Different Tongues (Gen 11:1-9, Acts 2:1-12)

Twice God has given people different languages, and each served a different purpose, and had a different outcome.

First, let’s take a look at the Tower of Babel. (Babel is similar to the Hebrew word balal, which translates to confuse).

Genesis 11:1-9

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they 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; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The people were united as one. They understood each other, and had a common purpose. But this purpose was their own. This was an undertaking they had decided to do to give themselves glory. They wanted to be known through history.

Secondly, let’s look at Pentecost. The time when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples.

Acts 2:1-12

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Here again we see people given different languages.

But let’s contrast Babel with Pentecost:

Unlike the purpose the people had at Babel, the great commission carried with it a directive, and purpose from God. The people needed unity in order to greatly reach the world for Christ, and one of the first ways was through use of language.

At Babel, languages were changed in order to keep the people separate. To scatter them, and spread them across the world. Although this looks pretty harsh at first glance, it has ensured that there are people spread across the face of the earth. This has reduced the impact of people concentrated in one location. Admittedly, the world does seem to be under a lot of strain now, but it’s taken a while to get this bad.

At Pentecost, the disciples had been given the great commission; To go out and make disciples across the world. And although there were a few of them, it would have been nigh on impossible to achieve this without God’s intervention. And so we see the disciples speaking in tongues. And they were understood by the people. Maybe not taken seriously at first, but understood.

Through giving a group of people new languages God has shown he can both scatter and gather people. If speaking in tongues is your thing, keep at it. You never know who will understand you. If it isn’t, don’t be disheartened. Not all have been given the gift of tongues, and your strengths will most likely lie in other areas.

So as we approach the time where we remember Pentecost, let’s take a moment to revel in God’s ability to use the same action to give polar opposite results.