Photo: Pixabay
Photo: Pixabay

God, the Source of All Languages

God reveals His truth, faithfulness and goodness to educators, teachers, and instructors in the process of teaching and learning.

World Divisions June 19, 2017

Understanding languages is useful for us, especially in our communication with God and people. Language learning consists of communication with sounds that are structured and arranged into major groups and involves written and spoken practices and learning. Language learning can be difficult and complex, but God has promised that He will help His people with learning to speak to those who speak different languages:

The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakened morning by morning, he wakened mine ear to hear as the learned. (Isaiah 50:4)

And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” (Genesis 11:6).

God’s creative and redemptive activity use language, and language also enhanced His ministry and mission here on earth. God’s creation was done with words (Genesis 1).

God showed the creative power of language through his creation. God spoke perceptibly and used His language to create nature and animals. When He created human beings, He instilled the language ability in them (Genesis 1-3). In Genesis 2, God gave Adam the power to name the animals by their different names.

In addition to being creative, language can also be redemptive. In 1 John 5, God declares that He is the truth and that truth is for us to understand and contemplate. John 1:12 says that God’s words became flesh and all who believed Him have the right to be the children of God.  Language is vital to the plan of redemption and salvation.

Another important function of language is communication with God and others. God communicates with his people orally and in writing throughout the Bible. His association with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was oral; He spoke to Moses orally as well as writing of the Ten Commandments. In Genesis 10, God organized the communication between humans by dividing the people into nations, then into languages.

Beyond being used to communicate with God and others, language can also be used to communicate God’s glory. Psalm 19, for example, espouses the reflection of God’s glory through communication, and in Revelation we find the holy elders worshiping in truth and language.

Given these important functions of language, learning new languages is certainly a worthy endeavor. Teaching and learning a foreign language can be an exciting adventure. God reveals His truth, faithfulness and goodness to educators, teachers, and instructors in the process of teaching and learning. Learning a language can help prepare souls for service here on earth as well as for the heavenly kingdom.


Note: Article written and posted in English

Author

Carol Kingston

Carol Linda Kingston served as an instructor at the English Center of the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies in the Philippines (AIIAS) for five years. She is currently a PhD student in Educational Administration with TESOL as the emphasis and served as the Asst. Dean of the Women’s Hostel and English teacher for elementary through junior college level at Spicer for ten years.

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