Angelic Tongues: Understanding The Language of Angels
Paul shed light on the subject of angelic language when he later revealed a heavenly experience where he heard things that were beyond his ability to communicate within the limits of our language:
It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter (2 Corinthians 12:1–4).
The language barrier became more real than ever before. What Paul heard in the third heaven was beyond anything his mind would comprehend; it could only be identified as “inexpressible words.” Paul’s third heaven experience helps us to understand something about the realm of angels and gives us a clue that angels have a language of their own. Paul could not find the words to articulate the things he heard in the third heaven. Regardless, his experience carried as much validity to him as it would have had he understood everything that was said.
Paul the apostle revealed his third heaven experience in hopes of connecting the Corinthian church to his journey into the apostolic call. It was a moment of great importance to Paul, and he shared this “in the body or out of the body I do not know” experience with the church in hopes that they would not just see Paul the man, but Christ in Paul. “Inexpressible words” would have conveyed to the reader that where Paul was (in the third heaven) was a place unlike anything ever seen on Earth. Everything was different there and to try to explain what he saw was “not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Corinthians 2:4). The language was different. The culture was different. Angels and all that were there were different and superior to anything this side of Heaven. It is apparent that Heaven has a culture of its own.
The Culture of Angels
Angels may seem like a minor subject, but the reality is they are big deal partners with God in the invisible world just like you and I are in the natural world. They are as invested in the testimony of Jesus as you and I are. We work on this side of the eternal realm, and they work on the other side of the eternal world. Whether in the unseen realm or the physical world, together, we partner with them to advance the Kingdom of God.
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel (Hebrews 12:22–24).
When the angel took John through a visionary tour of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, John fell to his knees to worship the angel for the splendor of everything he had been privileged to see. However, the angel stopped John and reassured him that he was not to be worshiped as he was in many ways just like John, and his priorities were the same as the community of believers. The angel was a “fellow servant” like John, and his service was alongside the fellowship of those who keep the testimony of Jesus!
And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).
Just like angels who have what seems like a native language, angels also have food that is regarded as their own. Not to be confused with angel food cake, angel’s food is regarded as the bread of Heaven. As the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, God provided for them and fed to them the food of the angels.
Yet He had commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven, had rained down manna on them to eat, and given them of the bread of heaven. Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full (Psalm 78:23–25).
As the Israelites’ store of food resources became low, God told Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day . . .” (Exodus 16:4). When the children of Israel asked Moses what the bread was, they asked in Hebrew “Ma’n Hu?” (Exodus 16:5). The angel’s food, called the bread of Heaven, was given a name, “And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey” (Exodus 16:31). This tasty new food was given the name manna, which literally means what.
The angel’s food seems to have some sort of energizing element, granting those who eat it supernatural strength. When the prophet Elijah was given awakened by the Angel of the Lord, he was commanded to eat the food prepared by the Angel. The food had a supernatural effect on him as we are told, “He went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God” (1 Kings 19:8).
Maybe you need the same strength for the next portion of the spiritual journey God is calling you to take. Like Elijah, you are promised bread from Heaven, angel’s food or manna, to strengthen you as you put your trust in the Lord. Jesus promised, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat” (Revelation 2:17). For those who believe upon Him, Christ has reserved bread from Heaven that no one knows about! God wants to give you angel’s food!
There are many other things that we can see from the Word about the culture of angels. Angels seem to travel between Heaven and Earth as revealed in Jacob’s dream, showing “a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28:12). What goes up must come down!
At times, angels seem to camp out collectively in a location. As Jacob journeyed to meet his brother, he ran into a camp of angels who seemed to be very welcoming: “So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them, he said, ‘This is God’s camp.’ And he called the name of that place Mahanaim” (Genesis 32:1–2). The word Mahanaim means “double camp,” quite possibly referring to a known place to camp for humans and, to Jacob’s surprise, the angels as well!
Angels existed before us and have a history of their own. We may only get small doses of their history as God has reserved quite a bit for us, as it says, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). What we do know is that angels do have a culture of their own, a primary language, and food reserved for them that we are invited to eat. The Spirit of God generously calls us to participate in what was previously only available to angels. Whether it is the food of angels or the tongues of angels, God is sharing with us the secrets of the angels. Let us explore how we can participate in this mystery?
A New Tongue
We live in a world where the currency of our words is anchored to the natural limits of the human language. There are English words that are difficult to translate into any other language as there are no true equivalents. Words like serendipity have been voted as one of ten English words that are most difficult to translate. I can tell you personally the uneasy feeling I get when I am speaking to a foreign audience at the mercy of the skill of the interpreter. Things get lost in translation. Words lose their currency as multiple words are used to interpret the meaning of one word.
For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing”; yet they would not hear (Isaiah 28:11–12).
Language is a powerful form of currency, but language barriers were put in place at Babel to limit man’s ability to harness this power. God intentionally slowed down man’s ability to get things done by confusing the languages. Communicating in the same language as someone you know can be hard enough. Getting your point across requires skill and timing. This is why King Solomon wrote, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).
The currency of your word depends upon the value it has to connect with others. If the word you speak is received as good as gold, your word is acts like a currency. Job understood this when he lamented,
Men listened to me and waited, and kept silence for my counsel. After my words they did not speak again, and my speech settled on them as dew. They waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain (Job 29:21–23).
You may have seen tongues practiced in various ways at churches and other events. Or perhaps you have heard stories of missionaries supernaturally speaking in the indigenous language of the people they have been sent to. There are real accounts of stories like this that shock the mind and confront our understanding of what is possible with God when we minister His Word. However, this tongue is reserved for those who seek an audience with God. Paul writes about this mystery, saying, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries” (1 Corinthians 14:2).
Words hold value like currency, and God wants to give us a new tongue—a language that has never lost its value, one that has been spoken beyond the edge of time and space before the creation of humanity. This is the secret of the tongues of angels. The secret of the tongues of angels empowers you to speak directly to God, communing with Him in the spirit over the mysteries of God. It calls us to join in with Heaven’s choir and sing as one voice. Perhaps this is what John saw in the ceremony of the scroll when Jesus is found worthy to take the scroll from the hand of the Father and all of Heaven and earth are joining as one to worship.
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever (Revelation 5:11–14).
