6 Minute Read
Prepare Your Heart
To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.
Read God’s Word
A Verse for Today
Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.
Acts 2:4 (CSB): “Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them.”
Reflecting on God’s Word
Acts 2 has been horribly misunderstood by a large number of people who would readily call themselves Christians. One of the main points of contention among various groups is how to answer the question: “What does ‘tongues’ mean?”
People who align with the charismatic movement use this passage to excuse what can only be described as gibberish to any objective onlooker. It can be quite the scene when more than one person claims to “have the Spirit” and start “speaking in tongues.” And by the way, IF Acts 1 allows for their interpretation, and I do NOT believe it does, charismatics almost always violate the following biblical command.
1 Corinthians 14:27-28 (CSB): “If anyone speaks in a tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God.”
When I have observed people “speaking in tongues,” it’s typically quite a few people speaking all at once, and no one appears even to be attempting to translate what was said.
So, the big question is: “What is the gift of tongues that occurred in Acts 2 and a few other times in the New Testament?”
A great way to understand the Bible is to let the Bible interpret the Bible. So, instead of asking current Christian groups what it means, let’s ask the Bible what it means.
Let’s begin by looking at the original language that the New Testament was written in. It was originally written in Koine Greek, the universal language of commerce in the first-century Roman world. In Koine Greek, the word that is typically translated as “tongue” is “glossa.” The Greek word literally refers to the biological tongue, but figuratively refers to the languages spoken by that tongue. So, context determines how that word is translated.
Well, what’s the context? Was Luke, led by God’s Holy Spirit, referring to the human tongue, or was he referring to languages? Just look at the following verses. I will insert the Greek words “dialekto” and “glossa” after the place it is used in the original language.
Acts 2:6-8 (CSB): “When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language (dialekto). They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language (dialekto)?”
Acts 2:11 (CSB): “… we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues (glossa).”
Clearly, the Greek word “glossa” refers to an understood, legitimate language. The added word “dialecto” makes it abundantly clear that Luke was talking about literal languages because that word refers to one’s own personal language in their own dialect. I recently moved from Florida to Kentucky. The lanaguage is the same but the dialect is distinctly different. We are told in Acts that the people heard the Apostles speaking “in their own native language” or “dialect.”
So, what was going on in Acts 2? Is there just a bunch of gibberish going on, or was there something much more intentional and miraculous taking place?
Jews had come from a multitude of countries to observe the day of Pentecost. Many of those Jews spoke the language of their own country, not the language of Judea and Galilee. And those visiting Jews desperately needed the Gospel. They needed to hear that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to make them right in God’s eyes if they would only repent of their sins and trust in Him.
But how were they to hear the Gospel proclaimed by Apostles who were uneducated and certainly didn’t know the languages of the people around them? The answer is that God gave the supernatural gift of speaking in a language the Apostles did not know so that the Gospel could be proclaimed.
Here’s how I think it played out:
Imagine that I’m a Jew from Timbucktoo. I speak the language of Timbucktoo, and I have never heard Aramaic (the heart language of 1st-century Jews in Israel) and Greek. It’s just gibberish to me. So, you can imagine my surprise when I approached the Temple, and I heard a man speaking in my own language about a man named Jesus who died and rose again to make me right in Yahweh’s eyes. I trusted in Jesus right then and there and then approached the man who was speaking my language, even in my own dialect! I asked him where he learned to speak the language of Timbucktoo. I was shocked to see him look at me with wonder and say, “Isn’t God good?! I never learned your language but I desperately wanted you and all the others to hear the Gospel. So, God gave us the temporary miraculous ability to speak in your language, a language I have never heard nor studied, in order to share the Gospel with you.”
There are other instances of “tongues/languages” in the New Testament, and most of those are easily explained, too. I may address them when I get to them.
Spend Time in Prayer
- Ask God to help you continue to develop a deeper understanding of Scripture so that you can more readily explain the hard texts and defend it all to a skeptical world.
Going Deeper
If you want to dig a little deeper into the gift of tongues/languages, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:
“What is the gift of speaking in tongues?”
Sharing
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Matt Ellis is the pastor of White Hall Baptist Church in Richmond, Kentucky (whitehallbaptistchurch.org)
Matt’s Musings 