Zephaniah has two major themes: the judgement on the world and the restoration of God’s people on the ‘day of the LORD’. The past few lessons have seen us looking at the wrath and judgement of God, but today we are finally going to delve deeper regarding the ‘restoration’ of God’s people.
(A) Nations changed to pure speech: United to the Lord in worship and deeds (Zephaniah 3:9-10)
Today’s study begins with Zephaniah 3:9, but the first question we have to consider is ‘what did God do before this in verse 8’? In Zephaniah 3:8, we see that God’s decision is to gather all the nations together so that He can pour out His just wrath on them. We see a visual picture of the intensity of God’s judgement; the pouring out of God’s burning anger on a concentrated zone whereby heat felt would be the most intense, and there is no room for heat dispersion. Here God’s anger reveals the judgement the people deserve. But even in the midst of judgement God offers the hope of restoration -- purified lips calling upon the Name of the LORD in unison (Zephaniah 3:9).
God declares, "I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech" (Zephaniah 3:9a). The tone is sure and declarative. There is no element of wavering in his decision. In fact God does not even tell us what changed his mind, but dives into what he will do right away. God gathers his people with the intention of punishing them, but instead what he actually does is changing their speech into one that is pure. What is the purpose of this? We find the answer in the second portion of the same verse. The purpose is that they may "call upon the name of the Lord and serve him in one accord" (Zephaniah 3:9b).
Let's break this down a little further. "Calling on the name of the Lord" means acknowledging God as Lord of our lives, and also acknowledging ourselves as his creation in need of his salvation. To be able to "serve him in one accord" involves unity across peoples from different cultures, languages, socio-economic classes, all for the purpose of doing the will of the Lord.
For the people of Israel, the account of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9 would come to mind when this verse is read. Similar to Zephaniah 3:9, the earth was united by a single language. But men in their arrogance, as a result of sin entering the world in Genesis 3, came together and plotted to build a tower that will reach the heavens so they could make a name for themselves. As a God that hates pride, he decided to come down and foil men’s plan by confusing their language so they could not understand each other. Eventually this plan was scrapped, and men now find themselves divided and scattered all over the earth. We find this evident even in Zephaniah, where the people group comprises different nationality and language. Pride of men that had trickled down from Genesis 3 also found its place in Zephaniah and we see this in Zephaniah 2:8 from the taunting and reviling of the Moabites against the people of God.
But just as God promised restoration after the fall of man with the coming of the promised Messiah, He promised in Zephaniah to ‘change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord’. This is fulfilled subsequently with Christ death and resurrection. Up till Acts 2, the nations were divided by language because of their rebellion against God. But at Pentecost we see the gathering of people from all walks of life (Acts 2:9-11). We hear a unified voice that is set apart and holy, an example of pure speech that attest to the mighty works of God. From then on the Gospel is no longer confined to Jerusalem but to the ends of the earth; people of all nations and languages. This is a picture of restoration from the point of Babel. God is slowly putting back His Kingdom into place. So in Zeph 3:9 when God says the entire nation’ speech will be made pure, it is ultimately pointing to the day when God’s Kingdom comes completely and sin is no more!
This is a lot to take in, and what's amazing is that this is how this passage speaks to us today! This is not just ancient words for an ancient people. If we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ today, then we are part of this people whose speech God is making pure.How are we then putting to death our pride and rebelliousness? What does pure speech sound like? Acts 2 says in their own languages the people were declaring the mighty works of God. How are we declaring the mighty works of God wherever he has put us? If my life is consumed with making myself look great, how does it proclaim his mighty works? How are we serving God together in unity? Our bible study on Wednesdays is also a great example of people of different churches gathering together to study God’s word. But beyond that what does it look like for us to serve in unity? What would it look like for us to labour for the gospel together?
(B) Judah changed to pure speech: The removing of pride and modelling of humility (Zephaniah 3:11-13).
In Zephaniah 3:11, God declares what will not happen to Judah. She will not be put to shame because of her rebellious actions. God goes on to declare that He will do 2 things in Zephaniah 3:11b-12. Firstly, He promises to "remove from [their] midst the proudly exultant ones". Who are the proud and haughty? They are the complacent, those who think they are self sufficient and see no need of God in their lives. What is ironic is that they exhibit haughtiness on the Lord’s holy mountain where His temple is. They assumed they were by default God’s chosen people and have a right relationship with Him just because they were descendants of Abraham. But God says he will remove these people. An application we can draw out from this is that our posture and attitude towards God matters more to Him than the works we do or the roles we play in church. Consistent church membership or active involvement in ministries does not equate to a vibrant relationship with God. These good things should overflow naturally out of a genuine and close relationship with our Creator and not the other way round. We will not see a need for God if we are complacent and self-sufficient. The Lord detest the proud at heart. May we learn to deal with this matter of the heart before the rod of discipline hits us.
God also promises that He will leave a people "humble and lowly" (Zephaniah 3:12a). What does that look like? It definitely does not resemble the tower of Babel days; not a gathering of people seeking their own fame, or building up a name for themselves. On the contrary, God desires His people to live as people who are humble and would consider the needs of others before their own. In essence, we are called to model after Christ, the perfect model of humility. Philippians 2:3-11 teaches us what it means to imitate Christ’s humility. Knowing that the Son of God would exchange His glorious throne in Heaven for the humble stable just so we could have a relationship with Him and reverse the curse of Adam should compel us to do likewise. We are called to be imitators of Christ. Those around us will know we are disciples of Christ by our love and humility.
God desires to have a true relationship with His people. But before this could take place we need to rend our hearts and ‘clear out’ the undesirable thing in our hearts because He is a Holy God. It is only when we learn to empty ourselves that Christ can then fill us up. May knowing more about Christ lead us to live for Him and be a vessel that He can use to point others to Him.