John Calvin Commentary Zephaniah 1:4

"And I will stretch out my hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, [and] the name of the Chemarim with the priests;" — Zephaniah 1:4 (ASV)

The Prophet explains still more clearly why he directed his discourse in the last verse against the beasts of the earth and the birds of heaven, for this purpose: that the Jews might understand that God was angry with them. I will stretch forth, he says, my hand on Judah and on Jerusalem.

God, then, by executing His vengeance on animals, intended to exhibit to the Jews, as in a picture, the dreadfulness of His wrath, which yet they despised and regarded as nothing. The stretching forth of God’s hand I have elsewhere explained; and it means simply this: that He stretches forth His hand when He acts in an unusual manner and employs means beyond what is common.

We indeed know that God has no hands, and we also know that He performs all things by His command alone. But as everything seen in the world is called the work of His hands, so He is said to stretch forth His hand when He mentions a work that is remarkable and worthy of being remembered.

In the same way, when I intend to do some slight work, I only move my hand; but when I have some difficult work to do, I prepare myself more carefully and also stretch forth my arms. This metaphor, then, is intended only for this purpose: to make men more attentive to God’s works, when He is set forth as stretching forth His hand.

But He says, on Judah and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The kingdom of Israel had now been abolished, and the ten tribes had been led into exile; and only a few of the lowest and the poorest remained. The Jews thought themselves safe forever because they had escaped that calamity.

This is the reason why the Prophet declares that God’s judgment was impending not only over the kingdom of Judah but also over the holy city. This city thought itself exempt from all such evil because the sacrifices were performed there, it was the royal city, and, in short, because God had testified that His habitation was to be there forever.

Since, then, by this vain confidence the inhabitants of Jerusalem deceived themselves and others, Zephaniah specifically addresses them. And as he had before spoken of the wicked, he intended here, no doubt, sharply to reprove the Jews, as though he said by way of anticipation: There is no reason for you to inquire who are the wicked, for you yourselves are they. Even you who are the holy people of God and God’s chosen inheritance, you who are the race of Abraham, who flatter yourselves so much on account of your excellency—you are the wicked, who have not until now ceased to provoke the vengeance of God. And at the same time he shows, as it were, with his finger, some of their sins, though he mentions others afterwards; but he speaks now of their superstitions.

I will cut off, he says, the remnants of Baal and the name of Chamerim. The severity of the Prophet may seem here again to be excessive, for being so incensed against superstitions which had been abolished by the great zeal and singular diligence of the king; but, as we have already intimated, he regarded not so much the king as the people.

For though they dared not openly to adulterate God’s worship, they yet cherished those corruptions at home to which they had before been accustomed, as we see to be done today. For when it is not allowed to worship idols, many mutter their prayers in secret and invoke their idols. In short, they are restrained only by the fear of men from manifesting their own impiety; and in the meantime, they retain before God the same abominations.

So it was in the time of Josiah; the people were wedded to their corruptions, and this we may easily conclude from the words of Zephaniah. For the remnants of Baal were not seen in the temple, nor in the streets, nor in their chapels, nor in the high places; but their hidden impiety is here discovered by the Spirit of God. And no doubt their sin was the more heinous and less excusable because the people refused to follow their pious leader.

It was indeed the most abominable ingratitude; for when they saw that the right worship was restored to them, they preferred to remain fixed in their own filth, rather than to return to God, even when they had liberty to do so, and also when that pious king extended his hand to them.

As to the word כמרים, chemarim, it designated either the worshipers of Baal or some such men as our monks today. They are supposed by some to have been called this because they were clothed in black vestments, while others think that they derived this name from their fervor, because they were madly devoted to their superstitions, or because they had marks on their foreheads, or because they deceived, as is commonly the case, the simple by the ardor of their zeal.

The name is also found in 2 Kings 23:1 in the account given of Josiah: for it is said there, that the כמרים, chemarim, were taken away, together with other abominations of superstition. But as Zephaniah connects priests with them, it is probable that they were a kind of people like the monks, who did not themselves offer sacrifices but were a sort of attendants who undertook vows and offered prayers in the name of the whole people. For what some think, that they were called this because they burnt incense, does not seem probable to me, for then they must have been priests. They were then inferior to the sacrificers, and occupying a station between them and the people, like the monks and hermits today, who deceive foolish men by their sanctity. Such, then, were the Chemarim.

But as Josiah could not attain his object, so as immediately to cleanse the land from these pollutions, we need not wonder that today we are not able immediately to remove superstitions from the world. But let us in the meantime ever proceed in our course. Let those endowed with authority, who bear the sword—that is, all magistrates—perform their office with greater diligence, since they see how difficult and protracted is the contest with the ministers of idolatry. Let also the ministers of the gospel earnestly cry against idolatry and all ungodly ceremonies, and not desist. Though they may not accomplish as much as they wish, yet let them follow the example of Josiah. If God should in the meantime thunder from heaven, let them not be discouraged but, on the contrary, know that their labor is approved by Him, and never doubt their own safety. For though all were destroyed, their godly efforts would not be in vain, nor fail of a reward before God. Thus, then, all God’s servants should encourage themselves, each in his particular sphere and vocation, whenever they have to contend with superstitions and with such corruptions as vitiate and adulterate the pure worship of God.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as we are so prone to corruptions, and so easily turn from the right course after having begun it, and so easily degenerate from the truth once known—O grant that, strengthened by Your Spirit, we may persevere to the end in the right way which You show to us in Your word, and that we may also labor to restore the many who abandon themselves to various errors; and though we may accomplish nothing, let us not yet be led away after them, but remain firm in the obedience of faith, until at last, having finished all these contests, we shall be gathered into that blessed rest which is prepared for us in heaven, through Christ our Lord. Amen.