Lessons #507 and 508
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Regulating tongues and prophecy in public worship (1 Cor 14:26-33a)
26 What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. 29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
The message of this section of 1 Corinthians 14:26-33a is this: All worship activities in a local church should be orderly. In our last study, we started to consider the instructions that regulate the use of gift of prophecy given in verses 29-32. We noted that the apostle limited the number of prophets that should speak during a worship service to three. We started to consider a regulation that governs the exercise of the gift of prophecy when one person is speaking but another person receives a new revelation from the Holy Spirit. This situation is given in 1 Corinthians 14:30 if a revelation comes to someone or literally if (something) is revealed to another sitting. We ended by stating that there is more to the instruction of verse 30 but with the promise to continue with it in today’s study. So, it is with this clause that we begin our study.
An important question that we need to consider based on the condition stated in 1 Corinthians 14:30 if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down or literally if (something) is revealed to another sitting is how a person speaking would know that a person sitting down has received a new revelation. Before we consider this question, we should note the expression “sitting down” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (kathēmai) that may mean “to sit,” that is, to be in a seated position as the word is used in the response of Apostle Paul to the high priest that ordered him to be slapped that he described as being seated as we read in Acts 23:3:
Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”
The word may refer to being a resident in a place so means “to live, reside” as it is used to describe those that the coming of the day of the Lord would be unexpected as we read in Luke 21:35:
For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:30, it is used in the sense of “to sit” or “to be seated.” Hence, the person that receives the new revelation is seated while the person currently speaking is standing. It is this standing position of a current speaker that gives us the answer to the question of how the person speaking would recognize that another prophet had received a new revelation.
There is no direct statement in the passage we are considering how the one speaking would recognize that someone sitting has received a new revelation. However, as we have stated, it is the standing position of the prophet currently speaking that enables us to provide the answer as to how a present speaker would recognize that another prophet has received a new revelation. If the current speaker notes that another person has stood up, that would signal to the individual that the person who had been sitting down but stood up has received a new revelation. Apparently, it is the practice of standing up in the middle of worship service that indicated that a speaker has a prophetic revelation. We say this because of the examples provided by a prophet that was clearly identified as uttering a revelation in a worship service. Prophet Agabus when he predicted famine in the Roman world did so by getting up from his seat as we read in Acts 11:28:
One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.)
When the same prophet predicted what would happen to Apostle Paul in Jerusalem, we also note that he stood up in the assembly of believers to give his message as we read in Acts 21:10–11:
10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”
Based on the example of Agabus, we surmise that when a prophet received a revelation that individual would normally stand up so other worshippers would recognize that the person has a message to deliver to the church of Christ. Therefore, it is when someone sitting stands up that a current speaker would recognize that the individual that stood up has a new revelation.
In any case, once another prophet stands up, implying that the individual had received a new revelation, the current prophet was required to stop to give opportunity to the person that had received the new revelation as in the instruction of 1 Corinthians 14:30 the first speaker should stop or literally let be silent the first (person). This is because the expression “first speaker” is translated from a Greek word (prōtos) that pertains to being first in a sequence that involves time, number, or space. The meaning “first” as it pertains to sequence is the sense the word is used in the instruction of what a person had to do in case of problem with another, prior to offering his gift in the altar as we read in Matthew 5:24:
leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
The meaning “first” as it pertains to time is the sense of the word when it is used in Apostle Paul’s farewell address to the elders of the church in Ephesus as we read in Acts 20:18:
When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia.
It is in the sense of number that the word with the meaning “first” is used to describe the number of gates Peter passed when an angel released him from prison as we read in Acts 12:10:
They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
The word may pertain to prominence and so may mean “first, foremost, most important, most prominent” as it is used, for example, in the question of teachers of the Law to Jesus about the most important commandments as recorded in Mark 12:28:
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
The word may pertain to being superior in value to all other items of the same class hence means “best” as it is used in the description of the robe the compassionate father ordered to be put on his prodigal son after he came back, in the parable of the Compassionate Father or what is often described as the parable of Prodigal Son in Luke 15:22:
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:30, the word means “first” in the sense of preceding all others in time or space. In the context of the worship service, the word “first” refers to a current prophet who had been standing while delivering a prophetic revelation. It is this person that needs to yield the floor to another prophet that had received a new revelation.
The yielding of the floor to another prophet that stood up with a new revelation is given in the instruction of 1 Corinthians 14:30 should stop. The word “stop” in the NIV is translated from a Greek word (sigaō) that in a previous study we indicated has two general meanings. The first meaning is “to be silent” in the sense of to say nothing as the word is used to describe the response of the church in the course of the report by Paul and Barnabas regarding what God did during their missionary trip to Gentiles as we read in Acts 15:12:
The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
Under this first meaning, the word could mean “to stop speaking” as an instruction to someone already talking as the word is used by the crowd to demand that a blind man that shouted to Jesus should stop it as we read in Luke 18:39:
Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
A second general meaning is to keep something from being known, that is, “to keep secret, hide” as the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe God’s secret that was hidden in the past but revealed through the preaching of the gospel as we read in Romans 16:25:
Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:30, the word has the sense of “to be silent” so that no sound comes from the one who is silent. The implication is that the current prophet should sit down and say nothing so that the other prophet would then deliver the revelation received. The instruction that the current speaker should yield the floor to the person that had just received a new revelation implies that the Holy Spirit would be directing the entire speaking arrangement to ensure that the second prophet stood up at the right time so not to cut off any part of the revelation of a current prophet. For if the second prophet stood up prematurely, that would result in an incomplete communication of the revelation received by the first prophet. This instruction that requires only one person at a time to speak in a local church has a direct application during the teaching of the word of God. There are those who talk or whisper to those beside them when a pastor is teaching or preaching of the word of God, such action violates the instruction of the Holy Spirit to the church that implies no two persons should talk at the same time in the worship service. Talking or whispering while a pastor is teaching is being disorderly in that it has the potential of distracting not only one person by the side of the one whispering but many others. Of course, such action reveals how much respect a person has for the word of God that individual is not afraid to distract another person during the teaching of God’s word.
Be that as it may, the apostle provides a reason or an explanation for the instruction he gave in verse 30 because of the word for that begins 1 Corinthians 14:31. The word “for” is translated from a Greek word (gar) that has several usages. For example, it can be used as a marker of inference with the meaning “so, then, by all means” or it can be used as a marker of cause or reason for something in which case it may be translated “for, because.” It can be used as a marker of clarification or explanation so that it may be translated “for” or “you see.” It is in the sense of providing reason or explanation that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:31.
The reason or explanation of the apostle regarding his instruction regulating the practice of prophesying is based on the apostle’s description of an event that is real, but it is likely that he did not believe that the real event would actually take place. The real event he mentioned is that of all Corinthians prophesying as we read in 1 Corinthians 14:31 For you can all prophesy in turn. The Greek phrase translated in turn in the NIV may alternatively be translated one by one. The word “can” is translated from a Greek word (dynamai) that means “to possess capability (whether because of personal or external factors) for experiencing or doing something” hence means “can, be capable.” The word has the meaning of “be able” as it is used to describe that believers equipped with the weapons of spiritual welfare would withstand attack of the evil one as we read in Ephesians 6:13:
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:31, the word has the sense of “to be able” to carry out an action declared by the apostle.
The apostle used what in the Greek is said to be an “indicative mood” which is the mood of assertion where an author presents something as real although the author may or may not believe the action is real but is presenting it as real. The action the apostle presented to the Corinthians is given in 1 Corinthians 14:31 you can all prophesy. Using the meaning we indicated this could be translated you are all able to prophesy. The main action the apostle presents as real is in the word prophesy that is translated from a Greek word (prophēteuō) that basically means “to prophesy” that is understood in three general ways. “To prophesy” may mean “to proclaim an inspired revelation” as it is used to describe the activity of Enoch in the OT times as we read in Jude 14:
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones.
It is in this sense of proclaiming inspired revelation that the word is used to describe those in Ephesus that spoke in tongues and prophesied when Apostle Paul laid his hands on them although what they proclaimed is not given as we read in Acts 19:6:
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
“To prophesy” may mean “to tell about something that is hidden from view” as the guards who guarded Jesus during His trial used it to taunt Him by asking Him to tell the one who hit Him since He was blindfolded as we read in Luke 22:64:
They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?”
“To prophesy” may mean “to foretell something that lies in the future” as it is used to describe what the high priest, Caiaphas, said about the death of Jesus that it would be better for Him to die than for the whole nation of Israel to perish as we read in John 11:51:
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:31, it means “to prophesy” in the sense of “to proclaim an inspired message” concerning conduct or behavior or of events. Prophesying by all members is something that is possible, but it is unlikely that the apostle believed that that would happen. To believe that all worshippers would prophesy would contradict previous declarations of the apostle regarding the activity of prophesying. The apostle had indicated that not all believers are prophets as we read in 1 Corinthians 12:29:
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
The apostle had stated his preference when he compared the gifts of speaking in tongues to that of prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14:5:
I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.
As we stated in our exposition of this passage, the fact the apostle desires the gift of prophesying for every believer implies that not every believer had or will have the gift of prophecy, only a select few that the Holy Spirit had sovereignly determined. Thus, if the apostle states that all would prophesy then he would contradict the fact that not all believers have the gift of prophecy. Furthermore, the apostle stated a condition that is possible but unlikely regarding prophesying in 1 Corinthians 14:24:
But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all.
Add to these passages is the fact the apostle used in verse 31 the phrase in turn in the NIV or one by one. If the apostle meant that each believer would engage in prophesying, the meetings would be quite long to accommodate everyone in a local church that wants to prophesy. Because of these facts the apostle could not have meant that everyone has the gift of prophesying. By the way, some who recognize the problem of what the apostle said interpret the word “all” in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 14:31 you can all prophesy as a reference to all prophets in the local church. This is possible but because of the pronoun “you” it is more likely that the apostle meant all believers in a worship service. Anyway, the point is that the apostle did not mean that all believers in the local church would prophesy but for the justification of his instruction he asserted the reality of prophesying by all members in a local church to make the point that such needed to be regulated in order for it to be beneficial to believers in a local church.
The fact that the gift of prophecy is to benefit believers is introduced with the phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:31 so that. The phrase so that is translated from a Greek conjunction (hina) that may be used as a marker of purpose with the meaning “in order that, that, so that” or it can be used as a marker of result so that it may be translated “that, so that, as a result.” Often, it is difficult to differentiate purpose from result in which case the Greek conjunction is used for the result that follows according to the purpose of the subject. This notwithstanding, the Greek conjunction is used in our verse to express the purpose of regulating the activity of prophesying in a local church. The purpose is concerned with benefiting believers in a local church.
The benefits of regulated use of the gift of prophecy are presented in two related ways. The first concerns instruction as in the clause of 1 Corinthians 14:31 everyone may be instructed. The word “instructed” is translated from a Greek word (manthanō) that may mean “to learn” in the sense of gaining knowledge or skill by instruction from a teacher, as it is used in 1 Timothy 2:11:
A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.
But the word may also mean “to learn” in the sense of to appropriate to oneself through experience or practice, as the apostle used it to convey, he learned to be content in whatever the situation is for him, in Philippians 4:11:
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:31, the word means “to learn,” that is, “to gain knowledge by instruction.” So, a benefit of proper use of the gift of prophecy in a local church is to cause believers to have knowledge of truth or God’s word. It is this same reason that is the purpose of teaching God’s word today.
Another benefit of regulated use of gift of prophecy concerns encouragement as given in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:31 and encouraged or literally and all may be encouraged. The word “encouraged” is translated from a Greek word (parakaleō) with a range of meanings. The word can mean “to invite” as it is used for the invitation of Lydia to Apostle Paul and his team to stay in her house in Acts 16:15:
When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
It may mean “to call upon for help”, especially of God who is called upon by humans in time of need and so the word is translated “plead” when it is used to describe Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Lord to remove his thorn in the flesh, as stated in 2 Corinthians 12:8:
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
The sentence Three times I pleaded with the Lord is more literally thrice the Lord did I call upon. The word may mean to urge strongly hence “to appeal to, urge, exhort, encourage.” The meaning “to encourage” is used in connection with exercise of spiritual gifts in Romans 12:8:
if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
It is with the meaning of “to urge” that Apostle Paul used it in 1 Corinthians 4:16:
Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
It is with the meaning “to appeal to” that it is used in Apostle Paul’s request to the Corinthians to conduct themselves in a way that is fitting of believers in Christ as recorded in 2 Corinthians 10:1:
By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” when away!
The meaning “to exhort” is used to translate our Greek word in the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul to Timothy regarding the treatment of older believers in 1 Timothy 5:1:
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers,
The word may mean to make a strong request for something and so means “to request, implore, entreat.” It is the meaning to request that is implied in 1 Corinthians 16:12:
Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity.
The sentence I strongly urged him is more literally I did entreat him. The word may mean “to comfort” as it is used to describe God’s comfort Apostle Paul and his team received, as we read in 2 Corinthians 1:4:
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
In some contexts, the Greek word may mean to be friendly to or to speak to in a friendly manner. Thus, the officials who put Paul in jail acted friendly or were conciliatory towards him when they released him from jail on learning that he was a Roman citizen, as we may gather from Acts 16:39:
They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city.
Our Greek word is translated “appeased” in the NIV although the meaning “to conciliate” is also possible. The word has the sense of speaking in a friendly manner when Apostle Paul used it to describe his response to those who slandered him in 1 Corinthians 4:13:
when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
The sentence we answer kindly is more literally we entreat. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:31, the meaning is “to exhort” or “to encourage” as reflected in our English versions. Hence, prophesying will be beneficial both in instructing and encouraging believers to live in a manner worthy of those who believe in Christ. In any event, the apostle’s first reason or explanation for his instructions of regulated practice of prophecy is that since many people are capable of exercising such gift if it is not regulated, the meeting of believers will become unnecessarily long and may then not serve them well.
A second reason for the regulated practice of prophesying is that the Holy Spirit functions with prophets in such a way that they are capable of restricting their exercise of the gift of prophecy. It is this point that is given in 1 Corinthians 14:32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. The NIV did not translate a Greek particle (kai) that is often translated “and” in our English versions although it has several usages. In our verse, it is used as a marker of additional reason for the regulation of prophesying in a worship service. Thus, we should focus on the word “spirit” and the expression “subject to the control.”
The word “spirits” is translated from a Greek word (pneuma) that may mean “wind”, as in the description by our Lord of one that is born again in John 3:8:
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The word may mean “breath” as Apostle Paul used it to describe the manner of the destruction of the future lawless one by the Lord Jesus in 2 Thessalonians 2:8:
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
The word may mean “spirit” as that which animates or gives life to the body, as the word is used to indicate that without it the body is lifeless in James 2:26:
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
It may mean “spirit” as part of human personality with various nuances. For example, it may refer to a person’s “very self” or “ego” as it is used by Apostle Paul in describing the assurance of the Holy Spirit to a believer regarding the individual’s salvation in Romans 8:16:
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
According to the standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG, the sentence The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit is better translated the Spirit (of God) bears witness to our very self. The Greek word may refer to the immaterial part of a person in contrast to the material body, as Apostle Paul used it in his appeal to the Corinthians for holy living in 2 Corinthians 7:1:
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
Under this meaning of the immaterial part of a person, it could refer to the source and seat of insight, feeling, and will, generally as the representative part of human inner life so that it may mean “mind.” It is this meaning that is used in Apostle Paul’s description of his state when he could not find Titus, as we read in 2 Corinthians 2:13:
I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.
The phrase peace of mind is literally rest in my spirit. Still in this meaning, it could refer to “spiritual state, state of mind, disposition”, as it is used to describe the disposition that a believing wife should have to be considered beautiful in 1 Peter 3:4:
Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
As suggested in the standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG, the phrase quiet spirit may be translated quiet disposition. The Greek word may mean “spirit” as an independent noncorporeal being, in contrast to a being that can be perceived by the physical senses. Consequently, it is used for created spirit-beings whether their function is good or bad. Apostle Paul used it to describe harmful spirits that will attempt to deceive people, as he presented in 1 Timothy 4:1:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
The word may mean God’s being as controlling influence, with focus on association with humans hence means “Spirit.” Accordingly, Apostle Paul used it to describe God the Holy Spirit using different phrases. For example, he described the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God in Philippians 3:3:
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
He described the Holy Spirit as “Spirit of Jesus Christ” in Philippians 1:19:
for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
A person may say that the two passages in Philippians that we have cited do not decisively imply that the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Jesus Christ is a description of the Holy Spirit. If that is the case, let me refer to a passage that leaves no doubt that the Holy Spirit may be described as the Spirit of Jesus. Luke reports how the Holy Spirit kept Apostle Paul and his team from preaching the gospel in a specified region as we read in Acts 16:6:
Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
It is the Holy Spirit that kept Apostle Paul and his team from preaching in the province of Asia but then Luke reports that it was the Spirit of Jesus that would not allow the apostle and his team entering the province of Asia as we read in Acts 16:7:
When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
Mysia was an area in northwest Asia Minor, part of the province of Asia. Thus, the Spirit of Jesus in verse 7 is in parallelism to the Holy Spirit in verse 6. Therefore, there is no doubt that the Spirit of Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:32, the word means “spirit” in the sense of manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s enablement to display spiritual gift of prophecy or simply that it refers to the spiritual gift of prophecy. The manifestation of the enabling of the Holy Spirit in form of spiritual gift is such that the prophets have the ability to regulate what they do or say as in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 14:32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.
The expression “subject to” is translated from a Greek word (hypotassō) that literally means “to order oneself under a leader” and so means “to submit” although such a meaning is not always communicative in many contexts of the Scripture. The Greek word has a range of meanings that fit a given context. The word may mean “to obey” when there is the concept of authority involved. In other words, the meaning “to obey” can be used in all passages where our Greek word appears that involve authority figure. Let me give you examples to substantiate this statement. The word is used in describing the relationship of Jesus to His parents in Luke 2:51:
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
The verbal phrase was obedient to them is more literally was submitting to them. The translators of the NIV captured correctly the meaning of our Greek word as “to obey” since that is the way to understand a child being submissive to the parents. The Greek word is used to describe the relationship of believers to secular or governmental authorities in Romans 13:1:
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Here, to submit to governing authorities certainly means to obey them. The word is used to describe the relationship that should exist between the Corinthians and Stephanas, the first convert to Christ in Achaia, who is presumed to be a spiritual leader in 1 Corinthians 16:16:
to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work, and labors at it.
The apostle meant that believers in Corinth should obey him and other spiritual leaders as they are those described in the clause such as these and to everyone who joins in the work. We find our Greek word used to enjoin believers to submit to God the Father in Hebrews 12:9:
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
The requirement of submitting to the Father of our spirits is one that demands obedience to God the Father. This means that in this passage “to submit” is the same as “to obey.” The Greek word is also used in describing the relationship between slaves and their masters in 1 Peter 2:18:
Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
The examples we have cited where our Greek word is used to describe the relationship of a subject to an authority figure reveals that whenever that is the case the meaning of our Greek word that is translated “to submit” should be understood to mean “to obey.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:32, the word has the sense of “to subject.” Thus, the Holy Spirit works on a prophet in such a way that there is no loss of control of one’s thought in ecstatic trance in contrast to what obtains in pagan worship were those who supposedly uttered oracles were not in control of themselves. This being the case, a prophet would control when to speak and when to remain silent. Anyway, the second reason for the instruction of the apostle regarding regulating the exercise of gift of prophecy is that the Holy Spirit operates on prophets in such a way that they are still in control of their thoughts or minds. In effect, they are capable of restricting their exercise of the gift of prophecy. This brings us to the general reason for regulating speaking in tongues and prophesying.
We contend that after the reason given in verse 32, the apostle provides a general reason for regulating speaking in tongues and prophesying during worship service because of the word For that begins verse 33. It is translated from the same Greek word translated “for” in verse 31 that we indicated is used to provide explanation or reasons for regulating the use of gift of prophecy. Its use in verse 33 is to provide reason or explanation for the regulation of speaking in tongues or prophesying during worship in a local church. If the apostle meant that what is given in verse 33 is still connected only to prophesying, there would have been no need for the use of the word “for” in the verse. Therefore, the fact that he used the word “for” means that he provided a general reason for the regulations of speaking in tongues and prophesying in worship service of a local church.
The general reason for regulating speaking in tongues and prophesying so that they are carried out in orderly fashion is that God’s character demands order and not disorder. This reason is given the first clause of 1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. This is an emphatic statement by the apostle because he used a Greek negative (ou) that is an objective negative, denying the reality of alleged fact fully and absolutely in contrast to another Greek negative (mē) that is a subjective negative, implying a conditional and hypothetical negation. Thus, the apostle states strongly the assertion God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
The word “disorder” is translated from a Greek word (akatastasia) that may refer to “unsettled state of affairs,” hence means “disturbance, tumult” or “riot” as it is used in Apostle Paul’s description of his sufferings in 2 Corinthians 6:5:
in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger.
The word may mean “opposition to established authority,” hence means “disorder, unruliness” as the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe the state of the sinful conduct of some in Corinth as recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:20:
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:33, the word means “unruliness” or “disorder” or even “upheaval” as “ a state of violent group disturbance and disorder.” This meaning is supported by the contrasting phrase of the verse we are considering that reads but of peace.
The word “peace” is translated from a Greek word (eirēnē) that may mean “harmony in personal relationships, tranquility”, as that was what the Holy Spirit intended for believers as per His instruction through Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:3:
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
The word may mean “freedom from worry” as it is used in describing the various facets of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.
The Greek word translated “peace” may also mean a state of well-being and so means “welfare, health.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:33, it means “peace” in the sense of “harmonious relations and freedom from disputes.” Hence when the apostle wrote the sentence God is not a God of disorder but of peace, he meant that God is not characterized by disorder but is characterized by harmonious relationship in the three members of the God head. You should recognize that disorder in your life is an indication of other sins in your life. This we deduce from James 3:16:
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
So, because of what characterize God, it is important that worship service in a local church should be orderly and not be in state of disorder. This agrees with the message of this section of 1 Corinthians 14:26-33a which is: All worship activities in a local church should be orderly.
03/31//23