John Calvin Commentary Zephaniah 2:3

"Seek ye Jehovah, all ye meek of the earth, that have kept his ordinances; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of Jehovah`s anger." — Zephaniah 2:3 (ASV)

Here the Prophet turns his discourse to a small number, because he saw that he could produce no effect on the general multitude. For if his doctrine had been addressed in common to the whole people, very few would have listened. We would therefore have been discouraged if he had not believed that some seed remained among the people, and that the office of teaching and exhorting had not been committed to him by God in vain. But he shows at the same time that the greater part were wholly given up to destruction. We now see why the Prophet especially addresses the meek of the land; for few submitted to the yoke, though they had already been broken down by many calamities. And from this it appears that the fruit of correction was not found equal in all, for God had chastised the good and the bad, the whole people, from the least to the greatest; they had all been laid prostrate by many evils, yet the same ferocity remained, as God complains in Isaiah, that he labored in vain in punishing that rebellious nation (Isaiah 1:5).

But we are taught here that even though ministers of the word may think they labor to no purpose, singing to the deaf, as the proverb says, they still ought not to depart from the course of their calling; for there will always be some who will truly show, after a long time, that they had been divinely and wonderfully saved, so as not to perish with others.

But what the Prophet had especially in view was to show that the faithful should not focus on what the multitude may do, or how they live. Instead, when God invites them to repentance and gives them a hope of pardon, they should come to him without delay, so that they might not perish with the rest.

And it deserves to be noticed that when God raises his voice, some harden others, and thus people lead one another into ruin. In this way, all teaching becomes unsuccessful. Therefore, the Prophet applies a remedy by showing how absurd it is when some follow others, for in this way they increase the ranks of the rebellious. But if there are any who are meek, they should be teachable when God extends his hand and shows that he will be gracious, provided they return to the right way.

He calls them meek who had profited under the chastisements of God. For the Hebrews consider ענוים (onuim) to be the afflicted, deriving the word from ענה (one), to afflict, or to be humble. But as most people are not subdued except by chastisements, they metaphorically call ענוים (onuim) the meek—those who have been subdued. For people become unrestrained in their pleasures, and abundance commonly produces insolence; but by adversity, they learn to become meek. Therefore, our Prophet calls those the meek of the land who were submissive to God, after having been chastised by him. For we know that though God may strike the wicked, they still continue to have a stiff and iron neck and a shameless face. But the faithful are tamed, as Jeremiah confesses concerning himself, for he says that he was like an untamed heifer before he was chastised by God’s afflictions. So the Prophet directs his discourse to the few who had felt the afflicting hand of God and had thus been humbled.

He commands them to seek Jehovah, and yet he says that they had wrought his judgment. These two clauses seem inconsistent with each other. For if they had previously been alienated from God, the Prophet might justly have commanded them to return to the right way. But as they had devoted themselves to religion and formed their lives according to the rule of uprightness, the Prophet seems to have exhorted them without reason to seek God.

But the passage is worthy of special notice, for from this we learn that even the best people are roused by God’s chastisements to seek true religion with greater ardor than they had before. So, although it is our object to serve God and to follow his word, yet when calamities arise and God appears as a judge, we should be stimulated to greater care and diligence; for it is never the case that any one of us fully performs his duty.

Let us then remember that we are roused by God whenever adversity hangs over us, and when God himself shows by clear signs that he is displeased. This is the reason why the Prophet commands the pious doers of righteousness to seek God, however much they were previously devoted to what was just and upright.

There was also another reason: we know how severely faith is tried when the good and wicked are indiscriminately and without any difference chastised by God’s hand. For the godly are then tempted to think that it benefits them nothing that they have labored sincerely to serve God; they think that this has all been in vain and to no purpose, because they are brought into the same miseries as others.

Since this temptation is enough to shake even the strongest, the Prophet here exhorts the faithful to persevere, as if he had said that in the initial confusion no difference would be found between the good and the wicked regarding their circumstances, for God would afflict both alike, but the end would be different. Therefore, there was no reason for them to lose heart or to think it of no advantage to seek God, for he would eventually truly show that he approved of their integrity. It is as if he had said, God will not reward you at the first moment, but your patience will in the end discover that he is a just judge, who has regard for his people and delivers them in their direst need.

To do the judgment of God in this place means to form one’s life according to the righteousness of the law. The word משפט (meshepheth) has various meanings in Scripture. Sometimes, and indeed often, it designates the punishment God allots to the wicked; but it frequently means equity or the rule of right living. Therefore, to do judgment is to observe what is righteous and just, and to abstain from what is wrong and injurious. But the Prophet calls it the judgment of God because it is what he prescribes in his word and what he approves. For we know that people blend various things by which they would prove themselves to be just and righteous, but they deceive themselves unless they form their lives especially according to what God requires. We now perceive what the Prophet means. He afterwards defines what it is to seek God, for the latter part of the verse is added as an explanation, so that the faithful might understand how God is to be sought.

For hypocrites, as soon as God invites them, accumulate many rites and greatly weary themselves in things of no value. In short, they think that they have sufficiently sought God when they have performed a number of ceremonies. But by over-acting, they, as it were, trifle with God and thus deceive themselves.

Thus we see repentance profaned. Those under the Papacy prattle enough about repentance, but when they are asked to define it, they begin with contrition. Yet no displeasure at sin is mentioned by them, nor any real love of righteousness; instead, they talk about attrition and contrition, and then immediately they jump to confession, which they consider the principal part of repentance. Afterwards, they come to satisfactions. Thus, repentance among the Papists is nothing but some kind of mistaken solicitude by which they labor to pacify God, as though they came near him. Indeed, the satisfactions of the Papacy are nothing else but obstructions between God and humanity.

This evil has been common in all ages. The Prophet, therefore, does not without reason define what the true and rightful way of seeking God is: that is, when righteousness is sought, when humility is sought. By righteousness, he understands the same thing as by judgment. It is as if he had said, Advance in a righteous and holy course of life, for God will not forget your obedience, provided your hearts do not grow faint, and you persevere to the end.

From this we see that God complains not only when we impose external pomps and I know not what kind of devices, as though he might be amused by us like a child, but also when we do not sincerely devote our lives to his service. And he adds humility to righteousness, for it is difficult even for the very best of people not to murmur against God when he severely chastises them.

We indeed find how much their own sensitivity embitters people’s minds when God appears somewhat severe with them. Therefore, the Prophet, in order to check all complaints, exhorts the faithful here to cultivate humility, so that they might patiently bear the rigor by which God would test them, and might allow themselves to be ruled by his hand. Peter had the same thing in view when he said, Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God (1 Peter 5:6). We now see then why the Prophet requires from the faithful not only righteousness but also humility: it was so that they might with composed minds wait for the deliverance God had promised. In the meantime, they were not to murmur, nor to give vent to their own perverse feelings, however severely God might treat them.

From this we may gather a profitable instruction: The Prophet does not address here people who were depraved and had wholly neglected what was just and right, but he directs his discourse to the best, the most upright, the most holy. And yet he shows that they had no other remedy but to humbly and patiently bear the chastisement of God.

It then follows that no perfection can be found among human beings that can meet the judgment of God. For if any were to object and say that they devoted themselves to righteousness, there is still a just reason why they should humble themselves; for we are all guilty before God, and no one can clear himself, since when anyone examines his own conscience, he finds that he is not free from sin.

However conscious then we may be of acting uprightly, and God himself may be a judge to us, and the Holy Spirit the witness of our true and real integrity, yet when the Lord summons us before his tribunal, let us all, from the least to the greatest, learn to confess ourselves guilty and exposed to judgment.

He afterwards adds, If it may be (or, it may be) ye shall be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger. The Prophet speaks not doubtingly, as if the faithful were uncertain about God’s favor. Instead, he had another thing in view: that though no hope remained according to human perception, yet the faithful would not lose their labor if they sought God; for in their worst circumstances, they would find him gracious to them and their safety secured by his kindness.

Therefore, we see that the Prophet in these words points out the disastrous character of the event, but no deficiency in the love of God. Though the Lord is ready to pardon, indeed, he himself anticipates his people and kindly invites them to himself, it is still necessary for them to consider how wonderful his power is in preserving his elect when all things seem desperate.

It may then be, he says, when the Jews understood that all things were in a state of extreme despair. The Prophet said this partly so that the reprobate and the perverse might know that they were to perish, and partly so that the faithful might more greatly appreciate the favor of God when they saw themselves delivered from death by a miracle, and found that it would be a kind of resurrection when God became their deliverer. Therefore, the Prophet, in order to commend to God’s children his salvation, which he offers them, and to make God’s favor more illustrious, makes use of the particle אולי (auli), meaning "it may be." In the meantime, he thunders, as I have already said, against the reprobate, so that they might understand that it was all over for them. It follows—