Zephaniah 2.3c-Faithful Jewish Believers are Commanded to Continue to Diligently Seek After Humility
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday April 6, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 2:3c-Faithful Jewish Believers are Commanded to Continue to Diligently Seek After Humility
Lesson # 39
Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the LORD’S anger. (NASB95)
Once again, Zephaniah is employing the figure of asyndeton and this it is used to express the solemn nature of the third command here in verse 3 for faithful Jewish believers to continue making it their habit of seeking after humility.
This figure is designed to get these Jewish believers to meditate upon this command for the purpose of personal application.
“Seek humility” is composed of the following: (1) second person masculine plural piel active imperative form of the verb bāqaš (בָּקַשׁ), “seek” (2) feminine singular noun ʿănāwâ (עֲנָוָה), “humility.”
The noun ʿănāwâ means “humility” and speaks of a person who has learned to submit to the will of God as a result of experiencing deserved or undeserved suffering in their life.
So here it describes a Jewish believer who makes it their habit of learning God’s will by making it their habit of studying His Word and obeying it.
The verb bāqaš means “to seek after” since it pertains to a person attempting to do something with a certain amount of intensity.
As was the case the first time the word appeared in Zephaniah 2:3, the subject of this verb refers to faithful Jewish believers and does not refer to apostate Jewish believers or the non-believer since Zephaniah describes these individuals as humble and the Scriptures teach that a non-believer and the unfaithful are arrogant.
Therefore, the second person masculine plural form of this verb means “all of you” referring to these faithful Jewish believers and is also used in a distributive sense meaning “each and every one of you” emphasizing no exceptions.
Therefore, this verb bāqaš expresses the idea of these faithful Jews diligently seeking after humility in the sense of making every effort or striving to exemplify this godly virtue in their lives.
The piel stem of the verb bā∙qǎš is iterative referring to a habitual activity or one that is done repeatedly.
Therefore, this indicates that these faithful Jewish believers were to continue making it their habit of seeking after humility in the sense of making every effort to exemplify it through their obedience to the Word of God.
The imperative conjunction of this verb of course is expressing a command requiring these faithful believers to continue to submit to this command to seek after humility in the sense of making every effort to exemplify it in their lives through their obedience to the Word of God.
Zephaniah 2:3 Continue making it your habit of diligently seeking after the Lord’s will each and every one of you humble people of the land who are fulfilling His law. Each and every one of you continue making it your habit of seeking after righteousness. Each and every one of continue making it your habit of seeking after humility. (Author’s translation)
The third command which appears in Zephaniah 2:3 is also addressed to faithful Jewish believers living in the prophet Zephaniah’s day in the seventh century B.C. and those who will live during the seventieth week of Daniel.
It demands that they continue making it their habit of diligently seeking after humility which speaks of one who has learned to submit to the will of God as a result of experiencing deserved or undeserved suffering in their life.
They are also characterized as humble because they are faithfully obedient to God’s Word.
The Spirit of God through the Word of God reveals the will of God.
They are also characterized by humility because they pray to God for His will to be accomplished whether in their own lives or the lives others.
Thus, they are humble because they are totally dependent upon God which is manifested by their seeking God’s will through a study of His Word and praying to Him for His will to be accomplished.
These Jewish believers would manifest humility if they continue making it their habit of learning God’s will by making it their habit of studying His Word and obeying it and praying for His will to be accomplished.
They are humble because they recognize that God is their Creator and Savior.
Thus, they recognize that they are totally and completely dependent upon God for their entire being and existence.
They recognize that they are God’s creature and accountable to Him and have been created for His purpose.
They also recognize that they are saved from eternal condemnation because of Him and are thus obligated to serve Him but do so out of love for Him and thankfulness to Him.
These faithful Jewish believers are humble because they faithfully fulfilled their obligations to love God with their entire being and strength and their neighbor as themselves.
Therefore, they possess a proper perspective of themselves in relation to their Creator and Savior and their fellow human being.
So this third command is requiring these faithful Jewish believers to continue diligently seeking after humility in the sense of making every effort or striving to exemplify this godly virtue in their lives.
This would take place when they continue to obey the Word of God and specifically obey the commands to love God with their entire being and all their strength and their neighbor as themselves.
Humility is viewing ourselves from God’s perspective meaning we are sinners saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
It expresses itself in obedience to the Father’s will, which manifests itself in loving and serving others and expresses itself in putting others ahead of yourself.
Humility is the antithesis to arrogance and is a mental attitude.
Humility is characterized by obedience to the will of God.
The humble believer will imitate the Lord Jesus Christ’s servant mentality and as a result perform acts of service for both God and man.
Christian service demands humility, which is the antithesis to arrogance.
God commands humility (Micah 6:8; James 4:10; 1 Peter 3:8; cf. Exodus 10:3; Proverbs 16:19; Isaiah 57:15; 58:5; Zephaniah 2:3; Luke 14:9-11; Romans 12:3; 1 Corinthians 1:28; Ephesian 4:2; Colossians 3:12; Titus 3:2; James 3:13; 1 Peter 5:5) and He promotes the humble (Luke 1:52; cf. 2 Samuel 7:8; 1 Kings 14:7).
Believers should humble themselves before God (2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 Peter 5:6; cf. 2 Samuel 22:28).
Humility is linked with repentance (1 Kings 21:29; 2 Kings 22:19; 2 Chronicles 12:6-7, 12; 30:11; 33:12,19; 34:27).
Humility is also linked with God’s favor (Psalm 18:27; 25:9; 138:6; 147:6; 149:4; Proverbs 3:34; 18:12; James 4:6; Isaiah 29:19; 38:15; 57:15; Proverbs 15:33; 22:4; Psalm 35:13; Jeremiah 44:10).
A lack of humility is the direct result of disobedience.
God humbles His people to renew and restore them (Psalm 44:9; cf. Leviticus 26:41; Deuteronomy 8:2, 16; 1 Kings 11:39; 2 Chronicles 28:19; Psalm 107:39; Isaiah 9:1; 2 Corinthians 12:21).
He humbles the proud (Luke 18:14; cf. 1 Samuel 2:7; Isaiah 2:11,17; 5:15; 13:11; 23:9; 25:11; 26:5; Daniel 4:37).
There are many outstanding examples of humble people in the Bible (Genesis 32:10 Jacob; Genesis 41:16 Joseph; Numbers 12:3 Moses; 1 Samuel 9:21 Saul; 1 Samuel 18:18; 2 Samuel 7:18 David; 1 Kings 3:7 Solomon; Daniel 2:30 Daniel; Matthew 3:14 John the Baptist; Luke 1:43 Elizabeth; Luke 1:48 Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ; Paul: 1 Timothy 1:15; Acts 20:19).
There is also of course the example of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5-8; cf. Isaiah 53:3-5,7-8; Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:5; John 12:15; Matthew 11:29; 20:28; Luke 22:26-27; John 13:4; 2 Corinthians 8:9).
Humility is subordinating ones’ self-interest to the best interests of others.
The incarnate Son of God Jesus Christ became a human being and died a substitutionary spiritual and physical death on the cross in the interests of sinful humanity (John 13:1-17).
Humility is expressed by the believer who regards their fellow believer more highly than themselves and subordinates their interests to the best interests of their fellow believer (Philippians 2:3-4).
When a believer regards their fellow believer more highly than themselves, they are imitating the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ who subordinated His interests to the best interests of sinners.
If Christ subordinated His interests to the best interests of all believers by becoming a human being and dying a substitutionary spiritual and physical death on the cross, then the Christian is obligated to operate this way towards their fellow believer.
The believer, who regards their fellow believer more highly than themselves and thus subordinates their interests to the best interests of their fellow believer is not only humble but also has a servant’s mentality.