Are You Confused?: Part 2

Happy Sunday TiMP Nation here we are, Part 2 of Are you Confused? Speaking in Tongues. This week gets to the matter of what the true spiritual gift of speaking in tongues was all about. This will be a long study but worth the time and read. Funny thing it’s not as complicated as you may think, as a matter of fact it keeps in perfect step with our foundational scripture 1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace”. When we apply this truth statement to our study it will untangle the confusion and should give us peace in our understanding.

Now I’m sure many who may see this study/teaching will disagree or even continue doing and following the false teaching of tongues. However, be mindful God’s word teaches us principles that should be fully accepted and applied by every true born-again believer in Christ Jesus who desires to be His disciple. We find this in John 8:31-32,” So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” In Proverbs 1:7, King Solomon provides this bit of wisdom as well, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction”. Make no mistake these words apply to us born again Gentile believers as well.

Ok now with that established, let’s clearly break down the difference in the false tongues we learned about in Part 1 and the true gift of tongues Paul is referring to in God’s word. We start with the fact that the common language of the New Testament was Greek. History tells us Rome had adopted Greek as their universal form of communication, although Latin was their official first language. Now, if you recall Paul was born a Roman citizen in Tarsus, Cilicia which today is the country of Turkey, thus he would be well versed in Greek. But his original birth name was Hebrew (Saul) as we find in Acts 9 before his conversion to salvation after meeting Jesus. Paul prior to this was well educated in the Torah (Pentateuch) first five books of Moses which were written in Hebrew. We also know Paul was well traveled from Jerusalem, Judea, Damascus, Galatia, Corinth and many more places. His spreading of the gospel, imprisonment and death while establishing the Christian church is well documented.

All of this exposure to various tongues outside of Paul’s native tongue put him in a unique position, he could speak or understand many languages. He tells us this himself in 1 Corinthians 14:18-19 and he gives clarity to what speaking in tongues really is, which is simply normal human understood native language!! Paul says, “I thank my God, I SPEAK WITH TONGUES MORE THAN YOU ALL; yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." Again, I want to say to you God is not a God of confusion, 1 Corinthians 14:33. Paul is clear here that the unknown tongue is gibberish. If you also read verses 10-11, he is clear that real language throughout the world is significant and that the purpose of it is to communicate. He then provides a bit of sarcasm for those at Corinth and even today promoting the false gibberish tongue in verses 14-17. Now the question becomes for those on the gibberish path how can you communicate or teach nonsense?

God directs Paul to make it clear what speaking in tongues really is, which is the ability to speak and understand a foreign language. But not just that, it’s particular significance as a spiritual gift comes when God super-naturally through the Holy Spirit gives one the ability to speak and understand a foreign language that is not their own native tongue/language. When the word native is used, we are talking about the language you and I are exposed to or taught from birth. An example would be if English is your native tongue but you encountered someone who speaks only French, and you having no knowledge or understanding of French, were able to converse with them in their native tongue or vice-versa. We find this factual account and gift of speaking in tongues in Acts 2 which I highly suggest you read in its entirety. Here we find Luke describing what occurred at the Day of Pentecost (Pentecost means fiftieth) and the Feast of Weeks that was celebrated for 50 days after Passover typically in May-June. This is an important celebration and big deal as it’s one of 3 annual feasts in Jerusalem. Thus, the bible says that devout men from every nation under heaven were in attendance! To put in perspective this would be like a United Nations or World Leaders meeting today. This meant you had various native tongues (different languages) amongst all those who gathered for the feast. Plus, it allotted for actual interpretation which is how you validate language then and even today. This is how we receive the Bible today in English and other languages as it has been interpreted from its original OT Hebrew text and NT Greek text. This allows us foreigners to learn, understand and communicate this most significant writing known to man.

As we study Acts 2 it’s important to note how this miraculous event is able to take shape. Luke describes in verse 1, the apostles as being on one accord in one place. If you ever wonder why the Christian church falls short in really impacting the world for Christ as we should, look no further. At any rate Luke gives a very descriptive account of the Holy Spirit entering this house under a sound from heaven and a mighty rushing wind. Then where they were gathered it filled the apostles and divided their tongues as of fire with the languages of those men from every nation. When we see the word fire it’s not literal but it represents divine presence. Now it’s worth noting that most of the apostles spoke Aramaic the same native language Jesus was born to and spoke when he took on the flesh of man. There are even some small findings of Aramaic in the OT. Now some may debate what languages were the apostles actually speaking and for that matter what languages were understood by the hearers. We can assume Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, but we get some insight from verses 9-10 of other languages common to the men in attendance. Those from Parthians, Medes (spoke a form of Iranian) Elamites is mentioned but that language is extinct today. Those from Mesopotamia spoke (Sumerian/Akkadian). I will not go into all of them here as this can be a bit complicated but worth a study when you have time. However, our focus should be on the clarity that those in attendance confirm for us that it was not gibberish being spoken. Verses 6-7 note the men were amazed and marveled because they clearly understood and heard the apostles speaking in the native languages they were born with. The men even emphasize saying in verse 11 “we do hear them (apostles) speak in our own tongues (meaning they could understand fully) the wonderful works of God.

Now ask yourself this, when you are hearing tongues as it is falsely taught today or participating in it yourself. Where is the sound from heaven, where is the mighty rushing wind? What are you understanding? I will answer for you, there is no sound, there is no wind and your understanding is the same as every other person in the room uttering gibberish, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! We will wrap up this portion of the “Are you Confused?” series next week with part 3 and the conclusion of Speaking in Tongues. You don’t want to miss it!