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Acts 2 Bible Study and Questions – Pentecost, The Holy Spirit, and Tongues
Outline
I. Coming of the Holy Spirit (1-4)
II. The people hear them in their own languages (5-13)
I. Coming of the Holy Spirit (1-4)
Discussion Questions
• What is the meaning of the word Pentecost?
• What was the celebration of Pentecost about?
• What signs accompanied the coming of the Holy Spirit?
• Why were these visual and audible signs important for them?
• Who is the Holy Spirit?
• What does He do?
• How is He important in the life of the believer?
• What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?
• Is there a difference between being baptized by the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit? If so, what?
• Are there other occasions in Acts when they were filled by the Spirit?
• What Scriptures teach us that a believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit upon conversion?
• Since we are commanded to be filled by the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), is this something we can “do?” If so, how?
• What is the significance of the fire that accompanied the filling of the Holy Spirit?
• What happened immediately after they were filled with the Holy Spirit? And after that?
• Should we celebrate the Pentecost (coming of the Holy Spirit today?)
Cross-References
Old Testament passages on the Pentecost (also called Feast of Weeks)
Exodus 34:22-23 – You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
Leviticus 23:20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
Cross-References on God and fire
Hebrews 12:29 – For our God is a consuming fire.
Exodus 3:2 – And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
Deuteronomy 4:15 – Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire.
Cross-References on the Holy Spirit and His ministry
John 14:15-17 – If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14:26 – But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Romans 8:26-27 – Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Ephesians 1:13-14 – In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Romans 8:9 – You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
Galatians 4:6 – And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
1 Corinthians 12:13 – For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
2 Corinthians 12:12 – The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. Background of Pentecost – The word “Pentecost” means “fiftieth.” It is another word for the “Feast of Weeks,” an important Jewish festival prescribed in Exodus 34. It is also sometimes referred to as the “Day of Firstfruits” (Numbers 28:26), and the “Feast of the Harvest.” (Exodus 23:16).
It is a harvest festival that takes place fifty days after the Passover’s Feast of Firstfruits. That fifty days is the source for the name Pentecost.
It was one of three festivals that all Jewish men were required to go up to Jerusalem to celebrate. At this festival, they were to bring a grain offering.
The seven major Old Testament festivals each look forward to the Messiah and His ministry. Jesus died during the Passover as our Passover lamb. He rose again at the Feast of Firstfruits as the first one to be resurrected to a new body (1 Corinthians 15:20-22).
The Holy Spirit arrived on the day of Pentecost (a harvest festival) and the harvest of souls around the world began. Three thousand people were harvested into God’s kingdom that day, firstfruits of millions who would turn to Christ. This was made possible not by the cleverness of man, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. That harvest continues now. We can be part of it.
Application – Are you a worker in the harvest field? Do you see the harvest in front of you and are you committed to being part of it?
Matthew 9:37-38 – Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
We should not only pray for workers but commit to being a worker.
In addition to the spiritual implications of the harvest of firstfruits into the church, the practical effect of the Holy Spirit coming on the day of Pentecost is that pilgrims would be in Jerusalem from around the world. This meant that the gospel could go back with them and quickly penetrate into new areas. It is beautiful how God plans everything and ties it all together!
Note, the disciples were likely there waiting for ten days. That number is reached because Jesus’ ascension was forty days after His resurrection and Pentecost was fifty days after.
2. The significance of wondrous signs in the early New Testament period
The Holy Spirit came with sights and sounds. A loud sound of rushing wind accompanied His arrival. In addition, they could see tongues of fire appearing to rest on each person. When the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus after His baptism, a visual sign of the dove resting on Jesus was also given to confirm what was happening.
In Acts 1:3, we discussed that Jesus appeared to the disciples with many proofs. He convinced them beyond a shadow of a doubt that His resurrection was real. God desired their faith to be strong and unshakeable, especially in light of the severe persecution they would face.
God often works according to that same pattern. He graciously gives abundant and clear evidence to prove who He is and how He is working. He desires to make the messenger and the message credible.
Here are some other examples of Him doing this.
• The miracle of feeding five thousand accompanied Jesus’ claim to be the bread of life.
• The miracle of healing the blind man accompanied Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world.
• The miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead accompanied Jesus’ claim to be the resurrection and the life.
• The miracle of healing the paralytic accompanied Jesus’ claim to have the power to forgive sins (Luke 5:24).
• The miracle of the resurrection proved Jesus to be the Son of God.
• God showed Moses the miracle of the staff turning into a snake and the miracle of causing and healing leprosy on his hand when telling Moses to take His message to Pharaoh (Exodus 4).
• In Revelation 11, the two witnesses are given the power to work miraculous signs to give more credibility to their message.
• In 2 Kings 20, God did the miracle of causing a shadow to reverse directions to prove His message to Hezekiah.
These are just a few of many more examples. God does not ask us to believe in a vacuum. He does not ask us to have blind faith. Rather, He gives us evidence and proof of what He is doing so that our faith will be strong.
The coming of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by these miracles and the gift of tongues to show the disciples as well as others that their experience was real. He wanted them to understand clearly that something amazing was happening. God did not want them to wonder if or when the Holy Spirit had come. That could cause doubt or confusion about Jesus’ promise. All of these signs are a way for the Holy Spirit to announce loud and clear, “I am here! I have come as Jesus promised!”
As we study through the book of Acts, we will see that God continues to work through signs and miracles to prove the message. In the early New Testament period, the gospel was a new thing for most people. Although we don’t call it a religion, for the listener it was like a new religion. The listeners would want proof before they accepted and believed such astounding claims. The disciples were going around and telling people that Jesus had arisen from the dead. They had seen and witnessed it which is well and good, but most of those they preached to had not.
The miraculous signs we see throughout the book of Acts gave credibility to the disciples and their message. The signs were so powerful that the people could not ignore them.
Acts 4:16 – What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
Thus, the signs were like a herald saying, “Look at the message! Don’t ignore the message! There is something powerful there!”
Reflect – Why might there have been more signs and miracles in the early New Testament period than in most regions of the world now?
3. The significance of the tongues of fire –
One way that the coming of the Holy Spirit was manifest was in tongues of fire resting on them. Throughout Scripture, fire signifies God’s glory, power, and holiness. Fire burns away impurities. God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. He was surrounded by fire and smoke at Mount Horeb.
The tongues of fire also remind of John the Baptist’s famous words.
Matthew 3:11 – I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Note that the text in Acts 2:3 says that it was “as of” or “like” fire. That would indicate that it was not literal fire, but something which looked like fire. Because it was supernatural and they had never experienced it before, there was no word in the human language that could be used to describe it. That fact also pointed to the supernatural and divine origin of this experience.
4. Being filled with the Holy Spirit –
This event at Pentecost fulfilled Jesus’ promise of the coming and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:17 – Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon believers and empowered them to accomplish certain tasks. This was sometimes a temporary indwelling or empowerment. In the New Testament, it is permanent.
In the New Testament period every believer functions as a temple and the Holy Spirit resides in us.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Here is a list of ten aspects of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling and His impact on us. This list is from https://www.gotquestions.org/indwelling-of-the-Holy-Spirit.html
“A) The indwelling Spirit comes to a soul dead in sin and creates new life (Titus 3:5). This is the new birth Jesus spoke of in John 3:1–8.
B) The indwelling Spirit confirms to the believer that he belongs to the Lord and is an heir of God and fellow-heir with Christ (Romans 8:15–17).
C) The indwelling Spirit installs the new believer as a member of Christ’s universal church. This is the baptism of the Spirit, according to 1 Corinthians 12:13.
D) The indwelling Spirit gives spiritual gifts (God-given abilities for service) to the believer to edify the church and serve the Lord effectively for His glory (1 Corinthians 12:11).
E) The indwelling Spirit helps the believer understand and apply the Scripture to his daily life (1 Corinthians 2:12).
F) The indwelling Spirit enriches the believer’s prayer life and intercedes for him in prayer (Romans 8:26–27).
G) The indwelling Holy Spirit empowers the yielded believer to live for Christ to do His will (Galatians 5:16). The Spirit leads the believer in paths of righteousness (Romans 8:14).
H) The indwelling Spirit gives evidence of new life by producing the fruit of the Spirit in the believer’s life (Galatians 5:22–23).
I) The indwelling Spirit is grieved when the believer sins (Ephesians 4:30), and He convicts the believer to confess his sin to the Lord so that fellowship is restored (1 John 1:9).
J) The indwelling Spirit seals the believer unto the day of redemption so that the believer’s arrival in the Lord’s presence is guaranteed after this life (Ephesians 1:13–14).”
Application – How aware of and grateful are you for the indwelling of the Spirit? Though the Spirit indwells all believers, we are not always sensitive to the Spirit. What are some ways you can be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and His work in you? How can you surrender to the Holy Spirit?
II. The people hear them in their own languages (5-13)
Discussion Questions
• Who heard this sound?
• How did people react to it?
• What did they find after they investigated the strange sounds?
• What do we learn here about tongues?
• Looking at this passage, what was the gift of tongues? How was it exercised? For what purpose?
• What were the disciples talking about (verse 11)?
• How did people react to hearing the message in their own languages?
• Could alcohol explain the phenomenon?
• What does this event teach us about God?
Cross-References
Genesis 11:6-9 – And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
1 Corinthians 14:26-27 – What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. The people investigate the sounds – Outer signs of the Holy Spirit’s arrival attracted people’s attention. The loud noises caused them to investigate. The crowd therefore gathered together to try to figure out what was going on.
In a similar manner, our actions should attract people to investigate the claims about the gospel that we make. Believers are not to stay by themselves off in the corner. We are to interact with the world around us. Those interactions should serve to be a testimony of God’s work in our lives. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling of us should cause us to act differently. The internal work should result in external evidence. That is not generally the literal loud noise we see here, but rather a figurative loud noise as our changed lives interact with society at large.
2. Tongues –
After the filling of the Holy Spirit, the disciples immediately began speaking in tongues.
Most likely, they were sharing the gospel message. Again, the Holy Spirit changes our lives and behavior from the inside out. As the song goes, “Forever, I am changed.” If we are not changed by the Holy Spirit, if we do not have a message to share, perhaps we have not been touched by Him at all.
Acts 2:6-8 – And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
So what is tongues? In Acts 2, it was clearly real languages or real people groups. It was not gibberish. Neither was it a heavenly or angelic language. It was a divine empowerment to speak in a foreign language not yet learned. It would be akin to me suddenly speaking Japanese or Swahili.
A. A reversal of the confusion of languages at Babel –
At the Tower of Babel, God confused the languages of humankind. Before this, they spoke one common language. However, instead of uniting in worship for God, they united in rebellion. Because of the nature of sin, a united humanity intent on rebelling against God would be disastrous. Therefore, God acted to make communication between groups extremely difficult. People groups could not communicate together without extensive time studying the other’s language. This forced people to scatter throughout the world and was a deterrent to one world government.
While multiple languages served God’s purpose at that point in history, it would have slowed down the spread of the gospel in the New Testament time.
Therefore, God acted again. He supernaturally and temporarily reversed the curse of Babel and enabled people to once again speak to each other in a common tongue. Sin and rebellion brought about division. Humankind’s plan resulted in factions and scattering of peoples. God’s plan is a beautiful thing. The gospel brings about unity, harmony, and connection. Sin creates barriers between people and God and between people and other people. The gospel unites us as followers of Christ and breaks down those barriers.
It was almost as if God was saying, “If you believe in me, you will experience true unity, harmony, love, and family.” In Christ, all the people of the world are one family.
Ephesians 2:14-16 – For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Ephesians 4:4-6 – There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
B. A means for the gospel to be preached and spread –
In addition to the spiritual symbol of tongues unifying humans as followers of Christ, there was a very real and practical benefit as well. The gift of tongues enabled the gospel to be spread quickly into many diverse regions and countries. Acts 2 mentions people from fourteen different regions. It would have taken a lot of time for the gospel to penetrate these regions through interpreters or cross-learning the language. We know that many times missionaries spend years or even decades learning a language to take the gospel and to translate the Scriptures to a new tribe.
God graciously reached down and jumpstarted this entire process. He first gathered people from all over to come to Jerusalem. Then He got the gospel to them in their language. After the festival, many would take it back to their homes and cities.
It was literally Godspeed. He is not limited as we are. If He wants to reach down and break down walls and speed things up, He does. If you are waiting for something in your life, it is because He wants you to wait for it, not because He is unable to speed up the situation.
He cares for all the people of the world. And He is more than willing to intervene to make sure the gospel goes out to the ends of the earth.
We often hear the question, “What will God do about a person who has never heard the gospel?” This passage is a gentle reminder that God loves the lost more than we do. He can and will make a way, sometimes even supernaturally.
Application – If God loves the lost that much, shouldn’t we?
Look at this beautiful picture! We can not only be part of it, but can invite others to join in as well!
Revelation 7:9-12 – After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.
C. A gift spontaneously given by God used to edify others and build the kingdom –
Let us note that the disciples did not seek after this gift. Not only did not know of its existence but there was nothing they could do on their part to receive it. It wasn’t something they could learn or achieve. It was spontaneously given by God.
We also see that the purpose was to edify others and build up the kingdom. It was not for their benefit. It was to benefit the unbelievers who were there. It was a sign for them of God’s power as well as a way to allow them to hear and receive the gospel message.
The Holy Spirit gives gifts to whom He wills. He does not give the same gift to every person. The purpose of the gifts is to build up the church and evangelize the lost.
D. A sign of the power of God for the unbelieving –
1 Corinthians 14:22 – Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.
The miraculous sign of tongues was to be evidence to unbelievers of God’s power. It would act not only to pique their curiosity but to lend credibility to the gospel message.
Think about it. You might be very doubtful of a salesman from Mongolia claiming to have some great IQ builder or medicine. But if that salesman started suddenly speaking your language fluently (and you knew he couldn’t), you would likely at least listen to what he had to say.
It is also important to point out that there was no way for them to fake this gift. These were not twenty-first-century college graduates who had studied foreign languages for years. They were mostly relatively uneducated blue-collar workers.
Reflect – What miracles, answered prayers, or testimonies have you witnessed that led you to Christ at the beginning?
E. Rejected and scorned by many –
Sadly, the clear evidence was rejected by many. Many in the crowds mocked.
Acts 2:13 – But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
An obvious miracle had taken place. Instead of believing, they came up with an extremely lame excuse. “They are filled with wine!” Have you ever witnessed a person who became drunk and then could suddenly speak other languages? The opposite is true! A drunk person loses the ability to communicate clearly even in their own language. Their speech becomes slurred and incoherent.
So why did they mock and come up with this conclusion?
Simply put, people are sinful. It is normal to reject God. It is normal to make excuses instead of accepting the evidence and placing one’s faith in God.
A similar situation occurred during Jesus’ ministry. God’s voice spoke audibly from heaven. A great sign! Yet many concluded that it was just thunder.
John 12:28-29 – Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
Many people claim that they would believe God if only He would show them a sign. Events like this in the Bible show that often that is not the case.
Application – Let us thank God that He has touched our hearts and changed our attitudes. He has graciously brought us into His family. He has transformed us from mockers into followers. It is not because of our good deeds that He has done this. It is His grace. So let us not be judgmental or condescending toward people who treat God this way. Instead, let us pray for them and for the Holy Spirit to change their hearts.
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