A new school-, academic and church year

The first of September is in many countries the beginning of the new school year and the first of October the beginning of the new academic year.

That first day of a new year brings a lot of excitement and many questions with it. Every  “Beginning” brings expectations with it and brings an exciting experience. Some of those experiences bring over and over again, each year, new tensions or get us nerve system working strong. The adrenaline gets high.

Such a beginning of a “new year” gives us the opportunity to bring a brush-stroke over the previous year. We take the opportunity to make a new start again. We also dare to give free space to new ideas and projects which can stimulate us and others to continue with renewed energy.

The freshness of a new project or a new relationship sharpens our senses. When that novelty diminishes, though, it’s difficult to maintain the same level of excitement. so often when the year progresses people become less enthusiast or tired. They loose energy and are not so willing any more to spend energy in what they started earlier.

On the first of September many little toddlers face their first day in “the big world”. From then onwards their protected little world of the safe ‘home’ shall not be there always. They shall get to face the cruelty of the world, with others not liking them, or being jealous. By time they shall become confronted with infliction of physical or mental distress. Throughout its life the growing up person will have to find compromises between the claims of the narcissistic pole of his drives and the intensity of his love for the object. They shall have to proof themselves and to defend themselves, making sure they can stand straight  and endure all the hardships which shall come over them.

For many it will be looking afraid at the day, which according to the Hebrew mode, is conceived as a measure to be filled up. The apostles also once had taken refuge in their small safe house.

From the second day of unleavened bread they for fifty days had got very strange experiences which frightened them so much they had closed all doors and did not dare to come out and meet the people who laughed at the followers of the man which was impaled and could not bring any message in public any more because he had become part of the dead.

Christ his disciples were also in doubt and in expectancy.  In those days of expectancy they felt that they had to stick together, united in the thoughts of their master teacher Jeshua (Jesus Christ). A cycle of seven times seven days, from the time of the gathering of the sheaf of first-fruits, had past. At the day of the anniversary of the Law covenant at Sinai they suddenly where shaken.

The same eleven apostles who witnessed their master’s ascension were in the upper room complying with the injunction of Jeshua, waiting in an attitude of prayer and expectancy, and in readiness to begin their mission. Following the order to stay together and to come close to each other in prayer, they had enough time to think about all the things that happened in those three years of public preaching of Jeshua.

The decent of the Holy Spirit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At that moment they did not know yet they where going to go through something very unique which would give them the nerve to get out of their enclosure. They would receive Power from above which was going to give them enough guts to dare to speak about unbelievable events.

For many a new year going into a new initiative demands a plan which shows great daring.

In Acts 2 we can find a process of fulfilment described.  As in the other writings of the Book of books we get an inside view of how God worked to gather a new community of believers to Himself. Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Spirit signalled a new era and produced a new community, as both Jews and “devout men from every nation under heaven” converted to what would be later called the Christian faith (Acts 2:5).

“Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.” (Acts 2:5 NIV)

Now, many centuries later, it’s easy for us to see Pentecost as the pivotal moment in the history of the Church — an unparalleled event that changed the world forever. It must have been incredible to see those young men  coming onto the street and having them speaking in so many tongues that all sorts of tourists and inhabitants could understand them.

There where Christ Jesus never brought so many to convert and to be baptised those shy disciples over-won their fear and got on the street to speak in the name of God, telling what for importance Jesus is for humankind. Three thousand people came to faith.

When we celebrate the holiday of Pentecost, however, we are remembering the firstfruits of the harvest — the coming of the Holy Spirit and the original community of believers under Jesus Christ. Firstfruits are only the start of a harvest; they hint at future abundance. Every year we can see how plants are coming up again and how the cereal crop comes nice brown to be reaped. The grain crop harvested brings again new seed for the next year. Every-time there has to be sown and harvested, over and over again. In schools and as a service in Christian churches in many countries the people have a harvest festival, a celebration of the annual harvest, but also a thanksgiving for the fruits they may receive and bear.

The harvest the Greek writings is speaking of is the continuing process of people who get inspired by the work of Christ and his disciples and follow the master teacher his commission. We as a community do hope we can bring the seeds in fertile ground and shall be able to fertilise it well, so that it can bear good fruits.

 

As the young children at school have to respond to the bell, giving the sign to enter the class. We also should enter the class of the disciples, following our teacher, the rabbi Jeshua. Fresh at the beginning of the year we should be eager to learn new things and be curious what we can find in all those Books. God has prepared the Knowledge for us. We can take it or leave it. It is our free choice. Nothing is pushed forward, but the call of Jesus sounds all over the earth and everywhere the gospel of the Good News should be preached.

Each person that calls himself or herself a Christian should every year again take up the good spirit to tell the world what happened with the impaled Nazarene and his followers, who gave an example for the world to follow.

The wonders that began at Pentecost should still be happening today. On that day when the Holy spirit came over the disciples the start was given to a new era. A new beginning could take place.  It were the first days of the church which had to come into being.
Today there are still many places on earth where such seeds should be planted. Belgium is no exception. It is a very difficult ground. Like there are many clay grounds in Brabant, hard to work on, we do have to work hard to get people coming to our ecclesiae (churches). In Belgium there are many ‘babies’ waiting to go to kindergarten or school, to find more knowledge. They only have to find ways in doing it, finding the right knowledge.

At the beginning of a new church year we should offer our services to God and should express our hope that our community shall be blessed by Him. That we may find strength to continue the important work and receive enough knowledge, given to us by God’s Power (the Holy Spirit). We ask God that we can have enough patience to continue to preach His Word and to plants seeds wherever He wants.

Each of us should open his or her mind and heart for the teachings of Jesus and should be eager to come like Christ. We all should do our best to put on the armour of Christ and to open our mouths, bringing the Good News to the world. Witnessing about the coming Kingdom of God we should allow God to work in us and to have Him renewing us. He is active and present in our lives, just as He was gathering His Church about 20 centuries ago.

We need a fresh perspective. The beginning of the new academic and church year may bring that. We need the motivation and the boldness of the apostles and followers of Christ Jesus of the first hour. We need to rekindle our original excitement when announcing that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, because He is at work, in us and around us.

To have a successful new year the ecclesia needs the Light of the Spirit. Without the Power of God we are nothing. Like the apostles received the comforter from above, we also do need Light coming over us to be able to preach and to reach people, to bring them closer to God.

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit may enlighten us and give the force to go out in the world, making people aware of what God is willing to give to His People and how He wants us to be His children. It is God Who needs to give us power to be able to contribute to the formation of His Church. We can only hope we may be a work-instrument with many others, being thankful that we can receive so many blessings already here on this earth, preparing ourselves and others for the Kingdom of God.

 

A Protestant Church altar decorated for Pentecost with red burning candles and red banners and altar cloth depicting the fire and sound of blowing wind of the Holy Spirit. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

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Preceding article: An academic year ending, again a new year standing ready for us

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Additional readings:

1. First Century of Christianity
2. Promise of Comforter
3. Seven full weeks or seven completed Sabbaths and ascension of Jesus
4. Nazarene Acts of the Apostles Chapter 1
5. Hebraic Roots Bible Book of The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 1
6. Hebraic Roots Bible Book of The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2
7. The Acts Of The Sent Ones Chapter 2
8. The day of the festival of Pentecost
9. Nazarene Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 v1-13 Working Spirit
10. Speaking in tongues
11. Meaning of “speaking in tongues”
12. Tongues a sign of authenticity or divine backing
13. Coming to the end of the year
14. A new year with hopes and challenges
15. Passion and burn out of a teacher
16. An academic year ending, again a new year standing ready for us
17. Move forward, not standing still
18. Proclaiming shalom, bringing good news of good things, announcing salvation
19. Bringing Good News into the world

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Related articles

• undefined (spiritualconnectedness.wordpress.com)
  Each of you acquires opinions and beliefs about yourself during your upbringing. You absorb ideas and images from your parents, family, peers, school, etc. You begin to play certain roles without questioning them, and you soon develop something called a “personality”: a set of habits, behaviors, and thoughts. But at some time in the course of growing up, something else awakens in you. First, it is no more than a whisper; a memory that you cannot place; a knowing that you are more than what is just determined by the world outside yourself. There is something deeper, a layer that cannot be contained and understood by the human intellect. Herein lies your core, that which precedes and survives the earthly sphere – your soul.
• Differences Between Pentecost and the Jewish Feast of Weeks (differencebetween.net)
  The children of Israel are also important on this occasion. In celebration of Pentecost, they are to bring two loaves of leavened bread to the temple. These loaves of leavened bread are used as wave offerings. They can only be eaten after the harvest ceremony is fully completed. The Jews also offer burnt animal offerings before the Lord. They can share and eat the meals with the poor people, and even the strangers.
• Pentecost (rjowles.wordpress.com)
  The Apostles and disciples were praying together and the Holy Spirit came, sounding like a forceful wind and “tongues” of fire settled on them and they began to preach. Saint Peter began to preach a sermon and the multicultural and multi-ethnic crowd each heard him preaching in their own language. Of course, many have attempted to explain this.
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  If Saint Peter preached and everyone, regardless of language, understood what he was saying in their own language (either by the Holy Spirit speaking a special language through him that is like the “Master Key” language that everyone understands, or through the Holy Spirit interpreting what he was saying within their own hearts), then Pentecost is the undoing of the confusion of language at Babel. If you remember the story of the Tower of Babel, before that time everyone spoke the same language and after that time God confused the language so that different people started speaking different languages. Perhaps, what happened is that the Holy Spirit was active within the world and after the Tower of Babel incident, the Holy Spirit retreated from the world at large, occasionally moving through people but not the world itself, until after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I will leave it to you to decide for or against that idea as you see fit.
• It’s Time to Celebrate! (tamimyer.wordpress.com)
  Pentecost is  a “firstfruits” celebration for us, too, meaning that we are offering to God our first and best–not our leftovers–both as an expression of gratitude for what He has given and also as a statement of confidence that He will provide again.
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  An interesting Jewish tradition on Pentecost is to read from Ezekiel 1, a passage which refers to a great windstorm and to fire. Perhaps these images were in the disciples’ thoughts as they then encountered for themselves the sound of a mighty wind and the sight of fire.
• Call Sinners to Respond to the Gospel! (defendingcontending.com)
  A child of God could faithfully give the gospel, speak of God and His character, man and His desperate need, Christ and His sufficient atonement, repentance and faith in clear terms, but one element that evangelists seem to omit is the urgent call for sinners to respond to the gospel!
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  Often, in the Temple against the backdrop of the hypocritical, works-righteousness system of Judaism, Christ would teach how He came down from heaven as the living Bread, as the water of life, as the door to heaven, as the Shepherd for the sheep, as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and he invited all to come to Him. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me. He exemplified not only the clear and bold proclamation of gospel-truth, but he also modeled urgent and compassionate exhortations to respond to the gospel. We must do the same.
• The Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) (yehudafm.wordpress.com)
  The early summer harvest of Shavuot in Israel was a small harvest in comparison to the larger harvest that came in the autumn of each year. This has prophetic significance. Strange as it might seem to mainstream Christianity today, God is not trying to save the whole world right now. He has planned a far larger harvest of souls when Jesus returns. Those of us who are saved today are only part of the smaller harvest. When most people in this present evil age are traveling the broad road to destruction, we have been uniquely called to enter in by the narrow gate that leads to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14) and make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10).
• Firstfruits? Can an Old Testament holiday apply to your life today? (lightenough.wordpress.com)
  The ancient Israelites had an annual cycle of feasts or holidays (also called festivals) that they kept throughout the year as appointed by God. Four of these were in the spring, and three in the autumn. These holidays were a sacred time to remember God’s provisions in the past, His work in the present, and the hope of future provision.
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  By offering God a portion of the first fruit to ripen, it was also seen as a pledge, or an earnest, for the full harvest that was yet to come. It anticipated the harvest that would be reaped in the following months, even though it had not yet been received.
• “Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit,” (tru3j0y.wordpress.com)
  At this present moment we have the first fruits of the Spirit. We have repentance, that gem of the first water; faith, that priceless pearl; hope, the heavenly emerald; and love, the glorious ruby. We are already made “new creatures in Christ Jesus,” by the effectual working of God the Holy Ghost. This is called the firstfruit because it comes first. As the wave-sheaf was the first of the harvest, so the spiritual life, and all the graces which adorn that life, are the first operations of the Spirit of God in our souls. The firstfruits were the pledge of the harvest.
• In the Spirit — A Reflection for Pentecost (Gathering Voices) (bobcornwall.com)
  That was Jesus’ command to the gathered disciples on the day of his ascension. He had given them an assignment – go and be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. But to do this, they would need the baptism with the Spirit (Acts 1:1-11). This baptism with the Spirit would come on the day of Pentecost.
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  Pentecost offers us an excellent opportunity to consider the nature of our ministries and the way in which we are engaging the Spirit of God. Are we focused more on organizational principles learned from the secular world (not that we have nothing to learn) or are we rooting our ministry in the work of the Spirit?
• Acts 2 – The Image of Pentecost (readingacts.wordpress.com)
  The imagery of Pentecost may be important. Pentecost is a pilgrim-holiday also known as the Feast of Weeks or Shavuot.
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  The point of the festival was “to declare God’s ownership of the land and his grace in bringing forth food. According to a tradition found in the book of Jubilees, Pentecost was the day on which Moses was given the Law (cf. Tob 2:1, 2 Mac 12:32). This tradition is based on the belief that the Israelites arrived at Sinai 50 days after the first Passover (Exod 19:1). Some scholars (Knox, Snaith) have made a connection between this tradition and the gift of the Holy Spirit (ie., Moses gave out the Law to Israel on this day, Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to the church). Fitzmyer thinks Luke was aware of the tradition since there are some indirect allusions to the giving of the Law in Acts 2, not the least of which is the image of fire descending (Exod 19:18).

Nazarene Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 v14-20 Pentecostal Sermon

Acts 2:14-21 – Peter Begins his Pentecostal Sermon

AC2:14 Now Peter rose with the eleven[1] and raised his voice, declaring to them: “Men, Jews,[2] and all those dwelling in Jerusalem, all of you know this, listen to my words! AC2:15 For these men are not drunk[3] as you suppose, for it is only nine in the morning!

AC2:16 This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel[4] AC2:17 and what will occur in the Last Days:[5] ‘The God says, “I will pour out my Pneuma on all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy.[6] Also, your young men will see visions,[7] and your elders will dream dreams.[8]

AC2:18 And in those days I will pour my Pneuma upon my male slaves and female slaves, and they will prophesy. AC2:19 And I will give wonders in the heavens above, and on signs on the earth below[9] – blood and fire and columns of smoke.[10]
AC2:20 The sun will be transformed into darkness and the moon into blood[11] – before the arrival of the Day of the great and glorious Supreme Being.[12] AC2:21 Then everyone whoever calls upon the Name of YHWH will be saved.”’”[13] [Joel 2:28-32 LXX]

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Continuation of: Nazarene Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 v1-13 Working Spirit

Continued with: Nazarene Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 v23-26 The Choice of Matthias

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[1] Now Peter rose with the eleven: Likely indicating only these twelve were present.

[2] Men, Jews: Here the Greek is ANDRES IOUDIOI [males, Jews] because the crowd has already been identified as “pious Jewish men” from all over the world. Peter is talking to Jewish men. Compare also Acts 2:22.

[3] These men are not drunk: The Greek is masculine suggesting Peter speaks of the eleven male apostles who have been accused of drunkenness.

[4] Spoken by the prophet Joel: Peter now quotes from Joel 2:28-32. Most think he draws upon the LXX, though it is also clear Peter is doing this from memory and so there are slight paraphrases here or there.

[5] What will occur in the Last Days: Most versions place the quotes before “last days” but this does not occur in Joel. The solution may be that “last days” are Peter’s own words. Only about a month and a half before Peter and three other apostles asked Jesus about “the end.” [Matthew 24:3] Jesus continues to outline what will happen at the “desolation of Jerusalem.” In the Christian Bible the term “last days” is always used of the end of the Jewish Temple period. The phrase only occurs at 2 Timothy 3:1, Hebrews 1:1, James 5:3, and 2 Peter 3:3. Compare also Hebrews 9:26 and Jude 18. For more details on last days see Nazarene Commentary 2000© on Revelation.

[6] Your sons and daughters will prophesy: That is, Jewish children. The words “prophet” and “prophesy” have a wide range of meaning but generally refer to speaking before others. For details see notes on 1 Corinthians 12:28. Both men and women may “prophesy” but see Paul’s restrictions in 1 Corinthians 11, 14, and 1 Timothy 2. See notes on Acts 21:9. On Christian prophets in Acts see Acts 11:27; 13:1; 15:32; 21:10.

[7] Young men will see visions: While both men and women “prophesy”, it is young men who are foretold to see “visions.” The application of Joel’s words to this crowd of Jewish men must have moved their hearts toward their sons and daughters who they could see so blest. Indeed, just that is what happened when thousands of them returned home – now disciples of Jesus Christ. See “vision” in Acts 9:10, 12; 10:3, 17, 19; 11:5; 12:9; 16:9, 10; 18:9. A vision is generally understood to be a daytime trance experience, while dreams occur during sleep.

[8] Your elders will dream dreams: Or, older men. There is no case of such a “dream” mentioned in the Christian Bible. The word “dream(s)” occurs 126 times in the Bible, first at Genesis 20:3 and most often in the two books Genesis and Daniel. Of particular interest are Job 7:14 and Job 33:15, 16. In the Christian Bible dreams occur at Matthew 1:20; 2:12, 13, 19, 22; 27:19.

[9] Wonders in the heavens above, and on signs on the earth below: Peter, in quoting Joel to these Jewish men, has mentioned the good news. Now he proceeds to the bad news – the coming doom on Jerusalem. These heavenly wonders and earthly signs will be described in the following phrases. Compare the Nazarene’s own warning in notes on Matthew 24:15 and Luke 21:24. Josephus records similar phenomena upon Jerusalem in 70 AD.

[10] Blood and fire and columns of smoke: Whether the “blood” refers to Jewish blood shed at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, or to the color of the moon when veiled in smoke is a matter for interpretation. In the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in 70 AD one million people died, so indeed, blood ran in the streets, and great columns of smoke blocked out moon and sun.

[11] The sun will be transformed into darkness and the moon into blood: Compare similar language from the Nazarene at Matthew 24:29 where similar images apply to both the desolation of Jerusalem and to signs appearing before the Return of Christ. [Mark 13:24]

[12] Day of the great and glorious Supreme Being: The phrase “Day of the Master,” or, “Day of Jehovah” is used for a number of periods, including the “Day of Wrath” in Revelation. [Revelation 6:17] The Hebrew Text of Joel – and likely original LXX translations – has YHWH, but the Greek here does not precisely call for it. On the designation “Day of Yehowah” see Isaiah 13:6-10 and Amos 5:18, 20. Joel the prophet mentions it several times. [Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11; 3:14] As does Zephaniah 1:7, 8, 14, 18; 2:2, 3. The Jews were very familiar with Malachi 4:5.

[13] Calls upon the Name of YHWH will be saved: The Tetragram is present in Joel and it is possible the Greek would suggest the original had YHWH here. For details on this phrase see Paul’s quotation of it at Romans 10:13.

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Preceding articles:

Nazarene Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 v1-13 Working Spirit

Meaning of “speaking in tongues”

Compare:

Hebraic Roots Bible Book of The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2

The Acts Of The Sent Ones Chapter 2

The day of the festival of Pentecost

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Also of interest:

1. Speaking in tongues
2. Tongues a sign of authenticity or divine backing
3. God has visited His people
4. The Word being a quality or aspect of God Himself
5. Prophets making excuses

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Related articles

• Pentecost, What’s That? (thelifechurchofdesplaines.wordpress.com)
  Pentecost in the Old Testament was not a religion. It was a feast, a celebration. Israelites were told to remember their bondage in Egypt and their freedom from slavery.
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  It was a shadow of what was going to happen, is happening today! Pentecost didn’t end in Acts 2. It is happening today! People prophecy and are filled with God’s Spirit today.
• Unstoppable Faith (thursdaythoughts4ct.wordpress.com)
  In the beginning of the book of Acts, Jesus goes back up into Heaven and the apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. This is their incredible experience that truly sets them on fire. They go out and start preaching and spreading the word and performing these incredible miracles in Jesus’s name.However, as is almost always the case, the apostles were almost immediately met with opposition from people who wanted to stop them.
• “It’s only nine in the morning!” (rootstothestream.net)
  Peter is certainly one of the Bible’s most colorful characters. He is rash and passionate, human and sometimes almost divine (see walking on water). However, through it all Peter is given a double edged sword with his words. Here after pentecost some who were watching thought the apostles might be drunk. Another man might have quoted scripture about the perils of too much wine, but not Peter. His simple response is that it’s just too early in the day. What a great line! However, Peter is not just about wit; he is about to deliver one of the most effective sermons since one that occurred on a mound.
• For many it seems not easy to understand that it was God who brought insight in Jesus his pupils. In the article The Holy Spirit-Empowered Apostles (on yourgodmoments.wordpress.com) the writer rightly remembers the promise of the Nazarene Jesus (Jeshua) to his followers. But he misunderstands that Jesus, who is the son of God and the Messiah, would become the mediator between men and God and that it was he (Jeshua or Jesus Christ) who had demanded his Father (Jehovah, the Only One God) to send a “Comforter”. The writer of the article says “It is here that Jesus completes His gospels through the Holy Spirit by filling His disciples hearts with the remainder of the knowledge that He wants all of God’s children to know in order to pursue a path of righteousness and a life filled with God moments…” But it is not Christ Jesus who fills the hearts and minds of the apostles. That is the work of the Holy Spirit: the Power of God. it was God and not Christ who enlightened the apostles and gave them the power to go out in the world to preach the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God.
• Acts of the Apostles (fellowshipofthebelievers.com)
  Special attention is given to the Promise of the Father regarding the apostles being baptized by the Holy Spirit, who would empower them as witnesses for Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and even to the end of the earth (1-8).
• Links to OT prophecies in Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 (creationconcept.wordpress.com)
  At Post Tenebras Lux Andrew G discussed Acts 2:17, where the apostle Peter, while addressing the Jews at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, quoted from a prophecy of Joel, beginning his quotation using the words of Isaiah rather than those of Joel.
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  Luke probably included this subtle link to Isaiah 2:2 in his account of Peter’s message on Pentecost to suggest that Isaiah 2:1-3 was fulfilled, when Jesus ascended to heaven, where he was exalted and “made Christ” by God. [Acts 2:36] Being “made Christ” implied that Jesus was given a perpetual throne, in Jerusalem, reigning over all Israel, like David, and that Jerusalem and mount Zion were raised up, and “established in the top of the mountains, above the hills,” (in heaven, and in a spiritual sense) according to Isaiah’s prophecy. After Pentecost, the Jerusalem to which OT prophecy applies is the heavenly city. This is confirmed in other New Testament scriptures. [Galatians 4:26, Hebrews 12:22] Paul taught that believers are “raised up together” and “sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” [Ephesians 2:6]
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  Isaiah 2, Joel 2, Acts 2, and the Eschatological Temple of the Church
  Concerning this substitution of the phrase “in the last days” and to prophecy to which it alludes, G.K. Beale writes, “Thus, Peter appears to interpret the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost upon the Christian community in fulfillment of Joel also to be the beginning fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the end-time temple, under the influence of which the nations would come.”[3] The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost therefore is seen to be the official inauguration of the end-times temple-building project.
• The Books of the New Testament (chbt.wordpress.com)
  The Acts was written by Luke the Evangelist; it is a narration of the Apostles’ work, which he wrote to tell how the Church spread rapidly throughout the world.
• Acts of the Apostles…chapter Nine…part Three (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
  The accounts in the epistles add some details to Acts and omit others. The accounts are complementary and not contradictory. Luke’s work is historically accurate an independent account, not simply copied from Galatians or 2 Corinthians. The different purposes of Luke and Paul affect the selection and shaping of the facts of the Damascus-Arabia episode. In Galatians, Paul’s primary concern is to establish the fact of his apostolic authority as coming directly from Christ…Galatians 1:11-12…The details of his Damascus and Arabian missionary activities are irrelevant, though he mentions them in passing…
• Acts of the Apostles…chapter Nine…part Four (whatshotn.wordpress.com)
  Later, when Barnabas needs assistance in building the church in the Antioch area, he goes to Tarsus to find Paul, and brings him to Antioch..Acts 11:25-26.. From then on, Paul becomes the central focus of Acts…
• Intro to the Book of Acts and the choosing of Judas’ replacement (sundayschoolbiblestudy.wordpress.com)
  The disciples are in obedience, they are in fellowship, and they are in prayer.”
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  Peter feels called to stand up and make the case that they now should allow God to choose a successor to Judas Iscariot. Notice that this is the first time in the Bible that we see Peter quote Scripture. He is now relying on the Word of God to steer him through ministry just like Jesus had demonstrated through His earthly ministry and had taught them to do.

Tongues a sign of authenticity or divine backing

The Pentecost Mosaic, in the center is the dove of the Holy Spirit with the twelve apostles below. This is one of the oldest mosaics in the church dating from 1125 AD. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the previous articles “The day of the festival of Pentecost” and “Speaking in tongeus” we have cited that speaking in tongues or Glossolalia, was by the grace of God‘s Holy Power, the Holy Spirit, the holy Pneuma, which had been poured out on the disciples of Jesus gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem in the late Spring of CE 33.  They were surprised by a sound from the shamayim as of a groaning Ruach or a rushing stiff breeze, filled with the Ruach Hakodesh, the Holy Spirit or counsellor,  presented by tongues as if of fire, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Ruach Hakodesh or Pneuma gave them the utterance. It was bringing the followers of Christ outdoors to meet the foreigners, who were not pagans but returning returning Israelites in varying stages of return, who were there in Jerusalem for the annual festival of Pentecost, the Shavuot feast or moed of Shavuot . No pagans would go and worship יהוה YHWH {Jehovah} on Shavuot/Feast of Weeks.

It was not until the festival of Pentecost CE 33 that the gift of speaking in tongues was first received, and on that occasion it served as an effective evidence that Christians had God’s spirit upon them.

You can imagine the effect it had on the people in town when the Jews heard Jesus’ followers speaking in perhaps over a dozen different languages. But their talking at that time had nothing to do with what certain Christians today believe is ‘speaking in tongues’. The people at the beginning of the Chrisitian church heard the followers of Christ speaking in their tongues about the magnificent things of God and not in a sort gibberish or in ‘loud and fervent shouts’ of the Pentecostals. — (Acts 2:5-11) (Please do find our next article about the meaning of “filled with the Holy Spirit” and “speaking in tongues” : Meaning of “speaking in tongues”)
In “Is Speaking in Tongues an Evidence of True Worship?” a sister also goes deeper into the subject.
Knowing the beliefs of other religions always helps to understand why they think so or where certain religions go wrong. Therefore it is worth looking into the matter if speaking in tongues is really a necessary requirement of true worship. In the article the sister discusses the three chapters in which the apostle Paul discusses the gift of tongues.

This special gift of tongues received in Jerusalem through God’s holy spirit assisted the disciples there in preaching the good news for a sign to those Jewish worshippers from distant parts of the earth. But the real fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 on that day of Pentecost was the fact that those who were filled with the spirit prophesied. Speaking with tongues was incidental, for a sign of authenticity or divine backing. — Acts 2:16-22. {Is Speaking in Tongues an Evidence of True Worship?}

To emphasize the importance and permanence of love as compared to the miraculous gifts of the spirit, the Apostle Paul wrote: “Love never fails. But whether there are gifts of prophesying, they will be done away with; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will be done away with.” — (1 Corinthians 13:8).
On the basis of Paul’s words here, there should be no question that the miraculous gifts of the spirit were to pass away. Find out in the above mentioned articles how Paul is comparing the temporariness of the gifts of the spirit with the permanence of love; and how he links the transitoriness of these gifts, not with unbelievers, but with the infancy of Christianity and how these miraculous gifts passed away when the community or congregation reached maturity by becoming a recognized, established organization. (1 Corinthians 13:9-13; Acts 8:18)

Our readers who speak Dutch can find a similar discussion in Dutch in our previous posting: “In Talen sprekend” & “Teken van authenticiteit of goddelijke backing” & in the coming publication “Betekenis van ‘Spreken in Tongen’ en ‘Uitstorting van de Geest’”

+

¹⁴ But Peter stood up with the eleven {1} and raised his voice and made this utterance to them: “Men of Ju·de′a and all YOU inhabitants of Jerusalem,{2} let this be known to YOU and give ear to my sayings. ¹⁵ These [people] are, in fact, not drunk,{3} as YOU suppose, for it is the third hour {*4} of the day. ¹⁶ On the contrary, this is what was said through the prophet Joel, ¹⁷ ‘“And in the last days,” God says, “I shall pour out some of my spirit {*5} upon every sort of flesh,{*6} and YOUR sons and YOUR daughters will prophesy and YOUR young men will see visions and YOUR old men {*7} will dream dreams;{8} ¹⁸ and even upon my men slaves and upon my women slaves I will pour out some of my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.{9} ¹⁹ And I will give portents in heaven above and signs on earth below, blood and fire and smoke mist;{9} ²⁰ the sun {10} will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and illustrious day of Jehovah {*11} arrives.{12} ²¹ And everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah {*13} will be saved.”’{14}

*

(NWT)

 

Pentecostés. Óleo sobre lienzo, 275 × 127 cm. Madrid, Museo del Prado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

{1} the eleven: (Matthew 28:16): ¹⁶ However, the eleven disciples went into Gal′i·lee+ to the mountain where Jesus had arranged for them,

{2} Jerusalem: (Acts 7:2): ² He said: “Men, brothers and fathers, hear. The God of glory+ appeared to our forefather Abraham while he was in Mes·o·po·ta′mi·a, before he took up residence in Ha′ran,+

(Acts 22:1): 22.1 “Men, brothers+ and fathers, hear my defense+ to YOU now.”

{3} not drunk: (Acts 26:25): ²⁵ But Paul said: “I am not going mad, Your Excellency Festus, but I am uttering sayings of truth and of soundness of mind.

(1 Thessalonians 5:7): ⁷ For those who sleep+ are accustomed to sleep at night,+ and those who get drunk are usually drunk at night.

{*4} the third hour of the day: That is, about 9 a.m., counting from sunrise:

{*5} pour out some of my spirit: Or, “active force.” Gr., pneu′ma·tos; Lat., Spi′ri·tu; J^17,18,22(Heb.), ru·chi′, “my spirit.” See Ge 1:2 ftn, “Force.”: (Isaiah 44:3): ³ For I shall pour out water upon the thirsty one,+ and trickling streams upon the dry place.+ I shall pour out my spirit upon your seed,*+ and my blessing upon your descendants.

(Ezekiel 36:27): ²⁷ And my spirit I shall put inside YOU,+ and I will act so that in my regulations YOU will walk,+ and my judicial decisions YOU will keep and actually carry out.+

(Zechariah 12:10): ¹⁰ “And I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit* of favor+ and entreaties,+ and they will certainly look to the One whom* they pierced+ through, and they will certainly wail over Him as in the wailing over an only [son]; and there will be a bitter lamentation over him as when there is bitter lamentation over the firstborn [son].+

{*6} every sort of flesh: Or, “upon all flesh.” Gr., e·pi′ pa′san sar′ka; Lat., car′nem; J^17,18,22(Heb.), ba·sar′.

{*7} old men: Or, “elders.” Gr., pre·sby′te·roi.

{8} dream dreams: (Joel 2:28): ²⁸ “And after that it must occur that I shall pour out my spirit*+ on every sort of flesh,+ and YOUR sons and YOUR daughters+ will certainly prophesy. As for YOUR old men, dreams they will dream. As for YOUR young men, visions they will see.

{9} prophesy: (Numbers 11:29): ²⁹ However, Moses said to him: “Are you feeling jealous for me? No, I wish* that all of Jehovah’s people were prophets, because Jehovah would put his spirit* upon them!”+

(Joel 2:29): ²⁹ And even on the menservants and on the maidservants in those days I shall pour out my spirit.+

(Acts 21:4): ⁴ By a search we found the disciples and remained here seven days. But through the spirit+ they repeatedly told Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem.

(1 Corinthians 12:10): ¹⁰ to yet another operations of powerful works,*+ to another prophesying,+ to another discernment+ of inspired utterances,*+ to another different tongues,+ and to another interpretation+ of tongues.

{10} sun: (Matthew 24:29): ²⁹ “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened,+ and the moon+ will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.+

{*11} illustrious day: “Jehovah.” Heb., יהוה (YHWH or JHVH)

{12} illustrious day of Jehovah arrives: (Joel 2:31): ³¹ The sun itself will be turned into darkness,+ and the moon into blood,+ before the coming of the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah.+

(Mark 13:24): ²⁴ “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,

{*13} the name of Jehovah: Heb., יהוה (YHWH or JHVH)

{14} be saved: (Joel 2:32): ³² And it must occur that everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will get away safe;+ for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will prove to be the escaped ones,+ just as Jehovah has said, and in among the survivors,* whom Jehovah is calling.”*+

(Romans 10:13): ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah* will be saved.”+

+

Preceding articles:

The day of the festival of Pentecost

Speaking in tongues

Compare also with:

Hebraic Roots Bible Book of The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2

The Acts Of The Sent Ones Chapter 2

Nazarene Acts of the Apostles Chapter 1

Nazarene Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 v1-13 Working Spirit

and later to: Nazarene Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 v14-21

++

Additional reading:

1. Did the Inspirator exist
2. The manager and Word of God
3. The Soul not a ghost
4. Christ begotten through the power of the Holy Spirit
5. The radiance of God’s glory and the counsellor
6. He has given us the Pneuma, the force, from Him
7. Speaking in tongues (article on Christadelphian World)
8. Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #6 Words to feed and communicate
9. The Great Trinity Debate
10. How do trinitarians equate divine nature
11. True riches
12. The Spirit of God imparts love,inspires hope, and gives liberty
13. Followers with deepening
14. Not enlightened by God’s Spirit
15. Pope Francis I on the Holy Spirit
16. Know Who goes with us and don’t try to control life
17. Why hasn’t anything been inspired recently? Revelation was the last inspired book and it was a long time ago. Why aren’t there any more?

+++

Related articles

• What does it mean to speak in tongues? by Todd Clippard (braggschurchofchrist.com)
  There is a general misunderstanding, especially among modern pentecostals and charismatics as to the nature of tongues. Those who claim to speak in tongues today are referring to ecstatic utterances made after a so-called personal manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Ecstatic coming form the word “ecstasy” meaning to be beside oneself, beyond reason or self control, given over to extreme and engrossing emotions. Utterances are simply vocalized expressions. Participants in such babbling believe the Holy Spirit has taken over their verbalization and caused them to speak some heavenly language or tongues of angels.
  What does it really mean to speak in tongues?
  +
• The Baptism In The Holy Spirit for All is the Biblical Norm. (keithlannon.wordpress.com)
  To minister as New Testament preachers did without the baptism in the Holy Spirit would not be consistent with what Jesus commanded the 120 to do.  In the very mouth of Christ, before He returned to heaven, was the command for the disciples to stay in Jerusalem – ie: no preaching, no healing, no casting out demons, until they were baptised in the Holy Spirit. That was the priority that Jesus Christ placed on the Holy Ghost baptism.
  +
  The outward sign of the inward work of grace that John the Baptist referred to as, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, was unwelcome in many churches of the world when the Pentecostal move began. Zealous evangelical movements, as well as the lukewarm nominal denominations, ejected many “tongue talking” believers who had sought after and received what they believed to be the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The ejected regrouped into newly formed churches. These “new” churches referred to themselves as “Full Gospel”, or “Pentecostal Churches.” The first few decades of the outpouring saw an incredible growth of zealous, biblically based, supernaturally inclined Christianity. However, the growth of those early days was stultified somewhat as mid century approached.
• William Dwight McKissic Gives a Biblical Basis for Speaking in Tongues In Private (blackchristiannews.com)
  If the Bible does not back the practice of speaking in tongues, then no believer–period–should speak in tongues at any place or at any time.
  +
  It is not my purpose, desire, or place to attempt to persuade all Baptists or all believers to speak in tongues. I do not believe that it is God’s will based on His Word for all believers to speak in tongues (1 Cor. 12:30). Although it is debated among those of us who speak in tongues, neither do I believe that every believer is capable of speaking in tongues–even if they desire to. God sovereignly determines which believer gets which gifts (1 Cor. 12:7-12).
  +
  Those of us who speak in tongues often during times of intense worship, devotion, prayer, and praise spontaneously often speak in tongues as the Sprit gives utterance (Acts 2:4). It is my opinion, but, I don’t believe their tongues speaking was limited to Pentecost only. I believe it carried over to their private devotions.
• The Gift of Tongues (thetruesacrifice.wordpress.com)
  Does the bible state that speaking in tongues is proof of receiving the Holy Spirit? In this article i will show you biblical proof that what the majority of Christians are taught about tongues is indeed false and the tongues most christians think they are speaking may indeed be satanic.
  +
  When Jesus was alive with his disciples, he instructed them not to preach to anyone who was not a Jew. You can read this in (Matthew 10). However, after Jesus died and resurrected, the command changed drastically. Jesus told his disciples almost the exact opposite in (ACTS 1:8). The time had come for the Apostles to preach to everyone whether or not they were Jew. Since Jesus went to his own people and they ended up killing him, Jesus made it then possible for anyone to be saved just by believing in him. This is the new covenant(testament). But how could the Apostles preach to everyone without being able to communicate with them? Good question! This is why Jesus gave them the gift of tongues so that they could preach to the Greek, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontos and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, In Egypt, Libya about Cyrene and so on… you can read the full list in (Acts 2:9-10) The apostles needed to preach to everyone and the only way to do so was to be able to speak those people’s language or tongue.
  +
  The proof that you are saved and have the Holy Spirit is if you are Holy!! It is as simple as that. You will know if you are reborn or born again because you will be different.
• Is Speaking in Tongues an Evidence of True Worship? (illustrationstoencourage.wordpress.com)
  someone may argue that there is a difference between the “gift of tongues” and the speaking in tongues as “evidence” of the outpouring of the holy spirit. All spoke in tongues upon receiving the spirit, they might say, but not all were later endowed with the “gift of tongues.” But where is the Scriptural support for such a supposition? It is lacking.
• Wisdom: Evidence of God’s Breathe (mfmdelaware.wordpress.com)
  The spiritual gifts in the New Testament were also found in the Old Testament except for the gift of tongues. That marks the evidence of God’s nature in us. Demons speak in tongues as experienced on deliverance ground. The difference is that it is to confuse and deceive while that which is from the Holy Spirit caries power and fire. The one by demon entertains but that from God shakes the kingdom of darkness to the root and turns the believer to unquenchable flames of fire
• Mark Driscoll Preaches About the Gift of Tongues (blackchristiannews.com)
  Cessationists, such as influential pastor and traditional Calvinist John MacArthur, believe that 1 Corinthians 13:8 and other Biblical passages indicate that the divine ability to speak in other languages or an unknown tongue (glossolalia) ended with the apostles’ deaths, as did prophetic revelations and faith-healings through individuals. Some Christians, however, believe that these Holy Spirit-inspired gifts will continue until Christ’s return.
• Rose and Linda’s Journal Speaking in Tongues (momsfirstscreenn.wordpress.com)
  Jesus said that the Spirit would testify, and that the disciples would be the ones to witness.
  +
  Ten years after Pentecost, the Gentiles received the gift of the Holy Ghost; the Holy Ghost also testified through them when He came in.
  +
  Twenty-five years later we find some people receiving the same Holy Ghost in the same way. He took over their vocal organs and spoke in another tongue. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues (Acts 19:6).
• Speaking in tongues (belgianbiblestudents.wordpress.com)

Speaking in tongues

5 As it was, there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews,{1 } reverent men,{2 } from every nation of those under heaven. 6 So, when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Indeed, they were astonished and began to wonder and say: “See here, all these who are speaking are Gal•i•le′ans,{3 } are they not? 8 And yet how is it we are hearing, each one of us, his own language in which we were born? 9 Par′thi•ans and Medes {4 } and E′lam•ites,{5 } and the inhabitants of Mes•o•po•ta′mi•a, and Ju•de′a {6 } and Cap•pa•do′ci•a,{7 } Pon′tus {8 } and the [district of] Asia,{9 } 10 and Phryg′i•a {10 } and Pam•phyl′i•a,{11 } Egypt and the parts of Lib′y•a, which is toward Cy•re′ne, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,{*+12 } 11 Cre′tans {13 } and Arabians,{14 } we hear them speaking in our tongues about the magnificent things of God.” 12 Yes, they were all astonished and were in perplexity, saying one to another: “What does this thing purpo rt to be?” 13 However, different ones mocked at them and began to say: “They are full of sweet wine.”{15 }

*

(NWT)

Niccolò da Bologna’s tempera and gold on parchment, 1494-1502, J. Paul Getty Trust. This illuminated letter ‘S’ is one of twenty known large historiated initials made for a choir book commissioned by the Carthusian monastery of Santo Spirito in Lucca.
It portrays Pentecost, the moment in which the Holy Spirit descends upon the twelve apostles in order to give them the ability to speak foreign languages so they might preach throughout the world. Although all twelve apostles are shown, sometimes only a forehead or a hint of a nose indicates the body.

{1 } Jews (Exodus 23:17): 17 On three occasions in the year every male of yours will appear before the face of the [true] Lord,* Jehovah.*+{2 } reverent men (Acts 22:12): 12 “Now An•a•ni′as, a certain man reverent according to the Law, well reported+ on by all the Jews dwelling there,

{3 } Gal•i•le′ans (Mark 14:70): 70 Again he was denying it. And once more after a little while those standing by began saying to Peter: “Certainly you are one of them, for, in fact, you are a Gal•i•le′an.”+

{4 } (Acts 1:11): 11 and they said: “Men of Gal′i•lee, why do YOU stand looking into the sky? This Jesus who was received up from YOU into the sky will come thus in the same manner+ as YOU have beheld him going into the sky.”* Par′thi•ans and Medes (2 Kings 17:6): 6 In the ninth year of Ho•she′a, the king of As•syr′i•a captured Sa•mar′i•a+ and then led Israel into exile+ in As•syr′i•a and kept them dwelling in Ha′lah+ and in Ha′bor at the river Go′zan+ and in the cities of the Medes.+

{5 } E′lam•ites: (Daniel 8:2): 2 And I began to see in the vision; and it came about, while I was seeing, that I was in Shu′shan+ the castle, which is in E′lam+ the jurisdictional district; and I proceeded to see in the vision, and I myself happened to be by the watercourse* of U′lai.+

{6 } Ju•de′a: (Matthew 24:16): 16 then let those in Ju•de′a begin fleeing+ to the mountains. (Mark 1:5): 5 Consequently all the territory of Ju•de′a and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem made their way out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, openly confessing their sins.+

{7 } Cap•pa•do′ci•a: (1 Peter 1:1): 1 Peter,* an apostle+ of Jesus Christ, to the temporary residents+ scattered about*+ in Pon′tus, Ga•la′ti•a, Cap•pa•do′ci•a,+ Asia, and Bi•thyn′i•a, to the ones chosen+

{8 } Pon′tus: (Acts 18:2): 2 And he found a certain Jew named Aq′ui•la,+ a native of Pon′tus who had recently come from Italy,+ and Pris•cil′la his wife, because of the fact that Claudius+ had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome. So he went to them

{9 } the [district of] Asia: (Acts 13:1): 13 Now in Antioch there were prophets+ and teachers in the local congregation, Bar′na•bas as well as Sym′e•on who was called Ni′ger, and Lucius+ of Cy•re′ne, and Man′a•en who was educated with Herod the district ruler,* and Saul. (1 Peter 1:1): 1 Peter,* an apostle+ of Jesus Christ, to the temporary residents+ scattered about*+ in Pon′tus, Ga•la′ti•a, Cap•pa•do′ci•a,+ Asia, and Bi•thyn′i•a, to the ones chosen+

{10 } Phryg′i•a: (Acts 16:6): 6 Moreover, they went through Phryg′i•a and the country of Ga•la′ti•a,+ because* they were forbidden by the holy spirit to speak the word in the [district of] Asia. (Acts 18:23): 23 And when he had passed some time there he departed and went from place to place through the country of Ga•la′ti•a+ and Phryg′i•a,+ strengthening+ all the disciples.

{11 } Pam•phyl′i•a: (Acts 13:13): 13 The men, together with Paul, now put out to sea from Pa′phos and arrived at Perga in Pam•phyl′i•a.+ But John+ withdrew from them and returned+ to Jerusalem. (Acts 15:38): 38 But Paul did not think it proper to be taking this one along with them, seeing that he had departed from them from Pam•phyl′i•a+ and had not gone with them to the work.

{*+12 }proselytes or, “converts.”: (Exodus 12:48): 48 And in case an alien resident resides as an alien with you and he will actually celebrate the passover to Jehovah, let there be a circumcising* of every male of his.+ First then he may come near to celebrate it; and he must become like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised man may eat of it. (Isaiah 56:6): 6 “And the foreigners that have joined themselves to Jehovah to minister to him+ and to love the name of Jehovah,+ in order to become servants to him, all those keeping the sabbath in order not to profane it and laying hold of my covenant,+

{13 } Cre′tans: (Titus 1:12): 12 A certain one of them, their own prophet,* said: “Cre′tans are always liars, injurious+ wild beasts, unemployed gluttons.”*

{14 } Arabians: (2 Chronicles 17:11): 11 And from the Phi•lis′tines they were bringing to Je•hosh′a•phat presents+ and money as tribute.+ The Arabs+ also were bringing to him flocks, seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred he-goats.+

{15 } full of sweet wine: (1 Samuel 1:14): 14 So E′li said to her: “How long will you behave drunk?+ Put away your wine from upon you.”

+

Preceding: The day of the festival of Pentecost

Compare with:

Nazarene Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 v1-13 Working Spirit

The Acts Of The Sent Ones Chapter 2

Hebraic Roots Bible Book of The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2

Dutch version / Nederlandstalige versie: In Talen sprekend

++

Please do find additional notes in the next part: “Tongues a sign of authenticity or divine backing” and in the article “Is Speaking in Tongues an Evidence of True Worship?”

+++

Related articles

• The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost (sundayschoolbiblestudy.wordpress.com)
  The Jews had become a large enough nation that they had begun to spread out. They had gathered here for the feast of were lots of Jews here from all over the known world. Look at all of the countries and regions listed here!
• Acts for today! (livingmoreabundantly4christ.com)
  When Christ rose again He did NOT leave us comfortless or powerless to live out a life of blessing and anointing.  Through the Holy Spirit we are enabled!
  +
  It is through God’s Spirit that we are wooed to Christ and it is by that same Spirit we will move and operate in our giftings as we serve Him. The same giftings and blessing that those men and women received on the day of Pentecost are the same giftings and blessing that we can receive today!
• A Rushing Mighty Wind (my-faith-and-fitness.com)
  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
  +
  they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
• Pentecost (frstephensmuts.wordpress.com)
  When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.
• Declaring the Mighty Works (May 19 in Relāt) (wecanrelate.wordpress.com)
  there are often things in our lives (snow or love) that are so extraordinary and so encompassing that we could not possibly explain them with just a few words.
  +
  Some theologians have argued that each were speaking in their own language while understanding one another in their native languages, while others have pointed to a distinct, singular language that would allow each of them to understand in their native tongue.  No matter how you classify it, the story of Pentecost is bursting with languages of all kinds, so that all could declare the work of God in whatever way they were able.  Without the multitude of languages, there’s just no way to experience the enormity that is the Spirit of God.  The Spirit of God was and is so vast that a single language, a single symbol, a single experience simply could not capture it.
• Who was able to speak in tongues during New Testament times? (braggschurchofchrist.com)
  There were three groups in the New Testament who could speak in tongues, or languages they had never studied. The first group was the apostles, as we have already noted. They received the baptism of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost which gave them this power. The second group included those people to whom the apostles gave this power by laying their hands on them.  This is the way this miraculous gift was given.
  +
  “But what about Cornelius and his household?” someone asks. They spoke in tongues without an apostle laying his hands on them. This is true, but this third group which spoke in tongues in the New Testament was a special group. Cornelius spoke in tongues as a sign that the Gentiles were to receive the Gospel along with the Jews.
• Tongues of Fire and the Fullness of God (fbcpadenok.wordpress.com)
  “clothing with power” or “the Spirit’s coming upon”
  +
  clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49)
  +
  crucial breakthroughs for the gospel have come because of periodic extraordinary outpourings of the Spirit.
  +
  Pentecost was the first of these great outpourings on the Christian church, and until the task of world evangelization is completed, I believe it is our duty to pray for fresh seasons of the extraordinary outpouring of God’s Spirit—to awaken and empower the church and to penetrate the final frontiers of world evangelization.
• Divine Strategy in Paul’s Life. (keithlannon.wordpress.com)
  The Bible does not by any means tell us everything that happened in the life of Paul. His own various statements in Second Corinthians lets us know that there were many “adventures” he went through that we are utterly ignorant of, apart from those remarks he makes.
  +
  we have … the proof that Acts is not a systematic history of Paul’s exploits, but an account of some handpicked experiences, chosen by Luke for our benefit.
  +
  Greek was the major lingua franca of the majority of Rome’s conquered nations. Because it was the bridging language of the time, this meant that Greek had spread far more widely in harbor cities than in the rest of the world that was more inland. For this pioneering preacher/teacher, the time swallowing, all consuming hindrance of learning languages was thereby factored out of the operation as conveniently as wiping a dirty plate. Because of this fact, the gospel could  advance with incredible speed westward through the nations.
• Peter Preaching To The First Gentiles (mywalkwithpaul.wordpress.com)
  You receive the Holy Spirit folks when you except Jesus as your Salvation.  And Peter commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Baptized with water. Note: also that the receiving of the Holy Spirit precedes water baptism, indicating that salvation precedes water baptism, snce only Christians possess the Holy spirit. Spirit baptism is no substitute for water baptism.
• Acts 1-3 By Jack AKA Brutus (obterns2013.wordpress.com)
  Here we see that the followers of Christ are persecuted when they are seriously being moved by the Holy Spirit. I know most of us can attest to similar things happening in our own lives. I personally can think of many times where I’ve been shot down after doing what I was convinced God was leading me to do.

 

The day of the festival of Pentecost

2 Now while the day of the [festival of] Pentecost {1} was in progress they were all together at the same place, ² and suddenly there occurred from heaven a noise just like that of a rushing stiff breeze, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.{2} ³ And tongues as if of fire {3} became visible to them and were distributed about, and one sat upon each one of them, ⁴ and they all became filled with holy spirit {4} and started to speak with different tongues,{5} just as the spirit was granting them to make utterance.

*

(NWT)

*

 

Icon of the Pentecost (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

{1} (Leviticus 23:16): ¹⁶ To the day after the seventh sabbath YOU should count, fifty days,+ and YOU must present a new grain offering+ to Jehovah.

(#Deuteronomy 16:9):⁹ “Seven weeks you should count for yourself. From when the sickle is first put to the standing grain you will start to count seven weeks.+

{2} (Acts 4:31): ³¹ And when they had made supplication, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken;+ and they were one and all filled with the holy spirit+ and were speaking the word of God with boldness.+

{3} (Mark 1:8 ): ⁸ I baptized YOU with water, but he will baptize YOU with holy spirit.”+

{4} (John 14:26): ²⁶ But the helper,* the holy spirit, which the Father will send in my name, that one* will teach YOU all things and bring back to YOUR minds all the things I told YOU.+

(Acts 6:3): ³ So, brothers, search out+ for yourselves seven certified men from among YOU, full of spirit and wisdom,+ that we may appoint them over this necessary business;

(1 Peter 1:12): ¹² It was revealed to them that, not to themselves,+ but to YOU, they were ministering the things that have now been announced+ to YOU through those who have declared the good news to YOU with holy spirit+ sent forth from heaven. Into these very things angels are desiring to peer.*+

{5} (Acts 10:46): ⁴⁶ For they heard them speaking with tongues and magnifying God.+ Then Peter responded:

(1 Corinthians 12:10): ¹⁰ to yet another operations of powerful works,*+ to another prophesying,+ to another discernment+ of inspired utterances,*+ to another different tongues,+ and to another interpretation+ of tongues.

+

Compare:

Nazarene Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 v1-13 Working Spirit

The Acts Of The Sent Ones Chapter 2

Hebraic Roots Bible Book of The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: Op de Dag van het Pinksterfeest

++

Please do find also related:

Is Speaking in Tongues an Evidence of True Worship?
A number of religious organizations throughout Christendom make speaking in tongues prominent in their worship, and they will answer, ‘Yes! speaking in tongues is a necessary requirement of true worship.’ “We believe,” states the Manual of one such organization, “in the baptism of the Holy Ghost as it was on the day of Pentecost. We believe all those who receive the Holy Ghost will speak with other tongues.”
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To hear Galileans speaking distinctly in their many different languages was convincing evidence to these foreigners that God’s spirit was upon Jesus’ followers. It was miraculous! It was entirely different from the ‘loud and fervent shouts’ of the Pentecostal revival at Los Angeles, for here in Jerusalem many foreigners received instruction in their native languages about “the magnificent things of God.”

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Related articles

• A New Pentecost … Wednesday, July 3 (judemarian.wordpress.com)
  The Third Glorious Mystery, the Descent of the Holy Spirit.
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  There are lots of ifs, ands, buts and details but I think that the real meat is easy to simplify. It boils down to just three things. #1, The Holy Spirit came upon Christ‘s Church as promised. #2, Given this strengthening influence from God the Church was made bold and proclaimed the Truth of God without fear of the consequences. #3, People were converted, people came to know Jesus personally.
• Pentecost (learningwithlittlesaints.wordpress.com)
  At the Last Supper, Jesus promised to send His Apostles the Holy Spirit to be with them forever. He said that the Holy Spirit would teach them everything and remind them of what Jesus had taught them. Jesus said that He must go so that the Holy Spirit would come. John 14:15-17 NIV
• The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost (sundayschoolbiblestudy.wordpress.com)
  At Passover, the first sheaf reaped from the barley harvest was presented to God. But at Pentecost, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest were given to God; therefore, Pentecost is called the day of firstfruits (Numbers 28:26).
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  The firstfruits were the very first portions of the harvest.
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  Jewish tradition taught that Pentecost commemorated the day when the Law was given to Israel. The Jews sometimes called Pentecost shimchath torah, or ‘Joy of the Law.’ So on the Old Testament Day of Pentecost, Israel received the Law, and on the New Testament Day of Pentecost, the Church received the Spirit of Grace in fullness.
• May 19, 2013 – Pentecost (circleofhopedailyprayer2013.wordpress.com)
  Not only is there fire and smoke like on Mount Sinai, and praise and food-sharing (2:42) like in the agricultural celebration, but now Pentecost is also the day when God descended on a community and gave the promised Holy Spirit to each of the 120 people gathered in the upper room.
• Rose and Linda’s Journal Speaking in Tongues (momsfirstscreenn.wordpress.com)

  Ten years after Pentecost, the Gentiles received the gift of the Holy Ghost; the Holy Ghost also testified through them when He came in. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 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. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God (Acts 10:44-46).

  Twenty-five years later we find some people receiving the same Holy Ghost in the same way. He took over their vocal organs and spoke in another tongue. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues (Acts 19:6).

• Pentecost In Art: Paintings, Stained Glass Windows, Frescoes And More (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)
  In the Christian liturgical calendar, Pentecost, observed 50 days after Easter Sunday, marks the end of the Easter season and celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and other disciples of Jesus.
• Baptism of the Holy Ghost (teamtripartite.wordpress.com)One of the most divisive doctrine amongst Christians is the doctrine associated with the person of the Holy Ghost; especially when it comes to the issues of speaking in tongues.

  Some school of thought will tell you tongues have seized and every form of speaking in tongues is of the devil, few will say that if one must speak in tongues there must be an interpreter, while others insist that for you to be completely born again you must be filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

• Pentecost Sunday 2013 (riverchurchtalks.wordpress.com)
  Too often, we lets our IFs and BUTs get in the way of what God wants to do. But we mustn’t limit our vision of the future to what we think is possible or achievable. The disciples had lots of IFS and BUTS of their own. But that all changed on the day of Pentecost as Jesus had promised.