THE GIFT OF TONGUES AS A JUDGMENT AGAINST DISOBEDIENT ISRAEL

THE GIFT OF TONGUES AS A JUDGMENT AGAINST DISOBEDIENT ISRAEL

This Tuesday, June 3rd at sundown, begins the "appointed time" of SHAVUOT, or "[Feast of] Weeks" … what is commonly translated from the Greek portion of our Bibles as Pentecost." What Christians commonly refer to a Pentecost Sunday is, not this Sunday, but next … on June 8th. The difference in times is explained by the lunar character of the Jewish calendar (so holy days float around a bit) and by Christians' concern to keep the celebration on Sunday. Not to digress, but a thought: Is it good to change the dates of God's appointed times? (Dan 7:25).

But back on topic …

The Pentecost we read about in Acts chapter 2 was obviously not the first Pentecost. When Israel was obedient to the command, they celebrated it yearly, always in the Spring/early Summer. At the "appointed time." Jesus and his first disciples celebrated it every year throughout their earthly lives. However, the Pentecost in Acts 2 was unique because, during it, God poured out His Holy Spirit in partial fulfillment of Joel's and other prophets' predictions. God's miracle here is a **sign**, i.e. it signifies something. Points beyond itself to something else. The disciples of Jesus who were present at that Pentecost began to speak in other languages. You know the story.

However, there is an angle of the "tongues" story rarely told:

When discussing tongues, it is helpful to get some perspective on the function of the gift, as presented in the whole Bible. For instance, the common Pentecostal/Charismatic view that there is a "prayer language" (i.e. what one does **only while alone with the LORD**) that is distinct from the revelatory gift (i.e. a form of prophecy for the edification of the assembled group, spoken in a language not learned by the speaker) is not exegetically sustainable -- not from Acts chapter 2 and not from 1Cor chapters 12-14. Or anywhere else. From the biblical evidence, it appears that both manifestations of "tongues" were and remain the same essential thing. So, if a person has been gifted by God with actual "tongues," then that person has a revelatory gift which goes beyond self-edification, and is intended for the edification of Christ's Body.

And as a **sign** for UNbelievers (1Cor 14:22).

This is something that doesn’t get much “air time": Paul's comments and quotes about it in 1Cor 14 show that the gift of tongues is a sign of God’s judgment on unbelieving Jewish people, on His disobedient covenant nation. Notice how Paul states his case: "In the law it is written: 'With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; and yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,' says the LORD" (1Cor 14:21).

First, we should note from Paul's statement that he attributes his quote to "the law," i.e. the Mosaic Torah. But it doesn't come from the Torah; it comes from Isa 28:11 where the prophet says, "For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people [i.e. Israel] ...Yet they would not hear."

In context, Isaiah is referring to the Gentile Assyrians, or possibly the Babylonians, who, during Israel's coming invasion, captivity, and dispersion among the nations, would be God's instrument of "speak[ing]" to His unbelieving people in an unintelligible [to most of them] language. This was a pronouncement of judgment. A **sign**. Also, Isaiah seems to be making a loose reference back to the Song of Moses (Deu 32) which also explains why Paul said it was written "in the law." That which is alluded to in the Song of Moses is not specifically about tongues, but about the foreign nation(s) that God would use to shame and confound His disobedient people Israel: "But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation" (Deu 32:21). Again, God's judgment.

Now, going back to Isaiah 28, which Paul quoted in 1Cor 14, we notice which form the prophet says that unbelieving Israel's shame and confusion will take:

"Whom will [God] teach knowledge? And whom will He make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, 'This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,' and, 'This is the refreshing'; yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was to them, 'Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,' that they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught" (Isa 28:9-13).

What Isaiah was saying in context was that Israel had so corrupted themselves that they no longer possessed the ability to make sense out of the message of God … so they needed to go back to pre-PRE-school and relearn the very basic foundations all over again. Like babies. This was a punishment from the Lord. A judgment. A shame. But it was necessary because "the word of the LORD was to [unbelieving Israel], 'TZAV LATZAV TZAV LATZAV QAV LAQAV QAV LAQAV Z'ER SHAM Z'ER SHAM'." That is a transliteration into English characters of what "Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little" sounds like in Hebrew. It sounds like babies' prattle, like gibberish ...

... like what many people today call "tongues."

And so the function of the gift of tongues in a Christian context was/is a revelatory gift to edify, not just oneself, but the entire Body of Christ. And this is a sign to us, as believers, of God's prophetic presence in our midst.

But on top of that, the function of tongues was/is as a **sign** … a judgment and a shame to unbelieving Israel, who should be the world's teachers of the message of God (Isa 42:6; 49:6; Act 13:47; Rom 2:17-24), but instead the bulk of His message has become for them "TZAV LATZAV TZAV LATZAV QAV LAQAV QAV LAQAV Z'ER SHAM Z'ER SHAM."

Consequently, we, Gentile Christians, people with a foreign speech, are to be unbelieving Israel’s teachers for now; we are to humbly, yet boldly share the good news about Israel's Messiah with unbelieving Jews, using Israel's own Scriptures (Rom 11:30, 31). However, unless we want to further shame and confuse our Jewish friends, we should probably not speak the message to them in tongues, but in a mutually shared language.

-Michael Millier