Tongues and Prophecy - Part 2

.... In our previous posting, we addressed the common misperception that the interpretation of a tongue will take the form of a prophecy, and we described why this would not actually be the case. In order for that to be so, the tongue itself would have had to have been a prophecy, and in it's simplest form that would have been contrary to its underlying purpose:

.... "For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God . . ."

(1 Corinthians 14:2)

.... But no doubt someone will object on the basis of their experience. Why then, they will say, have we always heard the interpretation of a tongue come forth as prophecy? There are several possible answers. The first of these (and to my mind the most likely) has to do with our human ‘grid of reasoning’.

.... In an earlier posting, we gave an example of a person who prophesies using King James English. This is because he probably reads the King James version of the Bible, so he has interpreted the utterance through the grid of reasoning he is accustomed to. The essence of the message is pure, but his own understanding has cast it in the form of ‘thees’ and ‘thous’.

.... In a similar way, through well-intentioned but misguided experience, many Christians have now acquired a grid of reasoning that tells them to expect the interpretation of tongues to appear as prophecy. So the essence of their message may be correct, but their own understanding has recast it into a different form. For example, let’s say the utterance was this:

.... "By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the far-off seas."

(Psalm 65:5)

.... But because the interpreter believes that the meaning, in English, will take the form of prophecy, his own understanding may have re-framed the utterance this way:

.... "Yes My children, by awesome deeds in righteous- ness I will answer you, for I am the God of your salvation, the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the far-off seas."

.... This example has been chosen because it contains a special element. When we see the phrase, "in righteousness You will answer us," we actually do see a prophetic element contained in the psalm. Sometimes, spiritually inspired praise can be prophetic! In like manner, when we pray in tongues and express confidence in God, we may utter, through the spirit, elements that are prophetic, even though our words are spoken from man to God.

.... "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little."

(Isaiah 28:10)

.... The passage above is the context in which God foretold the gift of tongues, back in the Old Testament (v 11). So let’s remember that the gift fell into disuse through many centuries of unbelief in the church, and we are all facing a learning curve in 'restoring' it by our faith today. Rather than being offended at our possible mistakes along the way, we must humbly accept Biblical correction in order to learn a little more about this gift and to excel in its proper usage. Everything works better when used as it was designed to be! Therefore when we utter a tongue, let us focus on God Himself instead of worrying about how it applies to men, and then we will see the purest intention and benefit come forth. The utterance itself will suddenly be filled with an ecstatic joy, which will foster a clearer reception of the tongue itself, as it comes to us by the Spirit. And this, in turn, will help the interpretation of the tongue to flow as freely and purely as possible when the Holy Spirit works through the human interpreter.

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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 13