The Bible doesn’t say that there is a heavenly language. Yet some insist that it does; pointing to the apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13: 1, saying—“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”
In the case of men, Paul uses the word “tongues” as a “Day of Pentecost” reference. It was the first time the apostles miraculously spoke differing human languages that they didn’t know, but in which the hearer understood (Acts 2: 4-11).
In the case of angels, I agree with those who say that Paul uses the word “tongues” as an exaggeration – a hyperbole – in order to make a point. He does the same thing in 1 Corinthians 13: 2, in which he says that faith can remove mountains.
Looking at the context in which he uses both “tongues of men” and “tongues of angels,” I see framed, the supreme importance of “love.” In both cases, the point Paul’s making is that even if one has assistance from the Holy Spirit to speak an unknown, earthly, foreign language, and even if one has the ability to speak with supposed angelic eloquence; without love, both gifts amount to nothing.
“Tongues of angels” only appears once in the Bible, and then, as said, I believe it best to be understood only in the form of hyperbole. Beyond that, it seems a stretch to suggest that the term teaches that a heavenly language exists.
However, that’s not to say that there isn’t a heavenly language. Logic suggests that this has to be the case. Scripture makes us think that too; for example, Jesus speaking to the Father and angels (Matthew 10: 32; Luke 12: 8) and heavenly beings singing praises to the Creator (Revelation 5: 9; 15: 3).
The heavenly language will probably be an entirely new and universal one to us, learned instantly upon receiving our glorified brains. Or it could be that whatever language is spoken, verbally or telepathically, it would be heard in the same earthly language that’s native to us. Or, transmission and reception might be carried out in a form that’s unimaginable to us now. After all, God’s ways are higher than our logic.
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I’ve written an article on “speaking in tongues.” Click here to read it.