ACCURATE
BIBLE
KNOWLEDGE!
ANSWER:
Very
simply. They were for Israel not the Christian church.
EXPLANATION:
Because the
nation of Israel had rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the 17
tongues of
Pentecost were a sign to these unbelieving Jews, that God was no longer
to be
their ‘exclusive possession’. God would no longer speak to them
exclusively in
Hebrew, as he always had through their prophets.
2. Pentecost
was a sign for Israel that God was now
temporarily putting them aside, and speaking to other nations in their
own
languages, that is, in their own mother tongues. These
tongues were the 17 languages as follows:
1. Parthians
2. Medes
3. Elamites
4. Mesopotamia
5. Judaea
6.
Cappadocia
7. Pontus
8. Asia
9. Phrygia
10. Pamphylia
11. Egypt
12. Libya
about Cyrene
13. Rome
14. Cretes
15. Arabians. (Acts 2:9-11).
In addition there were
16. Jews and
17. proselytes.
3. From their
Old Testament experiences, they were
alarmed as they knew when Gentile languages ‘entered’ their lives, hard
times
were approaching, and in this case, it would be the destruction of
Jerusalem. Pentecost’s
tongues were not a blessing to the Jew, but a warning
that they were under
severe judgment from God for their rejection of Christ. The Jews
were God’s
own chosen people, and whenever God spoke to them by their prophets, it
was in
their own Hebrew language. For the Jews to hear a Gentile language
being used
by God, they realized they were under judgement (Deuteronomy 28:49-50).
For
example, we read of the Babylonian tongues (Jeremiah 5:15
Pentecost
was an entirely Jewish event, both in the old and new
testaments, and
had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the church, except
for the
fact, that the two loaves represent the two classes of sinful
people,
represented by the leaven, Jews and Gentiles, that were to form the
present day
church in Christ. Unbeknown to Israel, they were rehearsing the future
event of
Gentiles having access to God their Father. Ye shall bring out of
your
habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be
of fine
flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto
the LORD.
(Leviticus 23:17)
Two
classes are mentioned in the King James Bible – known and unknown
tongues
Class 1 -
KNOWN TONGUES
These were 17 proper languages that were known by
those present, Jews, at
Pentecost and up to AD70 as “…every
man heard them speak in his own language.” (Acts 2:6)
Class 2 -
UNKNOWN
TONGUES
These also
were the 17 proper languages that were simply not known by anyone present at an
assembly or gathering.
Not being able to be understood, God
forbids them to be spoken at an assembly. Paul says “If you want to
speak in an
unknown tongue, go home, speak to the Lord if you must.”
Paul says you will not be speaking in
God’s holy Spirit, but in your own spirit. Furthermore, you will be
speaking in
mysteries.
We read “For
he that speaketh in an unknown tongue (a proper
language of the 17 at Pentecost but not known by anyone present)
speaketh
not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in
the spirit (this is the
human spirit with a small “s” and not
God’s Spirit with a
capital “S”) he
speaketh mysteries.”
(1Cor 14:2).
Tongues,
known or unknown, must be one of
the 17 Pentecost languages … not the
garble of today. The following Table
explains:
|
Proper
languages |
Class #1
Tongues – known |
Yes |
Class #2
Tongues – unknown |
Yes |
Today’s bunch of sounds. Not found in 1Cor 1 |
No |
THE USE OF TONGUES
Paul corrects the misuse of them in 1
Cor 14 (AD 57) such that one year later, when he writes Romans around
AD 57-58,
tongues are even not mentioned as being one of the gifts. Why? They had
dropped
off in their use. The gift was not important anymore.
1. Tongues were the 17 proper known languages given supernaturally by God to the apostles to speak to unbelieving Jews (1Cor 15:2) at Pentecost. “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 14:22). Therefore, the tongues that were spoken as a sign to unbelievers, were to be a language that unbelievers could understand.
2. Unbelieving Jews, that is the Christ rejectors, had to be present.
3.
The
apostles never used tongues as a
prayer language to God.
4.
The 17 Pentecost languages
were given
by God to the apostles … no learning needed.
5.
Tongues
were never for Christians. There were
no Christians at Pentecost (Acts 11:26)
The modern day user of
counterfeit
tongues say they pray in the Spirit (Eph 6:18). Do they?
No they don’t. When praying to God, it
is to be with understanding as Paul says What
is it then? I will pray with the spirit,
and I will pray with the
understanding also: I will sing
with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. 1 Corinthians 14:15. Today’s
utterances are not praying in the Spirit – but merely making mysterious
noises
to God with the human spirit.
Paul is not saying he
does – he is
just saying “though (or if I could) I speak in the tongues of angels”.
Anyhow
Paul can’t speak in the tongues of angels as he isn’t an angel himself.
It is the Holy Spirit
that makes
groanings not a man’s spirit and can’t be uttered by any man.
The ‘tongues’ spoken today are a fraud,
a lie and are a pretence.
Unfortunately, they are used by some to sound spiritual,
and put pressure on ‘non-tongue’
speakers, by making out they are more spiritual or have a spiritual
gift.
Unless you are speaking in one of the 17 languages at Pentecost, with Christ rejecting Jews present, and speaking before the book of Romans was written, you are being bewitched. The only purpose for tongues at Pentecost, was to disturb and warn unbelieving Christ rejecting Jews, and to bring them to salvation.
Harley Hitchcock
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