In Isaiah 28, how did tongues serve as a sign to Israel? Were they meant to confirm God’s message in the Old Testament? In 1 Corinthians 14, how did Paul use this lesson for the Corinthian church? How did tongues act as a sign there, and how did they impact unbelievers?
To understand how Paul quotes from Isaiah 28 in 1 Corinthians 14, we must return to Isaiah to understand the complete context of the quote.
In Isaiah 28, the nation of Israel was told they would be sent into exile at the hands of the Assyrians as punishment for their disobedience to the Old Covenant. When that day eventually came, Isaiah told the people they would know it because God would be "speaking" to them through a foreign tongue.
In other words, the strange speech Isaiah said Israel would hear one day was the Aramaic language of the Assyrians who invaded the Northern Kingdom of Israel as God promised. Despite receiving this prophecy and experiencing the fulfillment of it, the nation of Israel refused to repent, demonstrating they had hard, unbelieving hearts. Not even the threat of exile could move Israel's hearts to faith and obedience.
Then in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul uses this historical example to make a point about the purpose of the gift of tongues in the church. Paul quotes from Isaiah 28 saying the purpose of the gift of tongues was the same as it was in Isaiah's day. Paul says it is a sign to unbelievers just as it was a sign in Isaiah's day.
How was the arrival of a foreign language a sign in Isaiah's day? The arrival of the Assyrian language (which Israel couldn't understand) was a sign that God's judgment for unbelief had arrived. When Israel heard the foreign speech of Assyria, they knew God had fulfilled His promise to judge His people.
Likewise, when Israel heard the Church speaking in foreign tongues, it was a sign to Israel that God had brought the judgment He promised. The judgment God brought Israel in Isaiah's day was the conquest of the Assyrian army, but what was the judgment God was bringing Israel in Paul's day?
Paul says the gift of tongues announced God's promise to turn His attention to a new people and away from Israel for a time. Paul explains this more fully in Romans 11:
Rom. 11:7 What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened;
Rom. 11:8 just as it is written,
“GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR,
EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT,
DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.”
Rom. 11:9 And David says,
“LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP,
AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM.
Rom. 11:10 “LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT,
AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.”
The speaking of a foreign tongue that Israel couldn't understand was once again the sign God used to proclaim that the nation was falling under a period of judgment as promised. In that sense, the sign is for unbelievers (in Israel) who rejected Jesus as Messiah. Clearly, this sign is very unique and limited in application to a certain time in Church history. It was necessary in the beginning of the Church as part of God's plan for Israel, but in later centuries the sign is no longer meaningful or necessary.
Regarding Paul's teaching on the gift of prophecy, Paul uses the terms "believer" and "unbeliever" in this section of 1 Corinthians 14 in the sense of destiny not starting position. In other words, Paul says prophecy is "for the believer" in the sense that it is intended to bring a person to faith. So in v.24 if an unbeliever enters the church and hears Scripture and is convicted by the word of God (i.e., prophecy), then this person believes. In that sense, Paul says prophecy is for (i.e, intended to produce) a believer.
Similarly, tongues is a sign to the unbeliever, meaning the person is not coming to faith, which is consistent with Isaiah's use of the sign in Israel's earlier day. The arrival of the Assyrians did not produce faith in Israel. It only brought judgment.
For a complete understanding of Isaiah 28, please listen our Isaiah teaching.
For a complete understanding on how Paul applies this truth in 1 Corinthians, we highly recommend you listen to the following lessons on gifts, culminating in his application of Isaiah 28 in chapter 14:
https://www.versebyverseministry.org/lessons/1corinthians-2013-lesson-12a
https://www.versebyverseministry.org/lessons/1corinthians-2013-lesson-12b
https://www.versebyverseministry.org/lessons/1corinthians-2013-lesson-12c
https://www.versebyverseministry.org/lessons/1corinthians-2013-lesson-13
https://www.versebyverseministry.org/lessons/1corinthians-2013-lesson-14a
https://www.versebyverseministry.org/lessons/1corinthians-2013-lesson-14b
https://www.versebyverseministry.org/lessons/1corinthians-2013-lesson-14c
https://www.versebyverseministry.org/lessons/1corinthians-2013-lesson-14d
