his gofpel and ordinances; and the fame of their converfion fhall be’ {pread every where; and they fhall be in great credit and efteem in all chriftian countries, where their name has been ufed for a taunt, and a proverb; and fo, infead of their foame, as R. Mofes interprets it, they fhall have glory and honour in all places.
¥. 20. At that time I will bring you again, even in’ the ‘time that I gather you, &c.)~ That is, at the time that the Lord will gather them in effec+ tual vocation to himfelf,; and to his’ church, he — will return them to their own land; and as foon as the Yews are converted, they’ll not only be gathered into chriftian churches, but will be gathered- together in one body, and appoint themfelves one head; and will go up out of the feveral lands wherein they have ‘been difperfed, and. enter into their own land; and poffefs it; at the fame time they are: made partakers of the grace of God, they will enjoy all their civil privileges and liberties; fee Hof. 1.11: for I will make you a:
name, and a praife among all people of the earth; this is repeated from the preceding verfe, for the confirmation of it; and in connexion: with the
* Obmutefcet, fo fome in Drafius.
following claufe, to fhew when it will be: when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, faith the - Lord; or captivities*; meaning not the feveral captivities of the kings of Yudab in Babylon, as of Manajfeb, Feboiakim, Fechoniah, and Zedekiab; but the two-fold captivity of this people, literal and fpiritual; their_prefent outward exile from their own land, captivity and difperfion, among the nations; and their fpiritual captivity or bondage, to fin, fatan, the law, and the traditions of their elders; from both which they will be de- a4 Re livered at one and the fame time; and which will be notorious and manifeft; what their eyes will fee with pleafure and admiration;~and-which may be depended upon will be done, fince the Lord has faid it, whofe purpofes, promifes and prophe- Cies never fail of their accomplifhment: he is God omnifcient, and. knows with. certainty what will be-done; he is God omnipotent, and can and will do, whatever he has determined, promifed, or faid fhould be done.
HIS pait of facted fcripture, is in fome
[ Hebrew copies called Sepher Haggai, the book of Haggai; in the Vulgate Latin verfion, the prophecy of Haggai, and in the Syrviac and Arabic verfions, the prophecy of the prophet Haggai. His name comes from a word *, which fignifies to keep a feaft; and, according to Ferom », fignifies feftival or merry; according to Hillerus °, the feaft of the Lord; and according to Cocceius *, my feafts: and the iffue of his prophecy anfwered to his name; by which the people were encouraged to build, the temple, whereby the feafts of the Lord were reftored and obferved; and a particular feaft appointed for the dedication of the temple. The notion entertained by fome, that he was not a man, but an angel, founded on ch. i. 13. deferves no regard; fince the character there given of him, refpects not his nature, but his office. Indeed no account is given of his parentage; very probably he was born in Babylon; and according to P/eudo-Epiphanius * and Ifidore ‘, he came from thence a youth to Ferufalem, at the return of the ews from their captivity. The time of his prophecy is fixed in ch. i, 1. to the fecond year of Darius, that is, Hyflafpis; which, according to bifhop Ufber, was in A.M. 3485; and of the Julian period 4194; and in the 65th Olympiad; about 520 years before the birth of Chrift; and about 17 or 18 years after the proclamation of Cyrus, for the ews to return to their