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
"Shema, Israel" or "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." That's Deut. 6:4, and in Hebrew is a prayer still spoken in synagogues and homes today. Moses' last chance to remind God's people of all they had to remember (the 10 commandments), to be thankful for (their very lives after the exodus from Egypt), to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all our strength" (Deut. 6:5). Then Moses, just before he dies, lays his hands on Joshua and he (Joshua) becomes the one to speak the Word of God to the people. Thus begin the prophets of God.
God gave God's Word to a prophet to be relayed to the people so they wouldn't forget God. But, being human, they often forgot. Then the prophet would bring the Word of God's "fierce anger" until the people repented and came back to God, whereupon God would have compassion and show great mercy. (Think "Prodigal Son") This goes on for generations through many blessed and tortured prophets. (The people often didn't want to hear the bad news the prophet had to deliver…) Then—silence. For 400 years God sends no prophet to deliver the Word. The world goes on as usual... people drift... until... Until God takes a different tack. God sends The Word. "In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with God, and The Word was God" (John 1:1). Jesus came among us! God's Word spoke through the prophets to nations. Jesus speaks to you and me individually – directly to our own hearts and minds. And when we get that (Shema, Patti, or [Insert Your Name Here]), when we finally hear the Word with our hearts, the old prophet Zephaniah's Word from God will be fulfilled and we will speak and act with compassion and love to others and to God's whole creation. "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." Amen!
Patti Sachs
