"Tongues Were Only for a Sign of God's Judgement Upon Israel"
The Above Assertion, That Tongues Were Sent by God as a Judgement Against
Israel, Cannot be Supported by Holy Scripture.
Tongues, along with
dreams, visions, and other prophetic speech are given to the church to
empower the believers to live a life that is saturated by the Holy
Spirit. The result of the Holy Spirit annointed church, is that
Christians everywhere will stop what they are doing, stop studying
theology, and simply praise the Lord--with enthusiasm. God will see a
people desiring to praise His holy name. This new life in the Holy
Spirit is described by Paul:
"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but
understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine,
wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to
yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things
unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" Eph 5:
17-20
Tongues are not for judgement, but for power:
"For
John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy
Ghost... But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come
upon you" Acts 1: 5-8
A big part of the power that the
believers received when the Holy Spirit was poured out (at Pentecost,
and ever after) was the ability to praise God through the Holy Spirit;
that is, the Holy Spirit actually praying to God--through the mouth of
a believer!
"we do hear them speak in our tongues the
wonderful works of God" Acts 2: 11 "They heard them speak with tongues
and magnify God" Acts 10: 46
God, since Pentecost, has given believers the power to live as New Testament priests; therefore Peter gives these instructions:
"Ye
also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by
Jesus Christ" 1 Peter 2: 5
The spiritual sacrifices that God
is pleased with, is not animal sacrifices at a temple; but, rather, He
seeks the true worship of His name by people of the Spirit:
"But
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a
peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath
called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." 1 Peter 2: 9
Tongues Praise God
That
is why, when the Holy Spirit was given (at the Acts 2 Pentecost--and at
many other times); the resulting tongues and prophecies (and all other
spiritual gifts) were not to ridicule the Jews in judgement, but to
bring praises to God's holy name. And remember that sometimes
tongues-speaking is not God's Holy Spirit coming down to speak through
man (supposedly cursing the Jews in judgement), but it may be the
prophetic spirit inside of a man that sends praises up to God (in no
way would that be words of judgement against the Jews).
The
idea that tongues were given as a judgement against the Jews, is just
an assumption that cessationists have decided is true. Tongues, are
part of the prophetic gift to strengthen the church. If tongues were
given to judge the Jews, then so was every other prophetic gift. And
every prophetic dream that someone has is just the Lord saying that the
Jews are wicked! Actually, prophetic gifts are given to edify (build
up) the church:
"He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church" 1 Cor. 14: 3-4
How
in the world can one be edified by speaking words of judgement against
the Jews. Paul teaches, in chapter 14, that prophecies [which include
the interpretation of tongues] in the church service causes people
[Jews and Gentiles] to get saved:
"But if all prophesy, and
there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced
of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made
manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and
report that God is in you of a truth" 1 Cor 14: 24-25
How could
it be that a tongues-message is a judgement against the Jews, but the
interpretation of those very words could get him saved. In Acts chapter
10 it is recorded that the Gentiles began speaking in tongues while
Peter was there. If cessationist ideas are correct; then the Gentiles
were speaking words of judgement against Peter and his entourage
because they are Jewish! And in Acts 19 it is recorded that Jewish
believers at Ephesus were speaking in tongues. Again, if cessationists
are correct that tongues are a sign of Judgement against the Jews; then
they were speaking words of judgement aginst themselves, against Paul
(who was there), and against every other Jew.
Picture this
absurdity: A Jewish man gets saved, and he works real hard trying to
get a Gentile neighbor of his saved also. Finally, one day, after much
hard work and long-suffering, the Jewish man leads the Gentile to
salvation in Christ. Later that same evening they are at a prayer
meeting. The Gentile speaking in tongues is saying, "You evil Jew! You
have been judged as wicked!-- At least you got me saved." And the
Jewish man saying in tongues. "I am wicked indeed. I wish I was a
Gentile, instead of a wicked Jew."
Cessationists might say that tongues were only to judge the unbelieving
Jews. This idea is proved false because there were no unbelieving Jews
to hear the words of "judgement" at Cornelius' house (Acts 10) or at
Ephesus (Acts 19). The Scriptures that cessationists use to support
their idea is below (notice the absence of the word, "judgement."):
"Brethren,
be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but
in understanding be men. In the Law it is written, With men of other
tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all
that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a
sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but
prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which
believe." 1 Cor. 14: 20-22
Assyria What?
It is easy to see why cessationists
assume that tongues are for a judgement against the Jews. The Old
Testament qoute within 1 Cor 14: 20-22 (above) is from Isaiah 28, where
God is basically telling Israel (the Northern kingdom) that they have
been so wicked that He will allow them to be conquered by Assyria.
Therefore cessationists have come to the conclusion that hearing a
foriegn language is a judgement. And because the unbelieving Jews in
New Testament times heard a strange tongue (particularly at Pentecost
where there were many actual foriegn dialects spoken); they assume that
tongues is a sign that someone has been judged. However, the judgement
against the Israel in Isaiah's day was not a strange tongue. The
judgement against Israel was that they would be taken captive by
Assyria.
The fact that the Assyrians spoke a strange language
is irrelevant. If the Assyrians had spoken the same language that
Israel spoke; God would still have allowed them to conqour Israel. The
strange language was not a judgement, but a consequence of the
judgement. Likewise, in the New Testament, tongues are not a judgement
against the Jews for being wicked (not accepting Christ) or unbeliving.
This is where the cessationists are confused. They confuse the "reason"
with the "consequence." Cessationists think that the reason for tongues
is a "sign" to show that God has judged the Jews (as unworthy of
something). And they belive that the consequence of God judgeing the
Jews is that Christians will speak in tongues (to show judgment). But
actually, just the opposite is true. The reason God sent tongues
(prophetic speech, and gifts) to the believers, is for power and
praise. The consequence of tongues-speaking is that unbeleivers (Jew
and Gentile) do not understand what is being spoken. Therefore, to
them, it is just a "sign." It must be noted that the Greek word,
"semeion" which has been translated as "sign," in verse 22, above, does
not mean, "sign" as a street sign stating that "The Jews have been
judged." In this case it means, a "sign," as in a "wonder," or a
"mystery,: or "perplexity." This same Greek word is used in the
following verses from the book of revelation:
"And there appeared a great wonder [semeion] in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun" Rev. 12:1
"And there appeared another wonder [semeion] in heaven; and behold a great red dragon having seven heads " Rev. 12: 3
"And I saw another sign [semeion] in heaven, great and marvellous," Rev. 15:1
Therefore,
verse 22 is not saying that tongues are a sign showing that the Jews
have been judged by God. Rather; Paul, wrote 1Cor 14 to show that
tongues without interpretation does not benifit anyone except the
speaker; therefore, do not speak tongues loudly in the church service
(without interpretation) because for others, it is just a mystery/sign.
And just as the Old Testament Jews were perplexed by the Assyrian
dialect; so they are perplexed today by tongues, and it will not help
them--so do not do it in the church when it is time for
learning--unless there is interpretation, "let him that speaketh in an
unknown tongue pray that he may interpret" (1 Cor. 14: 13). If tongues
are a sign of judgement against the Jews, because they do not
understand it. Then it is also a sign of judgement against everybody
(including apostles) because no one can understand, unless it is
interpreted.
In chapter 14 (of 1 Cor.), Paul says, "I thank my
God, I speak with tongues more than ye all." (1 Cor. 14: 18) Notice,
that he did not say, "I thank God that I judge the Jews more than you
all." The Old Testament qoute (from Isaiah 28, below) that
cessationists try to construe into saying that tongues are a judgement
(by Christians) against the Jews, cannot be a prophecy that is
fulfilled by the church because Christians did not take the Jews
captive to a foriegn land.
"For with stammering lips and
another tongue will he speak to this people... But the word of the Lord
was unto them precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line;
here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall
backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken." Isaiah 28: 11-13
Germany,
under the sick Adolf Hitler, could have fulfilled that prophecy better
than the Christian church could have. But the prophecy of Isaiah 28 was
only to be fulfilled once--in the 7oo's B.C. Isaiah 28 is not a
prophecy of the church age. Paul did not say that, or imply it. Paul is
speaking of prophecies and tongues in the church service; that is the
context of his words. Therefore, he is telling the Corinthians that the
church is made up of believers and prophecy is for believers in the
church-service (for their instruction) and that prophecy convicts a
stray unbeliever that happens to be there; therefore prophecy is better
than tongues in the church unless there is an interpretation. Now,
cessationists might agree that tongues-speaking is not actually "words"
of judgement against the Jews. And they might even agree that tongues
edifies the church. Nevertheless they often say that tongues are still
a judgement against the Jews, as God is showing them that they are no
longer His exclusive people who are to act as His mouthpiece to the
world. That is all fine. That is why the "reason" and the "consequence"
for tongues (written above) needs to be examined.
God's Plan
Remember
that "tongues-praise" is God's plan for His church. The verses below
speak of tongues and prophecies (that began on Pentecost-- Acts 2) as
living water flowing from the believers' heart:
"If any man
thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as
the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him
should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given [He was given at
the Acts 2 Penetecost] because Jesus was not yet glorified.)" John 7:
37-39
Copyright 2006 - 2007. Peter Kwiatkowski. All rights
reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain
License. http://www.pentecostal-tongues-theology.org Peter Kent
Kwiatkowski -