Shavuot, The Holy Spirit, & Tongues
Our statement of faith says that "as a body ministry we believe in the infilling of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) and all of His gifts and ministries. We welcome an anointed, orderly move of the Ruach HaKodesh". As we observe Shavuot, also known as Pentecost (which in Greek means 50 due to it being the 50th day of the Omer count), let us consider this feast day, its significance and how it relates to our congregational life.
This is the day we mark the giving of law on Sinai. It is also the day the Holy Spirit descended upon the Believers in Jerusalem. As Messianic Believers, both events are central to our walk. Emphasizing this reality, this feast is represented by the central, main supporting branch on the Menorah, thus indicating how all other feast days come together and are bound up in Shavuot.
This is a wonderful feast! It is a joyous time of celebration. Recognizing that our great God has given us His loving instructions by which to live our lives and has gone above and beyond by giving us His Holy Spirit to indwell each of us as His children, to lead and guide us in the appropriate way to live out His instructions in each of our lives.
A study of the Holy Spirit is a study of God Himself. He is inexhaustible, boundless, beyond our comprehension. Accordingly, we are limited in our understanding and ability to grasp His awesomeness and a mere 3-to-4-thousand-word study cannot do Him justice. We will however peer into His word to see what nuggets we can uncover particularly as it pertains to His working within us, His giftings and in particular, evaluating the gift of tongues.
In Hebrew the word spirit is Ruach, which is defined by Strong’s as wind, and by similarity breath, figuratively representing life, and by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being. This gives greater insight as we read John 3:8 where Yeshua is discussing the Spirit's role in the salvation process. He tells Nicodemus. "The wind blows where it wants to. You hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. That's the way it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
In the B’rit Chadashah, (New Testament) the Greek word used for spirit is pneuma. We are familiar with the word pneumatic which is something that operates using air under pressure. From Strong’s, pneuma is defined as a current of air, that is, breath, blast, or breeze; by comparison, figuratively a human spirit, the rational soul, and by implication one’s mental disposition.
It is fascinating that in Hebrew, the term rational being is used when describing the concept of spirit. This same concept is found in the word pneuma. Makes sense, both languages are describing and attempting to define the same idea embodied in their respective words. The definition of rational is; a thought or idea which is based on or in accordance with reason or logic. Its synonyms include logical, reasonable, sensible, and coherent.
From this we can deduce that the Holy Spirit is a rational, coherent, and sensible being. Should He be any less? He is part of the Triune God Head. This is why 1Cor 14:40 calls for everything within the assembly (and I would propose in life, as much as it depends on us) to" be done in a proper and orderly way." The Holy Spirit is practical, knowledgeable and able to teach us all things (John 14:26). He does this in accordance with Elohim's word, not violating any of His precepts. We see that God filled Uri, son of Bezalel with wisdom, knowledge, understanding and all kinds of craftsmanship. (Ex 31:3). Likewise, He will equip us for the tasks He has set before us for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in. (Eph 2:10)
The Spirit was with God in in the beginning of creation as we read in Genesis 1:2 "And the Spirit of God moved upon the waters."
Throughout the Tanakh, it appears the Holy Spirit was given to men, fortified them as they had need and then would depart from them. David's plea with God in Psalm 51 sums this up, "Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me”. Time and again we read the Lord would put His Spirit upon individuals. When He visited with the elders of Israel, He put His Spirit upon them and they prophesied (Num 11). The Spirit of the Lord came upon Balaam, (Num 24), the Judges Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah. In Samuel, we see the Spirit of God came upon Saul but that He also departed from Saul and evil spirit from YHWH troubled Saul (what are we to make of this? Certainly a study in its own right.) (1 Sam Cps 11 & 16).
All of these examples point to the giving and taking of the Holy Spirit.
In the B’rit Chadashah in (John 15:26), Yeshua talks about the Comforter to come, whom He will send to us from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father and will testify of Him, Yeshua. In this verse we see the Triune God Head fully presented to us. Further, we see that the Spirit will testify of Yeshua and we know that Yeshua testifies of the Father. It is therefore inappropriate to worship the Spirit and focus on Him. He always points to Messiah who points to the Father.
Further we see in Eph 1:13 & 14 that the Spirit is now given to each individual upon believing in and receiving Yeshua as Savior and Lord, "You, too, have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed in the Messiah, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until God redeems His own possession for His praise and glory."
The word guarantee is pledge or down payment. In other words, just as one would place a down payment on the purchase of a particular item which validates their right to complete the purchase later, so too is the Holy Spirit given to us as validation of the Almighty's redemptive work in our lives which He will complete. 2 Cor 5:5 affirms this stating, "God has... given us His Spirit as a guarantee.
The indwelling Spirit empowers us to live righteously. Romans chapter 8:10 & 11, states that we "are not under the control of the human nature but under the control of the Spirit, since God's Spirit lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Messiah, he does not belong to Him. But if the Messiah is in you, your bodies are dead due to sin, but the spirit is alive due to righteousness. And if the Spirit of the One who raised Yeshua from the dead is living in you, then the One who raised the Messiah from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive by His Spirit who lives in you."
This infilling occurs at the moment of salvation and remains with us throughout our life. It does not come and go as we noted in the Tanakh. Rather as redeemed individuals we have the seal of the indwelling Holy Spirit on and in our lives. Isn't this amazing that the Holy Spirit indwell us?! God in us, unbelievable and yet glorious!
Now, while we have the Holy Spirit and He will not leave us, as was Israel's condition before Messiah, we can quench Him which we are admonished not to do (1 Thess 5:19), nor to grieve Him as noted in Eph 4:30. How do we grieve and quench the Spirit? By allowing bitterness, wrath, anger, quarrelling, slander, and hatred in our lives. But, by His grace and leading we walk in The Spirit, not becoming conceited, or provoking or envying one another (Gal 5:25-26). We are taught by the Spirit and therefore learn Godly wisdom as we understand spiritual things as spiritual people.
Worry can also quench the Spirit. There are many things that we worry about today. Yet our Master in a wonderful discourse in Matthew 6 admonishes us to be anxious about nothing. Not about what we will eat or drink, how we will clothe ourselves, or even about tomorrow. He knows what we need and will meet our needs. Our job is to first seek the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, which is the Holy Spirit’s job if we do not quench Him, and all these matters will be taken care of by our heavenly Father! What an awesome promise!
Before we move on, it is worth noting again that this is a wide and deep topic, one which we will never exhaust. The Spirit of God is God Himself and as mortals, we cannot get our brains around the Almighty!
It is important that we turn our attention to the Spirit's working within our lives and assembly, particularly on this, the Feast of Shavuot and even more as we see the day of the Lord drawing near. We need to be equipped with the equipping only He can provide, particularly with so many voices screaming for our attention and so much misinformation being constantly thrown at us these days.
So, how do we know we have the Holy Spirit? Because scripture tells us so! We have just reviewed several verses that assure us of the Spirit’s indwelling us and there are more. It is therefore not based on how we feel or upon our situation. Rather upon the assurance that the Elohim of Israel is true to what He says.
This Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost marks the giving of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem ten days after our Lord ascended to heaven. We are familiar with the recounting of events in Acts 2, where the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability.
Most times today when we think of the Holy Spirit exercising His power we think in terms of tongues because certain denominations push this theology front and center. This strong emphasis is not supported by scripture, particularly demanding the utterance of tongues to prove evidence of the indwelling Spirit.
For starters, this does not pan out with the account in Acts. The apostles spoke so that devout Jews who were in the city for the Feast heard speech in their own native language to further the gospel message! It was not a babbling that needed to be interpreted but had a very specific function and about 3,000 were added to their number that day.
To highlight this specific function of tongues, I recount a testimony of a fellow Believer with whom we used to fellowship and his account about his conversion to the faith. This man was raised Amish and, in his teens, left his house and family and ran wild. Many of his shenanigans involved fast cars and the police. He ended up in Florida where he was invited to a revival meeting by a young lady, he had interest in at the time. As the meeting went, a man stood up and began speaking in "tongues". He was in fact speaking in Pennsylvania Dutch. His message was directed toward our friend, and our brother responded by receiving the Lord as his Savior that night! Upon questioning the man who gave the utterance after the meeting, our friend learned he had no idea of what he said. This validates Paul's point in 1 Cor 14:22, stating that tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. The secrets of our friend's heart were disclosed, and he fell on his face recognizing that God was among His people that night (1 Cor 14:25).
How does this impact our assembly here at Lev Y'shua? 1 Cor 12:4-7 states "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord. There are varieties of results, but it is the same God who produces all the results in everyone. To each person has been given the ability to manifest the Spirit for the common good."
Emphasis on for the common good.
He goes on to state:
1Co 12:8-30 To one has been given a message of wisdom by the Spirit; to another the ability to speak with knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit; to another miraculous results; to another prophecy; to another the ability to distinguish between spirits; to another various kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages. But one and the same Spirit produces all these results and gives what he wants to each person. For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, form a single body, so it is with the Messiah. For by one Spirit all of us—Jews and Greeks, slaves and free—were baptized into one body and were all privileged to drink from one Spirit. For the body does not consist of only one part, but of many. If the foot says, "Since I'm not a hand, I'm not part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body, does it? And if the ear says, "Since I'm not an eye, I'm not part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body, does it? If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has arranged the parts, every one of them, in the body according to his plan. Now if all of it were one part, there wouldn't be a body, would there? So, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you," or the head to the feet, "I don't need you. God has put the body together, so that there might be no disharmony in the body, but that its parts should have the same concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is praised, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the Messiah's body and individual parts of it. God has appointed in the assembly first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then those who perform miracles, those who have gifts of healing, those who help others, administrators, and those who speak various kinds of languages. Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they? Not all have the gift of healing, do they? Not all speak in other languages, do they? Not all interpret, do they?
What Shaul is pointing out here is that we are One Body with Many Members and not all members have the same gifts, and we should therefore not demand that people speak in tongues to prove they have the Holy Spirit, which we do not. You have the Holy Spirit by virtue of your salvation. He is a gift from YHWH to you!
Paul encourages us to pursue love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts especially the ability to prophesy. 1 Cor 14:2 -5, “For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the congregation. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the assembly may be built up.”
Again, for the edification of the assembly!
As we consider how this plays out here, we earnestly work to not quench the Spirit. This takes discernment and we need to be a people of order and discernment. Everything must be done for edification. (1 Cor 14:26). We will follow the outline Paul has given in 1 Cor 14 for order within the assembly and if there is a tongue spoken, there must be an interpretation and it must come from another individual and not the one speaking the tongue. If no interpretation is readily given, we will move on. Truthfully considering this discourse, since we all speak English, the expectation is that any word the Father wants to give us will be delivered in English.
Finally, if you have the Spirit and yet do not exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in your walk, it does not matter if you are prophesying, speaking in tongues, teaching, or interpreting, your words fall onto shaky ground, as I conclude with the admonition of our brother Paul: But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. 1 Cor 13, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Summed up, our focus is not on speaking in tongues, which truthfully really limits the Almighty, but rather on the fruits of the Spirit. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Gentleness. Faithfulness. Self-control! Exhibit your fruit. Show us your love. Then give us your prophesy, tongue, interpretation, or teaching. Because by your love, we will know you are a brother and are looking out for our edification.