The Sons of Zadok

We have to be so careful about this and treat the whole subject with the humility that comes from knowing that God’s ways are not our ways. My reason for saying this is as follows.

We can be absolutely sure that at Pentecost the disciples were heard by others in their own languages.

Acts 2:7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”

What we cannot discern from this passage is when a Mede heard his own language and a Parthian also heard his own language, whether or not each was hearing the same tongue from the same person. In other words this is as much a miracle of hearing as it is of speaking. However, I must emphasise that this is only a possibility; but as much a possibility as each apostle speaking an individual real language. We just don’t know, and need to be very careful in being too dogmatic. We can understand a bit of God’s purpose in communicating the gospel to so many in this way, but that’s about the limit of it.

Now let’s jump to Acts 10 when Peter visits the home and household of Cornelius the devout centurion.

Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

This is a very different kettle of fish. No need for other natural languages here, so what were they speaking? It was clearly different from their normal tongue.

Answers on a postcard, haha!

My counsel is simply this. Give God room to be God and don’t allow your personal prejudices and feeble understanding to dictate to Him how things should be so that they don’t offend the human order of things. ??.

What is beyond doubt is that it begins and ends with the Holy Spirit.