Seems the title of this post, derived from Revelation 7:10, would summarize the Bible very well. What else is the Bible for, if not to learn of God’s Salvation and how it came into being? Yes, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that all Scripture is the breath of God for our teaching, reproof, correction and training that we may be equipped for every good work, but to what end? Is it so that we, who are God’s lambs, may experience God’s Salvation firsthand by His Grace? We also happen to do these things out of our love for Him and each other.
We learn from reading Acts 2:6 that when God communicates with each of us it would be in our own language. Note that it was man who created his own language since the day when, as told in Genesis 11:1–7, God confused the language the people spoke. And when He directed that those people speak in different languages, it was the people themselves who created the language they would speak in, after being dissipated to other parts of the world. But God being God, for whom nothing is impossible, spoke through His Holy Spirit to the people in Acts 2:1-6 in each of their own languages that they created.
Through the centuries, we learned that language isn’t perfect. The different languages, especially when translated to other languages, have made people misunderstood at times, but it is the only tool we have when we try to convey thoughts to people that aren’t in our immediate area or who may not be alive until after the rest of us pass away. And different cultures have made parts of another language to be part of their own language. But eventually, its meaning finds its way by the way it’s used.
Why did God confuse the language of the people in Genesis 11:1-7? Commentators note that the commission of sin was prevalent in that location, so God was concerned that if they stuck with just one language, it would be easy for the sin to spread like a disease over the rest of the population. (May remind some of that earthly work by Camus called “The Plague.”) By confusing the language, God prevented the rampant spreading of the sin; for how could anyone understand what someone else wants them to do if they don’t know what others are talking about?
There is talk in fairly recent times that some things considered to be Greek in the New Testament may not really be Greek. But in mulling over this possibility, we lose sight of what is actually conveyed in the Bible, that what is in the Bible, regardless of the linguistic origin, is there for our own good. And in learning from the Bible, we as the lambs anticipate the Lord’s Salvation which in turn, depends on His Grace.
We learn from reading Acts 2:6 that when God communicates with each of us it would be in our own language. Note that it was man who created his own language since the day when, as told in Genesis 11:1–7, God confused the language the people spoke. And when He directed that those people speak in different languages, it was the people themselves who created the language they would speak in, after being dissipated to other parts of the world. But God being God, for whom nothing is impossible, spoke through His Holy Spirit to the people in Acts 2:1-6 in each of their own languages that they created.
Through the centuries, we learned that language isn’t perfect. The different languages, especially when translated to other languages, have made people misunderstood at times, but it is the only tool we have when we try to convey thoughts to people that aren’t in our immediate area or who may not be alive until after the rest of us pass away. And different cultures have made parts of another language to be part of their own language. But eventually, its meaning finds its way by the way it’s used.
Why did God confuse the language of the people in Genesis 11:1-7? Commentators note that the commission of sin was prevalent in that location, so God was concerned that if they stuck with just one language, it would be easy for the sin to spread like a disease over the rest of the population. (May remind some of that earthly work by Camus called “The Plague.”) By confusing the language, God prevented the rampant spreading of the sin; for how could anyone understand what someone else wants them to do if they don’t know what others are talking about?
There is talk in fairly recent times that some things considered to be Greek in the New Testament may not really be Greek. But in mulling over this possibility, we lose sight of what is actually conveyed in the Bible, that what is in the Bible, regardless of the linguistic origin, is there for our own good. And in learning from the Bible, we as the lambs anticipate the Lord’s Salvation which in turn, depends on His Grace.
