A few folks have asked for clarification on some of the comments I made, particularly concerning the history of the Hebrews re: "foreign languages" and "languages they did not know" (Isaiah 28:11-12, Deut 28:49, Jer 5:15).
Here's the main point I was trying to make.
Throughout the entire history of the Jews, they would draw near to God, and then fall away. Whenever they would allow that to happen, God would send prophets to them telling them that unless they repent, they will be invaded, captured and ruled over by people who spoke "languages they did not understand". The sign of God's judgment would be those languages. When the Hebrews heard the unknown languages of the ones who had conquered them, they would remember God's words.
At Pentecost, among those who heard the Gospel message and understood, they heard it in their own language (Acts 2:4-11), a miracle of speaking and hearing. Yet, with over one million people in Jerusalem at that time, only 3,000 came to the Lord (Acts 2:41). The others didn't seem to understand what was going on (Acts 2:13). I believe they didn't understand the languages either. I believe they heard 'languages they did not understand".
In any event, when any of the Jews heard the foreign languages being spoken in Jerusalem that day, it should have been received as warning that they had moved away from God and were in danger of His judgment falling upon them once again just as it had always been throughout their history. This was their chance to repent and receive Christ as their Messiah, maybe their last chance as a people.
Here's a little tidbit of information. Virtually all the pagan cults practiced tongues in this era of history. Corinth was filled with pagan cults and temples. The way these cults usually worshipped was that they would assemble (in the evening) and begin dancing and chanting while they drank "sweet wine". Eventually, they would dance and drink themselves into a stupor and begin speaking in tongues. This was not only a common occurrence in Corinth but a common sight on the streets as well. This is probably what these "others" in Acts 2:13 thought they were witnessing.
Read the Scriptures for yourselves and see if you agree.
Here's another point, this one of correction. When I said the Northern and Southern kingdoms divided with 6 tribes comprising the North and 6 the South, I was incorrect. In reality, 10 tribes comprised the Northern kingdom and two the South. Here's where they settled:
And here's what the divided kingdom looked like:
If you're interested in hearing the sermon, you can listen here, Warrenton Bible Fellowship. It should be posted later this week.
Here's the slideshow from the sermon:
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