ation of Israel; compare the remarks on Is. xi.
12. Zephaniah here specially refers to the remarkable passage, Is.
lxvi. 18-21, which we must here subject to a somewhat closer
examination: Ver. 18. "And I ... their works and their thoughts; _the
time cometh to gather_ all Gentiles and tongues, and they come and
_see_ my glory." The first hemistich still belongs to the threatening.
The holy God and unholy men, the unholy members of the Church to which
the Lord spake: "Ye shall be holy, for I am holy," and their sinful
thoughts and words are simply placed beside one another, [Pg 360]
other, and it is left to every one to draw from it the inference as to
the fate awaiting them. "I and their works"--what an immense contrast,
a contrast which must be adjusted by the judgment! With the
threatening, the Prophet then connects, by a suitable contrast to the
rejection of a great part of the covenant-people, the calling of the
Gentiles. The glory of the Lord, which the Gentiles see, is His glory
which, up to that time, was concealed, but is now manifested; compare
Is. xl. 5, lx. 2, lii. 10, liii. 1. Ver. 19. "And I set a sign among
them, and send from among them escaped ones unto the nations, to
Tarshish, &c., to the isles afar off that have not heard my fame,
neither have seen my glory, and they declare my glory among the
Gentiles,"--The suffix in [Hebrew: bhM] can refer to those only from
among the nations and tongues who have come and seen the glory of God.
They are sent out to bring the message of the living God, the message
of salvation to those also who hitherto have not come. By the
demonstration of the Spirit and power, they are marked out as blessed
of the Lord, as His servants, separated from the world given up to
destruction. Just as the wicked, the servants of the prince of this
world, have their _mark_, Gen. iv. 50, so have the servants of God
theirs also, which may be recognised by all who are well disposed. It
is only by one's own fault, and at one's own risk, that the sign is not
understood. The fact that "unto the nations" forms the beginning, and
the "isles afar off"--isles in the sea of the world, kingdoms--the
close, shows that the single names, Tarshish, &c., are only
individualizations. In the following verse, too, all the heathens
are spoken of Ver. 20: "And they bring, out of all nations, your
brethren for a meat-offering unto the Lord, upon horses, &c., to
my holy mountain to Jerusalem, as the children of I