Acts 2: 1-17

 Acts 2

[1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.]

(After taking a detour in our last post, we will now continue our verse by verse study of Acts 2, covering about half of this chapter.)

Verse 1- “they were all with one accord in one place.” These men and women were doing exactly what they were told to do - praying and waiting on the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus instructed. 

Verse 2 -  “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” It’s interesting how the wind is used to illustrate being born of the Spirit of God. Jesus used it to help explain the Spirit to Nicodemus in John 3:7-8, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Here we read of the sound of a rushing mighty wind (maybe like a tornado?) that came to usher in His coming. I wonder if Nicodemus was there and if he found this interesting too? I also wonder, before this happened, if these disciples asked themselves or discussed the question, “how will we know?” But this became very clear to them!

Verse 3 - “Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire”

I am reminded of Moses as he was drawn to the “burning bush” and God spoke to him from that bush (Exodus 3). This is also similar to the time on Mt. Sinai when God met him with fire, “Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire (Exodus 19:18).”  

God has often done something significant using fire to show His presence and His purification (i.e. Leviticus 9:24, 1 Kings 18:38, Isaiah 6: 6-7).
Romans 12:1 says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” And here in Acts 2:3-4, God’s fire descends on these 120 “Living Sacrifices” to purify and empower them for His work.  

Verse 4 - “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues (Greek - “Glassah”1), as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

[5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”]

Verse 5 -  “And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.” These were “devout men” from all over the known world who had come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost). They were there because they desired to follow God. 

Verse 6 - “And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.”

In Exodus 20, when God gave His commandments to Moses it reads:

“When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die (Exodus 20: 18-19).’” 

Remember that one reason why there was such a large crowd this day was that they were commemorating this incident of Exodus 20 and the giving of the Torah. Thunder, lightning, trumpets, and smoke all accompanied the giving of the Law. So I wonder what these people of Acts 2 were thinking as they heard this rushing wind, and these men and women speaking of the Glories of God? It was significant that the sound of a great wind, tongues of fire, and an understanding of God speaking through simple men and women accompanied the giving of the Spirit. 

Have you ever been to a foreign country where no one speaks your language? It can be quite confusing. But imagine being in such a country …then imagine you heard a voice you could understand, someone speaking your language. You would probably feel some relief knowing there was someone there that could understand you, and you could understand. 

Yet in this instance, the initial relief they might have felt faded into a feeling of confusion as they realized that everyone was hearing the disciples speaking in their hometown lingo. 

In Greek, the word for “language” here is “Dialektos”2 - where we get the word dialect. The audience may have been hearing these words spoken without any hint of a foreign accent - just as if they were from their own hometown. 

Verses 7 & 8 -  “Then they were all amazed and marveled,” Galileans were known for their abilities to fish and farm, but never for being able to speak multiple languages. Yet they were, “saying to one another,  ‘Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?’”  This only added to the amazement and wonder. “And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?”

Verses 9-11 - “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome,” This is a list of countries from all over the known world at the time. As you can see by the many countries represented in Jerusalem, the Feast of Weeks was no joke. This was The Place to be for “both Jews and proselytes”, which came to be part of this great corporate worship celebration. 

Verse 11 - Notice the words - “we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”

We are living at a time when the gift and practice of “tongues” seem confused. I believe that this verse gives us a true understanding of what a proper interpretation of tongues sounds like. What did these people hear? They always heard them speaking “the wonderful works of God”. Notice that the direction is pointed toward or about God.

Unfortunately, in some Christian circles, it’s quite common to hear someone begin a tongue interpretation with words like this, “Oh My little children, I say to you…”.  It’s my opinion that this would not be a tongue properly interpreted because, as you will notice, its direction is toward man. This could possibly be a prophecy, but not an interpretation of someone truly speaking in tongues. Paul explains, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries (1 Corinthians 14:2).”

[12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" 13  Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."

14  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15  For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.]

Verse 12 - “So they were all amazed and perplexed,” Everything that happened brought perplexity and prompted a question, “Whatever could this mean?” God is not afraid of questions. In fact, God orchestrates the prompting of such questions. 

Verse 13 - “Others mocking said, ‘They are full of new wine.’” The cynics wrote off this as the disciples just being drunk. 

Verse 14 - “But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.” Notice that it’s Peter who stood and spoke up - Really? Consider the miracle of this being Peter. 53 days earlier he couldn’t stand up to a little girl (Luke 22:56-57), was he now the one who stood up to declare Jesus to the nations? Something had changed!!  Yes, this was Peter! But Peter was now empowered by the Holy Spirit, and this was why Peter had changed.

Verse 15 - “For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.”  Peter took care of the “drunk” question by pointing out that it was only the third hour of the day, which equates to 9 A.M. and much too early to be drinking. Besides this, everyone was celebrating a special feast and usually, people wouldn’t even eat their first meal until about this time of day. 

[16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.

18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.

19 I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

21 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved.’]

Verse 17 - “Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.” A vision is like a vivid dream while a person is awake. A dream is a vision while you are asleep. As I’ve gotten older, I begin to understand why it’s the old men who dream dreams. I can’t seem to stay awake long enough to see a vision ;-). 

The empowering of the Holy Spirit is for the “last days”, including those we live in. How and what the Holy Spirit chooses to do is up to Him. And while we may not hear of many “Signs and Wonders” happening here in North America, they are happening in many places like India, New Guinea, and Africa as native pastors go into new areas never reached with the gospel. 

Concerning dreams and visions (vs 17b) - we hear of many whom God has spoken through a dream or a vision to reveal His Son to them.3 

Take note of a few of things:

1. Peter seems to give us the scriptural foundation for the mysterious things that were happening. It’s important that we always have a scriptural foundation for any supernatural manifestation that happens.
2. This prophecy was for the last days, including “the great and awesome day of the Lord” (vs 20). I have yet to see the sun turn to darkness or the moon to blood, and I may not see it in my lifetime. But it will happen as assuredly as we see the Spirit at work in people's hearts and lives today.   
3. Miracles and Healing still happen today. Again, it’s up to God when and where they happen. Some think it’s just an equation - You do your part and God must do His part. Personally, I think God resists such thinking. I remember in 6th grade, I was able to hit a grand slam in one of our softball games at school. I was wearing one particular windbreaker when I did it. From then on, I had to wear that same windbreaker, somehow hoping it would make the difference each time I bat - it didn’t. I tell that story to say - I think it’s natural for us to try to formulate as if we can control a situation. So perhaps it’s somewhat natural, though incorrect, to think we can control God’s actions. I believe God resists this formulation. He resists man's attempts to put Him into a box. Yet graciously, God still desires to heal some who are sick or injured. He sees a person’s need and, despite their wrong thinking, miraculously heals them. And though this may cause the person to more strongly believe wrongly and help to solidify their wrong beliefs, yet despite what man believes or doesn’t believe overall - God does what He wants to do. 

(We will finish this chapter in the next post, starting off where we have left off here.)

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1. Strongs G1100

2. Strongs G1258

3. For examples, “Google” the words “dreams and visions of Jesus to muslims”  for multiple examples