By Pastor Dave Farmer
Prophecy becomes history! This study is devoted to the unique events on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after our Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection.
Topic #3 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF TONGUES
Seven hundred years after the ministry of Isaiah, his prediction became a historical event (Isaiah 28:11,12). The main thrust of this prophecy declared that one day Jewish people would be evangelized in Gentile languages and that this would be a sign to them of impending judgment from God. 1 This prophecy was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Biblical documentation for it is found in Acts chapter two.
Acts 2:1
And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
Before our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, He instructed the little band of one hundred and twenty believers to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4,5). Ten days later, while they were gathered together, the promise of the Spirit became a reality.
The first Advent of the Holy Spirit fell on the Jewish holy day of Pentecost, and now the Church and Israel forever share a joint founding event. The Rabbis taught that it was on this day Moses received the Law at Mt Sinai, and so it became known as the "feast of the giving of the law." 2 So, on the birthday of the Jewish nation, God chose to inaugurate the Church Age.
Interestingly, on the Feast of First Fruits, as the first shoots of the barley grain began to sprout, the priest took the first of the sheaves and waved them before the Lord filled with an expectation of a future harvest (Leviticus 23:10,11). Now five weeks later, at Pentecost, the grain harvest was completed, and the people were to bake two loaves of bread and offer them to the Lord, giving thanks to God for His faithfulness in providing the sunshine and the rain (Leviticus 23:17).
The ritual of the wave offering on that day highlights the principle of dedication--Israel belonged to the Lord; they were God's chosen people. It is a lost doctrinal fact that we must be reminded of from time to time that Israel's responsibility before the Lord was to be a witness, and their missionary responsibility was to communicate to the world God's plan of salvation. The two loaves are not a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, for they were to be mixed with leaven. Leaven in Scripture is a symbol of sinfulness, and Christ Jesus our Lord was impeccable and perfect. What do the two loaves represent? In the Old Testament, the truth is established in the mouth of two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6). The two loaves of bread are a picture of Israel's missionary responsibility.
Advance to the time of our Lord Jesus Christ. The day He ascended into Heaven, He told those following Him to wait in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4). Why wait? Why not send the Holy Spirit right then and there? God does nothing without purpose. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will provide power, and they will be His witnesses (Acts 1:8).
As the Jewish people gathered in the Temple to celebrate the conclusion of the successful grain harvest, they would become the harvest, a spiritual harvest unto the Lord. On the Day of Pentecost, three thousand Jewish people accepted Jesus Christ as their savior (Acts 2:41), and on the next day, five thousand Jewish people trusted in Jesus Christ. It was on this Pentecost that the ritual of the day became a reality.
The Church, on the Day of Pentecost, took over Israel's mission. The witness of the Church of Jesus Christ would begin in Jerusalem and go on throughout the region of Judea and neighboring Samaria. Finally, the whole world would hear about God's plan of salvation--faith alone in Christ alone.
Israel had long forgotten the meaning and significance of the Feast of Pentecost. It is hard to be an evangelist when you have no gospel to share with the world. The mission of the Jew was lost to them for a time. Now, we are given the responsibility of being ambassadors for Christ (1 Corinthians 5:20). We are all in full-time Christian service with a responsibility to everyone around us to be a witness for Christ. This ministry is twofold. We witness with our lives by how we conduct ourselves in this world. We are to live for Jesus by allowing His character to show through us. Secondly, as God the Holy Spirit gives us opportunity, we share the gospel with others by telling them how to be saved.
Acts 2:2,3
2) And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3) And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
The arrival of the Holy Spirit came symbolically, as He had in the past, at our Lord's baptism (Matthew 3:16). On that occasion, He came as a hovering dove (John 1:32). Now He comes in two representative forms. His presence was heard (a tornado-like sound) and seen (tongues of fire).
The first way they detected the presence of the Holy Spirit was by the tornado-like noise that filled the house. Wind symbolizes the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-9; Ezekiel 37:9). This was not a visible sign but an audible one. It is interesting to note that the Church Age began with a great noise and will terminate with the blast of a trumpet and the shout of an archangel (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
The second way they detected the presence of the Holy Spirit was by the visible fire-like tongues. The tongue is an organ of communication, and since the gift of tongues would enable the believers to speak in languages that they had not learned, the sign then conforms to the gift. It was said to be like fire, and fire is symbolic of judgment. We have noted that the gift of tongues given on the Day of Pentecost would be a red alert to the Jew that they would come under the fifth cycle of discipline (Leviticus 26:27-39).
Acts 2:4
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues [glossa-languages], as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
The Scriptures state that the Holy Spirit rested on each one of them. Here, we have the first mention of the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, which is the norm for the spiritual life of the believer [Ephesians 5:18]. Thirdly, the Holy Spirit imparted the spiritual gift of tongues. Before continuing with the story of what happened, I want to answer the question most often asked, "What is the gift of tongues?"
Today, there is a search to determine the nature of the gift of tongues. The central problem is to determine whether tongues is human language based upon vocabulary, syntax, and content of thought or is it ecstatic utterance. Or, to put it another way, we can choose between indiscriminate sounds or discernible languages.
Godly men can be found holding either view. Dr. Floyd Barackman, in his Systematic Theology, writes, “The gift of tongues appears to be a non-rational utterance of a divinely incited human spirit.” 3 Then some believe tongues to be known human languages. Dr. John Walvoord writes:
Any view which denies that speaking in tongues used actual languages is difficult to harmonize with the Scriptural concept of a spiritual gift. 4
Another view is that tongues-speaking in Acts is language, and tongues-speaking in 1 Corinthians is an ecstatic utterance. The great Greek lexicographer Joseph Thayer held this view, and writing about 1 Corinthians, he says:
The gift of man who, rapt in ecstasy and no longer quite masters of their own reason and consciousness, pour forth their glowing spiritual emotions in strange utterances, rugged, dark, disconnected, quite unfitted to instruct or to influence the minds of others. 5
Even the Charismatics are divided as to the nature of tongues. John Sherrill attempted to verify tongues as a language. He brought together six linguists who met in a private dining room at the Columbia University Faculty Club. Three linguists, according to Sherrill, were on the staff at Columbia, and two were professors at Union Theological Seminary. Among these men, there were two specialists in modern languages, three in ancient languages, and one expert in the study of language structure. At this meeting, Sherrill played several tapes that he had made of people speaking in tongues and requested that the linguists try and see if they could identify any of these languages. Sherrill wrote:
I put on the first tape, each man leaned forward, straining to catch every syllable. Several took notes. But at no time did l see a face light up with recognition. I played another tape, and then another. For the better part of an hour we listened to one prayer after another, spoken “in the spirit ‘. And when, at last, we came to the end, l looked around and asked, ‘Well, Gentlemen? ‘ Six heads shook in the negative. No one had heard a language that he could identify. 6
The result of this study points to the fact that modern tongues-speaking is an ecstatic utterance, yet not all the Charismatics agree. Erwin writes:
In our day, there is an increasing number of testimonies by Christians who have spoken known languages “in the spirit.” On one occasion the present author was participating in a healing service in a church on the West Coast of the United States. As he prayed in tongues, an Armenian Baptist woman listened to his "tongue" and identified it as prayer in Russian. Again while praying with a small group for the healing a missionary who speaks Spanish fluently, the missionary identified his “tongue" as Spanish dialect. 7
Erwin, a Charismatic, goes on to cite that he has spoken in "tongues," he lists the languages: Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Kurdish, and Portuguese. He states, “...all of these languages are unknown to the writer.” 8
Are tongues-speaking languages or ecstatic utterances? How do they deal with this problem? Very simply. They tell us that tongues are indiscernible as a language when spoken but are somehow communicated in the form of a language when heard by those who are given the ability to interpret.
The conclusion as to the nature of present-day tongues speaking is that no conclusion is possible. The views are diverse: ( 1) Tongues are language. (2) Tongues are an ecstatic utterance. (3) Tongues are language in Acts 2, but ecstatic utterance in 1 Corinthians 12-14. (4) Tongues are language and ecstatic utterances at the same time. However, there is no confusion in the Scripture.
ln Acts 2:4, the Greek text reads LALEO HETEROS GLOSSA, which means "to speak with other tongues." GLOSSA is used in two ways in the Scriptures. It refers to the organ of speech or the noise the tongue is making. Therefore, we must determine what kind of sound the tongue makes. Does it produce indiscriminate sound or coherent language? Let's briefly review the Biblical evidence.
First, the context of Acts 2 verifies that tongues are a language.
We are told that the gathered multitude heard these believers speaking in their native vernacular, "in his own language." The Greek word for language is DlALEKTOS, from where we derive our word "dialect." It always means a known language or native language. Nothing can be more straightforward than this, and yet books have been written to explain away the fact that these people heard their own native language spoken.
This also explains why the unbelieving Jews were so astonished by saying, "Behold, are not these which speak Galileans?" The Galileans were known for speaking a non-grammatical Aramaic. 9 They were generally uneducated and monolingual. What this crowd heard was fifteen different languages being spoken by the followers of Christ who knew only one language. Not only that, there was the transmission of thought, and they could communicate fluently and coherently in these languages.
Dr. John Cawood writes about this incident:
There can be no question that what these men heard and what these men did on the day of Pentecost was to speak in a language of the day, a language not their own, but a language that they had not learned. It was evidently a language that somebody else recognized as his language. 10
Secondly, we must determine if the use of GLOSSA for the gift of tongues is consistently used for known human language.
In Acts chapter ten, we have an account of several Gentiles receiving the gift of tongues. In fact, we have LALEO GLOSSA being used, so we have similar vocabulary. Yet, there is nothing in the context which indicates this gift was a gift of language. However, Peter reveals to the church in Jerusalem the events that took place in Cornelius' house. He describes this event, that is, the coming of the Holy Spirit and their speaking in tongues in this way:
Acts 11:15
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them as on us AT THE BEGINNING.
What beginning is Peter referring to? The Day of Pentecost, what else! What happened in Acts 10:46 happened in Acts 2:4. If the testimony of the Word of God means anything, why is there so much controversy? There is only one conclusion. The Book of Acts, in every instance where tongues-speaking is recorded, it is a language, a KNOWN language of that day.
Thirdly, What about 1 Corinthians?
The only other book in the New Testament that mentions tongues-speaking is in 1 Corinthians. First, the grammatical constructions and vocabularies are the same. Again, LALEO GLOSSA is used.
Dr. John Walvoord says:
The use of identical terms in reference to speaking with tongues in Acts and in 1 Corinthians leaves no foundation for a distinction. On the basis of the Greek and the statement of the text no distinction is found.11
What often confuses everyone is the presence of the italicized word "unknown." This is a word that the translators supply. It is not found nor implied in the Greek text. Cross it out! It is not there!
Lastly, the use of GENOS.
This word helps pin down the problem of identifying tongues-speaking as an ecstatic utterance or known language. In 1 Corinthians 12:10, 28; 14:10, the Greek word GENOS appears, which means nationality, race, kindred, or people. For instance, in Philippians 3:5, Paul says, “I am of the stock of Israel." Stock is the word GENOS. It refers to nationality. Therefore, 1 Corinthians 12:10 should read “to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, TO ANOTHER A DIFFERENT family OF LANGUAGE." GENOS, in conjunction with the gift of tongues, reveals the language is related to a nation, tribe, or group of people—nothing unknown or ecstatic in the whole process.
All of the Biblical evidence points to tongue-speaking as human language not learned or previously known. The evidence is overwhelming. The context, usage, vocabulary, and syntax attest to tongues as discernible language. In our next article, we will continue with Acts two and examine "the Miracle" that occurred at the advent of the Holy Spirit.
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1 See "Topic #1 The Introduction To The Gift of Tongues; Topic# 2 The Prophetic View of the Gift of Tongues.
2 See Glossary in Reference Section.
3 Charles Lee Feinberg, "Pentecost," in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Zondervan Company, Michigan, 1975) Vol.4, p.692.
4 Dr. Floyd H. Barackman, Practical Christian Theology (Fleming H. Revell Company, New Jersey, 1984) p. 375.
5 Dr. John F. Walvoord, The Holy Spirit (Grand Rapids, Michigan,1958) Pg. 1.
6 J. H. Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Zondervan Publishing House, Michigan, 1969) pp. 118, 119.
7 Robert R. Gustafson, Authors of Confusion (Florida, 1971), pg. 63.
8 Howard M. Ervin, These Are Not Drunken As Ye Suppose (Plainfield, New Jersey, 1968) p. 127.
9 lbid. p.127.
10 H.S. Miller, General Biblical Introduction (Word Bearer Press, Houghton, NY) 1960, p.157. "...Aramaic kept pressing in upon Judea and Jerusalem until, in about the 1st Century B.C.' it had become the common language of the Jews; while Hebrew remained the language of the priesthood, the educated, and the religious literature of the times. Aramaic was the prevailing language of Palestine in the time of Christ, and was probably the language of Christ Himself."
11 Dr. John W. Cawood, The New Tongues Movement, (Philadelphia College of the Bible) p. 13.
12 Op. cit., Walvoord p. 183.