Exposition upon Zephaniah 2

AN EXHORtation to Repentance.

Searche your selues, euen searche you ô Nation, not worthy to be beloued: before the Decree come forth, and you bee as Chaffe, that passeth on a day.

THe Prophet in the first Chapter of this Prophesie, rebuketh the Iewes of three notable crimes, Idolatrie, fraude, and crueltie. In this second he exhorts them to Repentance, and withall p. 2reprooueth some of their speciall sinnes. In the three first verses hee propoundeth the doctrine of Repentance, and addeth some speciall reasons to mooue and stirre them vp to the practise of it. In propounding the doctrine of repentance, he directs it to two sorts of men. First, to the obstinate and impenitent Iewes, in the first and second verses. Secondly, to the better sorte of them, in the third. So that the summe and substance of these twoo first verses, is a briefe and summarie propounding of the doctrine of Repentance to the obstinate Iewes. The wordes containe in them fiue seuerall points, touching the doctrine of Repentance.

p. 31. The dutie to bee performed, Search.

2. Who must be searched? your selues.

3. Who must doe it? The Iewes: who are further described to be a nation, not worthy to be beloued of God. These are in the first verse.

4. In the second verse, the time limitting them when to repent, before the decree come forth: that is, before God put in execution the iudgements which are alreadie decreed & appointed for them.

5 A forcible reason vrging them to do it, which lieth hid, and is necessarilie implyed in the 4. pointe; namely, that there is a decree against them, which wants nothing but execution, which also shall come, p. 4vnlesse they repent, wherby they shal be fanned: & if they shal be found to be chaff, they shal flie away with the winde of Gods iustice. Of all these points in order.

For the first, the holy Ghost saith; Search your selues. The wordes are commonly read thus. Gather your selues; which though it bee good, for that in Repentance a man gathereth himselfe, & all his wits together, which afore were dispersed, & wandred vp and downe in vanitie: yet I rather allowe their translation who reade thus. Search or fanne your selues: but either of them may stand, because the word in the originall doth comprehend both significations; yet it seemeth that to search, or sift, fits this p. 5place better, considering the same manner of speech is afterwardes continued in the word Chaffe: so that the meaning of the holy Ghost seemeth to be this: Search, try, and fanne your selues, least you bee found light chaffe, and so flie away and be consumed before the Iustice of God.

p. 5Concerning this dutie of searching, let vs obserue first, that the holy Ghost vrging the Iewes to repent, vseth not the word Repentance, but bids them search themselues: yet meaning, he wold haue them to repent: giuing vs to vnderstand, that no man can haue true & sound repentance, but he who hath first of all searched and examined p. 6him selfe: and this stands with good reason, for no man can repent, who first of all doeth not knowe himselfe, and his owne wretchednes. But no man can see into himselfe, nor know himselfe, but hee that doeth diligentlie search himselfe: so that the beginning of all grace, is for a man to search, & trie, and fan himselfe, that therby he may knowe what is in himselfe: that so vpon the searche, seeing his fearefull and damnable estate, hee may forsake himselfe and his owne wayes, and turne to the Lord. Thus speaketh the holie Ghost in the heartes of holie men; [Lam 3.] Let vs searche and trye our wayes: and marke what followeth; and turne againe to the p. 7Lord: as though there were no turning againe vnto the Lord, but after a searching of our selues. With this testimony of the holy Ghost, agreeth the testimonie of all holy mens consciences, who all know, that the first beginning of their turning vnto the Lorde, was a searching of themselues. Let any repentant sinner aske his conscience, & call to minde his first calling and conuersion, and hee will remember that the first thing in his Repentance was this; that he searched into himselfe, and looked narrowly into his wayes, and finding his wayes dangerous, & his case fearful, did thervpō resoule to take a new course, & turn to the Lord for pardō & p. 8mercy, and for grace to enter into more holie, and more comfortable courses.

The man that passeth vpon ridges of mountaines, and sides of hills, or that goeth ouer a narrow bridge, or some dangerous and steepe rocks, at midnight, feareth not because he seeth no danger: but bring the same man, in the morning, and let him see the narrowe bridge, hee went ouer in the night, vnder which runnes a violent streame, and a bottomlesse gulfe, and the daungerous Mountaines and Rockes hee passed ouer, and hee will woonder at his owne boldenesse, and shrincke for feare to thinke of it, and will by no meanes venture the same way againe: for p. 9now he seeth the height of the Mountaines; the steepenesse of the hils, the cragginesse of the Rocks, the fearefull downfall, and the furious violence of the streame vnderneath, and thereby seeth the extreame danger, which afore he saw not: therefore he wondreth, and reioyceth, that hee hath escaped so great a daunger; and will by no meanes bee drawne to goe that waye in the day, which he went most carelesly in the darknesse of the night, but seeketh another way (though it should bee far about:) So a sinner in his first estate, which is naturall and corrupt (as wee are bred and borne) hath a vaile before his face; so that he seeth nothing: p. 10the wrath of God, and the curse due for sin, hell, & damnation, seeking to deuoure him, hee seeth them not, although (liuing alwaies in sin) he walketh in the very iawes of hell it selfe, and because he seeth not this fearefull daunger, therefore he refuseth no sin at all, but rusheth securely into all manner of sinne: the night of impenitencie, and the myst of ignoraunce, so blinding his eyes, that hee seeth not the narrow bridge of this life, from which if hee slyde, hee falles immediately into the bottomlesse pitte of hell.