Pastor John,
Did Jewish prophets like Moses or other ministers speak in tongues when they were anointed by the Holy Spirit before the birth of Jesus Christ?
Jacob,
Hamilton, Ontario.
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Hi Jacob.
Thank you for the question.
The Mormon sect, and perhaps others, teaches that righteous people were given the holy Spirit and spoke in tongues, etc., from the beginning of the world. But that is not true. The holy Spirit, which brought with it the experience of speaking in tongues, was not given to man until after Jesus was slain, ascended, and was gloried to sit at God’s right hand (John 7:39). Jesus had to come and die in order to purchase that blessing for us, and when he ascended to the Father and offered his own blood to Him for our sins, God accepted His Son’s sacrifice and poured out of His own bosom His eternal life, which we call the holy Spirit, upon Jesus’ followers who were waiting in Jerusalem for that “promise of the father”.
Most of the confusion, Jacob, concerning the baptism of the Spirit springs from ignorance of when a person is born again. The disciples were born again on Pentecost morning, not before. If you concentrate on the issue of the new birth, you will find answers to many otherwise unresolvable questions. You can start here: https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_books.html?tname=afterjesusdied
Let us know what you learn, and feel free to send us any further questions or comments.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor John