Reasons That Tongues Ceased in the First Century

1.  Tongues were a sign of judgment against Jewish unbelief as a nation

With the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., God's judgment on Israel had been executed and the tongues gift as a sign of coming judgment on Israel was no longer relevant.
"Wherefore, tongues are for a sign NOT to them that believe, but to them that believe not"... 1 Corinthians 14:22.
"In the law it is written, with men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people (Jews); and yet for all that (all the tongues) will they (Jews) not hear me (warning ignored), sayeth the Lord". 1 Corinthians 14:21.
Tongues here clearly are a warning to the Jews that they ignore.
1 Corinthians 14:21 is quoting from:
i) Deuteronomy 28:49 where God warns of judgment coming from "a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand".
ii) Jeremiah 5:15.  "Lo I will bring a nation upon you from afar...a nation whose language thou knowest not..." (612 BC)  Hence, Babylonian tongues warned Jews of coming judgment.
iii) Isaiah 28:11,12.  "With another tongue will he speak to his people." (712 BC). Here, Assyrian tongues warned the Jews of coming judgment.
iv) Isaiah 33:19.  "Thou shall not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive:  of a stammering tongue that thou canst not understand". 

Here the absence of foreign tongues will be a sign that Israel is under God's blessing.  Paul applies the Jewish unbelief of Isaiah 28:11, 12 from 712 BC to the first century Jewish unbelief.  "This people", "they", "them that believe not" all refers to Jews.  There were many Jews at Corinth who did not believe (Acts 18).  Hence, tongues were a sign of future judgment to the Jews. 

2.  There are three major outbreaks of miracles in Scripture:
 i) Moses and Joshua (1441-1370 BC) of about 71 years duration.
ii) Elijah and Elisha (870-785 BC) of about 85 years duration.
iii) Christ and the Apostles (28-70 AD) of about 42 years duration.
Continuous miracles in the Bible are the exception, and do not occur always but in three periods.
The miraculous gift of tongues occurred from 30-70 AD.

3.  Tongues belonged to the infant days of the church.
"But when I became a man, I put away childish things" 1 Corinthians 13:11.
Tongues (along with prophesy and knowledge) would cease when the church became mature.  The childhood days of the church ended, when Israel as a nation was judged.  Then there was no longer any need for a sign to authenticate the apostles' message (Mark 16:17-20) which started the church.  Nor was there need for a sign against the extinct Jewish nation.

The gifts of tongues, miracles, healing, etc. had stopped by 70 AD, but of course God still performs miracles and heals as He chooses today in answer to prayer.  Since some foundational gifts were temporary, tongues, a lesser miraculous gift, was temporary also.


4.  Tongues authenticates the apostles' message as from God.
"And they (apostles) went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs (tongues, healing, exorcism, etc.) following.  Amen.  "Mark 16:20"'
Today the need for tongues has ceased.  God has authenticated the apostles and the New Testament that they penned.  This proves the temporary nature of tongues.

5.  Hebrews 6:5 shows that the only other age of miracles will be the Millennium described as "the powers of the age to come".

Q.  What are the powers?
A.  The word rendered "powers" is "dynameis" in Greek, which is the usual New Testament word for miracles.  These people had tasted, experienced, or witnessed the apostles' miracles.

Q.  What is the "age to come"?
A.  A common Hebrew expression for the millennium where the Messiah will rule as King on earth.

Q.  Why therefore are miracles referred to as "powers of the age to come"?
A.  Because they would not characterize the church age (which Hebrews 6:5 was quoted in), but the millennial Kingdom age to come.

6.  Hebrews 2:3, 4 shows miracles (such as tongues) to be in the past tense, and not continuously being experienced by the Hebrew Christians of 64 AD.

"How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation which:

1) At the first began to be spoken by the Lord (Jesus' 3 year ministry) and
2) Was (past tense) confirmed (same as Mark 16:20) unto us (second generation Christians) by them (apostles and first generation Christians) that heard him (Jesus Christ),
3) God also bearing them (the apostles, not us or every generation of Christians) witness, both with signs (eg. tongues, miracles, healings, etc.) and wonders, and with divers miracles (miracles belonged to the apostles, not to every Christian.  II Corinthians 12:12), and gifts of the Holy Ghost (eg. the temporary miraculous gifts), according to His own will".
a)  Notice the phrase "at the first".  This gives the time element which governs all these signs, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost.
b)  All Greek verbs in Hebrews 2:3, 4 are in the aorist tense indicating a past completed act which can never be repeated.

7.  This is also seen in Acts 11:15, where Peter describes tongues at Cornelius household, not as a regular occurrence weekly in every church, but only something that happened last time at Pentecost (Acts 2) "as on us at the beginning".

and described in that way in v. 19, 20.

"And these signs shall follow...them (apostles because the context of v. 11, 14 shows unbelieving apostles four times) that believe; ...they shall speak with new tongues. v. 17.

"This refutes the Charismatic idea that everybody who believes all through the Church age should speak in tongues, lay hands on the sick and they shall recover, etc., because this belief only refers to the unbelieving apostles in v. 11-14 who refused to believe in Christ's resurrection (v.11).  This continues as part of Christ's rebuke to the apostles' for "their unbelief and hardness of heart" v.14.

If we fail to read the entire context of Mark 16:9-20 we may get the impression that the v. 17, 18 sign gifts apply to all believers.  There is good evidence that "them that believe" refers to only the apostles.  Why?

Do We Have Apostles and Prophets Today?

There are some today who claim to be Apostles but they don't meet the criteria set out in Acts 1:15-22 where it says that an Apostle must be someone who was around from the time of John's baptism to Jesus' ascension.  Also, who can honestly say that they have the mark of an Apostle which is signs, wonders and miracles (2 Cor. 12:12)?  Today, these criteria are ignored and people turn to Ephisians 4 for support but there is no support there when this passage is correctly interpreted.

Eph. 4:11-15 talks about Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers.  Apostles and Prophets were particularly special in the early church because God gave them great power and knowledge to establish the church.  They established the church and passed their knowledge on to us in their letters to their churches.  These letters (now part of the New Testament) replaced the need for Apostles and Prophets but of course Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers are still with us today.  A close look at Eph. 4:11-15 shows this:

Eph.4:11-12 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up [From these verses we see that God used these men to build the church up.  During those times there was no New Testament, however, the Apostles and Prophets were 'living New Testaments' who taught the infant church and put their God-given knowledge and prophecy into writing which circulated throughout the churches and eventually became part of the Bible.  These men taught with the knowledge they had received directly from God.  The next verse starts with the word 'until' which puts a limit on the time of the work of the fivefold ministry.]

Eph 4:13 UNTIL we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  [The words "until we all reach unity...and become mature" tell us that the fivefold ministry of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers had a time limit and would only be needed until the early church was united and mature.  The next verse starts with 'then' and gives the result of the church coming to maturity.]

Eph. 4:14 THEN we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming [The 'then' in this verse tells us that then (that is, when the church was established and mature) they would no longer be tossed back and forth by false doctrines but would be solid in their faith.  It goes without saying that the early church did reach the point of maturity.  Now, note the word 'instead' which starts the next verse.]

Eph. 4:15 INSTEAD, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.   ['Instead' tells us that, instead of being tossed around by various false doctrines, the mature, early church would reach a point where it would be solid in Christ.  To say this never happened is absurd, to say the least.]

Some argue that we still need Apostles and Prophets because the church has not yet reached maturity and unity and that we have to wait for Jesus to return for that to happen.  However, by saying this they miss the point that the early church is in view here and it most certainly reached maturity and unity in the faith.  If we say that the early church never reached such a state then we are saying that, even under the powerful leadership of the Apostles, they remained immature infants in Christ and were tossed back and forth by false doctrine.  It is also nonsensical to say that "until we all reach unity" refers to the time of Jesus' return as the passage would then be saying, "We will have the fivefold ministry UNTIL Jesus returns when we will all unite and be mature and THEN we will no longer be tossed back and forth by false doctrines but INSTEAD we will grow into Him".  The fact is, we mature as we walk with Jesus and rather than "growing into Him" when He returns we will be immediately changed into His likeness.

Eph. 2:19-20 tells us that the church was built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets and the Bible doesn't mention successors for these ministries.  Since the foundation has already been laid, their special ministry is no longer needed.  The knowledge and prophecy they received from God has been passed onto us in the New Testament letters and now churches come to maturity through the Bible and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  There is simply no need to have a continuing line of these unique men [or women].  God gave them special power to establish the church initially and now the Bible contains the knowledge and prophecy that we need to build churches on the foundation that has already been laid.  The passage 1 Cor. 13:8-13 confirms that the completed Bible would be the end of prophecy and knowledge.  In 1 Cor. 13:11 Paul talks about putting away the 'childish' gifts of tongues, prophecy and knowledge and this is because they were only needed in the 'infant' church of His time. (Mick Alexander)

Cults Require Submission to Authority

Cults demand dependency and call it biblical submission.  In reaction to this false concept of submission, people throw out the concept of true submission altogether -- because it is wrongly viewed as unhealthy, crippling, and psychologically enslaving.  Sadly, that is what many do experience when they subscribe to the cultic type of submission -- unhealthy, crippling, psychological dependency.

In cultic submission, there is little or no opportunity for self expression.  Assertiveness, initiative, questioning, and expressing feelings of individuality are strictly forbidden or severely discouraged.  In cultic submission, people fear rejection, crave approval, need constant reassurance and advice from their leaders, and panic when they fear they have displeased them.

Cult "submission" is dependency -- not submission.  What is healthy submission?  In biblical submission there is no denial of one's personality, thoughts, feelings, or expressions.  To "deny self" does not mean to deny one's personhood.  We are to deny the selfish, sinful, hurtful qualities of the self, but certainly not our personhood.  We submit because we want to serve another person, or facilitate a certain ministry.  After all, Christ was in submission to His disciples -- He served them constantly.

Paul, an apostle who submitted to the Lord and to the brethren, did not hesitate to confront Peter for his hypocrisy in refusing to eat with the Gentiles (Galations 2:11-14).  Neither did godly women of Scripture hesitate speaking their minds when the situation required.  Caleb's daughter requested that she receive an inheritance not only of land, but of springs as well (Joshua 15:19).  Sarah protested the continued presence of Hagar and her son.  This was not being unsubmissive, because God told Abraham that he should listen to Sarah and send Hagar and the boy away (Genesis 21:8-21).  Abigail completely overrode her husband Nabal, after he refused to offer food and supplies to David's army, by providing the necessary provisions to David's army.  This prevented David from taking moral vengeance against Nabal.  David thanked God for Abigail's generosity, and praised her wisdom (1 Samuel 25:9-38).

In biblical submission, we may have to give of our time, talents, and energy to please and serve others, but not to our own detriment.  I submit to my employer in performing my job as instructed.  But I will not submit to attempts to label me and define my existence.  I will not allow anyone to tell me what I should or should not feel.  I obey when asked to do something in line with my job responsibilities, but I am not obligated to submit to that which is wrong.

As a faithful Christian and a serious church member, there are times when I voluntarily submit.  However, the authority of church leaders lies mainly in the area of faith and morals.  Beyond the responsibility of instruction concerning correct doctrine and the promotion of moral behaviour,  church leaders cannot rightfully expect submission beyond the clear teaching of Scripture.  There are many secondary points of doctrine in which the church has always been undecided (the method of baptism, the role of women in the church and the home, the form of worship, etc.).  On such points pastors and others are free to give their opinions and conclusions, but apart from clear and unambiguous Scriptural teaching, no one has the authority to compel acceptance of their personal views.

This applies also to matters of behaviour or lifestyle.  When the Scripture is silent, leaders may not legislate.  They may direct members to biblical principles, and suggest ways to apply these principles to specific situations but they must leave the final decision as a matter between an individual and God.  In the second chapter of Colossians, Paul clearly teaches that Christians should not obey their leaders on matters unrelated to the Gospel, or on things that are actually a distortion of the Gospel itself.  In that context, the prescription to observe certain days, to eat or to abstain from certain foods, or to take special note of leaders boasting of visions or delighting in certain types of self-abasement was to be avoided.  Paul's implication for us is clear -- honouring leaders has its limits, and the responsibility for discerning truth is never taken away from the individual Christian.  We are to evaluate all things in the light of what we know to be truth -- the Gospel as originally taught by the apostles and as we find it in the New Testament.

Nor am I obligated to submit by remaining silent if my pastor sins.  Paul tells us in the first chapter of Galatians never to submit to anyone who teaches or practices error.  Paul himself refused to sit by while so-called spiritual leaders behaved hypocritically (Galatians 2:11-14).  In fact, a true sign of my submission to my pastor will be that I do confront him or her when they are wrong, and continue to follow correct biblical guidelines in confronting him until there is a change of behaviour.

One last word about submission.  The entire concept of submission must be understood in the context of Christian grace and freedom.  If submission to another does not result in increased grace and freedom, then it is not biblical submission.  It is dependency and tyranny.

(from Cult Proofing Your Kids by Dr. Paul R. Martin)