Acts 2:1-13

 

Rachel Workman: 2 On the day of Pentecost^[a] all the believers were meeting together in one place. ² Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. ³ Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. ⁴ And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,^[b] as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. The gift of the Holy Spirit. We may not see the flames of fire today but the Holy Spirit still fills us and helps us.

⁵ At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. ⁶ When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.

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John Burnett:  2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.  The different tongues were actually coherent languages from different languages.  Not the unintelligible gibberish that you see people dancing around chanting on TV.  The Day of Pentecost was an important day for all Christians as it was the day the Holy Spirit our helper was first sent out to fill people who were born of the Spirit.  

5 Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.  Verse six says that those who were speaking in tongues were doing so in a language that was understandable to the devout men from every nation.  As a cessationist, I do not believe the gift of tongues is still being given out by the Holy Spirit.  Tongues were given to those who would use them to spread the gospel.  Today tongues are not needed because the Bible is translated into almost every language.

7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, "Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? 9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and [j]visitors from Rome, both Jews, and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty deeds of God.” 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others were jeering and saying, “They are full of sweet wine!”  In verse 12, it means God sent the Holy Spirit to give those there on the Day of Pentecost the ability to proclaim the mighty deeds of God and the gospel to other peoples and nations in their native language.  God used these men to spread the gospel and build His Church.  Verse 13 is accurate of those who speak in tongues today.  They speak in gibberish and sound more like babies, than someone led by the Holy Spirit.  In fact, the tongues spoken today in many churches today resemble the Kundalini spirits of Hinduism more than the gift of tongues describe here and given by the Holy Spirit.  

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Tomorrow’s reading for Acts 2:14-21

¹⁴ Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. ¹⁶ No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:

¹⁷ ‘In the last days,’ God says,
    ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
    Your young men will see visions,
    and your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸ In those days I will pour out my Spirit
    even on my servants—men and women alike—
    and they will prophesy.
¹⁹ And I will cause wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below—
    blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
²⁰ The sun will become dark,
    and the moon will turn blood red
    before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
²¹ But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
    will be saved.’^[c