Zephaniah 1:12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees… Practical atheism brought the judgments of God upon the Jews.These were "fully executed in the Babylonish Captivity. By being "settled on their lees" we may understand their riches; for wine grows rich by being kept on the lees. So, by a long scene of peace and prosperity, the inhabitants of Jerusalem were arriving at very great riches. Or it may signify a state of security; like wine settled on the lees, they have been undisturbed. I will punish" should be "I will visit." The charge here brought against the Jews amounts to this — that their temper and practice were such as would not at all agree to the practical belief of a Providence. They thought and acted as if it were their real and professed belief that the Lord would do neither good nor evil, nor meddle with human affairs. This atheistical affectation of independency, and secret or practical renunciation of Divine Providence, is the fatal thing that generally overturned the empires, and impoverished, enslaved, and ruined the nations of the earth. I. THE DOCTRINE OF A DIVINE PROVIDENCE. Maybe you already speculatively believe this doctrine, but the grand defect lies in the efficacy of this belief on your hearts and lives. We may argue from the perfections of God, and His relations to us. We may argue from our confessed obligations to religion and the worship of God. The testimony of Scripture is plain. New and unexpected witnesses may be found in the heathen, — such as Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Plato, Horace, Cicero, and various poets and philosophers. II. THINGS IN TEMPER AND CONDUCT WHICH ARGUE A SECRET AND PRACTICAL DISBELIEF OF THE DOCTRINE OF PROVIDENCE. 1. Would there be so little prayer among us, if we were generally affected with this truth? 2. Is not the general indulgence of vice, and neglect of religion, a plain evidence of the general disbelief of a Divine providence over the country? 3. Is not the general impenitence, notwithstanding the many public calamities under which our country has groaned, a melancholy evidence of this practical atheism? 4. Is not the general ingratitude a plain evidence of the general disbelief of a providential government over the world? 5. How little serious and humble acknowledgment of the providence of God in our disappointments and mortifications is to be found among us. III. THE WICKEDNESS OF THIS ATHEISTICAL TEMPER AND CONDUCT. To deny the agency of providence is the most daring rebellion against the King of heaven; it is to abjure His government in His own territories, in His own world which He has made. What unnatural ingratitude! What intolerable pride and arrogance! What impiety and insolence! This atheistical spirit is the source of all vice and irreligion. (S. Davies, A. M.) Parallel Verses KJV: And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. |
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