As a prelude to studying the event of Pentecost, we first examined the role of the Holy Spirit and the filling of Old Testament saints by the Holy Spirit. We then observed how Christ (the last Adam) became a life-giving Spirit from His heavenly throne of exaltation; and how as Pentecost arrives, the church is formally birthed as an organic entity. We made the statement that Pentecost was Jesus’ unrepeatable, redemptive-historical act whereby the church moved from shadow to substance. All saints (OT and NT) are saved in the same way; but OT believers possessed the Spirit of the promised Christ whereas NT believers now possessed the Spirit of the exalted Christ … the same Spirit who now had a different economic role and mission.
And so, in Acts 2:1, Luke now sets the scene of the 120 believers gathered together in 1 place at Pentecost. As they expectantly waited for the promise of the Father, they were inundated on the day of Pentecost, a Sunday (the Lord’s Day), with a loud sound from heaven that could best be described as being like a mighty rushing wind, and they were rested upon by visible tongues that could best be described as forked flames of fire. These supernatural phenomena confirmed and assured these believers that the Spirit of Christ had indeed been poured upon them, and the body is collectively baptized by the Holy Spirit and fire, just as promised!
The result of such a filling by the Holy Spirit is that the Spirit then caused these believers to miraculously loudly speak in distinctive, known human languages that these believers from Galilee had never heard, learned, or known before! As they then took to the streets to loudly proclaim the wonderful works of God, a crowd rushed together to observe these people who had been clothed with power from on high. Many of those who joined the crowd were Jews from other nations who had come to Jerusalem for Pentecost. And these international travelers were stunned to hear Galileans speaking to them in their own native languages. “How could this be?” they exclaimed.
Luke then lists a comprehensive list of nations not unlike the Table of Nations in Genesis 10. These visiting Diaspora Jews fulfill the new Exodus prophesied by Isaiah in Isaiah 11:11-12, and this array of nations also served to demonstrate a visual picture of the extent of the apostles’ gospel mission … which would be to the whole world: a global gospel mission! Through the power of the sent Spirit of Christ, these followers of Christ are divinely empowered to testify of the risen Christ, actions that are ultimately pointing to the restoration of Israel, the reclaiming of the nations. This pictures a reversal of the dispersion and confusion that God wrought upon the earth at Babel and demonstrated how He would reclaim the nations as His, declaring that they belong to Him.
Such an incredible event that is especially significant as a historic event in the history of God’s salvation (and not descriptive of the order of salvation) completely bewildered the audience – they could not grasp the significance of all that they were seeing and hearing, but they were looking for answers. Others attempted to rationalize such a miracle by claiming that the apostles were already drunk, even so early in the day. But such mocking could not negate the miraculous nature of such an event! The magnitude and awesomeness of what occurred at Pentecost was a highly visible (and audible) confirmation from God that Jesus had sent the Spirit of Christ, the power from on high, to undergird them as the Twelve embarked the mission of witnessing of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You can listen to this teaching on Acts 2:1-13 by clicking on the following link: Acts 2:1-13
