I said, ‘Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you.’ But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt.
God had just destroyed the nations around Jerusalem, and their ruins were meant as a warning to her. Here He says what He hoped that warning would produce in her — and what she did instead.
A lesson written in other people's ruins
The ruined cities of the surrounding nations were a warning Jerusalem was meant to read.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThen the Lord addresses the nation: "I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins... I said, 'Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off.'" But they did not heed His plea. They did not take warning from what happened to other nations.
God governs the whole world this way. He holds people answerable for warnings they ignored.
William KellyThis is exactly the principle of God's way in government. People ought to pay all the more earnest attention to the past. God deals righteously, and He will judge according to what people should have remembered. They should have used the witness of the past as a warning for the future.
Rising early against a God who rose early
Where the ESV says the people "were eager" to corrupt their deeds, older translations read "they rose early." That wording answers, point for point, the way God had been dealing with them.
William KellyAs Jehovah rose early to send them messages and warnings, they rose early to indulge in their wickedness.
The same picture appears again where God speaks of sending His prophets. It marks a patience that keeps offering a way back.
William KellyHow tireless too is the patience of the Lord! He guarantees that He will turn back from the punishment He had to threaten, if only they would listen and turn from their evil ways. But He had sent them His prophets, "rising up early and sending them." If they kept on rejecting them, let them prepare for the worst.
Why the blow fell at all
God's stated aim was that their dwelling would not be cut off. The punishment aimed to save the city, not to end it. The same principle still governs how God treats His people.
Edward DennettA second lesson is this. God's ways in government with His people have one object: that they may take their condition to heart. That is why He uses the rod... And nothing shows more plainly how insensitive our hearts are. We pass through trials, alone or together, then pay little or no attention to the purpose God had in view, and flatter ourselves that all is well. Every stroke of God's rod should produce deep searching of heart. Where it does not, harder chastening from His hand is sure to follow.
When pleading runs out of room
God's voice in this verse is not cold. He is still appealing to them, and that is what makes their refusal so serious.
The Christian's FriendTheir case was hopeless, despite the yearning, pleading voice of their God. They would keep on in their careless, stubborn rebellion and apostasy until God poured out His wrath on them, and there would be no remedy. Patience and longsuffering have their limits in God's government. His ancient people have had to learn this through centuries of chastisement and sorrow. And yet, blessed be His name, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.
Patience that looks wasted, and a love that rests
On its own, this verse records a failure. In the chapter as a whole, it opens a story that ends in blessing.
J. N. DarbyZephaniah 3 is another passage full of instruction about the Lord's ways with this people. First comes Jehovah's long and gracious, but useless, patience (v. 7). So the godly ones had to wait until judgment came on the nations, subdued them, and brought in blessing. In Israel there would be a poor and afflicted and sanctified remnant (v. 12, 13), but peace would be their portion. Then Zion, Israel, and Jerusalem are called to rejoice with all their heart. Jehovah was among them, and they would not see evil any more. God would rest in His love.
Summary
- Warning — the ruined nations were a lesson God expected Jerusalem to read. He judges people by what they should have remembered.
- Rising — God rose early to send warnings; His people rose early to corrupt their deeds. The verse measures their eagerness against His.
- Purpose — God punished so that their dwelling would not be cut off. His rod is meant to make us take our condition to heart.
- Limit — God's pleading is real, but patience in His government has an end. After that comes wrath with no remedy.
- Rest — the chapter that records this wasted patience still ends well: a remnant, peace, and God resting in His love.