John Calvin Commentary Zephaniah 3:5

"Jehovah in the midst of her is righteous; he will not do iniquity; every morning doth he bring his justice to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame." — Zephaniah 3:5 (ASV)

Here the Prophet throws back at hypocrites what they were accustomed to pretend when they wickedly sought to reject every instruction and all warnings. For they said that God dwelt in their midst, like the Papists at the present day, who raise this up as their shield against us—that the Church is the pillar of the truth. Therefore, they think that all their wicked deeds are defended by this covering.

So the Jews at that time always had this boast on their lips: “We are nevertheless the holy people of God, and He dwells in our midst, for He is worshipped in the Temple, which has been built not according to human will, but by His command.” For that voice did not proceed from earth but came from heaven: This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell (Psalms 132:14).

Since the Jews were then inflated with this presumption, the Prophet concedes what they claimed—that God dwelt among them—but it was for a far different purpose: so that they might understand that His hand was near to punish their sins. This is one point.

Jehovah is in their midst. Granted, he says; I allow that He dwells in this city, for He has commanded a temple to be built for Him on Mount Zion; He has ordered a holy altar for Himself. But why does God dwell among you, and why has He preferred this dwelling place to all others?

Surely, he says, he will not do iniquity. Consider now what the nature of God is; for when He purposed to dwell among you, He certainly did not deny Himself, nor did He cease to be what He is. There is therefore no reason for you to imagine, as if God intended, for the sake of those to whom He bound Himself, to set aside His own justice, or intended to pollute Himself with the defilements of men. He warns the Jews that they absurdly blended these things together. God then who dwells in the midst of you, will not do iniquity; that is, He will not approve of your evil deeds. And though He may for a time connive at them, He will not yet bear with them continually. Do not therefore foolishly flatter yourselves, as if God were the approver of your wickedness.

Some apply this to the people—that they ought not to have done iniquity; but this is a strained interpretation, and altogether unrelated to the context. Most other interpreters offer this meaning: that God is just and will do no iniquity, for He had sufficient reasons for executing His vengeance on such a wicked people.

Therefore, they think that the Prophet anticipates the Jews, lest they murmur, as if the Lord were cruel or too rigid. He will not do iniquity; that is, though the Lord may inflict on you a most severe punishment, yet He cannot be accused by you of being unjust. And you contend with Him in vain, for He will always be found to be a righteous judge.

But this also is a very unconvincing explanation. Let us bear in mind what I have already said: that the Prophet here, by way of irony, concedes to the Jews that God dwelt among them, but afterwards brings against them what they thought was a protection to them. God dwells in your midst; I allow it, he says; but is He not a just God? Do not then dream that He is one like yourselves, that He approves of your evil deeds. God will not do iniquity; you cannot prevail with Him to renounce Himself, or to change His own nature. Why then does God dwell in your midst? In the morning, in the morning, he says, his judgment will he bring forth to light; the Lord will daily bring forth His judgment. We will explain how this is to be understood tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since You have deigned to favor us with an honor so invaluable as to adopt us as a holy people to Yourself and to separate us from the world—O grant, that we may not close our eyes against the light of Your truth, by which You show us the way of salvation. But may we with true docility follow where You call us, and never cast away the fear of Your majesty, nor mock You with frivolous ceremonies, but strive sincerely to devote ourselves wholly to You, and to cleanse ourselves from all defilements, not only of the flesh, but also of the spirit. That by thus seeking true holiness, we may aspire after and diligently labor for that heavenly perfection from which we are still far distant. And may we in the meantime, relying on the favor of Your only-begotten Son, lean on Your mercy; and while depending on it, may we ever grow up more and more into that true and perfect union reserved for us in heaven, when we shall be made partakers of Your glory, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We began yesterday to explain the passage where the Prophet says that God dwelt at Jerusalem, but that He was nevertheless just, and could not possibly associate with the ungodly and the wicked, because He does not change His nature to suit the dispositions of men.

It now follows, In the morning, in the morning, his judgment will he bring forth to light. By these words he means either that God would be the avenger of wickedness, which seems to escape His eyes, as it were, while He delays His punishment, or that He is ready to restore His people whenever they are attentive to instruction. If the former view is approved, the meaning will be this: that hypocrites foolishly flatter themselves when God spares them, for He will suddenly ascend His tribunal to visit them with punishment. However, some choose to apply this to the judgments executed on the Gentiles, of which the Jews had been reminded not just once or twice, but often, so that they might repent in time. But there is no doubt that the Prophet here refers to a judgment belonging to the Jews.

Let us now see whether this judgment is pronounced or inflicted. It would not be unsuitable for the passage to understand it as the vengeance which God was hastening to execute, for the Jews were worthy of what had been severely threatened, because they falsely professed His name. And while they absurdly boasted that He dwelt among them, they withdrew themselves very far from Him.

It is, however, equally suitable to refer this to teaching, so that the Prophet thus highlighted the sin of the people, because they had hardened themselves after so many and so constant warnings, which continually sounded in their ears, as God elsewhere complains that though He rose early, and indeed daily, this concern had been fruitless.

The verb in the future tense will thus signify a continued act, for God did not cease to exhort to repentance those wretched beings who had deaf ears. And this view strikingly corresponds with what immediately follows, that He fails not; for such perseverance was a proof of unwearied mercy, when God continued to send Prophets one after the other.

He now adds, The wicked knows no shame. He means what he has just referred to—that the people had become so hardened in their wickedness that they could not be reformed, either by instruction, or by threats, or by the scourges of God.

If we refer judgment to teaching, which I approve, the meaning will be that though God, by making known His law daily, kindled a lamp, as it were, which revealed all evils, yet the ungodly were not ashamed. But if we understand it, as they say, of actual judgment, the meaning will be essentially the same: that the ungodly did not repent, though the hand of God openly appeared. And though He rose to judgment, yet, he says, they did not know what it was to feel ashamed. Regarding the main subject, there is no ambiguity, for the Prophet means only that the people were beyond recovery. For though God proved Himself a judge by manifest evidences, and even by His own law, they yet felt no shame, but continued in their wicked ways. The word 'judgment,' in the singular number, seems to have been used here in the sense of a rule by which men live religiously and justly, and a rule which ought to make men ashamed. It now follows—