Narcissism and Nobility

Meditations on 1Corinthians

No. 21c

The “Tongues Passage” — Getting Our Bearings

1Cor 12.1-3; 14.20-22

(Continued.)

Tongues, a sign to unbelieving Jews.

How does tongues come into this?  When Paul exhorts the Corinthians to be grown up in their understanding, he goes on to explain that tongues are a sign or wonder intended to minister to unbelievers, and not just any unbelievers, but specifically Jewish unbelievers (1Cor 14. 20-22).  Indeed, Paul says that if typical (Gentile) unbelievers come into the church and witness the Corinthians speaking in tongues, they will think the Corinthians are crazy (1Cor 14.23).

To support his point, Paul quotes (in 1Cor 14.21) Isaiah 28.11–12.  In quoting these verses, Paul is not proof-texting, but rather evoking the entire passage of Isaiah 28 and 29.  This is significant because Isaiah 28-29 is one of the most oft quoted passages from the Old Testament by the New Testament:

(1)  It is the same passage in which God states, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily (or be disappointed)” (Isa 28.16).  This statement is quoted repeatedly in the New Testament in conjunction with the closely related statement of Psalm 118.22-23, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This is the LORD’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”  (See Mat 21.42; Mark 12.10; Luke 20.17; Acts 4.11; Rom 9.33; 10.11; 1Pet 2.6-7.)

(2)  It is the same passage in which God says that “these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men” (Isa 29.13), which is quoted by Jesus (Mat 15.7-9; Mark 7.6-7).

(3)  It is the same passage in which God accuses his covenant people of being “drunk, but not with wine,” but rather with a “spirit of deep sleep.”  (Isa 29.9 – 10.)  And thus we see the irony of Pentecost when Peter and the disciples are accused of being drunk (Acts 2.13-15).  Someone is drunk, but who?  Is it the disciples who are drunk with “new wine” or the unbelieving Jews who are drunk with a “spirit of deep sleep”?

(4)  This is the same passage in which God says that his covenant people have made a covenant with death and with Sheol (Isa 28.18).  This coincides with the drunken “spirit of deep sleep.”

(5)  This is the same passage in which God says to Israel: “I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you with a mound, and I will raise siege works against you.  You shall be brought down . . . .” (Isa 29.3–4.)  God goes on to explain that he will bring a multitude of nations against Jerusalem and lay siege to her (Isa 29.7).  Jesus spoke very similarly of Jerusalem when he wept over the city: “The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”  (Luke 19.41-44.)

Thus this pivotal passage from Isaiah 28 – 29, is evoked again and again in the New Testament by Jesus and the apostles.  What Jesus and the apostles are saying to Israel is that she is in the same situation as Old Testament Israel just before Jerusalem was besieged and destroyed by Babylon.  The upshot is that the Messiah has come and been installed as the Cornerstone of a new Temple of Living Stones (1Pet 2.4-8).  The Gospel is an offer of salvation and at the same time a warning of imminent judgment to Jews who reject the Cornerstone and refuse to become part of the new Temple of Living Stones (ibid.).

(To be continued.)