Did you do some work on it or are you waiting for me to tell you the “right answer”? Bad move! You will get most from these Gems exercises when you do it yourself. Did you find the right passage on your own? Let’s compare the passages.
In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 14:21
For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the LORD will speak to this people, [to whom he has said, “This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose”] yet they would not hear.
Isaiah 28:11-12
Note that Paul has switched the order of “lips” and “tongue”. Notice the Prophet Isaiah wrote the passage in the third person, while Paul cites it in the first person. Paul added the words “says the Lord”. Paul has changed the mode of delivery to grab the attention of the Corinthians to the words as being from the Lord. It is certain that Isaiah’s meaning is that the Lord would speak in such a manner to the Jews. Paul has taken the clause “even then they will not listen to me” out of Isaiah 28:12.
The sense seems to be that whereas the Lord had spoken in the plainest manner to the Jews by the prophets, as he would afterwards by the apostles, and had repeated his words so often, that even a child might be thought to be capable of receiving them; yet such was their stupidity and obstinacy, that they disregarded them. Therefore He will use another method and speak to them by people of different and strange languages, namely the Chaldeans, Medes, and Persians, in the 70 year captivity. Hence the Corinthians had no reason to feel good about speaking in different tongues, since these have been threatened and used by God to bring punishment to His people and not a blessing. Especially if they treat it the way they do.
Note Paul has omitted [to whom he has said, “This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose”] from the Isaiah quote. He is more intent on communicating the fact that God spoke to his people “by the strange tongues and lips of foreigners” in judgement than any content of what was said.
the other tongues … – This passage, where it occurs in Isaiah, means, that God would teach the rebellious Jews submission to Himself, by punishing them amidst a people of another language, by removing them to a land – the land of Chaldea – where they would hear only a language that to them would be unintelligible and barbarous. The passage in Isaiah has no reference to the miraculous gift of tongues and cannot have been used by the apostle as containing any intimation that such miraculous gifts would be imparted. It seems to have been used by Paul, because the “words” which occurred in Isaiah would “appropriately express” the idea that God would make use of foreign languages for some “valuable purpose.” He does not appear to design to apply the sense of judgement to the Corinthians. Maybe it was more to show the power of speaking foreign languages did not of necessity secure obedience. It might be that this power might be possessed, and yet they still be a sinful people; just as the Jews were admonished by the judgments of God, inflicted by means of a people speaking a foreign language, and yet not reformed or made holy.
Notice also the words used in the quote from Paul’s writing “In the Law it is written . . .” But the passage quoted is from Isaiah. It is strictly not from the Torah or what is technically called the Law: The Pentateuch. But there is no contradiction, for the term תירה [torah] Law, was frequently used by the Jews to express the whole Scriptures: the Law, Prophets, and Writings – The three parts of the Old Testament from a Hebrew perspective.
Here is the fuller context from Isaiah:
Now, however, Israel is led by drunks who reel with wine and stagger with alcohol. The priests and prophets stagger with alcohol and lose themselves in wine. They reel when they see visions and stagger as they render decisions. Their tables are covered with vomit; filth is everywhere. “Who does the LORD think we are?” they ask. “Why does He speak to us like this? Are we little children, just recently weaned? He tells us everything over and over—one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there!” So now God will have to speak to His people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language! God has told His people, “Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.” But they would not listen. So the LORD will spell out His message for them again, one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there, so that they will stumble and fall. They will be injured, trapped, and captured. Therefore, listen to this message from the LORD, you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 28:7-14
Look at the context carefully and you will see why Paul chose this quote. More in the next Gem. This is a very deep and difficult passage with a significant connection to Corinthians. It needs some deeper thought. My Greek professor used to tell us “Take every verse of Scripture and suck it like a sweetie.” Do it with this verse today. Ponder on it for a while.
Laughter is an instant vacation.
Milton Berle
Success is more attitude than aptitude.
Anon