Yesterday as I was sitting in church listening to the man in front of me speaking in Russian so passionately about something I couldn’t even remotely understand – not even one syllable – I pondered how frustrating a lack of a common language can be. I was reminded of the scene at the Tower of Babel – how confusing and debilitating it must have been to have everyone suddenly so unintelligible to one another. Thank you for this lovely consequence, Prideful Man.
Then, just as I was getting pretty annoyed with the whole hopeless situation that is this human condition, I suddenly remembered another story about languages in the Bible: the Pentecost experience in Acts 2…
“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them…When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Completely baffled, they said, “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language?”
How thrilling it must have been to witness what was essentially the reversal of the Tower of Babel phenomenon! To have someone speak to you passionately in your own language when you would never expect he could….that is pretty significant.
I had never thought of those 2 events in the Bible together before. I love that we serve the great Redeemer, who chooses to redeem even the divisions we create, who bridges over the language barriers and sends His Spirit to reach His people in whatever ways He deems necessary!
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