SHAMBALALABABBABUSKITWIZKALUMBA -Speaking in Tongues
SHAMBALALABABBABUSKITWIZKALUMBA -Speaking in Tongues
Breaking local prophet stands up and declares at local charismatic assembly:
“I have the gift of interpretation and you just said in tongues-that you are a false teacher!”
1. NOT EVERY BELIEVER EVER SPOKE IN TONGUES
Modern “Tongue” speakers claim:
“Tongues are for every believer. If you do not speak in tongues you are not a real Christian!”
Scripture says the opposite.
Paul asks rhetorical questions expecting a ‘NO’ answer:
“Do all speak with tongues?”
—1 Corinthians 12:30
In Greek, the structure (μὴ πάντες…?) indicates the expected answer is NO.
Paul lists spiritual gifts as diverse and distributed differently:
“The Spirit divides to each one individually as He wills.”
—1 Cor. 12:11
Tongues were never for all Christians.
If tongues were for everyone, Paul would not have:
said not all speak in tongues
compared tongues to lesser gifts (1 Cor. 12:28)
ranked tongues near the bottom of the list
rebuked the Corinthian obsession with tongues
New Testament pattern
Acts 2 – only apostles spoke
Acts 8 – no tongues mentioned for the Samaritans
Acts 9 – Paul converted, no tongues
Acts 16 – Lydia converted, no tongues
Acts 17 – Athenians converted, no tongues
Acts 18 – Corinthians converted, no tongues recorded
Acts 19 – unique outpouring tied to apostolic confirmation
Tongues appeared only in special transitional moments, never as a universal sign.
2. TONGUES MUST ALWAYS BE INTERPRETED OR REMAIN SILENT
Paul gives non-negotiable commands for tongues in the assembly.
If no interpreter → NO TONGUES.
“If there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church.”
—1 Cor. 14:28
This is not optional. It is a command.
Tongues must be:
Two or at most three (v. 27)
In order, one at a time
Always interpreted
Judged by the prophets (v. 29)
Anything else is forbidden.
Modern tongues violate EVERY command:
Dozens speaking at once
No interpretation
Out of order
Women often leading (contrary to v. 34–35)
Emotional chaos
No judgment or testing
Paul warned that uncontrolled tongues make the church look crazy:
“Will they not say that you are mad?”
—1 Cor. 14:23
This is exactly what modern charismatic services look like.
3. BIBLICAL TONGUES HAD A SPECIFIC PURPOSE THAT HAS ENDED
Purpose #1 — A sign of judgment on Israel
Paul quotes Isaiah 28:11–12:
“With men of other tongues… will I speak to this people.”
—1 Cor. 14:21
This refers to God using foreign languages (Assyrian) to judge Israel.
Paul concludes:
“Tongues are a sign… for unbelieving Israel.”
—1 Cor. 14:22
Tongues were never for:
spiritual prayer languages
private edification
ecstatic experiences
evidence of salvation
Tongues were a sign to the Jews that judgment had come and the new covenant was arriving.
Once Jerusalem fell in AD 70, the sign was fulfilled, and the gift ceased.
Purpose #2 — To authenticate the apostles’ message
Hebrews says:
God bore witness… through signs, wonders, and various miracles given to the apostles.
—Heb. 2:3–4
Paul calls tongues signs of an apostle:
“Truly the signs of an APOSTLE were wrought among you…”
—2 Cor. 12:12
Tongues were apostolic credentials, not a common church practice.
Once the apostles died and the Scripture was complete, the gift had no remaining purpose.
4. Biblical Tongues Were Real Languages — and Sometimes Heavenly
I do believe that, at times, tongues were a heavenly language—the “tongues of angels.” But they were also real human languages—languages unknown to the speaker, spoken miraculously so that others could understand.
Acts 2 illustrates this clearly:
“We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” —Acts 2:11
These were real languages, not gibberish, yet unknown to the speaker. The Greek word glōssai can refer to both human languages and heavenly tongues.
Modern tongues, however:
Are never actual foreign languages
Have no grammar or syntax
Consist of repetitive syllables
Are identical across denominations and religions
If the gift of tongues today were real, believers could speak languages unknown to them, but this never happens. The absence of true foreign languages demonstrates that modern tongues are not the biblical gift—they are counterfeit.
5. TONGUES HAVE CEASED – AND SCRIPTURE SAYS THEY WOULD
“Whether there be tongues, they shall cease.”
—1 Cor. 13:8
The word “cease” (παύσονται) means:
to stop on their own
to die out naturally
to come to an end permanently
Tongues were temporary, tied to:
the apostolic era
the foundation of the ekklesia (Eph. 2:20)
the completion of revelation
Once the foundation is laid, you don’t keep laying it.
6. HISTORICAL FACT: TONGUES DISAPPEARED FOR 1,800 YEARS
The early church fathers unanimously attest:
tongues vanished after the apostles
the gift was not in their churches
it was not practiced by Christians
Tongues did not reappear until:
early 1900s
Azusa Street
emotionalism
doctrinal chaos
women preachers
holiness movement influences
What reappeared was NOT the biblical gift, but ecstatic pagan-style speech.
7. THE MODERN PRACTICE IS FAKE AND UNBIBLICAL
Modern tongues violate:
proper purpose
apostolic rules
biblical definition
biblical limitations
historical record
theological coherence
Modern “tongues” are:
emotionalism
peer pressure
learned behavior
hypnotic suggestion
subconscious imitation
manipulation from leaders
cultural conditioning
Not one single charismatic practice resembles the actual New Testament phenomenon.