WALK LIKE BLIND MEN

What is the picture that the prophet is trying to convey here? There are those with limited or no sight who proceed on their way without a problem, but here the verses suggest alarm and distress. Like the blind in unfamiliar territory, unsure of what direction to take in their pursuit of safety, the people are stum­bling about. But what is the source of the problem?

Given the background of Zephaniah’s prophecy, it seems strange that he should tell of judgement as God says, ‘I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem’, v. 4. The period of Josiah’s reign had been what seemed like a time of unparalleled return to the ways of God and His word. Why, then, such a devastating visitation from God? The answer is given, ‘because they [the nation of Israel] have sinned against the Lord’, v. 17.

Josiah brought about a period of revival and tremendous change. He broke down the altars of Baalim and defiled them, 2 Chron. 34. 4, 5. He repaired the house of the Lord, 34. 8-10. He read the book of the covenant and established it as practice within the nation, 34. 29-33. He kept the Passover, 35. 1, and of that feast the chronicler records, ‘there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept’, 35. 18.

How sad, then, that such revival that took place in the palace of the king should not filter down to the hearts of the nation. Of Josiah, God would say, ‘thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself’, 34. 27. But of the people the outlook was bleaker: ‘they have forsaken me … they… provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands’, 34. 25.

These verses teach us that it is possible to live in a period of spiritual revival, to see and experience the exercises of others, and remain unmoved and untouched. It is possible to know God at work in the hearts and lives of some of His people and yet shut one’s own heart to such a work of the Spirit of God! The lesson of Zephaniah is that such an attitude will not go unpunished. It is sin ‘against the Lord’!