Acts 2:1-13

2:1 | Pentecost (Greek, “fiftieth”) occurred 50 days after the Passover Sabbath (Lev. 23:15-16) and is another name for the Feast of Weeks or the feast of harvest, one of the three great festivals Jewish people celebrated in Jerusalem. That it had fully come means there was no doubt that this was exactly the right day.

2:2-3 | Spirit in both the Greek (pneuma) and the Hebrew (ruach) describes “wind” or “breath.” Here, the idea of “wind” captures the impact of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8). Just as man did not exist until the life-giving breath of Almighty God (Gen. 2:7), so the church did not come alive until God breathed forth the Holy Spirit.

2:3 | These were not literal flames of fire. As the text says, they were as of fire. Fire serves as a symbol of the presence of God (Ex. 3:2-5; 13:21; 19:18; 40:38; Isa. 4:5; Ezek. 1:4) and a representation of the Holy Spirit. These flames could well symbolize the purity and power with which these men would speak as they proclaimed what God had done.

2:4-5 | God gave these disciples the supernatural gift to speak in a language they had never studied or known (Mark 16:17). This was not an ecstatic utterance; it was an ability to speak the languages of all those who were gathered in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven. The Spirit’s presence signified their baptism into the spiritual body, the church.

2:5-12 | The gift of tongues, or languages, was not given to edify the church, nor as the result of being baptized in the Spirit; rather, it was the result of being filled with the Spirit to accomplish a particular purpose – preaching the gospel to all people.

2:11 | Part of Jewish liturgy was to recite one of the great acts of God in their history – the crossing of the Red Sea or the falling walls of Jericho or how God had miraculously fed them in the wilderness. So when the Holy Spirit empowered them, they all worshiped, rehearsing His wonderful works – and bystanders understood them. Rather than a house, this large group probably assembled in the outer court of the temple. Luke 2:49 supports this interpretation.

2:12-13 | When the Holy Spirit comes to fill a Christian, the individual speaks and acts in ways not possible before. Christians live supernaturally because the Spirit of God within them now controls them (4:31; Eph. 5:18-21).