How many different tongues are mentioned in the bible?

Are Prayer Tongues The Evidence Of The Baptism Of The Spirit?

Should Every Believer Speak In Prayer Tongues?

●Introduction

●How Many Different Kinds Of Tongues Are There?

CONTENTS

Introduction

1. How Many Different Kinds Of Tongues Are There?

2. What Are The Purposes Of Speaking In The Gift Of Tongues?

3. Can A Tongue Spoken Be Either A Foreign Language Or An Ecstatic Utterance?

4. Can What Is Expressed In The Exercise Of The Gift Of Tongues Be Learned?

5. When The Gift Of Tongues Is Exercised What Will It Talk About?

6. Is The Gift Of Tongues Still In Operation Today?

7. Is There Such A Thing As Prayer Tongues?

8. What Is The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit?

9. What Is The Difference Between The Indwelling Of The Spirit And The Filling Of The Spirit?

10. Are Prayer Tongues The Evidence Of The Baptism (Filling) Of The Holy Spirit?

11. Should Every Believer Speak In Prayer Tongues?

Tongue Tied

Endnotes


Introduction

The gift of tongues could be one of the most controversial topics for the New Testament believer. There are many questions that are associated with it. Here are some of the few: Is this gift still in operation today?

What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Does every believer have the gift of tongues?

Can the gift of tongues be learned?

Are there angelic tongues?

Is there such a thing as a prayer tongue?

Is the speaking in prayer tongues the evidence of the baptism (filling) of the Holy Spirit?

There are some churches that would answer yes to these questions and others that would answer no. I am going to try and supply you with the reasons behind the yes or no answers. This might provide you with a reaffirmation of your own belief or it might equip you with a clearer understanding as to why the contrary view to your belief appears to be more solidly founded on scripture. My hope is that you will not be afraid to look at a perspective on any topic that is different from the viewpoint that you have been taught.

What should you be afraid of?

If we are firmly grounded in what we believe concerning a topic, then we should be able to read about a viewpoint on this topic that is different from ours. By looking at a different way in which a topic is presented, will allow us to understand the scriptural reasoning that supports the different viewpoint. If we come into contact with a fellow believer, who adheres to this different viewpoint, we should be able to have a healthy dialogue about it, instead of a divisive interaction. Some of us, who are reading this study, might not have any teaching on this topic at all. So, sit back, read the various sections, study them for your-self, and become more familiar with this topic.

I do understand that most churches have basic doctrinal views, which they would denote as being absolute. Another word, their perspective on these biblical topics, according to them, is also God’s viewpoint, and that is final. I myself have certain doctrinal perspectives, which I consider foundational to my faith such as:

●The pure gospel involves repenting of one’s sins to God the Father and believing in his Son, who as God, came to earth in the form of a man by being born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross paying the penalty for sin and forgiving sin, rose from the dead after three days never to die again, remained on earth in his glorified body for 40 days being a witness of his resurrection to over 500 people, and ascended into heaven.

●The goal of the Christian walk should be to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. In order for this to take place a believer needs to have their mind renewed by replacing human perspective with divine perspective. This will cause the Holy Spirit to become operational in their life thus filling them with Himself.

And I’m sure that just like you, I do have strong opinions concerning many biblical topics such as (e.g. tithing, eternal security, the salvation process, personal sanctification, water baptism, etc.). However, I am willing to listen to a different viewpoint that another believer has on any of these topics, and have an open dialogue on such.

When it’s all said and done, I think that the most important issues in our Christian walk are:

Is the Holy Spirit living inside of me?

Am I growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ?

Am I learning how to address areas of human strength and weakness?

Is the Holy Spirit guiding and directing my life?

Am I becoming aware of what gift or gifts the Holy Spirit has given to me?

Are these gifts being used to edify the body of Christ?

I hope this study on the gift of tongues enlightens you about this topic and serves to dispel any misconceptions that you may have about it.

CHAPTER 1

How Many Different Kinds Of Tongues Are There?

There are different kinds of tongues, which are mentioned in the bible. Let’s take a look at them and see what each one is all about.

A. The Natural Tongues or Languages

There are the natural tongues or languages, which the many cultures of the population speak (e.g. Italian, German, etc.).

The bible indicates that the peoples of the earth initially spoke the same language however; in their attempt to build a particular structure with a particular purpose God thwarted their plans.

After their families, after their tongues:

Suggested Reading: Genesis 11:1-9

Following the flood Noah’s three sons had families, which repopulated the earth. Eventually they relocated to a plain in the land of Shinar. At this time they were of one language and of one vocabulary. They had a collective desire to build a city and a tower (temple) that could reach heaven. This complex, called a ziggurat, would have to have been an enormous structure that would simply be comprised of a series of stairs designed to reach the heavens, the sky, the place where gods were thought to dwell. At the top of each section of staircase would be a bed, table, and food the idea being that this would provide a place of rest and refreshment when the gods descended from the sky to the earth. So what this says in my mind is that the people wanted to get in touch with God. What this shows is man’s attempt to find God and their unawareness that having a personal relationship with Him was not going to be accomplished in this manner.

If we were to take a look at God’s relationship with Noah of whom these people were his ancestors the scriptures would state the following.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:8)

Noah found grace (the favor of God; God’s response to saving faith) in the sight of God. Another word God revealed himself to Noah and Noah believed in Him. But this was not all that was said about him. He was mentioned as being a just (righteous; blameless in character and conduct; having integrity) man and perfect (always obeyed God). As a result he walked (had continual communion; had fellowship) with God.

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)

This is what God wants, not someone building a tower in order to try to reach him, but an inward tower. We can’t find God through human efforts, but He finds us and gives us an opportunity to respond to his invitation for salvation. After which he declares to those who have believed in him his plan for their life. In Noah’s case God wanted him to build an ark in order to preserve a few from the impending flood which was to come that would destroy most of mankind, and in particular remove the wickedness that had permeated man-kinds thoughts, words, and actions to such a degree that if the flood had not occurred it was possible that there would not even be a small remnant left who would follow Him. So God’s means of communicating to Noah was by words spoken to his mind and probably to which only he could hear.

So the Lord decided to come down to the earth and see the city and tower for himself. His comment concerning it was that it was based on evil plans and schemes, because anything that man attempts to do in trying to find God and attain his approval through self-effort is considered evil. In order to abrupt or cause this project to be halted the Lord confounded (put in disorder) their language. This carries the idea of the people not being able to understand one another. Considering the massive building project it would probably have taken all of the people to build it. Now a large segment of the population could not understand one another.

A few years ago I volunteered to help build houses with Habitat for Humanity on the island of Haiti. A total of about 600 plus volunteers from all over the world attended. When we arrived at the worksite where we were to build 100 houses the group broke up into teams of about 8-10 for every two houses. Along with this a family member, who would eventually live in each house, was obligated in assisting with its construction. On one of the days I was asked to work with a male owner, who spoke Creole. I didn’t understand one word of what he spoke and neither did he understand one word of English. I tried to communicate to him with hand gestures as best I could. When I tried to get him involved with carpentry I had to literally show him by example what I wanted him to do. This was so time consuming that we got very little done. Here we have an example as to how different languages can impact a building project.

The natural result of this confusion was that the peoples with different languages scattered (parted from one another). The city and the story associated with it, was called Babel, meaning to confound or to confuse. The Lord confused the people from mingling together and in continuing on in working together by means of producing new languages, because their deed of building this temple was evil (man’s attempt to find and reach God).

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.

B. Angelic tongues:

As I grew in the Lord at some point I heard someone read a scripture which said that the apostle Paul spoke in the tongues of men and of angels. I thought this must have been a mistake. I had never heard of a believer speaking in an angelic tongue. I would assume that an angelic tongue is a tongue or language which is unique to angels.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. (1 Corinthians 13:1)

But why would a believer want to speak in an angelic tongue?

If one were to take another look at this verse some interesting thoughts would come out of it. Apparently if someone spoke in a foreign tongue (tongues of men) other than their own this would be regarded as something valuable. Likewise, in the Corinthian church if someone in leadership had what was called the gift of tongues, which we will talk about next, this would be considered as something that gave them value before the assembly. This verse starts off with the word “Though” which also means “If”. According to the Koine Greek of which most of the New Testament was written, the word “If” could have one of four meanings based on what is called the condition that it was in. This word is in a third class condition meaning if, maybe yes or maybe no. Another word what Paul was saying was maybe if I spoke in a different human language or an angelic tongue or maybe if I didn’t, and have not God’s love then this would be like playing a musical instrument such as a wind instrument made out of brass or a cymbal, such if either was without harmony or melody they would contribute nothing to the welfare of others. It’s possible that the apostle Paul never spoke in an angelic tongue, but simply used the declaration of it as an example to convey that even if a believer could speak in a foreign tongue or even in a tongue that would be considered as the pinnacle of speaking in tongues if this was done without charity, then it would profit them nothing.

C. The gift of tongues:

The word “gift” refers to a divine empowerment, which is distributed by the Holy Spirit to each believer. Some receive only one gift while others receive more than one. A gift is not a talent. A talent is received at natural birth. A spiritual gift is received at spiritual birth. Some believe that there could be as many as 15 different spiritual gifts.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: (1 Corinthians 12:7,10)

This particular gift involves a believer speaking forth words in a known language, which was unknown to them, that God wanted to be conveyed in order for the church to be edified. In order for the church to be edified someone needed to be able to interpret what was said in the language of the people present, otherwise they wouldn’t receive edification. There is another gift called the gift of the interpretation of tongues, which would operate in this manner.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. (1 Corinthians 12:7)

Some believe that this gift was first exercised on the day of Pentecost. What is the day of Pentecost?

And they…began to speak with other tongues:

Suggested Reading: Acts 2:1-41

The day of Pentecost was the 50th day following seven weeks of grain harvest for the Jews. Many Jews would attend this feast from all parts of the world having over time learned the language of the country they were residing in. For the Christians this was a special day when the promise of the Holy Spirit, would come and indwell the disciples (about 120) in an upper room in Jerusalem. Almost immediately after the indwelling of the Spirit the disciples began to speak with other tongues.

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4)

This word “tongues” is from the Greek word gloosais, which means unintelligible sounds. Another word the sounds were unintelligible to the person, who spoke them. The specific tongue to which this referred to was unveiled when the all those Jews, who attended this feast, each heard a tongue spoken in their own language by the disciples. This is supported by the word “language” that is taken from the Greek word dialektoo, which means the tongue or language peculiar to any people.

Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. (Acts 2:6)

In this case the use of the gift of tongues was different in the sense that, because of the diversity of languages present there was no need for the gift of the interpretation of tongues. Each disciple spoke in a tongue unknown to them, but known to some of the hearers. In a different setting, such as in a church assembly, where most of the people would speak one language, the tongue (foreign language) that was unknown to both the speaker and the hearers would be declared in the language of the hearers by someone with the gift of interpretation.

D. Unknown tongue:

What is an unknown tongue? An unknown tongue could be a tongue, which is simply unknown to the speaker. It could also be a tongue that was unknown to the hearers if there was no one who had the gift of interpretation.

An example of an unknown can be found in contrast to the gift of prophesy.

He that speaks in an unknown tongue:

1 Corinthians 14:1-4

Apparently in the Corinthian church there were two concerns in relation to the gift of tongues. Some were exercising it at various times during prayer, while singing (a singing tongue), or when the assembly of believers gathered during worship without there being an interpreter present. Thus without an interpreter the church would not receive edifying (building up). There also was a concern with some of those who had this gift that they were choosing to only exercise it while alone, thus receiving personal edification and exhilaration in the sense of being the object of God’s grace and offering praise to Him, but depriving the church of its common benefit.

Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

So if a believer has the gift of tongues and there is no one available who has the gift of interpretation of tongues, whether they were with other believers during prayer, when singing, with the assembly during worship service, etc., then they should not speak forth the tongue. In this case they should speak it to themselves silently and inwardly thus giving thanks to God.

But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. (1 Corinthians 14:28)

There are some who will say that the word “tongue” gloosais doesn’t refer to a foreign language, but unintelligible sounds. While this is true the context will reveal what this “tongue” is actually referring to. For example in the following verse we see the words “in an unknown tongue”. In the Greek these words are gloossee, which mean in an unintelligible sound. However, by reading the rest of the verses which follow it’s clear in context that “in an unknown tongue” refers to a foreign language.

For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. (1 Corinthians 14:2)

I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. (1 Corinthians 14:5)

E. Ecstatic utterance:

What is an ecstatic utterance? An ecstatic utterance is the transmission of sounds, which you could also call gibberish, unintelligible, or babbling in a non-existent language. Some have given different names for ecstatic utterances such as the language of the spirit or the language of heaven. Some believe that in some instances when the word “tongue” is used it could mean the transmission of unintelligible sounds in a non-existent language. Is there any example of this in scripture? We will take a look at this in an upcoming chapter and see if this is so.

One example that I found, which is not in scripture, has to do with the worship of Apollo. It’s interesting that there was a lot of discussion about tongues in the book of 1 Corinthians. There was a pagan shrine (oracle) located at Delphi, a town to the northwest of Corinth, where a mythological snake named Python that guarded it was killed by the god Apollo. Apparently there was a false prophetess there named Pythia, who being possessed by a demon that controlled her vocal chords would speak in frenzied utterances. It is believed that following this her attendants would translate these sounds.

Pretty interesting! Now that we know there are five descriptions of tongues the next question to consider is, what is the purpose of the gift of tongues? Do you know that there is more than one?

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