The Gift of Tongues and The Old Testament
In 1 Corinthians 13:8 the Apostle Paul, writing under the supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit, declared the following: "Love never faileth; but . . . whether there be tongues, they shall cease." Since the Holy Spirit moved Paul to make this declaration of his most extensive discourse on spiritual gifts, it would appear that the apostle's statement was intended to communicate the followiGet More Articles—Subscribe Today!
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1 Cor 13:8-10 lists prophecy, tongues and knowledge. vs 9-10 says that prophecy and knowledge in part will end when perfection or completion occurs in future. these two verses do not include tongues. therefore, tongues are free to cease according to when the goals for gift of tongues were fulfilled. for example, when tongues are replaced by the written Word of God. also, when foreign tongues of the Romans were a warning sign to alert the Jews that God will bring judgment on ISR in 70 AD.
Why is nobody bringing up that Jesus himself said that you will speak with new tongues? What are “New tongues” if a language has existed for thousands of years? The word “new” wouldn’t cross my mind if I could suddenly be speaking it. Why is nobody mentioning that Paul talked about tongues that he doesn’t understand but his Spirit does? Why is nobody bringing up when Paul said forbid not to speak with tongues? Tongues are for a sign to people in public who do not speak your language. I understand that to mean even though you don’t understand the tongue, the person receiving the message speaks that language and understands it. Paul spoke about speaking in tongues where his understanding was unfruitful, but his spirit was edified. He also said to not forbid it. Too many scholars with answers here, and not many with questions. Thought I’d do my part in salting the earth a little.
Actually the end of tongues was at the destruction of the temple that completed the forty years of 360 day years in August of 70 AD. The beginning of the forty years of 360 day years was in March 31 AD at the death of John the Baptist a year before the resurrection on April 13, 32. There was a prophecy in Micah that as of days of the jews coming up out of Egypt God would be showing a mysterious “him” marvels. Who could that be? Most folk think it Israel sometimes referred to as a person. But Jesus actually identifies that mysterious “him” in John 5:19-20 as Himself.
John 5:19–20 (KJV (WS))
19Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
20For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may MARVEL.
Compare that to Micah 7:15:
Micah 7:15 (KJV (WS))
15According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him MARVELOUS things.
Where a got the 360 day years, that was the years happening during the Exodus until about 700 BC when the world was shocked with a change in number of days it took to make a year. I had to say that also because instead of “as years” it said “as days” and because of the 360 day years of that, I calculated that evil generation that was a peer of Jesus and the Apostles as ending in August 70 AD, and March of 31 because of the coming full moon holiday of the Jews, and at that time Jesus speaks of John the Baptist in the past tense. The doing away with that Paul speaks of was of John dealing with eyewitness testimony being the basic KNOWLEDGE and Prophecy. It was a prophecy of someone who was the last living eyewitness of what Jesus said and did that had Holy Spirit enhanced memory, and when he archived the last eyewitness (Gospel of John) and the last prophecy (Revelation) then there would be no more prophecy until the end of the church age. It had to do with the law of two or three witnesses that establishes a matter. Paul used this Moses rule to establish doctrine whether by tongues or by prophets, two or three. Apostle John happens to be the one who was the last of both eyewitness testimony in his Gospel and prophetic eyewitness testimony in his Revelation. After this the only credibility giving gift left to the church was agape love, where Jesus said that “in this shall all know that ye are my disciples in that ye have love (agape – translated charity in 1 Cor. 13) one to another.” This means that unconditional love can be KNOWN by men but unless they are disciples of Jesus, they cannot have it in themselves (but the stage actors can get so close it even makes me weep when they act it out on the stage, but again, the Anglicized Greek word for a Greek Stage Actor having a thespian mask they cover their true face with is called HYPOCRITE.
This article shows that Dr. Showers as good an expositor as he was is in error. He makes the statement that nowhere does Paul say when the tongues would cease. Indeed he does say so and in the same chapter as he said they would cease. Verse 10 says “but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with.” That’s pretty plain, clear, straightforward and specific. It’s an obvious reference to the completion of Scripture which occurred in John’s day when he penned Revelation and subsequently died. I’m not sure how Dr. Showers could miss this. I’m only aware of two other errors on Dr. Showers part, both coming from the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. They couldn’t be considered major errors really but they are of significant passages, just not relative to salvific issues.
“Is an obvious reference to the completion of scripture”??
Mr Osborne I think you missed the essence of what Dr Showers was trying to communicate – he actually raised a very good question and you have zeroed in on one portion to try and highlight an error and promote your faulty idea. I’m not sure what dark corner of faith you are in, but it must be dark because the church of Jesus Christ around the world is continuing to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit as we read of in the book of acts and countless (no exaggeration) men and women and even children are receiving the gift of tongues amongst the other gifts of the spirit. It seems to me you are searching for errors, when you should be searching for the Holy Spirit. ‘The perfect’ Paul refers to is when Jesus comes back – until then the gifts are fully need and fully operational, after His return they will have no use.