Zephaniah 2:11

The LORD [will be] terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and [men] shall worship him, every one from his place, [even] all the isles of the heathen.

Ver. 11. The Lord will be terrible unto them] For he shall march forth in battle array against proud persons, 1 Peter 5:5, and stain the pride of all their glory (' Aντιτασσεται); he will pull them down from their pinnacle of self-exaltation, and make them know themselves to be but men. Attilas, king of the Huns, proudly gave out that the stars fell before him, the earth trembled at his presence, and that he would be the scourge of all nations. But what became of him? He died suddenly by a flux of blood, breaking out at his mouth and choking him, on his weddingday at night. It were easy to instance further, in Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus, Herod, the king of Tyro, &c. "With God is terrible majesty," Job 37:22, "he is terrible to the kings of the earth, while he cutteth off their spirits," Psalms 76:12. Heb. he slippeth them off, as one should slip off a flower between one's fingers, or a bunch of grapes off the vine; so soon is the business done.

For he will famish all the gods of the earth] He will cast them into an atrophy, into a consumption. This was fulfilled partly when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the nations, and proclaimed the true God to be the only God, Daniel 4:34, but principally when Christ came in the flesh, and sent out his apostles to decry those heathen deities, and to preach the everlasting gospel, "saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, a worship him that made heaven, earth, sea, and fountains of waters," Revelation 14:7. Now it was that Satan fell like lightning from heaven, the oracles were silenced, the heathen emperors amazed at the prevailing power of the gospel in despite of them, the very names of most of the gods of the earth were abolished, the temple of Apollo at Delphi fired from heaven; and at that very time when Julian's ambassadors were there to inquire what should be the issue of the Persian war. Thus the heathen superstition fell flat to the ground, their gods were famished for want of worshippers and sacrifices, &c. And the same we hope and wait for to befall the antichristian rout and religion. That idol is grown very lean, and hath lost a collop, as we say. Bellarmine is very sensible, and bewails the business, that ever since we began to count and call the Pope antichrist he hath suffered no small decays and losses in the Christian Churches. He hath indeed, and more and more shall do, till he be left as lean as a rake, and all his plumes pulled, his credit cracked, his honour laid in the dust.

And men shall worship him] Heb. Bow down to him. He is thy Lord, and bow thou down unto him, Psalms 45:11. Body and soul both must stoop to God; and both at once, 2 Corinthians 6:14,18. Swenckfeldians (Stinkfeldians Luther called them, from their ill savour) take away all external service; so do the Nicodemites. Hypocrites draw nigh to God with their lips only, when their hearts are elsewhere; their bodies are in facellis, in torment, their hearts in sacculis, in a little bag, as Ezekiel 33:31. But the true Israelites give God both inward and outward worship; he doth ponere dextram in pectore, as Persius phraseth it; being shod with the preparation of the gospel, he treads it not awry (ορθοποδει), neither too much outward, as the formalist, nor too much inward, as the Swenckfeldian. He looks upon our late worship scorners, our high attainers, as the last brood of Beelzebub; and reckons that to cast off ordinances is to cast away the remedy, 2Ch 36:15-16 Proverbs 29:1 .

Every one from his place] Not at Jerusalem only, as once, John 4:21, but in all places, pure hands and hearts shall be lifted up, without wrath, without doubting, 1 Timothy 2:8; both in church and chamber; any place whatsoever shall be a sufficient oratory, so that God be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and the public not neglected.

Even all the isles of the heathen] That is, all countries, though not encompassed with the sea; for the Jews called all lands islands which they could not come to but by water. That God shall be worshipped in the four corners of the earth. See Trapp on " Deu 6:4 " It was the last speech of dying Chrysostom, Glory be to God from all creatures. Let the Jesuits at the end of their books subscribe Laus Deo et beatae Virgini, Praise to God and happiness to ther Virgin. Let this be the badge of the beast; let us cry, To God alone be glory all the world over.