14:2
This chapter essentially contrasts tongues and prophecy, while also giving general instructions on worship. If we look in Acts we see that tongues and prophecy were the most common gifts, often manifested by believers when they first came to faith (eg Acts 19:6; 10:46). The Corinthians seemed fascinated by the gift of tongues, probably because people spoke in another language which they had not heard before. The reason the Corinthians liked tongues is the very reason Paul gives for considering prophecy to be of more importance. For when someone speaks in tongues no one else, indeed not even the speaker, has a clue what they are saying. We will look more at this as the chapter progresses. When someone speaks in tongues they “utter mysteries in the Spirit”. We should note that there seem to be two versions of tongues. At Pentecost the disciples spoke in other languages, languages of the various people’s who were visiting Jerusalem. Ie they spoke in human languages, and this does sometimes still happen. However, most times speaking on tongues was speaking in a non-human language, or at least one that no one around knew of.
14:3
Prophecy, on the other hand, is spoken in the common language, so people can clearly understand what is being said. As mentioned earlier, we actually have very little idea of the precise nature and content of prophecy, but here we do get three ingredients. It is for upbuilding, encouragement and consolation. Acts 10:46 speaks of “extolling God”. So part of prophecy will be praising God. Indeed, if we look at the OT prophecies, a significant aspect of it is declaring the greatness of our God. The circumstances were such and such, but God is infinitely greater than the circumstances, and realising the greatness of our God is a key element in strengthening us for the battles we face, and extolling His love and care is a key element in consoling us when we go through tough times.
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