Bonan Matenon! (Zephaniah 3:9)

Every morning, one of my staff and I engage in an interesting twist on the perfunctory, “Good morning!” She gives the salutation in Japanese or Korean. I happily oblige and use the opportunity to learn how to say the phrase in other, less familiar languages. We have done Farsi, Hebrew, Finnish, Albanian-just to name a few. At times, we can discern the language and/or the region of origin. But this morning was different.

“Bonan Matenon!”

What?

German? Dutch? Nope. This time, the language was Esperanto! This is one of the most successful artificial or constructed languages. It was conceived by a Polish-Jewish ophthalmologist, L.L. Zamenhof in 1887. The word esperanto translates as one who hopes. Zamenhof hoped that this language would be used to simplify the process of learning a language, unbound by any nationality.

It was a laudable goal and although it has not been universally adopted, it has steadily grown in popularity throughout the world. Countries as diverse as China, France, and San Marino currently use it for some of their publications. Even Google has added it as one of their translated languages!

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)

For a long time after Adam and Even first live on the earth, all humans spoke the same language. God scrambled their speech at Babel and people were dispersed throughout the world. I believe there is a deep longing within all of us to be able to effectively and clearly communicate with one another. One day, God will allow this to happen and the entire earth will once again speak the same language, a pure speech. But this will only happen when our Lord Jesus Christ, returns to earth and establishes His Kingdom.

As glorious as that day will be, it also comes with judgment. For on that day, all who have not confessed and repented of their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be condemned to an eternity in hell, forever separated from God’s love, grace, and mercy. God is love but God is also holy. He must judge sin and He extends His offer of salvation to all who place their trust in Him.

Bonan matenon! Whatever language you speak, if you confess and repent of your sins to Jesus Christ, you will be saved!

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.