Paul appeals to the Corinthians now, urging them to use their minds. A call that goes out to Christians today as well. Regarding sin, we should be like infants, but in our thinking be adults. (v. 20)
In my preparation for this week’s study, I looked a little more deeply into the Greek language as it relates to the word “tongue” or “tongues”. Some of my chief tools for examining Hebrew and Greek in my study of the Bible include the Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible edited by Spiros Zodhiates, the New American Standard Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, and Zodhiates’ Lexicon To The Old And New Testaments. I also occasionally make use of Thayer’s Lexicon, available at blueletterbible.org (a great website with lots of free tools and resources!).
As I’ve mentioned before, when the gift of “tongues” is referenced in the Bible, it can refer to either ethnic languages that the speaker does not normally know, or it can refer to an “ecstatic” language not known by the speaker or anyone else in the world.
Some quick housekeeping first, however. In our study of 1st Corinthians 12:10, I said that the occurrence of the word “tongues” in that verse “can refer to speaking in human languages the speaker normally does not know or speaking in non-human languages known to God.”
After looking more closely at the Greek, I need to correct that statement. In 1st Corinthians 12:10, the word “tongues” specifically refers to existing ethnic languages and not an ecstatic language.
Concerning this passage, Paul provides perspective on the nature of “tongues”, both ethnic and ecstatic.
He paraphrases Isaiah 28:11-12, in which God announced a form of judgment on Israel, who had been rejecting and rebelling against him at the time. God had made efforts to speak to Israel and guide its people, but they were so wrapped up in their own lives and pleasure that they were in no way open to hearing him, and even mocked his words as if it were nonsensical babbling. So God said that he would speak to them instead through a nation(Assyria) and language that they would not even be capable of understanding linguistically. It was God’s way of saying, “Fine. If you’d rather not hear my words then I’ll make it impossible for you to understand them.”
You may remember from last week that when the singular Greek word "glossa" is used for "tongue", it refers to an ecstatic language normally unknown to anyone in the world. Paul also makes use of this word in the plural with a singular pronoun in this chapter. When this occurs, “tongues” refers to an ethnic language normally used by humans.
From the example in Isaiah 28, Paul deduced that ethnic tongues(existing languages that the speaker does not know) are a sign of God’s judgment on unbelievers. Without translation, that is the function they serve, and in a church setting this is inappropriate and will only result in confusion. (v.23)
By contrast, prophecy provides something that everyone can understand and be affected by in a positive way. (v.24-25)
Paul’s general “rule of thumb” for all activity in the church is for it to edify or “build up”. The activities listed in verse 26 include sharing a psalm (which usually refers to the Old Testament Psalms, but here may refer to sharing scripturally themed music of another origin.), teaching, a revelation (which refers to sharing a previously hidden truth and explaining it’s meaning, similar to or possibly synonymous with “prophecy”), a tongue (referring now to ecstatic tongues) and interpretation of tongues.
Paul continues giving instruction regarding the ecstatic variety of tongues. They should be used in an orderly way and never publicly without interpretation. (v.27-28)
Prophecy does not remain unchecked, either. The other prophets listening are meant to carefully discern what is said to determine its truth or falsehood.(v.29, 32)
If a sudden revelation comes to someone who is seated, they are given momentary priority to express what they believe has been revealed to them. (v. 30)
Again, the idea behind this structure is to enable teaching and encouragement and to reflect God’s nature, which is that of order and not confusion. Peace and not conflict. (v. 31, 33)
You might wonder at this point why these kinds of activities are not the normal experience at your church. It’s important to remember that the church in Corinth was extremely gifted, spiritually. (1 Corinthians 1:4-7) And while we should pray that God will strengthen our churches with spiritual gifts, we should not conclude that possession of outwardly impressive spiritual gifts is a sign of spiritual maturity. The Corinthians, in addition to being gifted, were also constantly battling pagan influence and severe moral corruption among their church members as detailed in Chapter 5 and 6.
So each church community will be a little different. And for those who have a large amount of spiritual gifts among their members that are utilized while gathered together, this chapter provides very helpful instruction.
Now to some even MORE controversial material! In fact, it’s SO controversial, we’ll need to wait until next week for it!
Next Week- The Role Of Women In The Church!
Coffee House Question
In what way do you think God may have wired you to “build up” other Christians?
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