Acts 2

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Acts 2: 1-5 (NIV)

"2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven."

(I urge you to read this chapter 2 or 3 times. This fascinating chapter has so much to teach us, and it is impossible to encapsulate it in one SOAP note.)

Pentecost in English is Shavuot in Hebrew. It is the fourth of seven feasts that God ordained at Mt. Sinai. It was initially a celebration of the wheat crop. Still, later, Jewish tradition added that it was the day Moses received the Torah (The Law) at Mt. Sinai. Peter and the disciples learned Jewish traditions of the feast and the giving of the Torah, no doubt through the teachings they received sitting at the feet of Jesus in preparation for this day. The disciples, considered blue-collar workers, did not receive the privileged education from Gamaliel as Paul.

Old Testament references/similarities to Pentecost:

In Exodus 13, God leads Moses and the Israelites as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. (Acts 2: 2-3)

Deuteronomy 5:22, "These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me." (Acts 2: 2-3)

Numbers 11:25, "Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. They prophesied when the Spirit rested on them—but did not do so again. " In Numbers, God put the Holy Spirit upon the 70 elders Moses appointed to help him. They spoke the 70 languages representing the Table of Nations in Genesis 10. (Acts 2:4).

Similarly, 13 centuries later, the 12 disciples and 120 believers at Mt. Zion, where Jews from every nation gathered, heard a prophetic message in their native language. Isaiah 2:3 references God's word going out from Mt. Zion and Jerusalem. The disciples were on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit came with flames and fire and the sound of a rushing wind.

Additional OT verses reference wind and fire: Exodus 19: 16-25; 1 Kings 19:11: Ezekiel 1:4, 37:5-14; Isaiah 29:6; 66:15-16 

Isaiah 2:3," Many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths. The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Acts 2: 6-11)

Isaiah 55: 3, "Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. (Acts 2:17)

Jeremiah 31:30-33, "The days are coming, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel…. This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." (Acts 2:17-21)

Joel 2:2, "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. "(Acts 2: 17-21)

One of the many things God shows us through Scripture in the Old and New Testaments is that He communicates with us in unique ways. For God's Chosen People of the Old Testament, it was His visual and audible presence and His prophets and judges. After Jesus' ascension, there are similar signs of Mt Sinai that Jews would understand from teachings passed down through generations of Ruach Ha-Kodesh of the Old Testament. In chapter 2, they experience the powerful indwelling of Pneuma in the New Testament. Today, the Holy Spirit communicates directly with us in ways that we (individually) can understand and apply to our lives and relationship with Him.

As Gentile believers (most reading this SOAP) who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ, we are grafted into Israel's covenants. (reference Ruth 2 and Romans 11). We are members of The Royal Priesthood like the Israelites. We have the precious blood atonement of the Cross and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit deep within us. Dwell on these things and attempt to process the sheer magnitude of what God has done for us. It is difficult to grasp the enormity of it. As we go about our lives, let us strive every day to keep His commandments, be His hands and feet, love our neighbors, and share our story of The Hope that lives within us all through the power of the resurrection and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, the more we study Your Word, the more we understand Your Words in Ephesians three. Our prayer to you today is in the words of Paul. " I ask God from the wealth of his glory to give you power through his Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high, and deep, is Christ's love. Yes, may you come to know his love—although it can never be fully known—and so be completely filled with the very nature of God. To him who by means of his power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for or even think of to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen.

Becky Jordan

Sunday, June 5th is Pentecost Sunday. Don’t forget to wear RED!