Temporary Spiritual Gift of Tongues

Tod Kennedy, August 1999

Outline

1. Definition and description
2. The purpose of tongues
3. The gift of tongues ceased
4. The principle of temporary spiritual gifts
5. What about claims of missionaries
6. How to persuade others
7. So What?

1. Definition and Description: The spiritual gift of tongues is one of the temporary spiritual gifts; it is the ability to speak in a known human language that the speaker had not learned. The Greek word is glw`ssa, which means the tongue or a language (Acts 2:3, 4, 11; 10.46; 19.6; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 28, 30; 13.1, 8; 14.2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 23, 26, 27, 39).

2. The purpose of the gift of tongues was to dramatically notify Jews (tongues was a sign gift) that God was now judging them because they had rejected his word delivered through his prophets and his Messiah (Isaiah 28:11-13; 1 Corinthians 14.18-22). Isaiah’s prophecy had two references, to a judgment near to Isaiah’s day and to a future judgment on Israel. Isaiah had told Israel that God was going to judge them by subjecting them to foreign rule because of their apostasy and rebellion. These rulers would speak to them in languages foreign to the Jewish people. This occurred in 722 BC under Assyria and under Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, beginning in 605 BC. The future judgment referred to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, AD 67-73. Jesus had predicted this first century judgment on Israel in Luke 19:41-44. Paul quotes Isaiah 28:11, in 1 Corinthians 14:21, and applies it to the use of the gift of tongues during his time.

3. The gift of tongues ceased when the purpose had been accomplished. Israel was judged and dispersed between May 67 and May 73 AD; this was the administration of the fifth cycle of divine discipline promised by God through Moses (Leviticus 26:14-34; the fifth cycle is found in Leviticus 26:27-33). God fulfilled the fifth cycle judgment and set aside Israel due to her rejection of his Word and his Messiah. Israel’s rejection is chronicled in Matthew 12:22-24, where the religious leaders of Israel rejected Christ; in Matthew 12:38-42 the Scribes and Pharisees, in open unbelief, asked for a sign from Jesus and he said that there would be no more signs except for the sign of the prophet Jonah; in Matthew 21:43-45 Jesus withdrew the kingdom offer for a time; and in Matthew 23:37-39 and Luke 21:24 Jesus pronounced judgment upon the nation. When Israel was set aside, God began the church, and is now working through the church until he begins to restore Israel after he takes the church to heaven (Romans 11).

4. The principle of temporary spiritual gifts is found in Hebrews 2:3-4, 1 Corinthians 13:8-11, 2 Corinthians 12:12, and Romans 15:18-19. Hebrews chapter 2 identifies three succeeding generations or groups of people: "the Lord" was the first to speak; "those who heard" him speak were the second; the third generation had the message confirmed to them, "to us." Notice that the generation that was the link between the Lord and the third generation confirmed the authenticity of their message ("God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will") by supernatural sign gifts which they possessed, but which the "to us" generation did not possess. First Corinthians 13.8 says that tongues shall cease, and prophecy and knowledge shall be done away with. This happens when the need for them is gone. It seems best to interpret that to mean at the point when God has done what he wanted to do with the supernatural sign gifts. He had announced judgment to Israel, he had confirmed the apostles' doctrine, and so the church was able to grow and spread based upon the confirmed truth. "The perfect" in 1 Corinthians 13.10 (to; tevleion having attained the end or purpose, complete, and by extension, perfect) likely refers to the apostles’ doctrine confirmed and written or soon to be written in the New Testament Canon. First Corinthians 12-14 presents the body of Christ, spiritual gifts, and the church’s ministry. The argument that "the perfect" in 1 Corinthians 13 refers to the Millennium or to the eternal state does not fit the context.

Second Corinthians 12:12 and Romans 15:18-19 teach us that the apostles to the church had and used the sign gifts to authenticate their apostleship, ministry, and message. The church no longer has this special apostleship and so the sign gifts are not necessary today nor are they given today.

The temporary gift principle is also illustrated with the gift of healing, which Paul possessed and used until about AD 60. He had healed many people before AD 57 (Acts 19:11-12; 20:8-12); while shipwrecked on the island of Malta, he healed the father of Publius and many others in AD 59 or 60 (Acts 28:7-10). However, during Paul’s first Roman imprisonment in AD 60-62, he was not able to heal Ephaproditus (Philippians 2:25-30), so we conclude that Paul no longer had the gift of healing and that the gift had been withdrawn. Finally, the gift of tongues is mentioned only in Acts and 1 Corinthians; Acts 19:6 is the last reference in Acts and is dated at the beginning of Paul’s third missionary journey (AD 53-57); First Corinthians was written in about AD 56. Tongues are never again mentioned. This indicates that the gift of tongues had a definite purpose and a short-lived history.

5. What about claims that missionaries and others have spoken in a language that they had never learned? Does this mean that the gift of tongues is still in use? The first thing to note is that whatever happened, it was not the gift of tongues; the gift has ceased. God may chose to work a miracle that causes a person to do something he was unable to do, such as temporarily speak in an unlearned language, just as God may chose to work other miracles. Do not formulate a doctrine based upon some experience. Experiences change; they are very subjective. Doctrine based upon experience is nothing more than emotion combined with opinion.

6. How do we persuade those who claim to have the gift of tongues or claim to know people who have the gift? First, do not try to match proof text with proof text; generally, that method will persuade no one. To help someone understand how the gift of tongues fits into God’s plan so that he comes to realize that tongues have ceased, we need to give him a bird’s eye view of what God is doing in history and then discuss the passages on tongues within their contexts. Then the purposes of the epistles, spiritual gifts (both temporary sign gifts and permanent gifts), and the church age believer become clear.

7. So What? Why is this doctrine important to know? First, because it is a part of God’s Word. Second, because it clarifies the concept of permanent and temporary spiritual gifts. Third, because we know which spiritual gifts God gives today. The counterfeit gifts—tongues, healing, and the other temporary gifts—distract and derail believers from what they ought to be emphasizing which is the Word of God plus faith plus walking by the Holy Spirit. Fourth, emotion and the miraculous are not the basis for our day to day living. Significant ministry for the Lord is often the quiet and invisible ministry, not spectacular and emotion driven ministry. Fifth, we believers living in the church age have every spiritual resource necessary for victory and success in our day to day Christian lives. No outward signs, such as speaking in tongues, are necessary to validate our place in the body of Christ. In fact, those who claim to have sign gifts are in error; they often base their Christian life and happiness on invalid criteria such as speaking in tongues and the display of the other temporary spiritual gifts.