The Holy Spirit - Part 3:
List of 12 Purposes or Uses of Unknown Tongues
Here is a list of several purposes or uses of unknown languages:
1) The Tower of Babel
It was God's original intention that Adam's family or descendants spread out and fill the entire earth. After the flood of Noah's time and the human population began to grow again, the people traveled east. They found a suitable plain and determined that they would build a great city and a tower to make a name for themselves. They knew that without some type of civilization adhesiveness they would end up scattered across the entire earth.
God knew this would result in an increased corporate knowledge. This would result in an accelerated increase in technological advancement, shortening the time to the industrial age and hastening the end of human civilization.
5 ¶ And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Gen 11:5-9)
Here we see the first instance of unknown languages being used to accomplish God's purpose.
2) Judgment, Invasion and Exile
The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;( Deut 28:49)
Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. (Jer 5:15)
Disobedience brings judgment, which allows invasion, which results in exile at times.
When armed soldiers are in the streets, speaking a language that is unknown to the people, one knows that it is the judgment or chastisement of God. God promised Israel, through Moses and Jeremiah, that if they were unfaithful to His Law, or even ungrateful for all His goodness, God would send an invading army. This would be known by an occupying force in the streets of their cities and towns speaking a language they would not understand.
3) Jesus' Words
Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. (John 8:43)
And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. (Lu 8:10)
In these cases Jesus was speaking the language of the people (Hebrew, Aramaic, etc.) but they could not perceive the communication of God. They would never understand unless they first esteemed Jesus as One sent by God and then press in to know the Words of God.
4) Acts 2
Pentecost was an annual feast of the Lord which had been in force for centuries. In one particular year, the year that is famously recorded in Acts 2, God initiated The Day of Grace. The followers of Jesus spoke in languages that were unknown to them, but understood by the international people groups visiting Jerusalem that were present on the Day of Pentecost found in Acts chapter 2.
5) Evidence
In Acts 10 the first Gentiles spoke in tongues by the Holy Spirit. This was evidence that God had approved the Gentiles as part of the Church, having been given the same gift that the first followers of Jesus received.
6) Sign to Unbelievers
Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not:... (I Cor 14:22)
Tongues were a sign to the, as yet, unbelievers on the Day of Pentecost. Tongues were a sign to the followers of Jesus who did not believe the Gentiles could be part of the Church. (Strange, how the debate in the first century was, How could Gentiles possibly be part of the Church? Today, the big debate among the Jews is, How could a Jew possibly be a part of the Church.)
In our day, tongues are occasionally a sign to unbelievers who hear an obvious foreigner (to them) speaking in their own language and even local dialect.
7) Public Gift
Unknown tongues can be used as a public gift in the Church if there is also someone present with the supernatural gift of Interpretation of Tongues. This is highly regulated by Paul:
If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by
course; and let one interpret. (I Cor 14:27)
This is probably rarer than it first seems. “Pentecostal” churches are usually no different than non-pentecostal churches in their practical operation.
When we do allow the gift of tongues, what we usually have is: An utterance in an unknown language, next, a LONG awkward pause, and finally a totally unrelated prophecy in English. The prophecy may bring benefit to the church, but the tragedy is that the interpretation is lost. We need a little more guidance by leadership or maybe the intervention of an extra-local insight (Apostolic type ministry).
8) Building Yourself Up
17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time,...
19...having not the Spirit.
20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, (Jude 1:17-20)
These are tough words. This is written, probably, by Judas, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus. He says that to fight against the things of the Spirit is not Apostolic, it is not Biblical, and it is a mockery. On the contrary, he tells the readers to pray in the Spirit in order to build themselves up. It may be crudely compared to charging a battery.
Eventually, one must decide if he wants to be a Bible believer or a Philosopher in christendom-sounding school of thought. I know this is painful, especially to those who have devoted a lifetime to renouncing what the Scriptures say.
“We are ashamed of the Holy Spirit.”
Some would say, “Oh, no. It's not that at all. You don't understand. It's that...well...we are embarrassed by what some people do or say, claiming the Holy Spirit told them.”
I say, “AND, we are ashamed of the Holy Spirit”.
It is going to be a tough day for Christians if the Lord should ask us personally why we never read His Book. We will say that we did read it. “Then, “ He will ask, “why did you not believe It?” That Day has not happened yet for any Reader of this essay. There is still time to ask God for the ability to have a change of attitude.
9) Speak
But if there be no interpreter (of tongues), let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. (I Cor 14:28)
For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God:...(I Cor 14:2)
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; (Eph 5:19)
What are psalms? Songs written by the Holy Spirit.
What are hymns? Song written by men.
What are spiritual songs? Songs produced by a human/Holy Spirit cooperation; often in unknown tongues.
10) Pray
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Rom 8:26)
God has given us the most valuable gift for maneuvering through this life. When we do not know how to pray or even what to ask for, we have the Holy Spirit to help us pray correctly. It is invaluable to be able to come to God, no matter what. We are not imprisoned, outside of God's help. We may or may not know exactly what we are praying, but we know based upon God's faithfulness, that we are accessing the Throne of Grace.
11) Bless
Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen... (I Cor 14:16)
Paul tells us that we can pronounce a blessing in unknown tongues. However, if this is done publicly, it is not going to make any sense to do so since no one will know what you are saying. Nonetheless, pronouncing a blessing in tongues is something which can be done. It is just that this should be done in private.
12) Give Thanks
For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. (I Cor 14:17)
We can give thanks to God in tongues. Paul even says this is doing it well. But again, if this done in a public setting, it will not be helpful to most people. This is another private use of praying or speaking in the Spirit.
Did you know there was so much in the Bible about tongues? We actually should not be dealing with these things. This is New Testament 101. We should be going on to mature things (Heb 6:1). Somehow, we have missed the New Testament basics. We probably have never really been discipled in the faith and the things of God.
Even though it may have been years or decades since you became a Believer, you may have never been called to declare yourself a follower of the Bible or, by contrast, a follower of Humanianity. Let God know that you will determine to esteem His Word faithful, no matter what men may say.
Dec 19, 2022