When Zephaniah writes that to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations,
he is not speaking of these nations’ serving
or worshipping
the Lord. He uses the verb bow down.
Nations will be so amazed at what God has done that they will bow down in recognition that Israel’s God is awesome, in comparison to their famished and defeated gods. That is to say, Zephaniah is speaking not of repentance or conversion in the fullest sense, but of a beginning of recognition in history that Israel’s God is the almighty creator of all there is.1
11 The LORD will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations.