Speaking in Tongues

Welcome to Have You Not Read, a podcast seeking to answer questions from the text of Scripture for the honor of Christ and the edification of the Saints. Before we dig into our topic, we humbly ask you to rate, review, and share the.

Podcast. Thank you. I'm Dylan Hamilton and with me are Michael Durham, Chris Kiesler, and Andrew Hudson. We are gonna be reading a question sent in on our website that deals specifically, and we're gonna deal with an adjacent question after we address this first one, but the first question reads, if someone started speaking in tongues in your church, what would you do?

Do you have someone on staff who can interpret, or do you not believe that people can speak.

In tongues at all? Michael, do you want to start us off? Sure. When somebody asks a question like that, it's important to define terms. So when anybody says the phrase, speaking in tongues, there's going to be a variety of definitions that enter into somebody's mind based on how they're discipled, and so we need to go to the Word of God and let Scripture interpret Scripture to come up with a working definition of what this means.

Babel, the Nations, and the Promise of Restoration

First, we know that there are different tongues, different languages, because of what happened in Genesis chapter 11, and we read there, Now the whole earth had one language and one speech, and it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.

And the people there decided to build a tower so tall to the heavens that they would deliver themselves from any future flood. They built it very tall, and they were planning to build it so tall that, you know, it would not be overcome by any flood, and they covered the sides of the tower with the same thing that Noah covered the sides of the ark with, pitch.

Sometimes you have tar or slime, as the translation, but they decided to gather there to not spread out all over the place and be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth for the name of the Lord. They said, well, let's make a name for ourselves.

And so in verse 5, the Lord came down to seat the city in a tower which the sons of men had built. It was so tiny and small he had to come down just to get close to it, is the joke. But when the Lord comes, very often this is a signal of judgment.

And so Hebrew word is pachad, and so when the Lord visits or he comes, very often it's for judgment. Verse 6, And the Lord said, Indeed the people are one, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do.

Now nothing they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let us go down there, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.

Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. Thus you have the beginning of the nations.

And thus we begin to hear prophecies throughout the scriptures about how God will save the nations, and he will bring them all back into a city. They were once all in one city, and now he's going to bring them all back to a city called the New Jerusalem, the holy city that is envisioned in the New Covenant full of nations.

And of course these nations come with all their own languages, they have their own dialects, they have their own way of speaking. And although that could be incredibly confusing to listen to, it's something that brings glory to God.

So just to make a quick run for our big picture moment here at the beginning of the answer, we go from Genesis to Revelation. So in Revelation chapter 5 we have this scene where in the throne room of God in Revelation 5 in verse 9, and they sing a new song saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and you have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe, tongue, and people, and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth.

And we see this same group of people without number, a number so high that no man can count. And these are the people of God redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and these are later described in Revelation 21 as the Bride of the Lamb and described as a city.

And it's a city that is filled with people who have different tongues, different languages. When you have a different language, you have different descriptors of everything in your life, and so you end up with different cultures, different ideas of ethics, different ideas of morality, so on and so forth.

It's really what separates the people, it's really what defines the differences in the culture, is language. And that's where it all begins to diverge, and God is the one who initially brought that about.

So in the Old Testament, we hear about the division of the people by their tongues, by their various different languages, which, of course, from that we see all kinds of warfare and destruction upon the face of the earth, as continued violence and so on.

But then there's hope given in the seed, not only the seed of the woman, but who is also the seed of Abraham. All the families of the earth will be blessed. Abraham receives his name because he's the father of many nations, and we find in the New Testament that is by faith, that all those who are of faith are of Abraham the believer.

And when we get to Acts chapter 2, in the fulfillment of these Old Covenant promises, and we begin to see the New Covenant come on the scene in a very strong and powerful way with the advent of the Holy Spirit, we have the speaking in tongues first mentioned in the New Testament.

So that's a great place to go. So in Acts chapter 2, we read in verse 1, "...when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.".

Now, what does that exactly mean? Well, we're told in the context, so verse 5, "...and there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.". Now, how could they be Jews from every nation?

Remember that the Jews had been exiled and dispersed among the nations, that they were often under the judgment of God, they had been displaced from their holy land, and they've been spread out all over the place.

And so there were synagogues that were all over the Roman Empire, and the people who grew up there, were considered part of those nations, part of those big ethnic family groups that had their own languages, they had their own dialects, they had their own heart language, shall we say, that they and their people knew, even though they were also accustomed to using the trade language of Koine Greek, the common Greek of the day.

Or, and even amongst the Jews who lived closer to the Holy Land, they were fond of using Aramaic, which of course they had learned in the Persian exile, and part of the Old Testament is written in Aramaic.

So these people may know a lot of different languages, but the point is made in the text that these Jews who had come there for the feast, that they were from every nation under heaven. That's the next verse that comes after verse 4, right?

So verse 4 says they begin to speak with other tongues, and verse 5 says, now there was a bunch of people there from other nations. So keep that in mind as we continue on. Verse 6, and when the sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused.

Why are they confused? Because they didn't understand anything that was being said. No, the opposite. Because everyone heard them speak in his own language, okay? They were all amazed and marveled and said to one another, look, are not all these who speak Galileans?

How do they know that? Probably their accent. Probably their accent. Peter was outed the night of Jesus' trial because of his accent. So here are these people with these awful country bumpkin accents speaking all of these different languages.

How in the world did that ever happen? And verse 8, and it says, and how is it that we hear each in our own language in which we were born? And then it's listed, Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus Asia, Phrygia of Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya, adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs.

We hear them speaking in our own language the wonderful works of God. So about three or four times there in the passage we are told that the Spirit empowered the Apostles to preach in languages that although they themselves as Galileans had never learned.

All these folks there in Jerusalem from all these different nations comprising the Empire of Rome, they knew these languages because they had grown up with these languages. So when we're thinking about what does it mean to speak in tongues, we remember how it is that we got all the different languages.

We remember the promises of God that all these different nations will come up into one city and one mountain and there beat their swords and spears into plowshares and pruning hooks and there they're gonna have peace with one another.

Well how is that going to work when you don't understand what anyone is saying? Well here we are at the advent of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, and the gift of the speaking of tongues is that people understand what is being proclaimed.

They hear the gospel being preached to them in the language they know best. Now is that what we normally hear about when someone begins to talk about speaking in tongues? Is that the normal point of view?

No. Not in the American Christian context. Exactly. So why would, when somebody says, I have the gift of speaking in tongues, if we were going off of what we read in Acts chapter 2, we would say, oh tell me what happened, right?

And then I'd be expecting a story, only one or two that I've ever heard, but I would be expecting this kind of story where in which they said, well we were in this situation where a neighboring man from over like four villages away happened to be there in this missionary context and we've been wanting to get to this people group but we just never had the opportunity to and so well you know brother so-and-so, one of the the native guys here in our village who's been learning, all of a sudden he began to preach and this guy actually understood what was being said.

Thankfully we had somebody else here who was able to interpret what the preacher was saying so that everybody understood what was going on. So we knew that this man understood the gospel. Okay so that's like what would happen here.

The Apostles are preaching in actual genuine languages that people knew how to speak, even though the Apostles themselves had not had that native ability. Yeah. It was a divinely enabled.

Ability. It was an actual language. An actual language. They understood what was being said. Mm-hmm. I think, it seems like when I talk to people about this or they bring it up, they ask, do you speak in tongues?

Is this something that you do? Is this something that you practice? Is this a part of your Christian walk as if it was a spiritual discipline or something? But in the context of where it's done there, that doesn't seem to be what's being spoken about.

There seems to be a very specific context. You gave the Old Testament, the languages were confused, the peoples were scattered, and then Christ is prophesied about and he will inherit all of the nations and then here we have his disciples speaking to people from all these different nations.

Yeah, so these are actual.

Languages connected to actual nations and that's not exactly what most folks usually bring up and talk about. Now if we move forward in the book of Acts, there's another example in Acts chapter 10. In Acts chapter 10, Peter is preaching to Cornelius and his household who have been gathered there as God had divinely orchestrated, communicated that they should be prepared.

And Peter arrives and begins to preach the gospel to them. And as he's preaching the gospel, something amazing happens. So in Acts chapter 10 and reading verse, let's see here, let's go to verse 31. Peter says to him, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms are remembered at the sight of God.

Ascend therefore, oh this is the record of the angel, ascend therefore to Joppa and call Simon here whose surname is Peter. He's lodging in the house of Simon a tenor by the sea. When he comes he will speak to you.

So this is what the angel says to Cornelius. And so Cornelius obeys and then Peter comes in and preaches. Now listen to how he puts this. So in verse 34, Peter opened his mouth and said, in truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.

But in every nation, okay now we're talking about, you know, big picture, all these different nations. And how do we end up with different nations by the way? It was, well, God confused their languages, all of a sudden we have different tongues.

But in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That word you know which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached.

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him. And he goes on and preaches the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Now while Peter is preaching this, showing that this is all supported by the holy writings, the holy scriptures, verse 44, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word and those of the circumcision who believed were astonished as many as came with Peter because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been seen poured out on the Gentiles also.

Gentiles, nations, same word. It's the exact same word. For when they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God then Peter answered, can anyone forbid water that they should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?

And what happens in this context is what? The Jews who were with Peter, those who were circumcised but were part of the church, born again, part of the church, they witnessed something amazing. Cornelius and his household, the Holy Spirit is bestowed upon them and they begin to speak in tongues as well.

Which means what? Begin to speak in languages by God's divine power, languages that they would not have otherwise known. Why would that be helpful in this situation? Because Cornelius was a very important man, had a very large household, and he also brought everybody he knew.

So all kinds of people are here. Oh yeah, he brought them in specially for this. Yeah, all kinds of people are here, kind of like the Feast of Pentecost. All kinds of people were there from all over. Same thing, same.

Situation exists here. Here it specifically mentions that the group of the circumcision was kind of astonished. Yes. So at Pentecost it says Jews from every nation were there. Here it's saying they went out to the uncircumcised, the Gentiles, and the Holy Spirit fell on them.

And that just, that reminds me of Jesus talking about first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. And then also in the Great Commission, Jerusalem, and it goes out from there to all these other.

Groups. So to bring this back a little bit to the original question, in the American context, what they talk about as languages, or as tongues, and I have had probably the least amount of exposure to this out of everybody in the room, so this is a genuine question.

Would they equate what is going on here with what they do in practicing tongues? Because when I'm hearing this right off the bat, it seems like two separate categories. Or would they recognize that, or do they try and equate what's happening here with.

What they practice? I think they equate it. They'll say that it's speaking in tongues, but the practice is very much different, and the context is very much different. It doesn't look the same. And then there is additional language that's added to it.

Because here, when Peter is talking to the Gentiles for the first time, they speak in tongues, that's a confirmation that they've been saved. He says they should be baptized with water. So that's at their salvation.

Oftentimes when people talk about speaking in tongues nowadays, they'll say that comes after, they'll call it the second blessing, or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is a later thing that happens as a Christian matures.

But that's different, but they do equate it. But there's some additional.

Language that they'll use. Right, and then because we're talking about legitimate languages, I mean, we almost have to go pare it back to what is language in this discussion as well. And they also bring in.

Terminology like ecstatic utterances. So instead of language, ecstatic utterances. There's a verse in Corinthians where Paul is talking about love, and he talks about if I speak in the language of angels.

And so people will say, well, it doesn't have to be an actual man-made or man-understood language, because there's angelic language. But they're missing the context there, that that chapter is making a very specific point.

It's nestled between instructions to the Church of Corinthians. He's saying this is how these gifts are to be practiced. Some of you are not. And so this specific passage, talking about the angelic languages, is nestled in some didactic passages where he's telling the very specific things.

These are how tongues, prophecies are to be done. And maybe we can visit that, what Paul says versus what's done today. But this passage about angelic language, he's talking about a Christian's demeanor towards other Christians.

He's talking about love. If I can do all of these amazing things, and he's using hyperbole, if I can do all of this, but I don't have love, then it's meaningless.

Correct. It would help for us to go to 1st Corinthians. Andrew, I'm sure. Yeah, I would say going on the American context, I grew up, and my mother, she was charismatic. I grew up in charismatic congregations.

What we see, I'm sure Michael's gonna read relevant sections for us from 1st Corinthians 14, what we see practiced in, okay, what I saw practiced in the 12 years that I was in a charismatic congregation as a child, you know, after looking back on it with the prohibition of orderliness, as well as one and then sequential, or also the requirement to have interpretation, that was not at all how it was practiced.

And I'll preface why I'm just describing that. It was very chaotic, very chaotic. Things were mixed together. Multiple people speaking at the same time. Unintelligibleness. This is the same type of thing that was actually happening in the Babel account.

Everything was mixed together. In fact, I took the opportunity to look through the Septuagint and do a cross-reference on what was happening in Acts 2 .6. So the word that's in Acts 2 .6 for confound or confused is the same Greek word that's used in Genesis 11 .9.

It talks about being mixed together. Well, how intelligible is something if it's mixed together? You also get the same thing happening in 1st Corinthians 14, or chapter 14, with music and with signals for battle.

If things are unintelligible, they're not edifying. They cannot be constructive. What also was happening in the Genesis account? They were building up a name for themselves. What's happening in the New Testament?

There's something being built up. The Lord's name. Yeah, and they were praising God for that. Isn't that also in 1st Corinthians 14 about building up, edifying? A question to the.

Septuagint that you looked up earlier. Did you look up the word for tongues or languages if it was the same thing? Glossa in Acts as it was in... I didn't.

Check that. I'll do that. Yeah, so when you go to 1st Corinthians 12, and that's kind of the backdrop for 1st Corinthians 14, we find Paul writing about spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts. And he says in verse 4, there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. There are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. And as he's going to give like a list of the diversity of the gifts, the variety of the gifts and ministries, but then after that he spends a lot of time working through how to relate to one another, loving one another, submitting to one another in Christ, where there's not going to be cacophony.

It's not going to be chaos. Now he does say in in verse 7 of 1st Corinthians 12, but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all, right? So very often in Pentecostal charismatic contexts, the manifestation of the Spirit is understood more or less for the promotion of each one.

Like each one, you know, look what I'm experiencing. Look what's happening to me. That goes along with this second dispensation, this second gift, the idea that I am a true believer, right? Like you can see it, I'm a mature Christian.

Yeah, so verse 8 says,. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerner of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

So when tongues are talked about, the different kinds of tongues, this is a different species of languages, okay? So it's not that you learned an extra language using Duolingo, okay? It's not that, but that there is a variety of languages that suddenly you can speak, and then there's another person who's interpreting the tongues, which is also a gift from the Holy Spirit.

Now verse 11 says,. But one in the same Spirit works all these things, now listen to this, distributing to each one individually as he wills. In most Pentecostal and charismatic, or we say the full gospel churches as they call themselves, they usually manifest what they understand these things to be as they will.

Indeed. But it's because, you know, it's on a schedule, you know, at this time we're going to show up and we're gonna all manifest our gifts all at the same time. But this shows that it's an iterative kind of distribution, as it is needed, as the Holy Spirit sovereignly desires, he will do these things.

And these are not performative events, right? Remember this is for the edification, the prophet of others. So someone is not going to stand up and cause a scene and say that they have a word of knowledge.

That's not in the context, it's a kind of expectation that is set. But in this, this is about, it goes on to talk about the body, nourishing and helping all the different parts of the body, serving and blessing one another.

And we know that the Holy Spirit is the sign of the New Covenant, and he's going to be working in the lives of true believers and doing his work in his ministry. And it's not going to look performative and forced and put on a display to edify one's self.

And this is Paul's point when he finally gets to the core issue in chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians, when he says this is about love, right? This is about a righteous and sacrificial devotion. I'm going to be for you in the right way, even if it costs me.

I'm going to humbly serve you. So in verse 1 of chapter 13, he says, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. Now, so well, are we supposed to read this verse and suddenly, now we have categories of languages.

This is an offhanded remark about the tongues of angels, okay? Paul is not instituting a class of spiritual gifts. He's not saying that. And we know what he's after because we keep on reading. He says, And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith.

Now, who has that? Who has all of that? He's using hyperbole. He's using exaggeration. He's saying even if I had the totality of all these spiritual gifts that I just listed for you a little bit ago, but have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. So again, it's hyperbole, as Chris, you mentioned. And so his point is not, you should be speaking with the tongues of angels.

That's nowhere in the text. Somebody grabs it, twists it, and then develops a massive amount of information based on it, trying to justify a mystical experience that all manner of religions have in their context.

I mean, there's a lot of confusion in the world today because there's Muslims who speak in tongues, and there's Hindus who speak in tongues, and then everyone thinks, Well, that's the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

But they're not speaking in tongues. They're having this ecstatic experience where they have a lot of vain babble coming out of their mouth that's nonsense. So that's not what Paul's talking about. Now remember, who was Paul's trusty companion besides Timothy, or Titus?

It was Luke. Luke is the one who wrote the book of Acts. Don't you think that Paul and Luke are on the same page? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right. When Luke writes Acts and says to Theophilus, his patron, they spoke in tongues.

Do you think he's talking about something different than what Paul's talking about when he says speak in tongues? I don't think they're confused, and I don't think the Spirit is confused. I don't think the Holy Spirit, who is the one who is inspiring all of these words to be the superintended perfect Word of God, is confused about what speaking in tongues is.

Amen. Right. There's going to be a coherence, not a confusion, between Acts and 1st Corinthians. So I think to further this discussion, I think we can maybe pick up the threads of the other question, which was, Is speaking in tongues biblical?

Right. So we're thinking about... Or what does it mean biblically? Yeah, what does it mean biblically? So biblically, what does it mean? It means somebody empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak in a language they have not learned.

It's not a native thing that they've learned, or something that's added to their repertoire of usefulness and skills. It's something that they have never learned, but all of a sudden they're speaking fluently in a language they never learned.

And somebody, because somebody there needs to hear the gospel in their heart language. Right. Yeah. That's what we get from the book of Acts, and I think it is coherent with the book.

Of 1st Corinthians. Right. I had to change my stance, because I think I was on a pendulum. I was raised in kind of a charismatic background, and I can remember a time where I was pressured to speak in tongues.

They wouldn't let me leave until I did it, because the Spirit was there, and moving, and different stuff. So I remember, and I know exactly what I said. I spoke in Spanish, and I knew what I was saying.

There was no one else there that spoke Spanish. So on the pendulum, I became a cessationist, and said, that's ceased. That's done. That was for then. It's not for today. But I think my view changed a little bit in going through Corinthians, and how Paul speaks about how they were to be used, what the tongues were.

In 1st Corinthians 14, he says that they're primarily, at least tongues, are primarily for unbelievers. It's a sign for unbelievers. In the context, in the American context that I've seen, it's a bunch of believers getting together and saying, well this is the sign that we have the Holy Spirit as we're speaking in tongues.

Rather than, there is an unbeliever here that is speaking a different language, that would have no way of knowing or receiving the gospel unless it was in their language. And then that person hears it in their language, and someone interprets it to confirm what has been said.

And then the way that Paul is careful to go through, this is how it looks in the context of a church. And if it doesn't happen this way, and if it isn't for edification, if you're not doing it for love, love for the unbeliever that's there, love to edify others, then it's not of God.

And I think that kind of changed my view. I'm open to the idea of in missions where people are going out and trying to speak, and there's another tribe that doesn't speak that language, God can do what what he needs to do.

And he's given the.

Context for that. Yeah, I think 1st Corinthians 14 is very helpful to understand what this is. And like you're just pointing out, Paul makes it about edification, about loving others, right? So 1st Corinthians 14 1 says, Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

So that you may, in other words, this is the idea of declaring the truth of God, right? It's the idea of this prophesying, not, you know, this eclipse is the harbinger of, you know, the stock market crashing.

So, you know, not that kind of nonsense. Now verse 2, it seems like confusion about what speaking in tongues was really about in the Corinthian church, because Paul takes so much time to clarify it. It's almost like it was something that caught people's fancy and attention, and they really, really wanted to have this gift of speaking in tongues, and they thought it was very important to have, but they were doing it all wrong and getting it all wrong.

It kind of sounds familiar, you know? But thankfully, there's some very clear instructions in the Bible that just straightens it all out. So verse 2, 1st Corinthians 14, but he who speaks in a tongue, and again, this would be the, this is the word for language, right?

He who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God, for no one understands him. However, in the Spirit he speaks mysteries. Now, we don't have to twist this scripture out of context, right? When somebody is speaking in a tongue, meaning I'm speaking in a language I have never learned before, and it, by the Spirit, it's coming out, I'm speaking a language I've never learned before, this is, he's not, he doesn't speak to men, but to God, for no one understands him.

Okay, that's not like Paul saying there's, he's not saying that there's no one anywhere in the vicinity whatsoever, totality understands, because he's gonna clarify that in a moment. He's saying that when you're speaking in a tongue, you're talking in a language that is not widely known in the group at that time.

He's talking about church order in 1 Corinthians 14. And so, therefore, it's not a useless speaking, because you're speaking to God, and you, you're not speaking nonsense, you're speaking mysteries, right?

And mysteries can be clarified. Now, this is contrasted to prophesying, verse 3, but he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. Verse 4, he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.

In other words, if you're speaking in a tongue, in a language you've never learned before, that looks mighty impressive. And you might be building up your reputation for yourself, you might be making a name for yourself there, right?

Kind of like in the plains of Shinar, people want to make a name for themselves. But it's just cacophony and chaos unless someone's being actually edified and built up in Christ. And that's what he who prophesies edifies the church is about.

Now, verse 5, he says, I wish you all spoke with tongues. Does that mean that Paul is one in chaos in the church? No, he, he wants the gospel to go out to all the nations where everybody's hearing the gospel in their heart language.

He's a missionary's heart. But even more that you prophesied, for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets that the church may receive edification, right?

So he's concerned about edification, the building up of the saints. All right, so now he gets some more clarification on speaking in tongues. Verse 6, but now brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching, right?

If I just come speaking in languages you don't know and I don't know, who's gonna be helped? So he says, verse 7, even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played?

As you already pointed out, the trumpet should not make an uncertain sound, otherwise who will prepare for battle? So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken?

For you'll be speaking into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, listen to this, and none of them is without significance. You know what he's saying there? He's saying there are people from all these tribes, all these dialects, all these languages, and they all have meaning.

They all have, that's what the idea of the term significance is. So when he's talking about speaking in tongues, very clearly he's talking about the variety of different types of languages, and they all have meaning.

All of them. All of them have meaning, and he clarifies that in verse 11, therefore if I don't know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.

This is the problem of the Tower of Babel, right? Prophet, no prophet, it's just a mess. Verse 12, even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.

You're thinking about others, how to serve others, how to bless others, how to love others. Not, you know, here's my weekly ecstatic performance, okay? Verse 13, therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret, okay?

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful, okay? So it, like, what's the point? It's unfruitful. What's the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding.

There has to be an understanding to it. I will sing with the spirit, I will also sing with the understanding. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say amen at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say?