Acts 2
Notes
Transcript
The Holy Spirit's descent on the day of Pentecost inaugurated a new dispensation in God's administration of the human race.1 Luke featured the record of the events of this day to explain the changes in God's dealings with humankind that followed in the early church and to the present day. This was the birthday of the church. Many non-dispensationalists, as well as most dispensationalists (except ultra-dispensationalists), view the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost as the beginning of the church.
The descent of the Spirit 2:1-4
Luke had introduced the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry with His baptism with the Spirit (Luke 3:21-22).
Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
He now paralleled that with the beginning of Jesus' heavenly ministry with the Spirit baptism of His disciples (Acts 2:1-4). The same Spirit who indwelt and empowered Jesus during His earthly ministry would now indwell and empower His believing disciples. John the Baptist had predicted this Pentecost baptism with the Spirit (Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16),
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
as had Jesus (Acts 1:8).
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Jesus had already done the baptizing, and now the Spirit "came upon" the disciples.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
The day of Pentecost was an annual spring feast at which the Jews presented the first-fruits of their wheat harvest to God (Exod. 34:22a).
And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
The Jews also called Pentecost the Feast of Harvest and the Feast of Weeks in earlier times. They celebrated it at the end of seven weeks (i.e., a week of weeks) following the Feast of Passover. God received a new crop of believers, Christians, on this particular day of Pentecost. The Jews also celebrated Pentecost as the anniversary of the giving of the Mosaic Law (cf. Exod. 19:1).
In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
Paul regarded the Spirit's indwelling presence as God's replacement for the external guidance that the Mosaic Law had provided believers under that old covenant (Gal. 3:3, 23-29).
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
"Pentecost" is a Greek word, transliterated into English, that means "fiftieth." This feast fell on the fiftieth day after Passover. It was one of the feasts at which all the male Jews had to be present at the central sanctuary (Exod. 34:22-23).
And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
Jews who lived up to 20 miles from Jerusalem were expected to travel to Jerusalem to attend these feasts. Pentecost usually fell in late May or early June. Traveling conditions that time of year made it possible for Jews who lived farther away to visit Jerusalem, too. These factors account for the large number of Jews present in Jerusalem on this particular day. This feast was the most crowded in Jerusalem, and the most attended by foreigners, of any of the Jewish festivals.
"... by paralleling Jesus' baptism with the experience of Jesus' early followers at Pentecost, Luke is showing that the mission of the Christian church, as was the ministry of Jesus, is dependent upon the coming of the Holy Spirit. And by his stress on Pentecost as the day when the miracle took place, he is also suggesting (1) that the Spirit's coming is in continuity with God's purposes in giving the law and yet (2) that the Spirit's coming signals the essential difference between the Jewish faith and commitment to Jesus, for whereas the former is Torah centered and Torah directed, the latter is Christ centered and Spirit directed—all of which sounds very much like Paul."
The antecedent of "they" is apparently the believers Luke mentioned in 1:15. However, it could refer to the Twelve, since Luke later wrote that the multitude marveled that those who spoke in tongues were "Galileans" (v. 7). It is not possible to identify the place (lit. "the house," Gr. ton oikon) where they assembled with certainty. Perhaps it was the "upper room" already mentioned (1:13), or another house. Clearly the disciples were indoors (v. 2).
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
The sound like "a violent rushing wind" came from heaven, the place where Jesus had gone (1:10-11). This noise symbolized the coming of the Holy Spirit in power. The same Greek word (pneuma) means either "wind" or "spirit." Ezekiel and Jesus had previously used the wind as an illustration of God's Spirit (Ezek. 37:9-14; John 3:8).
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Luke particularly stresses the importance of the Spirit in the life of the church [in Acts].
Jesus' earlier breathing on the disciples and giving them the Holy Spirit (John 20:22):
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
may have been only a temporary empowerment with the Spirit along the lines of Old Testament empowerments. Others believe that Jesus was giving these disciples a symbolic and graphic reminder, an advance example as it were, of the Spirit who would come upon them later. It was a demonstration of what Jesus would do when He returned to the Father, and which He did do on Pentecost. He was not "imparting" the Spirit to them in any sense then. I prefer this second explanation.
Dr. J. Vernon McGee
"A friend of my daughter lives in Kansas and went through the experience of a tornado. It did not destroy their home but came within two blocks of it. When she wrote about it to my daughter, she said, 'The first thing we noticed was a sound like a thousand freight trains coming into town.' Friend, that was a rushing, mighty wind, and that was the sound. It was that kind of sound that they heard on the Day of Pentecost."
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
"Fire," as well as wind, symbolized the presence of God (cf. Gen. 15:17; Exod. 3:2-6; 13:21-22; 19:18; 24:17; 40:38; Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16).
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
The believers received a visual as well as an audio indication that the promised Holy Spirit of God had come. Evidently, at first the apparent fire came in one piece, and then separated into individual flames, which always resemble tongues of fire. “Cloven” means "Distributing themselves" translates diamerizomenai, a present and probably a middle participle, suggesting that the fire was seen dividing itself.
Each one of these "flames" “sat on” or abode (settled) on a different believer present. God could hardly have depicted the distribution of His Spirit to every individual believer more clearly. The Spirit had in the past abode on the whole nation of Israel corporately, symbolized by the pillar of fire. Now He abode on each believer, as He had on Jesus. This fire was obviously not normal fire because it did not burn up what it touched (cf. Exod. 3:2-6).
Probably the Jews present connected the "tongues," by which the believers spoke miraculously, with the "tongues of fire." They probably attributed the miracle of speaking in tongues to the God whose presence they had identified with fire in their history and who was now obviously present among them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
"Spirit filling" and "Spirit baptism" are two distinct ministries of the Holy Spirit. Both occurred on this occasion, though Luke only mentioned filling specifically. We know that Spirit baptism also took place, because Jesus predicted it would take place "not many days from now" before His ascension (1:5). Moreover, Peter spoke of it as having taken place on Pentecost a short time later.
And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Filling with the Spirit was a phenomenon believers experienced at various times in the Old Testament economy (Exod. 35:30- 34; Num. 11:26-29; 1 Sam. 10:6, 10), as well as in the New.
And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;
And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.
And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.
And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!
And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.
And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.
An individual Christian can now experience it many times. God can fill a person with His Spirit on numerous separate occasions (cf. Acts 4:8, 31; 6:3, 5; 7:55; 9:17; 13:9, 52).
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,
And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.
The New Testament never says that believers were baptized with the Spirit a second time. Furthermore, God has commanded all believers to "be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18).
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Luke used "filling" to express the Holy Spirit's presence and enablement.
Filling by (or with) the Spirit results in the Spirit's control (influence) of the believer (Eph. 5:18). The Spirit controls a believer to the degree that He fills the believer and vice versa. Believers experience Spirit-control to the extent that they yield to His direction. On the day of Pentecost, the believers assembled were under the Spirit's control because they were in a proper personal relationship of submission to Him (cf. 1:14). In the Book of Acts, whenever Luke said the disciples were Spirit-filled, their filling always had some connection with their gospel proclamation or some specific service related to outreach (2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9).
"... Luke always connects the 'filling of the Holy Spirit' with the proclamation of the gospel in Acts (Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9). Those who are 'full of the Holy Spirit' are always those who are faithfully fulfilling their anointed task as proclaimers (Acts 6:3, 5; 7:55; 11:24; 13:52)."
No great decision was ever taken, no important step was ever embarked upon, by the early Church without the guidance of the Spirit. The early Church was a Spirit-guided community.
In the first thirteen chapters of Acts there are more than forty references to the Holy Spirit. The early Church was a Spirit-filled Church and precisely therein lay its power.
The Christian never repeats Spirit baptism (in contrast to filling), God never commanded Spirit baptism, and it does not occur in degrees. Spirit baptism normally takes place when a person becomes a Christian (Rom. 8:9).
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
However, when it took place on the day of Pentecost, the people baptized were already believers. This was also true on three later occasions (8:17; 10:45; 19:6). (Chapter 19 does not clearly identify John's disciples as believers, but they may have been.)
Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
These were unusual situations, however, and not typical of Spirit baptism.
Spirit baptism always unites a believer to the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13).
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
The "body of Christ" is a figure that the New Testament writers used exclusively of the church, never of Israel or any other group of believers. Therefore this first occurrence of the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning of the church, the body of Christ (cf. Matt. 16:18).
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Speaking with other tongues (unlearned languages) was the outward evidence that God had done something to these believers inwardly (i.e., controlled them and baptized them into the body). The same sign identified the same thing on the other initial instances of Spirit baptism (10:46; 19:6). In each case, it was primarily for the benefit of Jews present, who as a people sought a sign from God to mark His activity, that God gave this sign (Luke 11:16; John 4:48; 1 Cor. 1:22).
And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.
Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
One of the fundamental differences between charismatic and non-charismatic Christians is the issue of the purpose of the sign gifts (speaking in tongues, healings on demand, spectacular miracles, etc.). Charismatic theologians have urged that the purpose of all the gifts is primarily edification (cf. 1 Cor. 12:7).
Many non-charismatics believe that the purpose of the sign gifts was not primarily edification but the authentication of new revelation.
Commentator Benjamin Warfield - There is an "... inseparable connection of miracles with revelation, as its mark and credential; or, more narrowly, of the summing up of all revelation, finally, in Jesus Christ. Miracles do not appear on the page of Scripture vagrantly, here, there, and elsewhere indifferently, without assignable reason. They belong to revelation periods, and appear only when God is speaking to His people through accredited messengers, declaring His gracious purposes. Their abundant display in the Apostolic Church is the mark of the richness of the Apostolic Age in revelation; and when this revelation period closed, the period of miracle-working had passed by also, as a mere matter of course.
Joel Gerlach - "... glossolalia [speaking in tongues] was a gift given by God, not primarily as a special language for worship; not primarily to facilitate the spread of the gospel; and certainly not as a sign that a believer has experienced a second 'baptism in the Holy Spirit.' It was given primarily for an evidential purpose to authenticate and substantiate some facet of God's truth. This purpose is always distorted by those who shift the emphasis from objective sign to subjective experience."
Other non-charismatics believe that the specific purpose of the sign gifts was to identify Jesus Christ as God's Son and to authenticate the gospel message that the apostles preached.
Most non-charismatics grant that the sign gifts were edifying in their result, but say their purpose was to authenticate new revelation to the Jews (Acts 2:22; Mark 16:20; Acts 7:36-39, 51; Heb. 2:2-4; 1 Cor. 14:20-22).
Jews were always present when tongues took place in Acts (chs. 2, 10, and 19). It is understandable why God-fearing Jews, whom the apostles asked to accept new truth in addition to their already authenticated Old Testament, would have required a sign. They would have wanted strong proof that God was now giving new revelation that seemed on the surface to contradict their Scriptures.
God had told the Jews, centuries earlier, that He would someday speak to them in a foreign language—because they refused to pay attention to Isaiah's words to them in their own language (Isa. 28:11; cf. 1 Cor 14:21).
For with stammering lips and another tongue Will he speak to this people.
In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.
Jews who knew this prophecy and were listening to Peter should have recognized that what was happening was evidence that it was God who was speaking to them.
God gave the gift of tongues also to rouse the nation of Israel to repentance (1 Cor. 14:22-25)
Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.
If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:
And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.
It is clear from the context of Acts 2:4 that this sign involved the ability to speak in another language that the speaker had not previously known (vv. 6, 8). However, the ability to speak in tongues does not in itself demonstrate the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Satan can give the supernatural ability to speak in other languages, as the blasphemous utterances of some tongues speakers have shown. Sometimes an interpreter was necessary (cf. 1 Cor. 14), but at other times, as at Pentecost, one was not.
ILLUSTRATION TABLE on Speaking in Tongues:
The gift of tongues was a term that covered speaking in a language or languages that the speaker had never studied. Note that the miracle was not hearing one's own language, but speaking in another language. This gift was very helpful as the believers began to carry out the Great Commission, especially in their evangelization of Jews. Acts documents and emphasizes the Lord's work in executing that mission.
Evidently most, if not all the believers present, spoke in tongues (vv. 3, 7-11).
If these early Christians spoke in tongues, should not modern Christians do so too? Speaking in tongues is never commanded in the New Testament. Its purpose was to authenticate new revelation to Jews. And it was not a practice that the apostles valued highly, even in the early church (cf. 1 Cor. 12—14). Therefore, I would say they should not.
God gave three signs of the Spirit's coming to the Jews who were celebrating the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem: wind, fire, and inspired speech. Each of these signified God's presence in Jewish history.
"At least three distinct things were accomplished on the Day of Pentecost concerning the relationship of the Spirit with men:
(1) The Spirit made His advent into the world here to abide throughout this dispensation. ... [i.e., permanent indwelling]
(2) Again, Pentecost marked the beginning of the formation of a new body, or organism which, in its relation to Christ, is called 'the church which is his body.' ... [i.e., Spirit baptism]
(3) So, also, at Pentecost the lives that were prepared were filled with the Spirit, or the Spirit came upon them for power as promised." [i.e., Spirit filling]
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
The Jews living in Jerusalem were probably people from the "Diaspora" ("dispersion," residing outside the land of Palestine) who had returned to settle down in the Jewish homeland. Luke's other uses of katoikountes ("dwelling") are in Acts 1:20; 7:2, 4, 48; 9:22; 11:29; 13:27; 17:24, 26; and 22:12, and these suggest permanence compared with epidemeo ("strangers") in verse 10.
"It was ... customary for many pious Jews who had spent their lives abroad to return to end their days as close to the Temple as possible."
A list of nations from which they had come follows in verses 9 and 10. The sound that attracted attention may have been the wind (v. 2) or the sound of the tongues speakers (v. 4). The Greek word translated "noise" in verse 2 is echos, but the word rendered "sound" in verse 6 is phones. The context seems to favor the sound of the tongues speakers.
Verse 2 says the noise filled the house where the disciples were, but there is no indication that it was heard outside the house. Also verse 6 connects the sound with the languages being spoken. The text does not clearly identify when what was happening in the Upper Room became public knowledge, or when the disciples moved out of the Upper Room to a larger venue. Evidently upon hearing the sound, these residents of Jerusalem assembled to investigate what was happening.
When they found the source of the sound, they were amazed to discover Galileans speaking in the native languages of the remote regions from which these Diaspora Jews had come. The Jews in Jerusalem who could not speak Aramaic would have known Greek, so there was no need for other languages. Yet what they heard were the languages that were common in the remote places in which they had lived.
Perhaps the sound came from the Upper Room initially, and then when the disciples moved out into the streets, the people followed them into the temple area. Since about 3,000 people became Christians that day (v. 41), the multitude (v. 6) must have numbered many thousands. As many as 200,000 people could have assembled in the temple area. This fact has led some interpreters to assume that that may have been where this multitude congregated.