Zephaniah Chapter Three, One Language

Zephaniah 3:9 “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord.

Verse nine’s context is predicated upon the prior verse. Verse eight has God telling Israel to wait for Him. He will come bodily, He will judge the nations for their cruel treatment of Israel, and He will pour out His wrath upon them.

“Then,” comes chronologically in this verse. After He punishes the nations, having come in the flesh, there will be a time of global restoration. This global restoration, however, is heavily focused upon the welfare of Israel, as we will learn in greater detail as the chapter goes on. In fact, from this verse until the chapter’s conclusion God consoles the Jews with news of restoration and reconciliation. It begins with restoring the language of the peoples (plural, meaning the nations) to a pure language. The Hebrew word for “pure,” is, “barar.”

Barar in the Hebrews means to clarify (or to brighten), to examine, select. It is translated as pure 5 times in the OT. It is also rendered choice (2x), chosen (2x), clean (2x), clearly, manifest, bright, purge out, polished, purge, purified (1x each).

When punishment is meted out, true unity under God’s rule begins. It begins with the annulment of a peculiar curse He inflicted mankind with thousands of years prior. The people, under Nimrod’s rule, wanted to gather into great cities and worship the host of heaven, contrary to God’s command to spread out, populate and fill the earth. It was said of mankind, “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech,” Genesis 11:1. United in defiance, mankind resisted God’s command, prompting God to afflict humanity with the division of nations, or nationalities, represented at that time by the supernatural expression of languages formerly unknown and unspoken by humanity, Genesis 11:7-9.

The Table of Nations records in Genesis chapter ten reflects the historical reality of God’s supernatural imposition when mankind defied Him. God gave Noah the right to execute murderers after the Flood had ended, symbolizing the judicial power of human government. But a united government under one man–in this instance, Nimrod–was not God’s intention. So He divided languages and confused the people. In their fear and confusion they unwittingly obeyed God and scattered across the world, settling into what we now know as the famous Table of Nations. That’s right, prior to this incident humanity spoke a single language. Some refer to it as proto-Hebrew. I’m not interested in discussing the possibility that Hebrews was in fact the world’s first language. It is enough to know that there was one, and it was lost or relegated to one nationality when the dispersion at Babel occurred.

But what has been taken may be returned, and so the Holy Spirit employs the language of restoring to all people a pure language. The language barrier, which prevents clear and meaningful expression across borders, will be no more. This miraculous feat was glimpsed in embryo on the day of Pentecost, when seventeen nations heard Peter and the apostles speaking in their native tongue and could understand them, Acts 2:8, etc. God was demonstrating to the Jews and Gentiles that their former walls of separation could be (and would be) removed in Christ, Galatians 3:28. When the peoples rallied to a human leader in defiance of God’s express command, confusion and separation resulted. When man reconciles with his Creator through the Man Christ Jesus, restoration will result.

The restoration of a pure language comes after the Seven Year Tribulation period and our Lord Jesus Christ’s bodily return in glory as those who survive (and those returned with the Lord) enter into the thousand year reign of Christ on earth. The purpose? That all mankind, Jew or Gentile, may call on the name of the Lord, as the verse states. We find this behavior in the early chapters of Genesis. After the death of Abel, Adam begets Seth, who in turn begets Enosh, wherein we read, “Then men began to call on the name of the Lord,” Genesis 4:26. As mankind began to proliferate and personal access to God’s presence on earth (as evidenced with Adam, Cain and Abel) became sparser, men began to worship God in faith. The wording suggests worship, sacrifice, and prayer, whether mankind had access to God directly (in a bodily, physical sense) or not.

This act of faith, which results in personal salvation (see Romans 10:13), will return to global humanity, as it once was in the days prior to the Flood, when mankind spoke a single language. More than calling on Him, the restoration of a pure language means that humanity may serve the Lord with one accord, or in complete agreement. The religious pitfalls of denominations will be no more, and all human religion that replaces God’s truth will be no more. People will serve the Lord, and the restoration of their pure language will result in worship and service that is likewise pure. Ezekiel spends the last eight chapters of his book denoting the restoration of the temple and its sacrificial system during the thousand year reign of Christ, which is indelibly linked to this verse and subsequent accomplishment. God will at length and at last set people free to serve in the capacity we were always meant to. And it begins with a pure language as Christ’s kingdom on earth commences, the restoration of the Jewish nation following.