Tongues: Why doesn't Satan understand it?

[teaspill]

I understand that when a Christian speaks in tongues, they're speaking in a heavenly language that they themselves cannot understand. I don't understand, however, the notion that Satan cannot understand tongues either. As Satan was previously the angel of light cast out of heaven, he had spent time in heaven - wouldn't he have then learned the heavenly language?

If tongues isn't something shared among angels and God, then I think that calling it the heavenly language is misleading and I have to wonder why it's called the heavenly language if it isn't understood by all who have been to heaven. I just doubt that an incorporeal entity has suffered retrograde amnesia and forgotten the language of the place where he previously resided.

I don't believe something just because I'm told that it's so, you see - I need to experience or study something to believe that it's true. I cannot speak in tongues [perhaps I can and I don't realise, though], and so I don't have an 'insiders' perspective on this. I don't believe that a being originally of heaven has forgotten the heavenly language, and I would like somebody to tell me how he has forgotten.

Again, if this is a case of a misleading title, then why call tongues the heavenly language? Surely it should be called God's language or the Spirit's language instead of the heavenly language if Satan himself, a former being of heaven, is somehow exempt of understanding?

I considered posting this in Ask a Chaplain, but then I thought that perhaps the freedom of debating with those of varied education regarding Christianity might make this more enlightening for me.

I naturally mean no disrespect and this is not an attempt to begin a theological debate, so moderators, please don't move or lock this - I'm trying to seek an answer as to why Satan doesn't understand tongues.

- - -

While I'm here, how does one know whether they can speak in tongues or not?

 

[Criada]

I am not sure where you are learning this from, but I am fairly sure the bible does not say anything about satan's understanding of tongues.
As far as I can see, there are two different aspects to the gift of tongues. One is seen in Acts 2, where a multinational crowd hear the disciples preaching, and each hears in his own language. I've come across people who have received this gift today when needing to communicate with someone across a language barrier.

The second aspect is the 'private language' with which the Holy Spirit enables us to express ourselves to God when out own words are not sufficient. This, I think, is more common than the other, and available to all Christians.

Whether or not satan understands either seems unimportant, really.

 

[teaspill]

I'm not getting it from the Bible - I'm getting it from every person I've ever asked about tongues [excepting you, heh]. I don't see it as particularly important if Satan understands it or not, either; what I see as important is the fact that people say that Satan doesn't understand it, when Satan is a former being of heaven.

 

[Bouke285]

The whole idea comes from the verse I Corinthians 13: 1 "Though I speak with the tongues of man and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." (In a sense you could think of it as satan has no love so to him the language is nothing but noise.)

There are many who believe in speaking in tongues today and just as many who don't. It has no effect on your salvation just pray about it. If you feel like it's something God is showing you then do it if not don't. It's not something to be scarred of just like everything put your trust in God he won't lead you astray. There are also things we won't understand now, things not in God's word for us. After the fall everything changed significantly satan blinded himself from the truth, and his biggest goal is to spread that blindness to the world.

Here's something else to think about, if the Bible was "Man made" bassed on the desires of humans how could it be so perfectly built? The seeming contradictions people see, when looked at closely with other parts of scripture vanish. It's not something any human could have come up with over such long time periods alone.

 

[teaspill]

I'm not questioning Scripture.

 

[Bouke285]

I'm not questioning Scripture.

I know your not, this is just an important thing to think about, many of our doubts come from us questioning scripture we all do it at some point in the back of our mind.

 

[1Prophetess]

This is my view of it (but I don't know that it is right).

Each demon/angel is an individual. Lucifer is an individual.

Only God is omnipresent.

If you, as an individual, had heard and learned only the languages of the French, the Spanish, the Russians, and the Germans, then you would not know the language of the Chinese. You could learn it, but you wouldn't know it.

No demon can learn every language. Maybe some can learn nearly all. But I'd guess that they have to learn them too and be taught them. So if they haven't been taught, they're in the dark. (Is there a language school for demons? Nah, probably not.)

If it is the Holy Spirit that gives us utterance (and I believe this), then I would guess that the Holy Spirit helps us utter in a language that the demons that are present do not know.

It also may be a heavenly language, but if it was, I think they'd all know it having been in heaven first.

So I'm guessing that this must be the right answer. Of course, the Bible says there are things we don't need to know, so I guess that's one of them. Probably too much for our little minds. *G*

 

[teaspill]

This isn't about scripture, though. This is about why people think that Satan, originally a being of heaven, wouldn't know the language of his own intial home.

 

[Bouke285]

This isn't about scripture, though. This is about why people think that Satan, originally a being of heaven, wouldn't know the language of his own intial home.

It's all about scripture, if it's not included in scripture then we have no reason to know it. Like I said before satan was blinded by his own ambitions he wants nothing to do with being good and will give no effort into the process.

 

[teaspill]

You're avoiding my initial question and attempting to change the topic of my thread. Please don't try to turn this into a debate regarding whether or not something is worth knowing based on whether it's in the Bible or not.

 

[Bouke285]

You're avoiding my initial question and attempting to change the topic of my thread. Please don't try to turn this into a debate regarding whether or not something is worth knowing based on whether it's in the Bible or not.

I did my best to answer your question twice now, I don't want to turn this into a debate there is no debate to be had just usefull things to think about.

 

[Jerry1988]

Sorry im not trying to change the subject.

Doesnt Satan still have access to heaven and the throne of God? The bible says he accuses us before god all the time. If thats the case then he is not yet in hell, and has yet to be cast to the earth.

 

[Bouke285]

Sorry im not trying to change the subject.

Doesnt Satan still have access to heaven and the throne of God? The bible says he accuses us before god all the time. If thats the case then he is not yet in hell, and has yet to be cast to the earth.

If you read Job 1 : 6-7

6. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7.And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" so Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it."

Coming before God does not necessarly mean going to His throne. Moses and Abraham were both said to be before the Lord at some point as well as the Son's of the Lord in the verse above. Notice also that it's God who says the first words not satan.

 

[seashale76]

While I'm here, how does one know whether they can speak in tongues or not?

Let me put it to you this way by telling you a story (true, btw). There was a monk (an Elder) who had spiritual children all over the world. People would seek him out for spiritual advice. At his monastery they would get pilgrims and tourists regularly. One day, a group came through who had a woman from France who was a long-time avowed atheist. She was only there as a tourist. As the group came by his cell he asked the others if he could speak with the lady alone. They translated for him and she agreed. He spoke to her for quite a long time, and when she emerged, she had tears in her eyes and she later became a Christian. When she told her story, everyone was amazed. Why on earth was she holding back on them as they had no idea she spoke Greek? This monk only knew Greek and it was well-known that he spoke no other languages. Then, the lady herself was amazed, because she told everyone that he had spoken to her in perfect French. The fact is, God uses the humble and gives them gifts so that they can minister to others. This is far removed from babbling incoherently in a dramatic manner so that everyone can see you and possibly think how spiritual you must be, and you getting to feel a transitory emotional high that you must continually attempt to reproduce at every service.

We are much better served by sticking to our prayer rule. Here is a prayer resource for you: Orthodox Prayer: Daily Prayer, Jesus Prayer, Lord's Prayer, Prayer Rule, Articles and Books, Prayers for All Occasions; Praying to Saints

If you are interested in the Orthodox Christian view of speaking in tongues, here are a few things for you to read:
Speaking In Tongues: An Orthodox Perspective — Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
OCA - Q & A - Speaking in Tongues / Miracles
Speaking in and Interpretation of Tongues
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The Glossolalia Movement of Today

 

[1Prophetess]

seashale76: Your story is wonderful! Thank you for taking the time to post it.

Let me tell you a story about an experience I had.

I was going with a church group on Sundays to an elderly home. We went every Sunday, and we sang together, had the service, and one of us gave a message. Then we visited with the elderly folk there after we held the service. It was fun, and I've always enjoyed the elderly.

One day, we went, and I felt a strong inclination to talk to a Chinese lady who was sitting in a wheel chair on the side of the service. I went to her, and I said something, but she stared at me blankly. I felt a strong inclination to speak to her in the Spirit. I was really uncomfortable about this because I had never let anyone else hear my spirit language, and I didn't want to do it. But one of the things that I had said to the Lord was that I would do what He asked me to do.

I heard a voice say, "Speak to her in the Spirit." I said, fearfully, "No, oh no, Lord, I can't. I just can't. I've never..okay, I will." I gave a huge sigh. I was going to do the Lord's will no matter how I felt about it.

So I began speaking to her in the Spirit. She sat and stared at me, then, after a few minutes, she lowered her head. After a few minutes more, tears began streaming down her face. She was crying.

She hung onto my hand, wrapping her very small, thin and wrinkled hand around my fingers and grasping them with all her might. She continued to cry. I continued to talk. Another few minutes, and she nodded her head several times as if she was answering "yes" to something I had said. At that point, I said a few more sentences, and then I felt I was finished saying what I needed to say.

I was shocked as I had never experienced anything like that, and when I felt I had said all I needed to say, and that I was finished, I gently untwisted my hand from hers, and I walked away. I felt as if I was in a daze as I walked down the hallway.

My son, who was about eight at the time, said, "Mom, I didn't know you could speak Chinese."

I replied, "I didn't either."

A little while later I said to an attendant that was pushing her down the hall. "Can I speak to her for a moment?" He brushed me away with his hand in the air, and said, "Oh her? She only speaks Chinese."

I called a person I knew, and she said, "You obviously led her to the Lord."

I felt so pleased that the Lord would use me that way.

I love being His vessel. How pleased I was that I could serve Him by leading someone else to Him. So strange it was to me that neither of us could speak the same language, but the Holy Spirit took care of that problem.

 

[heron]

What a great story. That is SO much like what happened in Acts 2 -- it was not just random babbling in public, but real information conveyed for a purpose. I have heard other stories like that, but most of them were from people that could have had mixed motives for telling the stories.

Teaspill, it is good that you ask questions like this, because doctrine can easily slip into contrived rules until someone challenges or questions.

HEAVENLY LANGUAGE
Each person uses a different set of words and sounds, so it is not one formal language that the devil would remember or not.

So far our Earth has at least 7000 unique languages and over 47,000 language names. (German=Deutsche, Eastphalian, Baselditsch, Bärndütsch, Appenzell, Plain Pennsylvanian...)

Imagine how easy it would be for God to give each person their own sounds and symbols. The personal prayer language tends to have a different purpose from the public.

WHY LANGUAGES
There are things we need to pray that might not fit into our primary language. Our language might not have a word for it, our heart might not know how to express it, or we might get so caught up in saying the right words to God that we get distracted.

I have also found that when I yield myself to God for Him to pray through me for others, new sounds come out that I don't recognize, and different types of accents and languages come out that seem to relate to unknown situations. I don't know specifics of what I am praying, but I get a general sense of what it's for.

Sometimes I have received a mental picture of a location, or a situation. Sometimes I pray while driving through certain neighborhoods, and get a sense of suddenly switching to a more Chinese or Italian dialect... as though there are specific people there who need prayer.

I don't have the logic of it all down pat. But it is a fascinating activity to be involved in.

One year I felt like my language shifted, and I wasn't sure why. About five years later I realized it was similar to a dialect where a country was at war, and God later sent me to that region. I was clueless until I was listening to language tapes before the trip.

Two very different stories -- 1Phrophetess found that God used her to speak directly to someone, and I believe God uses tongues for me to pray for situations I am not aware of -- ones I don't need information on, but God knows.

THE DEVIL NOT KNOWING
I wasn't raised in that doctrine, but later found a benefit to it. There are times when people get bogged down with all the voices in their heads.

If tongues are between you and God, then they can have a similar protective aspect-- keeping information confidential.

There isn't enough information on tongues in scriptures to form a concrete doctrine on that, though. Bouke brought up a scripture referring to tongues of angels...that's as close an answer as I've seen, to whether the Satan would understand or not. But who knows, maybe each angel understands a different set of languages.

Language is an expression. A mode of communication that can be mutually understood. An agreed-upon set of symbols.

 

[gilliger]

Where is the explicit reference from Scripture that the gift of tongues was referring to heavenly languages? I don't think there is one and if that's the case, with Satan as the father of this world, it seems like he would be able to understand the true gift of tongues, speaking in foreign languages.

 

[1Prophetess]

Wow, heron, what a great explanation. (Thanks also for the comment on the story. It is true, and I have had other things happen with my spirit language. But because there is so much criticism, I hate to tell it. You know, I said in another thread that I talked to Jesus and He talked to me, and I was given a very terse response, "really?" I hate to share with others when I am going to be beaten down for truth.)

Thanks again. Nice explanation. Definitely the Bible says "tongues of men and angels" so we must speak in either or both.

 

[gilliger]

Is Paul not just using hyperbole in 1 Corinthians 13 when talking about the tongues of men and angels. These are "what if" scenarios. He also says in verse 3 "If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned..."
Why be so dogmatic about the tongues but not give up one's body to be burned or give away everything one owns? Same passage. Same context. Same sentence structure. You can't have one without the other.

 

[Bouke285]

Thats what we all are supposed to try and do give up ones self give it all to God. Why does Paul saying this change anything about the use and purpose of tongues? You are attempting to show a contradiction when there is none, I see this happening far too much.