Zephaniah – Reversing Babel
Scripture References: Zephaniah 2:15, 3:8-9, Genesis 11:1-9, Micah 4:1-2, Revelation 7:9-12.
Introduction:
‘Delayed answers are not necessarily denied answers’. This is one of our sermon applications for this coming week. I imagine many of us can relate to this statement in our prayer lives. We pray fervently for answers to difficult questions or perhaps for a situation to turn around for the better…and it can be difficult when it feels like those prayers are not being answered (or at least not being answered according to our preferred timing).
During their time in exile, bearing the consequences of the Lord’s judgment, the people of Israel undoubtedly felt a powerful longing, that there will come a day when they will be restored – when their situation would turn around for the better. As we saw in last week’s devotional, the nations which surrounded Israel were not ‘off the hook’ either. We specifically looked at the judgement upon the nation of Assyria, the city of Nineveh…
This is the exultant city
that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become – Zephaniah 2:15a ESV
The nation elevated themselves in pride above the God who created them. As a result, the Creator God reverses creation order on them (See last week’s devo for more detail!). That leaves us with a question: Is there hope for Israel, for the nations? Zephaniah will again show us that with judgement, also comes the hope for redemption and restoration. A wonderful reversal is coming…maybe not in the timing Israel would have preferred…but it is promised none the less – in God’s perfect timing…
Devotional:
Zephaniah chapters 2-3 depicts clear judgement. The nations are gathered, kingdoms are assembled for judgement (Zeph 3:8)…However:
“Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, – Zephaniah 3:8a ESV
We start to see a change of tone – a glimmer of hope…but it begins with the Lord saying: ‘Wait for me’. Waiting…this is always such a hard thing to do. This waiting period is a call to trust in the Lord. Trust in His timing, not ours. As it relates to Israel and the Gentile nations, Zephaniah begins pointing to the hope they are being called to wait for:
“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 3:9 ESV
As I studied through this passage, a few themes started firing off in my mind: Gathering of nations – Judgement – changing of speech – calling on the name of the Lord. My mind then immediately went to a familiar passage, Genesis 11! Pay close attention to the language and phrasing…
“Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.” -Genesis 11:1-9 ESV
One people, one language – gathering for the purpose making ‘their name’ great. In pride, they are trying to elevate themselves above the God who created them (sounds a lot like Assyria in Zephaniah 2). God judges them. Speech is confused and the people are fractured into many nations. Can we start to see the hope that Zephaniah is communicating?
At Babel: one humanity, one speech → self-worship – ‘let us make a name for ourselves’ → confused languages → scattered nations.
In Zephaniah: scattered nations regathered → purified speech → proper worship – All ‘call upon the name of the Lord’.
What is Zephaniah pointing towards? A reversal of Babel. A future restoration of not just Israel, but all nations! This is a hope that the prophets had consistently pointed to:
It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
2 and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.” -Micah 4:1-2 ESV
This same theme is repeated in passages like: (Isaiah 2:2-4, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 56:6-8). As I started noticing these themes, I had found that this is something theologians and scholars have long noted! Michael B. Shepherd writes in his Zephaniah commentary, as part of: ‘A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The Minor Prophets’:
“At that time, the LORD says he will restore not merely Judah but to all peoples “a purified lip” (speech). Such language is reminiscent of Genesis 11:1a, which says that all the land was “one lip” (speech) prior to the story of the Tower of Babylon…”
“…the allusion to the unity prior to the building of the Tower of Babylon is quite plausible. In that story, the people wanted to make a “name” for themselves (Gen 11:4). Thus, it was necessary for the LORD to disrupt their unity. But now they will call on the “name” of the LORD in order to serve/worship him with “one shoulder” – That is, as one man they will bear the responsibility of serving the LORD together. They will take refuge in the name of the LORD (Zeph 3:12a), and the LORD will give his people a “name” (i.e., renown) among the nations, precisely because they will truly bear his name (Zeph 3:19-20).”1
This key event in Genesis helps set the framework for God’s plan for redeeming, not just Israel, but ALL nations! Zephaniah calls back to this event in order to point ahead to a future restoration. What’s truly amazing, is that we see how this long awaited restoration begins to take shape as we get into the New Testament…particularly at the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). See how Zephaniah almost acts as the ‘hinge’ between Genesis 11 and Acts 2…as if Zephaniah is slowly turning a page, showing a slow transition from judgement to restoration…
| Babel (Gen 11) | Zephaniah 2–3 | Pentecost (Acts 2) |
| Humanity exalts itself | Nations exalt themselves | God is exalted |
| “Let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen 11:4) | “I am, and there is no one else” (Zeph 2:15) | “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21, Joel 2:32) |
| God judges humanity | God judges the nations | God pours out His Spirit |
| Languages confused | Speech will be purified | Many languages proclaim God’s name. |
| Nations scattered | Nations will be gathered | Nations gathered (Acts 2:5) |
| Humanity united in rebellion | Nations will unite in worship | Jews/Gentiles unite as one people |
| Babel seeks human glory | Zephaniah portrays judgment on human glory, but looks ahead to God’s glory. | Pentecost proclaims God’s glory |
How amazing is that!! This process certainly does not happen overnight. God has a plan and His plan is good. We are simply called to trust in His plan and in His timing as we ‘call on the name of the LORD’. ‘“Therefore, wait for me”..declares the Lord’ (Zeph 3:8a). This does not end at Pentecost. We continue to look forward to a hope that is awaiting its full realization…
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” -Revelation 7:9-12 ESV
Babel is reversed! Hallelujah!
Conclusion
‘Delayed answers are not necessarily denied answers’. As we see in Scripture, God’s plan happens in God’s timing. We may not know the details of God’s plan, or the details on how our prayers will be answered in the future…but we know how the story ultimately ends, and if we are people who ‘call upon the name of the LORD’…then the ending is good. Eternally good!
Amen.
Sean Wagner
- Michael B. Shepherd, A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The Minor Prophets (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2018), 371-372. ↩︎