Tongues a Sign to Unbelievers
February 19, 2020
Commentary
As a nation, the Jews were always seeking a sign (Matt. 12:38, I Cor. 1:22). At Pentecost, the fact that the apostles spoke in tongues was a sign to the unbelieving Jews who were there celebrating the feast. The miracle of tongues aroused their interest, but it did not convict their hearts. It took Peter’s preaching (in Aramaic, which all the people understood) to bring them to the place of conviction and conversion.
When Paul taught, he used koine Greek and Aramaic, which all the Jews spoke. He also spoke in ancient Hebrew. His New Testament epistles were written in Greek. He could rightly say that he spoke more in foreign languages than any of his audience (v. 18). Nevertheless, he insisted that he would rather speak five words that could be understood than ten thousand words in a language with which his hearers were unfamiliar (v. 19).
In this passage Paul makes it plain that it is not quantity of words but the quality of understanding that is important. He says that in their tongues speaking, the church members in Corinth are acting like children playing with toys and not as mature men (v. 20). Paul associates the gift of tongues with spiritual immaturity. The purpose of tongues was to demonstrate God’s divine power to the unbeliever (v. 22). It took preaching in the language that people understood to bring them to the place of conviction and conversion. A message in a language that the people could not understand(unless interpreted) could never bring conviction to a lost sinner. In fact, unsaved people may leave the service thinking the whole assembly was crazy (v. 23).
Application
This should be a vivid reminder to me that when I share the Word of God, it must be understood if it is to do anyone any good. That is why the appropriate use of illustrations provides a window of understanding to truth in the Word that is unfamiliar to the listener.
1 Corinthians 14:18– 25 (NET)
18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you, 19 but in the church I want to speak five words with my mind to instruct others, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.
20 Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking. Instead, be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 21 It is written in the law: “By people with strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, yet not even in this way will they listen to me,” says the Lord. 22 So then, tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and unbelievers or uninformed people enter, will they not say that you have lost your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or uninformed person enters, he will be convicted by all, he will be called to account by all. 25 The secrets of his heart are disclosed, and in this way he will fall down with his face to the ground and worship God, declaring, “God is really among you.”