Have you ever wondered why God gave us the spiritual gift of "speaking in tongues"?
If you are not familiar with "Christian" terminology, perhaps you don't know what I am talking about. So I will start out at the very beginning; the beginning of the "Christian" church, that is.
The Bible has two sections; the first three quarters is the "Old Testament," and the rest is the New Testament. The New Testament begins with the four "gospels", which is the "good news" of the coming and ministry of Jesus. The gospels cover the life of Jesus from his birth to his death and resurrection and ascending to his father in heaven.
Next is the book of "the Acts of the Apostles." Jesus had trained his "disciples" (learners) who later became his "apostles" (sent-ones). The book of "Acts" picks up the story from that point on, describing what his sent ones did for the next few decades. Chapter two of Acts gives the account of what happened on the "Day of Pentecost." "Pentecost" is the Greek word "fifty", and The Day of Pentecost was a special feast day celebration of the Jews, which took place fifty days after Jesus resurrection from the dead.
Jesus had told his learners (disciples), just before he ascended into heaven, to wait until they were given "power" from the Spirit, which will be poured out upon them.
And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
(Acts 1:4-5)
That happened on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2 records the events of that day:
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
(Acts 2:1-4)
So we see that the very first thing they received from the Spirit being poured out was "to speak with other tongues" (which means other "languages"). This was an amazing "sign," but it was very practical, with a good purpose.
And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
(Acts 2:5-12)
God poured out this gift, this amazing sign, so that this great news, the gospel, could be heard and understood by all the people there who were from many different countries each with their own language.
That "Day of Pentecost" was the beginning of a whole new reality. Jesus, the promised "Messiah" had come to earth as a baby boy just about three decades earlier. "Messiah" is the Hebrew word for this one who would bring salvation. He would be the greatest King! And now, on that day of Pentecost, that King of Kings, Jesus, who had walked with His learners, was crucified and rose again from the grave... That same Jesus, who had walked "with" them, was now being poured out as the Spirit to live "in" them. Never to leave them, but to live inside of them every moment for the rest of their lives here, and on into the ages to come.
This day was a profoundly amazing day. Peter spoke to the crowd that had gathered to see this commotion, and it was this same day that three thousand more people were added to them.
And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
(Acts 2:40-41)
So on this most amazing day of all human history, we see that "tongues" had a very practical and important use. Many centuries earlier at the "Tower of Babel" the language of the human race had been confused so that the people could not understand one another. You may read about that in Genesis 11, if you wish. But on this amazing day, because of the gift of "tongues", every one could understand Peter's message in his own language.
So why am I writing this piece? Why am I offering a reason for the gift of tongues?
The reason for this gift on the Day of Pentecost is quite easy to see, but why was the gift of tongues given many more times, and in other kinds of settings?
Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth speaks of the gifts of the Spirit:
... to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
(1 Corinthians 12:10)
On the Day of Pentecost, they didn't need an interpreter, because "everyone heard them speak in his own language." But here in Paul's list of gifts, we have "different kinds of tongues" and "the interpretation of tongues." So here Paul is talking about something a little different from what was given on the Day of Pentecost. And there is also "Praying in a tongue":
Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.
For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays,
but my understanding is unfruitful.
What is the conclusion then?
I will pray with the spirit,
and I will also pray with the understanding.
I will sing with the spirit,
and I will also sing with the understanding.
(1 Corinthians 14:13-15)
Now here, we have several different things related to "tongues"; speaking, interpreting, and praying and even singing "in the spirit." In these examples, Paul says "my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful." Why would God give such a strange thing as this to us, as a "gift"? These certainly don't seem to have a clear purpose like what happened on the day of Pentecost!
Many Christians today have rejected the whole idea of the gift of tongues as having no use in our time, and some consider it as not from God at all, but a deception from Satan.
But before I start to answer the question of "Why Tongues?" Let us notice a bit more of what Paul says about it. He does give them some correction and also limits the use of tongues:
But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played?
(1 Corinthians 14:6-7)
and;
If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
(1 Corinthians 14:27-28)
But he also encourages it, and is thankful for it!
I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.
(1 Corinthians 14:5)
and;
I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all;
(1 Corinthians 14:18)
So you might think that the only time that tongues is appropriate is either when someone understands it, like on the Day of Pentecost, or if there is an interpreter. And these are the guidelines for the public use of tongues. But why does Paul say, "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful"?
Why would anyone do that?
And what does he mean, "my spirit prays"?
Here is where I want to start to answer the question.
In time of war, there needs to be communication between command headquarters and the troops on the ground. And, of course, you don't want the enemy to know what your plan is. This communications is very time dependent. You need to respond quickly to any movement of the enemy, or unexpected change of circumstances. In modern times we have radio, but so does the enemy! The communication from headquarters needs to be encrypted!
This basic idea of encrypted communication applies to our spiritual war also. I will explain more why in a bit. But just to give some Biblical support for the idea that we are indeed in a war, Here are some verses that talk about our spiritual warfare:
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
(Galatians 5:17)
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
(Ephesians 6:12)
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
(2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
Now, I am not so much speaking of our enemy "out there," as if Satan or the demons and evil spirits are trying to listen in on what we are saying in a meeting. Because, if that were the problem, then having an interpreter would defeat the purpose of the encryption. But before I go on to explain further, There is another place where every one of us is using encryption all the time!
Did you guess where?
Computers, the Internet, and even our phones. A great deal of data that flows over the "Information Highway" (the Internet) is encrypted, and we use "passwords" to access things so other's can't. Encryption is so fundamental to the Internet, if it wasn't there, things would be vastly different, and probably thoroughly useless!
Well, I think it should be obvious that our use of, and technology for encryption was in God's mind long before we had any idea about it. God knows how to keep His enemy from figuring out His plan. As it says:
However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
(1 Corinthians 2:6-8)
So God is the one who knows best how to keep the enemy from understanding His plan. And He is the one who chose to give us the gift of speaking in tongues!
As I said earlier, it's not "our enemy 'out there'" that is the reason for tongues. The war at issue here is the war within each one of us!
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
(Galatians 5:17)
and;
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
(Romans 8:6-8)
So how does "tongues" help in that?
Ah, here is the amazing wisdom of God!
As Paul said "my spirit prays." And "my understanding is unfruitful." You see, when we are "born again," we are born of the Spirit, and our spirit is made alive. But our mind is still set on the flesh, and desiring fleshly things. That is where the war is; it is a "spiritual war." So if we pray "in the spirit" (in tongues) our spirit is praying according to the Spirit of God within us, and our mind does not know what is being prayed. When we pray this way, we are completely trusting God to be guiding our prayer, and our fleshly mind has no say in it at all! If our fleshly mind knew what we were praying, it would be fiddling with the words and changing the prayer every which way to its own fleshly desires! That prayer coming from our spirit comes through our mind "encrypted" and unchanged and out our mouth to God.
So that's the communication in one direction, but we still need the communication from "headquarters"; (Jesus is the "head" of His body, the church). So God uses a little different "kind" of tongue for the other direction! So when God wants to tell us the next move in His strategic plan, He uses one of His servants, to whom he has given the "gift of speaking in tongues." That one gets the encrypted message, unchanged by his mind, because his mind doesn't understand it. And, of course, if it stopped there, it would be lost, and useless. But that's where the one with the "gift of interpretation" comes in. And if the one interpreting is faithful and honest, all he is doing is telling the rest of the members present what he heard! He hears it in a language he understands! So everyone hears the original message unchanged.
This combination of speaking in tongues with interpretation, is equivalent to prophesying, except with the encryption in place. And just as Paul says about prophecy;
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.
(1 Corinthians 14:29 NKJV)
Or a better translation is:
And let two or three prophets speak, and let the others discern.
(1 Corinthians 14:29 Berean Literal Bible)
And hopefully we have members with the spiritual gift of "discernment of spirits" to verify that indeed the message is what God's Spirit actually sent.
No wonder this was the very first gift functioning on that first Day of Pentecost!
When you are preparing for war, you better have your communication channels set up and your encryption equipment in place and working!
Let us indeed desire all these spiritual gifts!
I will here give a real example of these gifts in operation a few decades ago only a dozen or so miles from my home. A dear friend of mine, named Connie, told me of her experience in her church. One day there was a visiting minister from another town there in their meeting. At one point he stood up and gave a message in an unknown language (a tongue). He then sat down and waited to hear the interpretation. After a period of waiting, with no interpretation, he stood up again and spoke a message in English, and sat down again. Later, after the meeting was over, there was a group of people around him wondering what had happened and why there was no one to interpret.
At the same time there was a gathering forming around my friend, Connie. She was asking them why the man had said the same thing twice! When they figured out what happened they came together and understood that this was how God chose to give Connie the gift of interpretation. She simply heard it in English the first time. She didn't think anything about it, until he got up and said the same thing again!