God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
The Greek word translated “tongues” is glossa . The word translated literally means, “languages” and it would save a lot of confusion if translators of our English Bibles would begin using that word. There is nothing in this passage that suggests undetectable, ecstatic, so-called “angelic” communication. The miracle that took place at Pentecost is that uneducated and often derided Galileans were speaking in different languages, identifiable languages, that they previously did not know. How much clearer can the text be? Verse 6, “Each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language “dialectos” – dialect).” Verse 8, “How is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?” Verse 11, “We hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”
Our real problem is not our sins. If our sins were the problem, we might muster the will-power to pull out of this nose dive. But the good news of the gospel begins with some really bad news. Our sins only provoke a bigger problem: the wrath of God. Our real problem is not our sins but God. He is angry, He isn’t going away, and there is nothing we can do about it. If God is against us, who can be for us? But here is the good news. God has made God our salvation. He did it at the cross. God has provided a way of escape from God: in God. We run from His wrath by running toward His grace in Christ. And if God is for us, who can be against us?