Speaking in tongues.....

I have often wondered why the Apostle Paul was so adamant in Corinthians, that there had to be an interpreter to explain, when anyone spoke in tongues. So I did bit of a study on it with the help of some study books and came up with this.

The Jews from Jerusalem could not understand what was being said, because they accused the disciples of being drunk!
Now, If I started speaking perfect Hebrew, you would not accuse me of being drunk, (if you could also speak Hebrew)....but they did not understand what was going on, because it was a foreign tongue, but.... they did all know the Torah, and what was written there.

well it turns out there are 3 passages in the Bible that speak of a foreign language that will be a punishment to them!

Deut 28 v 45-52: “So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 They shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever.
47 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
49 “The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favour to the young. 51 Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish. 52 It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the LORD your God has given you."


Jeremiah 5 v 14 - 17: Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts,
“Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire And this people wood, and it will consume them. 15 “Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an enduring nation,
It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say. 16 “Their quiver is like an open grave,
All of them are mighty men. 17 “They will devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds;
They will devour your vines and your fig trees; They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust."

Isaiah 28 v 2; Behold, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent; V 11: Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue......."

and all 3 are about God, using a foreign army speaking a foreign language, God is going to use this foreign army to bring judgement against Israel, and so tongues would be seen as a sign of judgement from God. A curse!

So, that is why, in Corinthians, Paul states that unless there is an interpreter for someone speaking in a foreign tongue, it does no good as it has so far brought a curse to Israel, so it could do the same to any one who speaks and no one can interpret it!
Blessings
Yaddy