The Sign of Tongues
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Confusion
over the nature and purpose of the gift of tongues has been used by Satan to
wreak havoc upon the spiritual effectiveness of the body of Christ. An understanding
and use of spiritual gifts is critical in God's plan for the growth and unity
of the body of Christ. Satan has
placed his deceitful finger upon this important cog that turns the wheels of
genuine ministry. In order to shed some
light upon this subject, we must understand the true nature and biblical
purpose of the gift of tongues. The Biblical Nature of
Tongues The spiritual gift of
tongues is mentioned in Mark 16:17, Acts chapters 2, 10 and 19, and 1
Corinthians chapters 12 through 14. There is abundant
evidence in the Bible to show that the gift of tongues was known
languages. The Greek word translated tongues is the word glossa.
It is consistently used that way both in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint)
and in the New Testament. The verb diermenuo, meaning, "to
interpret," is used with glossa meaning to translate. It means to
translate from one language into another (2 Cor. 14:5, 13). In Acts 2:4, "They
spoke with other tongues," the word translated "other" is heteros.
It is used to indicate that what was being spoken was another kind of
language. There are many different language groups on earth. There is no
indication that it was a language different from any other language. There is
no indication that what was spoken on the day of Pentecost was “heavenly
languages” or angelic language. It was just other languages! That tongues were known
languages is also verified by Acts 2:6, "Each heard in his own (dilektos)"
or dialect. Dialect is used only
with known languages. There is little reason to believe that the biblical
gift of tongues was anything other than known languages that were not
previously learned by the speaker. The word
"unknown" in reference to tongues in the King James Version of the
Bible is not in the original text but was added by the translators in an
attempt (they thought) to make the text clearer. Obviously, the addition only
serves to confuse. The Biblical Purpose of
Tongues What exactly was the
gift of languages designed by God to accomplish? The one clear passage in the
Bible that reveals the purpose of the gift of tongues is found in Paul's
letter to the Corinthians. "In
the law it is written: 'With men of other tongues (languages) and other lips
(speech) will I speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not
hear Me, says the Lord. Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those
who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but
for those who believe" (1 Cor. 14:21-22; commentary mine). A Short Background Paul penned the words
found in 1 Corinthians 12-14 to correct the Corinthian church because of
their misunderstanding and misuse of the gift of languages. Most of what he
said about the gift in that book was intended to control its use not
to encourage the church to continue to use them. Paul introduced his
teaching on the special purpose of tongues with this warning, "Stop
being childlike in your understanding...." (1 Cor. 14:20a). The letter
to the Corinthians was necessary because the entire church was acting
childish in their knowledge of the truths that Paul had taught them for some
eighteen months. Divisions over moral problems, personality clashes,
cliquishness, and leadership were all signs of fleshly activity. These
attitudes spilled over into their misunderstanding of the gift of languages.
The obvious cure was to understand exactly what the gift was, why it was
given, and how it was to be used. The gift of languages
was intended by God to be a sign. A sign is a symbol-something that could be
seen (or heard) and understood-and was used to reveal a hidden truth (The
Jews always sought signs, 1 Cor. 1:22). This sign gift was
directed only to those who did not believe. Who were the unbelieving
recipients of the sign, and what did they not believe? The only accurate way
to discover the answer is to be true to the text and go back and investigate
the context of the Old Testament passage that Paul quotes. If we do this, we
can begin to bring into focus the true nature and purpose of the gift of
tongues. Isaiah 28 The passage quoted by
Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:20-21 is taken from Isaiah 28. The context in Isaiah finds Israel in
her land but in rebellion against God. Because of this rebellion, God sent
Isaiah, His prophet, to tell the Jews that Samaria-a part of Israel-was going
to be disciplined. God had chosen to use the Gentile nation of Assyria as His
rod to carry out this discipline.
Hoshea, the king of Israel, had been paying tribute to this Assyrian
nation, specifically to their king named Shalmanezzar IV. Hoshea decided that
he was paying too much. So he stopped sending the tribute! He then entered
into an agreement with Egypt to stand with him against the Assyrians (2 Kings
17: 4). Shalmanezzar discovered his plot and attacked Israel. The siege and
battle lasted approximately three years. Shalmanezzar died and Sargon II took
over and finished the job. Before Assyria attacked
Israel, God had spoken the Jews time and time again. God had sent His prophets to warn
Israel of impending judgment, asking them to repent and return to Him. The
message of Isaiah was clear. "For
whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine?
Those who are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts" (Isa.
28:9). The prophets, including
Isaiah, had clearly spoken God’s message to the Jews telling them of the
coming kingdom. They spoke God’s message in their Hebrew language. At the
heart of every message was that if Israel would shape up God would restore
their land and bring in His kingdom, giving them peace and rest. But Israel would not
heed the clear message spoken to them in understandable Hebrew. Isaiah had
given them God's wonderful works in an organized way, line upon line, precept
upon precept, and they had not responded. He then made this astounding
prophecy. "For
with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people"
(Isa. 28:1). God was foretelling
through Isaiah that He was going to send people of other languages-namely
Assyrian Gentiles-into their midst in order to discipline them. When they heard these Gentiles
speaking a foreign language in their own land, maybe this would be a
sufficient sign to them that judgment from God had come. Maybe this would
cause them to repent and turn back to God. But even when this sign became a reality, they did not
repent. A gentile language in their land was a sign to Israel that God was
Judging them because of their unbelief. Pentecost The day of Pentecost
brought to light a new program from God. It marked the formation of the
church-the body of Christ- and the end of the Jewish nation. This spiritual
body was formed by means of the Holy Spirit’s work of placing each believer
into union with Christ's body. Pentecost also brought
to light another significant event. It marked God's judgment of the
disobedient nation of Israel. It is because of Israel's blindness to God's
truth and ultimate judgment by God and that the church exists today (Rom.
11:11). The circumstances in
Israel on the day of Pentecost were pretty much the same as they were in
Israel in Isaiah's day. Israel
as a nation was once again in rebellion against God. She had destroyed all
the prophets that were sent to her and had rejected and helped to crucify the
greatest Prophet of all, the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 23). God was ready to
set Israel aside as a nation and bring in a new day when Jew and Gentile
would come together to form one new body (Eph. 3-4). Rome, not Assyria, was
used of God as His disciplining rod.
What more appropriate sign could God have chosen than Gentile
languages in order to jog the memory of the unbelieving and warn them that
judgment and a new day was coming. The sign gift of foreign
Gentile languages would be a wonderful, clear symbol to unbelieving Israel
that they had not repented, and that God was now setting them aside as the
nation whom He had chosen to spread His message to the world. In Israel's
place He was going to begin to speak His message to the world, not in Hebrew,
but you guessed it, in Gentile languages. Therefore, God's special
purpose for the sign-gift of foreign languages was to warn the unbelieving
Jew of imminent judgment and dispersion and to alert both the Jew and Gentile
that God was-by means of the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit-forming a new
body called the church, or the body of Christ. After the Jews had been
dispersed throughout the world and the church had been firmly established and
brought to maturity, there was no more need for the sign gift of
tongues. So it ceased (1 Cor.
13:8). What
is being used today as “the gift of tongues” does not square with the nature
and purpose of the gift of tongues taught in the Bible. SourcesNew
American Standard Bible Robert
B. Thieme, Jr. John
MacArthur S.
Lewis Johnson Bible
Knowledge Commentary New Testament |
What is the purpose of
the gift of tongues? |