Zephaniah 2:4-7 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.… For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon, etc. Here the prophet makes the punishment awaiting the neighbouring states, which he goes on to specify, an argument for immediate repentance. "For Gaza shall be forsaken." Gaza was one of the five principalities of the Philistines, and was situated on the coast, of the Mediterranean at the southern extremity of Canaan. "Ashkelon a desolation." This was another of the fenced cities of the Philistines, situated on the shore of the Mediterranean. between Gaza and Ashdod. "Ekron shall be rooted up." Another philistine city, lying northwest of Gath, and north of Ashdod. "Woe unto the inhabitants of the seacoast!" The Philistines dwelling on the seacoast southwest of Canaan. "The nation of the Cherethites" - the Cretans, the name applied to the Philistines that sprang from Crete. "O Canaan, the land of the Philistines." They occupied the strip of land on the south shore of the Mediterranean (Joshua 13:3). Two facts are here suggested. I. THAT THE CALAMITIES FALLING UPON ONE SINNER OFTEN INVOLVE OTHERS. It was so now. The ruin that was approaching the Hebrew nation would be most calamitous to the Philistine cities, and indeed to the neighbouring states. Gaza would be "forsaken," Ashkelon would be a "desolation," Ashdod would be "driven out," Ekron would be "rooted up," the inhabitants of the seashore, the Cherethites, the Canaanites, all would be involved. So vital, strong, and numerous are the ties that connect man with man in this world, that the condition of one must affect the condition of others. It is so: 1. With nations. At no period in the world's history was it more manifest than now. No one state or kingdom of Europe can be affected without influencing others. What was called "the Eastern question," in that terrible war between the sultan and the czar, affected every part of the civilized world. 2. With individuals. A man cannot fail in health, in business, or in character, without painfully affecting others in some way or other. What sufferings the failures of the Gurneys, the Petos, and the Grants have brought upon thousands in this country! This shows: (1) The social connection between man and man. No man can live unto himself. Each man is a link in the great chain of human life; and he cannot move without influencing others. Each man is a]ink in the great human body; and, if one suffers, all suffer. (2) The duty of each man to look well after his own conduct. A sinner has no right to say he will do what he likes, and that no one may properly interfere with him. If his actions terminated in himself, there might be some reason in such a claim; but as they cannot, and they must affect others, every man, all society, the whole human world, have a right to protest against the sinful conduct of any individual man. II. THAT THE LOT OF MAN IS AT THE DISPOSAL OF ALMIGHTY GOD. "And the seacoast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon; in the houses of Ashkelon shall they He down in the evening: for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity." "And the line of the sea shall be pastures, with cisterns for shepherds and folds for sheep. Yea, the line shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah, thereupon shall they feed; in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down at even; for Jehovah their God shall visit them, and reverse their captivity" (Henderson). Here the Almighty is represented as arranging the future home and circumstances of "the remnant of the house of Judah." Paul at Athens said that God had "determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation" (Acts 17:26). Though we are free and conscious of our freedom, we are at the disposal of One above us. He has appointed: 1. Our place in the world. He has set bounds to our habitation "that we cannot pass." 2. Our period in the world. "My times are in thy hand." The periods of our birth and death are all arranged by him. "Man's days are determined; the number of his months is with thee" (Job 14:5). We are often tempted to imagine that chance rules us. We are struck with the apparent contingency when we look at men's circumstances in connection with their choice. None of us has any choice as to the condition, the place, the time, in which we are to be born or brought up. We are struck with the apparent contingency also when we look at men's circumstances in connection with their merits. How often do we find feeble-minded men in eminent positions, and men of talents and genius in obscurity! some, by what is called a hit, making fortunes and earning fame, whilst honest industry plods on with little or no success; vice in mansions, and virtue in the pauper's hut! Verily the race is not always to "the swift, nor the battle to the strong." But amidst all this feeling of contingency, and over all, there is the ruling plan of the beneficent God. - D.T. Parallel Verses KJV: For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. |
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