1 Corinthians 14:21-22, Men of Other Tongues

1 Corinthians 14:21-22 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. 

Isaiah 28:11-12 was a judgment pronounced by the prophet Isaiah upon the nation of Israel for rejecting the counsel of God’s Word. And because they were stubborn and rebellious, God will send a nation upon them that will deliver His judgment upon them in a foreign tongue that they do not understand.

2 Kings 17:23 Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

William MacDonald commented well, “The foreign tongue symbolized God’s rejection (cf. Deut. 28:49; Isa. 33:19), His disciplinary response to Israel’s stiff-necked rebellion against Him (cf. 2 Kings 17:14; Acts 7:51). Foreigners instead of Israel became the temporary servants of God (cf. Isa. 5:26; Hab. 1:6; Matt. 21:43; Rom. 10:19-21), and their foreign tongue was a punitive sign to Israel of what had taken place.”

The Apostle Paul was exhorting the Corinthian church by this illustration to refrain from seeking the marvel of delving with the foreign languages that they do not understand but rather to take time to understand the careful exposition of His Word in their own language. May the Lord bless His people with the fervour to seek to understand His Word and be strengthened in their faith. Amen.