MUSELTOF COUNTERCULT AND APOLOGETICS
Zephaniah 3: 9
says,
"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"
What is this 'pure
language?'
Answer;
First of all we need to stand back
a little to consider the overall meaning and approach of this
prophetic book.
Zephaniah prophesies in the days of king
Josiah who was king over Judah. He was in fact a great, great
grandson of the great king Hezekiah and so was of royal blood. So we
speak here of a prophecy written in the 7th century BC, which
concerns Judah (the northern kingdom of Israel had long since gone
into captivity).
The prophecy warns of an impending 'Day of
wrath' to come on Judah, but this is then broadened out, from the
second chapter, to include other nations and city-states of the day.
Doom is also predicted for them. These other peoples include the
city-states of Gaza, Ashkelon and Ashdod (2:4), the peoples of Moab
and Ammon (2:9) and also Nineveh (2:13). In the third chapter the
tone tends to change somewhat, looking - at times - beyond this
period of wrath to what lies beyond.
Adventists (and
sometimes dispensationalists too) have often been guilty of imposing
schemas upon such prophecies which are simply not warranted by the
prophecies themselves! Lets just look at what happened: within about
thirty years the city-states were all under the heel of Babylon, the
mighty and great Nineveh fell in 612 BC, then from 585 BC, Judah
started to be subdued and taken into captivity. The point is; these
prophecies were clearly fulfilled!!
It is a great mistake to
always associate the expression, 'Day of the Lord' with those events
which will occur just prior to our Lord's return to earth! A day of
God's wrath was experienced by some of these people many hundreds of
years ago! This prophecy was immediately concerned with events soon
to befall Judah and surrounding nations and cities. Whats more, as we
have noted, they were certainly fulfilled - Judah's day of doom was
caused primarily by the Babylonians, though with a forerunner in a
Scythian invasion.
If we keep seeing all such prophecies as
only having a fulfillment 'at the time of the end' we miss all of
this! Moreover if we only see such things as referring to a time
which was to occur thousands of years after Zephaniah died, it can
cause us to lose confidence in the promises of God! NO - GOD ACTED
RELATIVELY QUICKLY AFTER WARNING THE PEOPLE THROUGH ZEPHANIAH. All of
this does not alter the fact, of course, that certain verses in the
book probably only had a more minor fulfillment at that time, with
fuller ones to come. But it remains true that this prophecy is
primarily concerned with those events which were to have such a
devastating affect upon Judah (and her neighbours) within a space of
about 100 years!
Numerous verses point to a better time to
come in the future, and these verses could have received a partial
fulfillment when the Jews returned to Jerusalem after the captivity,
with a further partial fulfillment from 1948, when many Jews started
returning to a new state of Israel, but surely their strongest
fulfillment can only be seen in the grace of Christ! The 'remnant of
Israel' (3:13) who were to be a people of grace must be seen as only
being truly fulfilled in the spiritual Israel of the Church. Look at
this for instance,
"...For then I will take away from
your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall no longer
be haughty in my holy mountain. I will leave in your midst a meek and
humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. The
remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness, and speak no lies, nor
shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth...Sing, O daughter
of Zion! Shout O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O
daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your judgements, He
has cast out your enemy..."
(Zephaniah 3: 11-15)
Can
anybody who is fully grounded in the Scriptures seriously suggest
that this does not refer to Christ and to the grace and forgiveness
which would be revealed in Him??
With all of this in mind, we
can look at the 'pure language' of Zephaniah 3: 9; We can do no
better here than follow the great Bible expositors such as Matthew
Henry and Henry Halley, they have mostly been agreed as to how we
should see this language and Museltof is in agreement. This language
is best seen as being a reference to the purer language, talk and way
of life - as revealed in ones normal speech - which we should expect
to witness in the righteous! For Halley, language is,
"...the
vehicle and expression of Truth. It is the prediction of a complete
and perfect revelation of God to man (obviously meaning the Gospel of
Christ), as a result of which converts from among all nations would
be brought to God..."
(Halley's Bible Handbook, p374-375,
24th Edition, Zondervan - 1965)
So the 'pure language',
can be seen as referring to ones language as an expression of what we
are inside, and/or to the pure language of the gospel. What, then, of
the belief that this Scripture refers to a universal language which
God will give His people either during a literalist 'millenial' age
or at the time of our final, eternal state?
We should say at once
that there exists no doubt that when the children of God enter their
final glorious eternal state, they will surely all understand one
another! We should take this as a 'given'. But it is a little dubious
that this is what this text is referring to.
Robin A. Brace,
1997
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