“For at that time I will 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.
Zephaniah 3:8 ends with the whole earth burned up by the fire of God's jealousy. Verse 9 opens with "For at that time" and turns from wrath to blessing: God gives the peoples a pure speech, and nations that once served idols call on His name together.
The writers quoted below use an older translation. It reads "a pure language" and "to serve him with one consent."
Judgment First, Then the Change
This blessing is not the present age slowly improving. One writer points to the word that fixes the order:
W. TrotterNote this scripture well. It says, "THEN will I turn to the people a pure language." When? When will this general turning or conversion happen? Clearly when this great gathering and judgment of the nations has taken place. THEN the millennium will begin, and not until then.
Who "the Peoples" Are
One writer points to the Hebrew word behind "peoples":
J. N. DarbyI will only point out that "people" in the original is plural: Ammim, not Goyim, which means Gentiles. I think it is the word used in the original for all nations that are not seen as shut out from the covenant.
Some read the verse as a picture of the gospel spreading through the world. One writer disagrees:
William KellyThis does not mean the people of Israel. It means the peoples among the nations who are in relationship with Jehovah. But it does not follow that the spread of Christianity, and any check it has given to idolatry around the world, is what is predicted here. Scripture reveals an age to come. It is distinct from the present age, and it comes before the judgment of the great white throne (Revelation 20). In that age God's mercy will bless the nations far and wide. This, and not Christianity properly so called, is what the verse sets out.
What a "Pure Speech" Is
One writer clears away two wrong readings before giving the plain sense:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinSome have used this verse to support an imagined restoration of the gift of tongues. Luther paraphrased it this way: "Then I will cause the nations to be preached to in another way, with friendly lips, so that they may call on the name of the Lord." But the text does not support that reading. It means that the nations which escaped the judgment-wrath of the day of the Lord will be converted. Because they are converted, they will call upon the Lord with pure lips. All idolatry will cease, and all will serve the Lord as one man.
Babel Undone
One writer sees the scattering of languages at Babel undone here:
J. G. BellettWe are told that the nations of that kingdom — "the world to come" — will worship the Lord the God of Israel with one life or language. The confusion of Babel will be at an end. Pentecost gave a sample of it.
Serving with One Shoulder
One writer applies the verse to Christians today, and asks what could produce such unity:
F. A. HughesA moment is coming when God's power will so take hold in the world that, under the mastery of that power, His earthly people will serve Him with one consent — or "one shoulder," as the margin reads. Can you tell me anything or anybody that could weld together every brother and sister in this room so that we all should serve with one consent? We have different measures, different appreciations and perhaps different desires. The only thing that can make this company, or any other company, serve with one shoulder is the power of God. And in this present age the power of God is in the Holy Spirit. As room is made for the power of the Holy Spirit, He binds the saints together in service with one consent — and in no other way.
Where Commentators Differ
Commentators differ. One writer links the "pure language" to the revival of Hebrew among returning Jews:
A. J. PollockThe Jews returned in such large numbers, from all parts of the world, speaking some seventy languages. So Israel had to have one official language shared by all. The revival of the pure Hebrew language was the best and happiest solution to the difficulty… Is this not a deeply interesting fulfilment of a prophecy?
Other writers read "the peoples" as the Gentile nations, not Israel. They place the fulfilment after the day of the Lord.
Summary
- Then — the promise has a date. Blessing follows the fire of God's jealousy, not the slow improvement of the present world.
- Peoples — the Hebrew word is plural. The promise reaches the nations, not Israel alone: all who are not shut out from the covenant.
- Pure — the change is a converted lip. Idolatry ends and the nations call on the name of the Lord.
- One — God reverses Babel. What judgment scattered, His power welds into one shoulder, one service.
- Differ — some writers see Hebrew's revival as a first instalment. Others hold that the whole promise waits for the age to come.