The language spoken in Heaven is international
The last Sunday, when I and my wife were going to come backto Japan
after one and half year long stay in Australia, at Roleystone Comunity
Church which we had attended, a farewell party was held for us. Then
I gave a speech saying, " To our regret we have not been able to talk
with you enough because we didn't have enough ability to speak English
well. We'd have been able to talk more. The place where we meet next
time may be Heaven and so the language spoken there must be an inter-
national language. Then we can talk with anyone to our heart's content.
We look forward to that and leave you."
The little church in the eucalyptus woods became full of laughter at
my speech.
It is really frustrating not to be in enough communication to others.
Though I had been there with my wife to teach Japanese language at the
University of Western Australia, I had had much trouble speaking English,
above all, hearing student's jargon with Australian accent.
It is said children under about 12 years old are quick to learn foreign
language. According to "generative grammar" advocated by Chomsky, human
children have an ability of universal grammar to compose speech. It!s
natural that I am poor at English conversation because I began to learn
English after growing. Why do innocent children have such ability?
We can read two interesting stories in the Bible. One is the story
of "the Tower of Babel."
When people became arrogant and tried to build a tower reaching heaven,
God punished them and confused the language of all the earth. Since then
we have been in trouble cmmunicating to one another.
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to
pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the
land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another,
"Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for
stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.And they said, "Come, let us build
ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a
name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole
earth." But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the
sons of men had built. And the Lord said, "Indeed the people are one and
they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now
nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. "Come, let Us
go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand
one another's speech." So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over
the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore
its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of
all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the
face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:1-9)
The other is the happening of "Pentecost."
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord
in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a
rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon
each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there
were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under
heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and
were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
(Acts 2:1-6)
The story of Genesis tells that people became unable to communicate to
one another because of different languages. In Acts we read that people
could communicate since apostles spoke different languages. How should we
interpret these two contradicting stories.
I suppose that mankind were born in one place on the earth since they
have the same DNA, and so we have one common homep. We may have begin
to speak there, and after spreading to different places we developed each
one's language. Originally language is the mankind's common estat as
"generative grammar" illustrates. I think it remains in innocent children.
On the other hand, when our sin was forgiven and the eternal life was
promised through Jesus' crucification and resurrection, people from world
different places could understand the apostles' preaches.
Some people think apostles in "Acts" studied languages hard to inform
people from different places of Gospel. But I suppose that something more
astonishing happened. Apostles may have spoken a certain international
language people from different places could understand rather than they
spoke many different languages. People understood the preach and they
thought apostles spoke people's own language.
It is said that in Heaven they can communicate themselves to others
without words, or they can understand one another though they speak
their own language. Apostles who experienced Jesus' resurection touched
the eternal life or glanced at the world after death. Then they seem to
have regain the same ability to speak the heavenly language as people in
Heaven have. It was the universal ability to comprehend mankind used to
have before the collapse of the Tower of Babel.
The meaning of this happening in "Pentecost" is this: we are promised
to be given the eternal life like Jesus' resurection, to be raised to the
Heaven our true home ,and then to be able to understand one another with-
out any bad feelings. The language spoken in Heaven is international.
Then we can talk, to our heart's content, with not only Australian
people but also people of the whole world. I am looking forward to that
time.(translated by Hiroshi Takasaki)
The Homepage of the Eternal Life
http://homepage3.nifty.com/eternal-life/
Email Address= eternal-life@nifty.com
Copyright(C) 1997 Hiroshi Takasaki All rights reserved.
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