In Zephaniah, the second chapter and third verse, we have from the prophet this exhortation in view of the approaching day of the Lord: "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, WHICH HAVE WROUGHT HIS JUDGMENT; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." However clear this verse may have been to others, to the writer there was always connected with it a seeming ambiguity which rendered it hard to be understood. "Which have wrought his judgment;" how often has this phrase passed through our mind, for it is plainly some duty which shall be discharged by the remnant, in the end of time. The context says, "Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you." Verses 1, 2. This plainly locates the whole connection near the coming of Christ. What then is implied in the expression, "wrought his judgment?" for this is something which the people of God, "the meek of the earth," are said to do.
The word rendered "judgment," in Hebrew, is mish-pat, and is defined in the Hebrew Lexicon of Gesenius, in full, as follows:
"2. Right, rectitude, justice, what is just, lawful, conformable to law. *Isa. v, 7; Ps. cxi, 7. a) A law, statute, as a rule of judging; Ex. xxi, 1; b) That which belongs to any one by law, Ps. xvii, 2. c) Since laws proceed not only from the will of the law-giver, but also from the manners and customs of the people, hence manners, custom, prescription, 2 Kings xi, 14; d)* Manners, fashion, sort, kind, Judg. xiii, 19."
The careful reader will, of course, readily see that all the definitions here given, are not applicable to the passage under consideration, and it remains for the judicious Bible student to apply the definition according to the demands of the text. The passage in Zephaniah says, "which have wrought His judgment." This we understand is the same as saying, "which have done His commandments," "obeyed His law," "walked in His precepts;" or fully obeyed the divine will in all things; but God's will concerning his creatures is revealed to them in his law, the ten commandments. In order to make the point quite clear to the reader, I will note down a few instances where the word "mish-pat" occurs, that it may be seen how it is used in various places in the Old Testament. This will give an advantage which could not be derived from the use of the common English Concordance, for there are some fifteen Hebrew words rendered, "judgment." The words in italic, will, in each instance, be the translation of the original.
Lev. xviii, 4. Ye shall do my judgments,
5. keep my statutes, and my judgments.
xx, 22. keep all my statutes and all my judgments,
xxiv, 22. ye shall have one manner of law,
xxv, 18. statutes, and keep my judgments,
xxvi, 15. if your soul abhor my judgments,
43. because they despised my judgments,
46. the statutes and judgments.Num. xxxv, 24. according to these judgments;
29. for a statute of judgment
xxxvi, 13. commandments and the judgments,
Deut. iv, 1. statutes and unto the judgments,
5. taught you statutes and judgments,
8. that hath statutes and judgments,
14. teach you statutes and judgments,
45. the statutes and the judgments,
v, 1. the statutes and judgments,
31. statutes and the judgments,
vi, 1. statutes and the judgments,
20. the statutes and the judgments.
vii, 11. the statutes, and the judgments,
12. if ye hearken to these judgments.
viii, 11. and His judgments and His statutes,
xi, 1. His statutes, and His judgments,
32. do all the statutes and judgments
xii, 1. These (are) the statutes and judgments
xxvi, 16. to do these statutes and judgments:
17. commandments, and His judgments,
xxx, 16. His statutes and His judgments,
xxxiii, 10. they shall teach Jacob Thy judgments,
2 Sam. xxii, 23. all His judgments (were) before me:
1 Kings ii, 3. commandments, and His judgments,
vi, 12. and execute my judgments,
viii, 58. His statutes and His judgments,
ix, 4. keep my statutes and my judgments;
xi, 33. my statutes and my judgments,
2 K'gs xvii, 27. the statutes, and the ordinances,
1 Chr. xvi, 12. and the judgments of His mouth;
xxii, 13. to fulfill the statutes and judgments
xxviii, 7. my commandments and my judgments,
2 Chr. vii, 17. observe my statutes and my judgments;
xix, 10. commandments, statutes and judgments,
xxxiii, 8. the statutes and the ordinances,
Ezra vii, 10. teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
Neh. i, 7. the judgments which thou commandest.
ix, 13. gavest them right judgments.
20. but sinned against thy judgments
x, 29. and His judgments and His statutes;
Psa. xix, 9. the judgments of the Lord are true
lxxxi, 4. a law of the God of Jacob.
lxxxix, 30. and walk not in my judgments
cxix, 7. have learned thy righteous judgments.
(And so verses 13, 20, 30, 33, 43, 52, 62, 75, 102, 106, 108, 120, 160, 164, where the word "judgments" occur in the cxixth psalm.)
cxlvii, 19. and his judgments unto Israel.
20. and (as for his) judgments, they were not
Isa. lviii, 2. forsake not the ordinance of their God:
they ask of me the ordinances of
Eze. v, 6. she hath changed my judgments
they have refused my judgments
xi, 12. neither executed my judgments,
20. keep mine ordinances,
xviii, 9. hath kept my judgments
17. hath executed my judgments,
xx, 11. showed them my judgments,
13. and they despised my judgments,
16. because they despised my judgments,
18. neither observed their judgments,
19. keep my judgments,
21. neither kept my judgments
24. they had not executed my judgments,
xxxvi, 27. and ye shall keep my judgments,
xxxvii, 24. they shall also walk in my judgments.
Zeph. ii, 3. which have wrought his judgments,
Mal. iv, 4. the statutes and judgments.
The foregoing scheme is taken from the "Englishman's Hebrew Concordance," and gives, as it were, a bird's-eye view of the use of the word mish-pat. By consulting the above, the reader may readily judge for himself whether the word rendered "judgment," in Zeph. ii, 3, is COMMONLY APPLIED to God's law, or not. Let it also be remarked that it usually occurs in the plural form. That we may each be numbered with those, who, having "wrought God's judgments," finally go up higher, is the prayer of the writer.