The Phenomenon of Speaking in Tongues: Tongues of Men, Inspired Tongues, Tongues of Angels, Ecstatic Tongues

By Ionel Plesa

It is known that the New Testament was written in the Greek language, but this does not lead us to believe that the writing of the four Gospels would have access to all the peoples. At the Lord's command, the disciples were sent to preach only to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel."

However, the miracle of Pentecost "resolved their communication" with all the peoples of the Earth who had gathered together in Jerusalem.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449764074

Ionel Plesa

IONEL PLESA, an evangelist and teacher, has traveled extensively throughout Europe, spreading the Gospel in the German language, as well as his native one. He has authored five books, previously published in Romania, now translated into English. His writings and experiences bring a profound insight to God and His Word. He lives in Kennesaw, Georgia, with his wife. They are the parents of three grown children and one with the Lord, and have eleven grandchildren.

Book preview

The Phenomenon

of Speaking in Tongues

Tongues of men, inspired tongues, tongues of angels, ecstatic tongues

Ionel Plesa

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Copyright © 2012 Ionel Plesa

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Translation from Romanian into English: Dianne Bailey

Biblical texts are from the New International Version Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6407-4 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/05/2012

Contents

Tongues of men

Tongues inspired by the Holy Spirit – Human tongues at Pentecost

Tongues inspired by the Holy Spirit, but not understood by men

Tongues from the spiritual world

Tongues of the angels

Speaking in tongues from demonic sources

Ecstatic tongues

Ecstatic tongues (practised in the pagan world), manifestations through psychological pressure

Ecstatic tongues practised in some Christian circles with charismatic tendencies

Tongues of men

Unlike all the other forms of life on this earth, when man was created by God, he received the capacity to communicate ideas through speech. Endowed with a creative intelligence through the spirit of wisdom that he received, he became an ennobled spiritual being with thoughts of eternity. In the book of Proverbs, Solomon writes, I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion (Proverbs 8:12).

In the first stage of human existence, even after the phenomenon of the great flood, men spoke a single language. In Genesis 11:1 we read the following: Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. Through the intelligence of the spirit which he had received, man managed to name every living creature, every phenomenon or form of existence around him, (Genesis 2:19,20) and through the Holy Spirit which had been breathed into him, he received the capacity to communicate with the Creator, thus rejoicing in the law of love and universal harmony.

The sin of disobedience, and later the violation of the moral precepts written on his own conscience (Romans 2:12-16), caused man to lose that fellowship with God. Spiritual rebellion as manifested by Cain, introduced the curse of fratricide (Genesis 4:8-12). After the flood, the curse was reactivated with even greater implications (Genesis 9:25-27). This dramatic post flood consequence gave birth to the slave system, based on hard labour and oppression from the powerful.

The most conclusive expression of the situation regarding the social laws of the times was confirmed at the Tower of Babel. Going against the blessings given by God, when He said, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it […] (Genesis 1:28), powerful people from the dominant class chose to do the inverse. They held counsel together and said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:4).

The Shinar plain is the old Sumer, presently considered to be the Cradle of human civilization; a prosperous civilization, capable of building cities with a powerful economic development, 2,500 years before Christ. God confused their language in two ways. Firstly, by stimulating the existing conflicts between the social classes; the people who were working hard, feeling wronged by those who were giving them their orders, having motives for rebellion. This plausible hypothesis, although it is not mentioned in the Bible, was perfectly possible in such a social setting. In parallel with this language confusion, in order to fulfil His final plan, God confused their languages in a truly miraculous way, and from that moment every tribe spoke a language that wasn’t understood by the others. By being scattered to all parts of the earth, God didn’t intend that families be divided, but He chose to put an end to the