SUPERNATURAL CHURCHBIRTH
ACTS 2:1-13
NASB
1 When the day of Pentecost [a]had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire [a]distributing themselves, and [b]they [c]rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other [a]tongues, as the Spirit was giving them [b]utterance.
5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own [a]language. 7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “[a]Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we each hear them in our own [a]language [b]to which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and [a]Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and [a]visitors from Rome, both Jews and [b]proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs —we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of [a]sweet wine.”
2:1 [a]Lit was being fulfilled 2:3 [a]Or being distributed [b]Lit it [c]Or sat 2:4 [a]Or languages [b]Or ability to speak out 2:6 [a]Or dialect 2:7 [a]Lit Behold 2:8 [a]Or dialect [b]Lit in 2:9 [a]I.e. west coast province of Asia Minor 2:10 [a]Lit the sojourning Romans [b]I.e. Gentile converts to Judaism 2:13 [a]I.e. new wine
NLT
1 On the day of Pentecost[*] all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,[*] as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.
7 They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, 8 and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! 9 Here we are —Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” 12 They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.
13 But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!”
[2:1] The Festival of Pentecost came 50 days after Passover (when Jesus was crucified). [2:4] Or in other tongues.
Back in the 1970s, I was watching the eleven o’clock news when the cameras cut to the scene of a banquet. A governor rose to address the audience, and instead of looking calm and distinguished, he appeared flustered and disheveled. He began with an apology: “I have something that I would like to say that might cost me votes in the months ahead. But I nevertheless must tell the truth as to why I was delayed. My wife and I were delayed by a UFO that stopped our car on the way to the banquet. I cannot explain fully what transpired, but it was . . . it was supernatural.”
He didn’t succeed in his bid for the election.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the experiences of Acts 2 would have been something like reporting a close encounter with a UFO. Nothing like this event had ever occurred. Anyone not present in that room had great difficulty believing it had happened. The people who experienced the events were hard pressed to explain what they saw, heard, and felt during this supernatural phenomenon, and those who tried were written off as kooks.
As unbelievable as it seemed, however, John the Baptizer had told them, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16; cf. Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; John 1:33). Jesus had also told His disciples what to expect (John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7; Acts 1:5). But let’s face it —no one could have anticipated what occurred on that particular day, known forevermore as “the day of Pentecost” (see 2:1).
The word “Pentecost” is a transliteration of the Greek word pentēkostē [4005], which means “fiftieth.” Hellenistic Jews used this name to denote the Jewish Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), also called the Feast of the Harvest, which begins fifty days after the Passover meal (Lev. 23:15-16; Deut. 16:9-10). For centuries, this time between the two feasts has been a period of great anticipation for devout Jews, who mark the time by the “Counting of the Omer.” Scripture commanded that on the day after Passover, a sheaf of the first grain stalks should be cut and brought to the temple as an offering (see Lev. 23:10-11). Later generations determined that a sheaf of grain yielded one omer, a dry measure of about 2 quarts. Families then begin counting down the days from that first omer of grain to Pentecost, which commences the Feast of the Harvest. During the Counting of the Omer, they maintain a mild state of mourning by avoiding weddings, banquets, and parties.
Clearly, the Lord took full advantage of the symbolism surrounding Passover, the Counting of the Omer, Pentecost, and the weeklong harvest celebration. Jesus Christ is the first fruits from the dead (Acts 26:23; 1 Cor. 15:20-23), having been the first to be raised from the dead. He spent forty days on earth (Acts 1:3) and then ascended. On the fiftieth day, Pentecost, the Spirit of God came precisely as Jesus had predicted, coinciding with the great national harvest celebration.
On that day, about 120 believers had gathered in one place. Luke doesn’t say where, but it probably wasn’t the upper room where they had been praying, for they could be seen by a very large number of devout Jews living in Jerusalem (2:5). Perhaps they had decided to celebrate together in the courtyard of a private home near the center of town.
— 2:1-3 —
Suddenly, unexpectedly, abruptly —not like a flood, where the river rises and slowly leaves its banks; not like a hurricane building strength over the waters; but like a sudden, jolting earthquake —a noise shook the house. It was “like a violent rushing wind” (2:2), a sound we might compare with standing next to a 747 at takeoff. Luke doesn’t say “a wind blew through”; he describes a noise. The curtains didn’t blow. They felt no current or movement of air. In the ordinary environment of a house, a deafening roar came from above. Luke identifies the source as heaven.
An amazing sight accompanied the sound: “Tongues as of fire” peeled off to form individual ribbons of blazing . . . what? Flames, perhaps? Who knows? Luke had seen lightning before, so he could have referred to that (astrapē [796], cf. Luke 10:18; 17:24), but he chose “fire” (pyr [4442]) instead. Perhaps it looked like the ethereal light of God’s fiery glory, which later Judaism came to call the shekinah. This “fire” always appeared when God wanted His presence known. He caused a bush in the Midian wilderness to burst into flames, yet the fire did not consume it as a normal blaze would have (Exod. 3:1-3). This fiery glow led the Israelites as a pillar (Exod. 13:21-22). The shekinah covered the summit of Mount Sinai before the people of Israel (Exod. 19:18; 24:17). And behind the thick tapestry partition in the temple, this “fire” resided above the ark of the covenant in the most holy place (Exod. 25:22; Lev. 16:2). Jews familiar with the Scriptures would have identified the “fire” as the holy light of God’s presence.
Luke describes the energy as coming from “tongues” (plural) like fire, a blazing substance dividing and distributing itself into one stream per individual. Unlike a lightning strike, the flames came to rest on each person. I suggest the image remained in place long enough for each person to look around and see that everyone in the group received the same flaming power, the same gift of the Holy Spirit. Each received the same empowerment. No one was left out.
— 2:4 —
The gathered believers heard something, they saw something, and —now the most familiar and misunderstood phenomenon —they said something. Just as they had been promised by John the Baptizer, their water baptism had been followed by their baptism with “the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16). They received divine power, and that power accomplished the impossible. The believers had been told they would “receive power when the Holy Spirit [had] come upon” them, resulting in their becoming Jesus’ witnesses (Acts 1:8). They began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability.
The NASB rendering of this key phrase is “began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance,” which we need to analyze in detail.
“Began to speak” indicates that the believers received an ability that would continue after this event. Luke uses this phrase in much the same way we might say a small child “began to walk”: not only at that moment, but from then on.
“With other tongues” refers to other languages. Some claim these followers spoke in a “heavenly language” known only to God and angels, a kind of supernatural communication that sounds like gibberish to human ears yet holds meaning in the spirit realm. Charismatic groups practice this today and call it “speaking in tongues.” Several factors in the text, however, do not point to a “heavenly language” but rather to human languages.
First, the Greek words for “other” and “tongues” are plural. Moreover, the term rendered “other” is heteros [2087], indicating that the languages were different from one another. The word “various” would be appropriate. The phrase indicates that the people spoke in more than one actual language, not one “heavenly language.” And let’s face it —the idea of heaven having more than one language simply doesn’t make sense. Long before this, God had confounded human communication on earth (Gen. 11:7), not among the angels in the spirit realm.
Second, the practice of incomprehensible ecstatic speech known today as “speaking in tongues” has a long history in pagan religion. Various sects and cults had practiced a form of “ecstatic utterance” for centuries, both as a frenzied emotional expression and a seemingly rational form of communication. If these Christians had “spoken in tongues” in the ecstatic manner seen today, their behavior would not have been regarded by onlookers as a special, unique, miraculous gift of God.
Third, the following verses clearly indicate the ability of spectators to hear their native languages spoken. The term translated “language” in Acts 2:6 is dialektos [1258], from which we derive our term “dialect.”
“As the Spirit was giving them utterance” indicates that the disciples didn’t instantaneously acquire another language, suddenly becoming bilingual. This was a supernatural ability given by the Spirit, presumably to empower the believers to fulfill the Lord’s promise that they would be His witnesses (1:8). The Greek term translated “utterance” (apophthengomai [669]) means “to speak out loudly and clearly, or with emphasis (of philosophers, ecstatics . . . singers, and prophets).”[16] This strongly suggests that each person was able not only to speak in another language, but was also given the thoughts to express the message eloquently.
— 2:5-6 —
Pentecost was the second of three festivals that required Jewish men to visit Jerusalem for at least a week (Exod. 23:14, 17; 34:23; Deut. 16:16). So “devout men” from all around the Roman Empire and beyond had converged on the city (Acts 2:5). Jerusalem, of course, also had a permanent population of both devout and non-devout Jews. The loud noise (2:2) captured the attention of this mixed group, and the sound of people talking in various dialects drew them in for a closer look. The gathered followers of Christ, now filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered to witness, didn’t speak in order to be noticed; they were “speaking of the mighty deeds of God” (2:11). The Jews from out of town, however, could hear their own languages being spoken by the witnesses. Their reaction is described as “bewildered” (syncheō [4797]), which could also be translated as “dismayed,” “disturbed,” “confused,” or “stirred up.”
— 2:7-11 —
Two familiar terms from Luke’s Gospel appear again in Acts. Throughout Luke’s account of Jesus’ ministry of healing and casting out demons, the people continually felt “amazed” and “astonished.” Now the disciples have been empowered to amaze and astonish.
The remarkable linguistic feat of the disciples surprised the crowd for more than one reason. Not only were the out-of-towners able to hear their own languages spoken, but the words came from Galileans! That doesn’t mean anything to us, but it meant a lot in that day. Most Jews in first-century Palestine lived in one of two sections. The northern section, Galilee, was what we might call the hick section, the home of country bumpkins. Despite their relatively significant literacy rate, Galileans were considered uneducated by their more cosmopolitan cousins to the south, in Judea. According to one expositor, “Galileans had difficulty pronouncing gutturals and had the habit of swallowing syllables when speaking; so they were looked down upon by the people of Jerusalem as being provincial.”[17]
While Galilean Jews received an education in the synagogues, their training couldn’t compare to that of the well-educated Judeans. Those in Jerusalem spoke Aramaic and Koine Greek (the common Greek of the empire), and perhaps a few would have had training in classical Greek and Latin. The Jews from other parts of the world felt stunned to hear uneducated Galileans speaking so many languages with such eloquence.
The Jews living around the world were known as the Diaspora, that is, “the dispersed” or “the scattered ones” (cf. Jas. 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1). Luke names fifteen of the places from which the visitors had traveled, which covered much of the known world, including lands outside of Roman control. The places didn’t represent physical distance as much as variation in language, a much more difficult obstacle to evangelism. On this day, however, the Holy Spirit proved His ability and intent to overcome any obstacle to communicate God’s truth and carry out God’s plan of redemption.
The Jewish Diaspora at Pentecost (Acts 2:9-11).
— 2:12-13 —
“They” in 2:12 refers to the same people in 2:7 who exclaimed, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?” The term rendered “amazement” here is a form of existēmi [1839], which brings to mind a colorful word picture of a person “out of his senses” with surprise. “Great perplexity” (diaporeō [1280]) can also be translated “at a loss.” The onlookers had no ordinary explanation for what they witnessed; it was clearly supernatural, something they would have a difficult time explaining to the folks back home.
They couldn’t explain how these ordinary people could do something so extraordinary, so they stopped to consider the implications. “What does this mean?” (2:12) was more than a rhetorical question; many of the spectators were discerning enough to see that something of great significance was happening. “What does this mean?” looked to the future.
A number of others were “mocking” (diachleuazō [1315b]). The same term is also translated “to laugh in scorn” or “to jeer” in other Greek literature. Clearly unable —or unwilling —to see the significance of the disciples’ speaking about God’s mighty deeds in other languages, they dismissed the event with a put-down, suggesting the followers of Christ were drunk on “sweet wine” (2:13).
“Sweet wine” (gleukos [1098]) cannot refer to “new wine,” as some suggest; Pentecost occurs in April or May, too early for fresh grapes. More likely, it refers to a winemaking process now called chaptalization, whereby honey is added to unfermented grape mash, which produces a higher alcohol content during the fermentation process. The end product doesn’t taste sweet, but it sure packs a bigger punch!
We shouldn’t imagine that the put-down implies the 120 disciples behaved like drunks. Far from appearing inebriated, they spoke in other languages with such eloquence that out-of-towners marveled at their level of education. While there certainly was a commotion after the sound of violent wind, the flash of shekinah light, and the noise of people shouting praises to God in a multitude of languages, this was no frenzied spectacle. It was the beginning of a new movement —with God Himself as the organizer.
While people today struggle with the idea of UFO encounters and alien contact, the first-century Christians didn’t have a problem telling their supernatural story. Some people scoffed. Many others rejected it. But a great number of people believed, received the Holy Spirit personally, and then played significant roles in the supernatural birth of the church. The scoffing of people didn’t bother Peter; he merely used their skepticism as an opportunity to deliver the very first sermon ever preached in the church. And my, what a difference the Holy Spirit made!
APPLICATION: ACTS 2:1-13
Let the Holy Spirit Do the Talking
A lot of churches place a great burden on their members to repeat the experience of Pentecost, at least in part. According to some leaders in certain circles, the ability to speak in tongues is a necessary indication that a person is a genuine follower of Christ. Many correctly understand that the Holy Spirit immediately takes up residence in a believer at the very moment of salvation, but they think it happens only on a temporary basis. Taking Acts 2 as their example, they conclude that speaking in tongues is a necessary outward sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence. Therefore, no speaking in tongues means no Holy Spirit within, and no Holy Spirit within means no salvation.
Others call the Holy Spirit a “second blessing,” noting that Acts reports at least one case in which people received salvation and then received the Holy Spirit sometime later (8:14-17).[18] They conclude that the Holy Spirit and His attendant gifts are an additional blessing for which one must pray earnestly. According to this view, speaking in tongues doesn’t indicate salvation as much as measure piety. Consequently, genuine believers who do not speak in tongues are considered underdeveloped or incomplete as Christians.
Both views have significant biblical and theological flaws.
The fact is, we are never commanded to experience Pentecost or even to seek it. We can’t! That’s like telling someone to experience the parting of the Red Sea or the feeding of the five thousand. Those were unique works of God, done by Him through His own initiative at a specific point in history to teach unbelieving bystanders something about Himself. He used believers as instruments to accomplish a specific purpose; therefore, to expect a person to repeat the experience of Pentecost would be like asking a screwdriver to be picked up by its owner.
In addition, these miraculous events brought glory to God alone. The giving of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 was a onetime event, marking the beginning of a brand-new era. It didn’t bring glory to the people; the coming of the Holy Spirit and their subsequent speaking in other languages put the Lord at center stage. Their speaking in tongues didn’t prove their incredible piety as Christians, because none of them were very mature Christians at all!
Finally, we must remember, the “speaking in tongues” described in Acts 2 produced a number of human languages that could be understood by people from other nations; it was an effective evangelistic tool, not some kind of heavenly language unintelligible on earth. Therefore, if we want to use speaking in tongues as an indicator of salvation or a measure of godliness, no one today passes the test!
Never are we commanded to be baptized in the Spirit or to produce supernatural evidence of the Spirit. God gives His Spirit immediately, fully, and permanently to believers when we receive His gift of salvation. And anything He does —miraculous or otherwise —is His prerogative, subject to His sovereign authority, irrespective of what anyone else does, desires, or expects. W. E. Vine writes,
There is no evidence of the continuance of this gift after apostolic times nor indeed in the later times of the apostles themselves; this provides confirmation of the fulfillment in this way of 1 Cor. 13:8, that this gift would cease in the churches, just as would “prophecies” and “knowledge” in the sense of knowledge received by immediate supernatural power (cf. 1 Cor. 14:6). The completion of the Holy Scriptures has provided the churches with all that is necessary for individual and collective guidance, instruction, and edification.[19]
As I consider the issue of speaking in tongues while reflecting on this passage in Acts 2, two truths emerge that help guide me through these troubled waters.
First, when God does a work, no one can duplicate it or ignore it. When God does something miraculous, it’s obviously of God, and no doubt remains. People might reject it —think of the scoffers who accused the believers of drunkenness —but they cannot deny the unmistakable hand of God. “Supernatural,” by definition, refers to something God alone can do. When people try, the response is doubt, skepticism, questioning. People analyze it like a magician’s illusion. But when God does something truly miraculous, no one can duplicate it or ignore it.
Second, when the Spirit gives power, God receives the credit, not people. When a surgeon performs a lifesaving procedure in the operating room, no one later praises the scalpel. It didn’t do anything on its own. Similarly, we are incapable of supernatural activity —on our own. Furthermore, the surgeon didn’t choose that particular scalpel because it had made itself useful for the job; it was made by someone, sharpened by someone, sterilized by someone, and then finally put to use by someone. We are no different. People cannot make themselves either capable or worthy of supernatural power.
When God works supernaturally, any thought of human recognition is absurd, especially to the people involved.
The next time you see something that claims to be the supernatural work of God, ask yourself two questions, in this order:
If this is genuine, for whom do I feel admiration right now? (If it’s anyone but God, beware.)
Is it possible to duplicate this feat or accomplish the appearance of it through human means? (If so, beware.)