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This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Johnathan Hernandez and Gary Schick.

Garry Schick
Alright, so we are still using questions from that KCMI banquet. So today, kind of an interesting one. I didn't even know where this was exactly coming from when I first read the question and did a little digging and kind of found out. So the question is this, "there was one language before God mixed them up at the Tower of Babel. True enough, in Isaiah, God says He's going to give one pure language. What do you think that will be?" Well, I did a little digging, couldn't find anything in Isaiah. But in the King James version of Zephaniah 3:9, it reads as follows, "For then I will turn to the people a pure language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve Him with one consent." Jonathan, what do you think about that?

Jonathan Hernandez
Yeah, so I guess I'm reading into that question a little bit and thinking that maybe they were wondering about one certain language. Is it English or Chinese or whatnot? I don't know if that's the direction they were going with the question.

Garry Schick
That is the direction. And maybe, what was the original language before Babel, which probably in their mind, was the pure speech.

Jonathan Hernandez
Could be, yeah. I was telling you earlier; when I was going to church before I was pastoring and whatnot, I'd always remember my pastor would always say, "Jonathan, you need to learn Spanish because that's going to be the heavenly language." So I think that was his thought on that one.

Garry Schick
I think most of us think that about our own native tongue, don't we? "Well, this is what they're going to speak in heaven."

Jonathan Hernandez
And I would always tell them, "well, if that's going to be the heavenly language when I go to heaven, I'll know it." Unfortunately, I don't know it here on earth. But I think, as we look at this scripture, I think it's kind of, to me as I start looking into that, it looks more as in line of that purifying of the speech. They were in those times worshiping other idols. And so, out of their mouth was coming, I mean like slander kind, essentially. Yeah, unholy things were coming out. Worshiping idols and different things like that. And so I think, as we see this, the pure language, they're going to be purifying the lips. Purifying the words that are coming out. And we see this, really in a few different spots, quite a few different spots throughout the Bible. The Bible speaks a lot about how we should speak, and we can look at some powerful scriptures that even point to this. We could look at Psalms 37:30, it says, "the mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom and his tongue talks of justice." So we see even throughout scripture where God is telling us that our speech should be pure. It shouldn't be bad. Ephesians 4:29, it says, "let no corrupt words proceed out of your mouth. But what is good for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the ears." So when I looked at this and as I was just looking at some scriptures and looking at what it was showing, "okay. What is my mouth speaking? Am I saying things that are unpure? Am I having that same language coming out that shouldn't be?" And if I do, then now it's time that I need to repent. And make sure that I am speaking the things that God wants me to speak. And Proverbs 15:4, "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life." If our tongue is speaking good, right? Is speaking holy things? It says, "the wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perseverance breaks the spirit." We need to make sure that our speech is that of which God wants it to be, not this of the world. We shouldn't be downgrading people or speaking ill of people, but uplifting them and encouraging them in their walk of Christ. And so like I said, as I look through that scripture that we just talked about, I don't know what the one language will be spoken in heaven or whatnot, but according to that scripture, I see it in that way that the people then were speaking things that they shouldn't have been. And God was purifying that speech.

Garry Schick
And I think you're dead on, and I think it for several reasons. Yes, it's true that the King James version talks about the Lord giving them a pure language. But then if you look at that in the ESV translation (the English standard version), it says, "For at that time, I will change the speech of the people to a pure speech that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord." Now, when I dig back into the original Hebrew, it could kind of go either way. And if I go to the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was read in New Testament times, the word there could go either way as well. But what you can do without even having to know the biblical languages, which obviously, if there was one language, it would probably be Greek or Hebrew, right? That's what we maybe would assume, but that's not really what the passage is talking about. I think this is a great opportunity to say, sometimes we'll spot something in a verse that will kind of scratch our interest. And I think that's one, you know, so what will be the pure language? What will be the pure speech? What is that? Well, context is key. Listeners, get that little phrase in your head. Context is key. What in context is God talking about there? And I have a little subtitle to kind of help me know the context. In my ESV study Bible, it says, "The Conversion of the Nations." And if you look at this for that time, "I will change the speech or the language of the peoples," literally the nations, the Gentiles, "to a pure speech." Well, what was their speech? Without God? It was exactly what you pointed out. Idol worship and blaspheming God, and everything contrary to God. And so, what did Isaiah pray? Speaking of Isaiah---even though this verse isn't in Isaiah---when he saw the Lord, he says, "woe is me. I'm a man of unclean lips." And actually, the Hebrew word there isn't really, "language," or, "speech." It's the word for lip. "I will give them a pure lip," is literally what the Hebrew is saying. The Greek, the Septuagint, the Old Testament in Greek that the New Testament church read says, "glosa," tongue. Now, a tongue can be a language, but it can also refer to speech or what trips off the tongue. And you, I think also did a great job of not only giving us the context, "what is this verse about?" It's not really about languages. It's about the Gentiles coming to faith and coming to praise the Lord with one voice, a clear voice of praise to Him. Not idolatrous and...it's purified. But then if you look at the breadth of scripture and how it speaks of the lips and the tongue, but regarding languages---and again, we look again at the scope of scripture. Revelation 7:9 talks about heaven. It says, John, the Apostle John, says, "after this, I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number from every nation and tribe and people and language standing before the throne of God clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and giving praise." So freedom for those of us who love our native tongues. It may be all, I think it will be all of them. I think we're going to speak all of our languages, and I think we're going to all understand each other, because God hears us in all the multiplicity. When God divided the tongues at Babel, He wasn't making them something impure. He was making it so that we would need to focus on getting our direction from Him instead of just, as a united world going on without Him. But He is praised. I mean, from the lips of children and infants. Jesus said you every day, and praise. By the way, this writer/caller was not the first to ask this question. There was actually a man somewhere, I don't know how far back in time, who he assumed that this was a reference to the language of The Garden of Eden. And he wanted to know what that language was. And so when his children were born, he wouldn't let anybody speak to them. He wanted to know what the language of the Garden of Eden was, and he just assumed that children would naturally speak it before they learned---. Well, it didn't work out so well. Children learn language; and they learn your language and whatever your language is. Listener, I guess at this point, most of our listeners are listening to us in English. That's what we're speaking. Your language is a beautiful language. And if you grew up knowing the mother tongue of your parentage, for Jonathan, it would be Spanish. For me, it would've been German/Russian. Those are beautiful languages. And God is praised in all those tongues. But whatever language we speak, are we using our tongue to sing and speak His praise and honor Him? Not only that our tongues are cleaned up from idolatry, but how we speak to others, boy, there's some conviction there. I've got to admit, sometimes I'm kind of grumpy. And sometimes it comes out of my mouth and, oh man, that wasn't a good witness today. Part of this reminds me a lot of, years ago, I spent some time in Africa. I think I've told you about this before. We're so blessed as a nation, we're really English, and now Spanish as well are kind of the two languages. I know some people struggle with that, but in Africa, everybody speaks their tribal tongue. At least in Kenya, the part of Kenya I was in, they speak their tribal tongue. They all know Swahili because that's how they communicate with each other. And then they know a little bit of English to get along with us Europeans, because Kenya at one point was a British colony. So I mean, they're trilingual and they're pretty good at it, because I mean, a lot of them are actually fairly good at English, and that really is their third. But one of the cool things there, when we were in a really small, not that big of an area, but I mean there were nine different tribal tongues. And I collected, I don't have it with me, I wasn't really thinking about this, but I collected how to sing, "God is so good," in all of these different languages. Kalenjin and Swahili, and of course I had it down in English. I mean, I can't even remember all the different tribes. And it's kind of fun saying, "God is so good," in all those different languages, and I just think that's going to be a taste of heaven. We're going to get up there. We're going to be singing amazing grace in all the tongues, and we're all going to know what we're, I mean, that one, you would know what they're singing. Maybe not what verse they're on, but because that's when we know. But we're going to know the Lord and we're going to sing His praise and He's going to know what we're saying just like He does now. And He's going to hear, not only the whole group, but He's going to hear every voice that's singing His praise. And He's going to know more than just our tongue, but the heart that it comes from.