SCRIPTURE: Acts 2:1-13

OBSERVATIONS

1. (vv.1-3) A sound like the blowing of a violent wind, and what seemed like tongues of fire. These phenomenon may relate to what happened on Mount Sinai when God revealed Himself to Israel (Exodus 19:16-19). Traditionally Pentecost was both a harvest festival and a commemoration of when God revealed the Law to Moses.

APPLICATION: This is an interesting parallel, the birth of Israel as a nation and the birth of the church. The age of the Spirit is superior to the age of the Law (see 2 Corinthians 3:6-18). We are no longer under the Law if we are led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:18).

2. (vv.4-11) The miracle of languages was not that the disciples spoke in Spirit-inspired non-languages but in real languages they had never learned. This was part of God`s plan to bring the message to the ends of the earth (1:8), for there were people from every nation under heaven.

APPLICATION: This story reminds me that the Lord will work things out to accomplish His purpose, and that the Spirit will see to it that the message gets out. This is the real miracle in this story, that the Lord extends His message to every nation under heaven.

3. (vv.12-13) The responses are typical whenever the Lord does something, there are some who are amazed, some who are perplexed and some who sneer. Those who sneer at things they do not understand show how small-minded they are.
APPLICATION: It should not surprise or discourage me that people still sneer and make fun of the message. That it perplexes people is understandable, as there are things in it that perplex me. But sadly some minds are so closed to anything that they can’t understand that they miss out on God altogether.

PRAYER:

Lord, show Your power and Your purpose again, as You did on Pentecost. Inspire me with confidence that I know and share the message of Jesus as I ought to. Amen.