Zephaniah 3:5

The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame. The Jews regard not God's justice manifested in the midst of them, nor His judgments on the guilty nations around. Verse 5. THE JUST LORD. Why then are ye so unjust? IS IN THE MIDST THEREOF. He retorts on them their own boast, "Is not the Lord among us?" (Micah 3:11.) True, He is, but it is for another end from what ye think (Calvin) - namely, to lead you by the example of His righteousness to be righteous (Leviticus 19:2, "Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy;...

Here the Prophet throws back against hypocrites what they were wont to pretend, when they sought wickedly to reject every instruction and all warnings; for they said, that God dwelt in the midst of them, like the Papists at the present day, who raise up this as their shield against us,—that the Church is the pillar of the truth. Hence they think that all their wicked deeds are defended by this covering. So the Jews at that time had this boast ever on their lips,—We are notwithstanding the holy people of God, and he dwells in the midst of us, for he is worshipped in the Temple, which has been built, not according to men’s will, but by his command; for that voice proceeded not from earth, but came from heaven, ‘This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell.’ Psalms 132:14. Since then the Jews were inflated with this presumption, the Prophet concedes what they claimed, that God dwelt among th...

1-7 The holy God hates sin most in those nearest to him. A sinful state is, and will be, a woful state. Yet they had the tokens of God's presence, and all the advantages of knowing his will, with the strongest reasons to do it; still they persisted in disobedience. Alas, that men often are more active in doing wickedness than believers are in doing good....

Verse 5. _THE JUST LORD_ IS _IN THE MIDST THEREOF_] He sees, marks down, and will punish all these wickednesses. _EVERY MORNING DOTH HE BRING HIS JUDGMENT TO LIGHT_] The sense is, says Bp. _Newcome_, "Not a day passes but we see instances of his goodness to righteous men, and of his vengeance on the wicked....

But, beside these “evening wolves in the midst of her,” there standeth Another “in the midst of her,” whom they knew not, and so, very near to them although they would not draw near to Him. But He was near, to behold all the iniquities which they did in the very city and place called by His Name and in His very presence; He was in her to protect, foster her with a father’s love, but she, presuming on His mercy, had cast it off. And so He was near to punish, not to deliver; as a Judge, not as a Saviour. Dionysius: “God is everywhere, Who says by Jeremiah, ‘I fill heaven and earth’ Jeremiah 23:24. But since, as Solomon attesteth, ‘The Lord is far from the wicked’ Proverbs 15:29, how is He said here to be in the midst of these most wicked men? Because the Lord is far from the wi

EXPOSITION. ZEPHANIAH 3:1 § 6. The prophet turns to Jerusalem, and warns her that, if God punishes the heathen, he will not spare the hardened sinners in Judah. ZEPHANIAH 3:1 WOE TO HER! This is addressed to Jerusalem, as is seen by Zephaniah 3:2. FILTHY; rather, _rebellious, i.e._ against God. The LXX; mistaking the word, renders ἐπιφανής, "notable." So the Syriac. Jerome has _provocatrix. _The true sense is seen by the expansion of the term in Zephaniah 3:2. polluted by her many sins. Jerome, follo

THE JUST LORD [IS] IN THE MIDST THEREOF,.... In the midst of the city of Jerusalem, where those princes, judges, prophets and priests, were, that behaved so ill, and saw and observed all their evil actions; and yet they were not deterred from them by his presence, even though he is the "just" and Holy One, who loves righteousness, and hates iniquity, and will punish for it; nor were they directed and allured to do what is righteous and good by his example. This character of the just Lord well agrees with Christ, who is perfectly righteous in both his natures, and in the execution of his offices; and is the author of righteousness to his people; and this is to be understood of his incarnation and personal presence in human nature in Jerusalem, and in the temple, where he taught his doctrine, and wrought his miracles: HE WILL NOT DO INIQUITY; Christ was holy in his nature, harmless in his...

CHAPTER S 2-3:8 The Call to Repentance in View of the Judgment _ 1. The call to repentance (Zephaniah 2:1) _ 2. The judgment of the Philistines (Zephaniah 2:4) 3. The judgment of Moab and Ammon (Zephaniah 2:8) 4. The judgment of the other nations (Zephaniah 2:11) 5. The woe and warning to Jerusalem and His people (Zephaniah 3:1) Zephaniah 2:1. As we found it in Joel, so it is here. In view of the co

THE SIN OF JERUSALEM CONTRASTED WITH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF YAHWEH. From scenes of doom and desolation we are now led back in thought to the sins that drew down Yahweh's hand in wrath. Despite His constant goodness and loving-kindness Jerusalem has shown herself defiant and rebellious, deep-stained with guilt, and all the while heedless of instruction and correction, her rulers rapacious as evening wolves, her prophets boastful and faithless, giving forth their own imaginings as the very word of God, and her priests indifferent alike to the claims of holiness and the light of revelation from above. While crimes like these pollute her, she cannot escape the judgment of Yahweh; for He is righteous, and morning by morning bringeth forth justice as unfailingly as the light. The nations He has already destroyed and left without inhabitant are abiding witnesses to the righteousness of Yahweh. He...

IN THE MIDST THEREOF. Reference to Pentateuch (Numbers 5:3.Deuteronomy 7:21; Deuteronomy 7:21). App-92. Compare Zephaniah 3:15. INIQUITY. Hebrew. _'avah._ App-44. EVERY MORNING. morning by morning. See Psalms 101:8. UNJUST. perverse. Hebrew. _'aval._ See App-44....