INTRODUCTION
People today often miss-understand the actual meaning of “speaking in tongues” they seem to perceive it as jibber jabber, rather than actual languages. According to Acts 2:6 “...the crowds came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own (a) language”. This paper will try to clarify what speaking in tongues actually meant in Biblical times, and why it was so important during that time. I will try to prove why it is not relevant in today’s society anymore to speak in tongues. The term tongues are often used in the NT describing real languages. (Revelation 5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6; 17:15). When investigating this, we must look at where the information is found in the Bible,
ACTS 2:1-13
In the 2nd chapter of Acts is where the first speaking in tongues is recorded, most translations do indeed state “speaking in tongues” but the New American Standard Bible states “speaking in another language”. There were probably around 15-20 different spoken languages that were represented during the Pentecost. The Pentecost was not just a gathering in Greek this was called the Feast of Weeks (c), which was the second of three major Jewish festivals. So there would have been many different nationalities at this great historic event, since the pilgrims would have come from all over. It was actually a prominent feast in the calendar of ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai (b)
a. Acts 2:6 Or dialect
b. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room
c. The Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22; Numbers 28:26-31; Leviticus 23:15-21)
PENTECOST
Pentecost was a Hebrew Celebration the Law of Sinai, this feast still is celebrated today, but is called “Shavuot”. Since this occurs 50 days after Passover, the Hellenistic Jews changed the name to Pentecost which comes from the Greek word “for fifty”.
The day of Pentecost is where the speaking in tongues became known. In fact when the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, the crowd told them, they were drunk with sweet wine because everyone could understand what they were saying in their own languages. At which Peter stood up and advised them that they were not because it was only the third hour (9:00 in the morning.)
Pentecost celebrated the beginning of the harvest. Pentecost is a term only found in the NT, the OT Ex. 23:16 states, it’s “The Feast of Harvest”. The Apostles waited in fervor for this day, because Jesus told them that the Holy Spirit would be coming.
SPEAKING IN TONGUES
This is probably one of the hardest subjects for anyone to comprehend since the meaning has gone a rye over the years. “Speaking in Tongues” was a gift from the Holy Spirit, especially in Biblical times; it was usually used when there were different nationalities at a gathering. There are only four references to speaking in tongues in the Bible, and each one is directed at unknown languages/dialect. The first incident is in Acts 2, the Pentecost, the second incident is
38 years later in Caesarea after the Pentecost in the home of the Roman centurion Acts 10:44-48.
The third is also in Acts, Acts 11:15-18 which was about 13 years after Caesarea in Ephesus, and the fourth is in I Corinthians. All four accounts are referring to languages/dialects and not the jibber jabbers that you hear today, that no one understands nor can they interrupt. The Bible clearly states that there must be an interrupter if one is speaking in tongues. Though the “speaking in tongues” was a gift from the Holy Spirit, not everyone had this gift. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have the Holy Spirit if you do not “speak in tongues” it merrily meant that this was not your gift. Too much over the years has given people the impression that if you don’t “speak in tongues” you are not filled with the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost. This is just not true or accurate; when you are baptized the Bible clearly says that the Holy Spirit comes upon you. The Holy Spirit is who convicts you of sin, and helps you to get to heaven. The Spirit gives many gifts and speaking in tongues was one of those gifts that were given to the apostles to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is the meaning of “Speaking in Tongues”? Act 2:4 -“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues (d), as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” (e) Clearly all these scriptures are in one accord by communicating “speaking in tongues” to mean languages or some other dialect.
d. Acts 2:4 Or languages
1. Acts 2:4 Or ability to speak out
2. “Glossolalia” is the most commonly used term for “speaking in tongues”. It actually comes from the Greek words meaning, “Tongues” or “Languages
ARE SPEAKING IN TONGUES RELEVANT TODAY
Speaking in tongues was a valid gift during the first century, this was a sign to unbelieving Jews as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 14:22-“So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe” (f). This verse clearly shows that “speaking in tongues” is not really relevant for today, because we have the Bible in many different languages as well as translations for people to read and understand. God worked a miracle in the lives of the early disciples and gave them the ability to preach the gospel in a language that they had not learned. In Acts chapter two, many Jews from sixteen other areas of the world heard the gospel in their own language and were saved. This was the beginning of the great church in Jerusalem. There is truly no need for this gift anymore, though some Charismatic groups continue this today. Their claim is that you do not have or are not filled with the Holy Spirit unless you speak in tongues. There is nowhere in the Bible that states you must talk in tongues to have the Holy Spirit. Every believer is given the gift of the Holy Spirit once they repent and are baptized.
The Holy Spirit is for all who come to the Lord, he is our guide to Heaven, and he gives us the convictions that we must have in order to live as a believer should live.
g. They were a spiritual gift, intended for the conviction and conversion of infidels that they might be brought into the Christian church; but converts were to be built up in Christianity by profitable instructions in their own language. The gift of tongues was necessary to spread Christianity,-Matthew Henry Complete Commentary
CONCLUSION
There were two reasons why the gift of tongues was given to the apostles:
1. To break the language barriers
2. As a temporary sign for the Jew
Speaking in tongues isn’t relevant for today since God has given us the Bible, back in Biblical times they didn’t have the New Testament only the Old Testament to fall on. God gave them the gift of tongues so they (the apostles) could spread the word of God through the entire world, which was their mission that was given them by God.
God has given us the discernment of the Holy Spirit to understand scriptures without the need of speaking in tongues. Today’s society has completely miss-interrupted this special gift that was given to the apostles. No one else was given this gift other than them, and as I stated earlier it is only mentioned four times in the Bible, three times are mentioned in Acts, the other reference is in 1 Corinthians 12-14. “The uniform usage of the word “tongue” in the New Testament is that which signifies a language used by inhabitants of the word.”(William Bellshaw)
Most scholars believe also that the speaking in tongues was referring to some kind of foreign language that no one knew, and the evidence according to the Bible is pretty evident in this view. In Acts 2:4 when it speaks of “other tongues” it is understood that the reference is referring to some other human language other than their own. You also have to think about all the men that were there, they all were from other countries, so it stands to reason that the “other tongues” would indeed be other languages.
Reference to speaking in tongues by Church Fathers was extremely rare, except for Irenaeus’ 2nd Century, where he references to many in the church speaking all kinds of languages “through the Spirit”. This whole idea of speaking in tongues is very obscure according to Chrysostom 344-407, but the obscurity is produced by the ignorance of the facts. “In 1972 William Samarin found that glossolalic speech did resemble human language, the speaker would use accent, rhythm, intonation and pauses to break up the speech into units. Each unit had a syllables which formed consonants and vowels which were known to the speaker.” These are just three people that have proven that tongues in the Bible were referring to languages.
People today often miss-understand the actual meaning of “speaking in tongues” they seem to perceive it as jibber jabber, rather than actual languages. According to Acts 2:6 “...the crowds came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own (a) language”. This paper will try to clarify what speaking in tongues actually meant in Biblical times, and why it was so important during that time. I will try to prove why it is not relevant in today’s society anymore to speak in tongues. The term tongues are often used in the NT describing real languages. (Revelation 5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6; 17:15). When investigating this, we must look at where the information is found in the Bible,
ACTS 2:1-13
In the 2nd chapter of Acts is where the first speaking in tongues is recorded, most translations do indeed state “speaking in tongues” but the New American Standard Bible states “speaking in another language”. There were probably around 15-20 different spoken languages that were represented during the Pentecost. The Pentecost was not just a gathering in Greek this was called the Feast of Weeks (c), which was the second of three major Jewish festivals. So there would have been many different nationalities at this great historic event, since the pilgrims would have come from all over. It was actually a prominent feast in the calendar of ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai (b)
a. Acts 2:6 Or dialect
b. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room
c. The Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22; Numbers 28:26-31; Leviticus 23:15-21)
PENTECOST
Pentecost was a Hebrew Celebration the Law of Sinai, this feast still is celebrated today, but is called “Shavuot”. Since this occurs 50 days after Passover, the Hellenistic Jews changed the name to Pentecost which comes from the Greek word “for fifty”.
The day of Pentecost is where the speaking in tongues became known. In fact when the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, the crowd told them, they were drunk with sweet wine because everyone could understand what they were saying in their own languages. At which Peter stood up and advised them that they were not because it was only the third hour (9:00 in the morning.)
Pentecost celebrated the beginning of the harvest. Pentecost is a term only found in the NT, the OT Ex. 23:16 states, it’s “The Feast of Harvest”. The Apostles waited in fervor for this day, because Jesus told them that the Holy Spirit would be coming.
SPEAKING IN TONGUES
This is probably one of the hardest subjects for anyone to comprehend since the meaning has gone a rye over the years. “Speaking in Tongues” was a gift from the Holy Spirit, especially in Biblical times; it was usually used when there were different nationalities at a gathering. There are only four references to speaking in tongues in the Bible, and each one is directed at unknown languages/dialect. The first incident is in Acts 2, the Pentecost, the second incident is
38 years later in Caesarea after the Pentecost in the home of the Roman centurion Acts 10:44-48.
The third is also in Acts, Acts 11:15-18 which was about 13 years after Caesarea in Ephesus, and the fourth is in I Corinthians. All four accounts are referring to languages/dialects and not the jibber jabbers that you hear today, that no one understands nor can they interrupt. The Bible clearly states that there must be an interrupter if one is speaking in tongues. Though the “speaking in tongues” was a gift from the Holy Spirit, not everyone had this gift. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have the Holy Spirit if you do not “speak in tongues” it merrily meant that this was not your gift. Too much over the years has given people the impression that if you don’t “speak in tongues” you are not filled with the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost. This is just not true or accurate; when you are baptized the Bible clearly says that the Holy Spirit comes upon you. The Holy Spirit is who convicts you of sin, and helps you to get to heaven. The Spirit gives many gifts and speaking in tongues was one of those gifts that were given to the apostles to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is the meaning of “Speaking in Tongues”? Act 2:4 -“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues (d), as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” (e) Clearly all these scriptures are in one accord by communicating “speaking in tongues” to mean languages or some other dialect.
d. Acts 2:4 Or languages
1. Acts 2:4 Or ability to speak out
2. “Glossolalia” is the most commonly used term for “speaking in tongues”. It actually comes from the Greek words meaning, “Tongues” or “Languages
ARE SPEAKING IN TONGUES RELEVANT TODAY
Speaking in tongues was a valid gift during the first century, this was a sign to unbelieving Jews as Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 14:22-“So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe” (f). This verse clearly shows that “speaking in tongues” is not really relevant for today, because we have the Bible in many different languages as well as translations for people to read and understand. God worked a miracle in the lives of the early disciples and gave them the ability to preach the gospel in a language that they had not learned. In Acts chapter two, many Jews from sixteen other areas of the world heard the gospel in their own language and were saved. This was the beginning of the great church in Jerusalem. There is truly no need for this gift anymore, though some Charismatic groups continue this today. Their claim is that you do not have or are not filled with the Holy Spirit unless you speak in tongues. There is nowhere in the Bible that states you must talk in tongues to have the Holy Spirit. Every believer is given the gift of the Holy Spirit once they repent and are baptized.
The Holy Spirit is for all who come to the Lord, he is our guide to Heaven, and he gives us the convictions that we must have in order to live as a believer should live.
g. They were a spiritual gift, intended for the conviction and conversion of infidels that they might be brought into the Christian church; but converts were to be built up in Christianity by profitable instructions in their own language. The gift of tongues was necessary to spread Christianity,-Matthew Henry Complete Commentary
CONCLUSION
There were two reasons why the gift of tongues was given to the apostles:
1. To break the language barriers
2. As a temporary sign for the Jew
Speaking in tongues isn’t relevant for today since God has given us the Bible, back in Biblical times they didn’t have the New Testament only the Old Testament to fall on. God gave them the gift of tongues so they (the apostles) could spread the word of God through the entire world, which was their mission that was given them by God.
God has given us the discernment of the Holy Spirit to understand scriptures without the need of speaking in tongues. Today’s society has completely miss-interrupted this special gift that was given to the apostles. No one else was given this gift other than them, and as I stated earlier it is only mentioned four times in the Bible, three times are mentioned in Acts, the other reference is in 1 Corinthians 12-14. “The uniform usage of the word “tongue” in the New Testament is that which signifies a language used by inhabitants of the word.”(William Bellshaw)
Most scholars believe also that the speaking in tongues was referring to some kind of foreign language that no one knew, and the evidence according to the Bible is pretty evident in this view. In Acts 2:4 when it speaks of “other tongues” it is understood that the reference is referring to some other human language other than their own. You also have to think about all the men that were there, they all were from other countries, so it stands to reason that the “other tongues” would indeed be other languages.
Reference to speaking in tongues by Church Fathers was extremely rare, except for Irenaeus’ 2nd Century, where he references to many in the church speaking all kinds of languages “through the Spirit”. This whole idea of speaking in tongues is very obscure according to Chrysostom 344-407, but the obscurity is produced by the ignorance of the facts. “In 1972 William Samarin found that glossolalic speech did resemble human language, the speaker would use accent, rhythm, intonation and pauses to break up the speech into units. Each unit had a syllables which formed consonants and vowels which were known to the speaker.” These are just three people that have proven that tongues in the Bible were referring to languages.