Acts 2
The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost
1 Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
The Greek word for "the day of Pentecost" is τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς (tan hameeron tais pentaikostais). The Greek article emphasized that this was the fulfillment of the specific day of Pentecost that was prophesied in the Old Testament. All of the prior festivals of Pentecost were shadows of the actual Pentecost to come. The "one place" is most likely the upper room. The 12 apostles were all together in one place. We know that this group meeting was the 12 apostles and not the 120, because they will be called Galileans later in the text. The Holy Spirit called the 11 apostles "men of Galilee" in the previous chapter. He asked them to go to Jerusalem and pray for the promise of the Father, which was the coming of the Holy Spirit.
2 Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting.
There was a sound of a tornado coming down from heaven, but there was no wind. The sound filled the house, most likely the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, and the house where the upper room was located.
3 And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them.
The Shechinah Glory came down from heaven as a single fire, but then it broke into separate tongues, and rested individually on each of the apostles. The fire did not burn, because it was the appearance of fire.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.
The Greek word for "filled" is πλήθω (platho), meaning to fill to the capacity. The apostles were filled to the capacity of the Holy Spirit. This means that the apostles were completely controlled by the Holy Spirit.
The Greek word for "tongues" is γλῶσσα (glossa), meaning language. This was an actual language, and not the gibberish of just a few syllables.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem.
These were Jews who were a part of the diaspora. They were devout the same way that Simeon was devout. They kept the law as best as they could and looked forward to the Messianic Hope. Many of these devout Jews of the Roman Empire had traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. They left their homes for Passover, usually stayed for fifty more days to celebrate Pentecost, and then they traveled back home.
6 When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
The Greek word for "language" is διάλεκτος (dialektos), meaning the language of birth with all the rules of grammar, diction, and syntax. The apostles were speaking in their own Galilean language, but all of the Jews of the diaspora heard the language of their birth.
7 Completely baffled, they said, “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?”
In Chapter 1, the Holy Spirit identified the eleven apostles as "the Men of Galilee". The Galilean accent was easy to spot, because of the many guttural sounds.
8 “And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language?”
The men of the diaspora heard the Galilean apostles speaking in the language of their birth. This was a miracle of hearing, not speaking. This is much different that the gibberish of just a few syllables that is spoken in the modern charismatic churches of today.
9 “Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia,”
The Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia spoke Aramaic. Judeans spoke Hebrew. Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia all spoke Greek.
10 “Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,”
Phrygia and Pamphylia spoke Greek. Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene spoke Greek. The visitors from Rome were Europeans, who spoke Latin.
11 “both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!”
The Cretans spoke Greek. The Arabians spoke Nabatean. All of the different nationalities contained Jewish and Gentile proselytes. Gentile proselytes were Gentiles who had converted to Judaism.
12 All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
There were two groups who saw the miracle, but they had two different responses. The first group was the believing group. They were amazed and wanted to know the meaning of the miracle.
13 But others jeered at the speakers, saying, “They are drunk on new wine!”
The other group was the unbelieving group. They saw the miracle and mocked it. The Greek word for "new wine" is γλεῦκος (gleukos), meaning sweet wine that is unfermented. It is much more intoxicating than the normal wine that was watered down and used for quenching thirst.
Peter’s Address on the Day of Pentecost
14 But Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: “You men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this and listen carefully to what I say.”
Peter is about to use the keys of the kingdom that were given to him by Christ. The first door that he will open is the door to Jerusalem. Peter and the eleven included Matthias, meaning that the Holy Spirit had accepted Matthias as a disciple.
15 “In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.”
In Jewish culture, wine was usually not drunk in the morning. Nine o'clock in the morning was the time of prayer and regular morning sacrifice. During the feast days, there were also special sacrifices.
16 “But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel,”
Peter is going to quote Joel 2:28-32.
17 “‘And in the last days it will be,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.’
On the last day of the seven year Great Tribulation, God will pour out his Holy Spirit upon all of the Jews who survive the anti-Semitic onslaught of the Antichrist. This will be a future time period of the national regeneration of Israel, as the whole nation will accept Jesus as their Messiah.
18 ‘Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.’
The servants of God will be the believing Jews who enter the Millennial Kingdom to serve God.
19 ‘And I will perform wonders in the sky above and miraculous signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke.’
There will be many miraculous events that will happen on this last day of the Great Tribulation. These events did not occur at Pentecost. Pentecost was just a taste of what is to come.
20 ‘The sun will be changed to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.’
This did not happen at Pentecost wither, but it will happen on the last day of the Great Tribulation.
21 ‘And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
The entire nation of Israel that survives the Great Tribulation will be saved. The entire nation will be baptized into the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, many of the Jews were instantly baptized by the Holy Spirit at the moment of their conversion, increasing the number of the church from 120 to 3000 members. This mass baptism of the Spirit will be repeated to a greater, more massive, all inclusive action in the future. This baptism of the Spirit at Pentecost was just a small sample of what is to come before the Millennial Kingdom.
22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words, Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know,”
Jesus the Nazarene reveals the humanity and the suffering of Christ. The town of Nazarene did not have a good reputation, because it was a Roman garrison. Many of the Jews in Nazarene had given up the Jewish culture and exchanged it for the Roman culture. These miracles reveal the deity of Christ. These miracles were performed to authenticate his claim of Messiahship. Most of the listeners knew about these miracles, because they had been attending the feasts for the last three years.
23 “this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles.”
The Greek word for "predetermined plan" is ὁρίζω βουλῇ (horizon boula), meaning a plan that was designed and executed by God. The Greek word for foreknowledge is πρόγνωσις (prognosis), meaning to know the future in advance. Notice that men used their free will to hand over Jesus to be crucified, but the decision had already been a part of God's pre-ordained plan. This is the doctrine of God's sovereignty through election and predestination.
24 “But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power.”
Jehovah Witnesses will misuse this verse to show that Jehovah raised Jesus from the dead, meaning that Jehovah is superior to Jesus.
In this verse, God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. In John 10:17-18, Jesus predicted that he would raise himself from the dead. In Romans 8:11, the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. Therefore, the entire Trinity was involved in the resurrection of Christ.
The Greek word for "pains" is ὠδίν (hodon), meaning the agony of birth pangs. Jesus had to go through the agony of birth pangs at his death, so that we could all receive the new birth.
25 “For David says about him, ‘I saw the Lord always in front of me, or he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken.’
Peter quoted from Psalm 16:8-11. This was a messianic psalm about the resurrection of the Messiah. David was the author. He was not speaking of himself, but of the Messiah. The first verse quoted taught that even though the Messiah would die, he would always see God the Father in front of him, so he would not be worried or troubled about death.
26 ‘Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; my body also will live in hope,’
Even though the Messiah would die, his heart would be glad and his tongue would rejoice. The Messiah's dead body would live again in hope.
27 ‘because you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor permit your Holy One to experience decay.’
God the Father will not leave the Messiah's soul in Hades. Neither will the Father allow the body of the Messiah to decay.
28 ‘You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of joy with your presence.’
God the Father will bring the Messiah back from the dead to the paths of life. After the Messiah is raised from the dead, the Messiah will be joyous to stand in his presence again.
29 “Brothers, I can speak confidently to you about our forefather David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.”
Peter called the Jews his physical brothers. According to Jewish tradition, David died on ones of the days of Pentecost. Peter informed the crowd that this Psalm cannot refer to David, because David supposedly died on Pentecost. The bones of David did decay. David was buried in Jerusalem. They could dig up the bones of David and prove this Psalm was not speaking about David.
30 “So then, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne,”
David was not only a king, but he was also a prophet. God promised him a descendant that would one day sit on an eternal throne.
31 “David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his body experience decay.”
Jesus was the Messiah who David spoke about in this psalm. Jesus was the one who would fulfill the Davidic Covenant.
32 “This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it.”
God raised Jesus up from the dead to fulfill the promise to David. Everyone at Pentecost knew this was true. The resurrection of Christ was known by everyone in Jerusalem.
33 “So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out what you both see and hear.”
God the Father turned the Holy Spirit over to the Son. The Son, sitting at the right hand of God, poured the Holy Spirit upon the apostles.
34 “For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand
Peter quoted Psalm 110:1. David was the king of Israel, the mightiest nation in the world at that time. He had no Lord except for God. God is inviting David's God to sit at his right hand, meaning that Jesus is a Prince who will one day be King.
35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’
As soon as God the Father defeats the enemies of his Son, then God will make Jesus King of kings and Lord of lords. One of the purposes of the Great Tribulation is to purge the enemies of Christ out of this world.
36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.”
Peter accused these Jews of crucifying their own Messiah, who was God himself in the flesh.
The Response to Peter’s Address
37 Now when they heard this, they were acutely distressed and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?”
The Greek word for "distressed" is κατανύσσομαι (katanussomai), meaning that they were pierced deeply in the heart emotionally. They saw Peter as the leader of the apostles, because he had the keys to the kingdom.
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The Greek word for repent is μετανοέω (metanoeo), meaning to think differently. The Jews were to change their mental attitude about Jesus. He was not demon-possessed as the Jewish leadership falsely claimed. He was Lord and Messiah. They needed to think differently about the identity and purpose of Jesus.
The Greek word for "baptized" is βαπτίζω (baptize), meaning to dip or immerse. They were to be immersed in water in a public demonstration so that they could demonstrate that they were separating from Judaism and identifying with Jesus. The gift of the Holy Spirit was given to all who believed at their conversion.
39 “For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
The promise was to those who are called by Christ. Notice that God does the calling. Man is totally depraved and evil. He does not understand God or seek God. Therefore, God must make the call, or no one would be saved.
40 With many other words he testified and exhorted them saying, “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!”
This perverse generation was the Jews who rejected their own Messiah and called him demon possessed. This generation was the one who committed the unpardonable sin.
41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added.
The church grew from 120 to 3000 in one day. Mega churches use this verse to teach that large churches are biblical. However, Luke is recording history, not doctrine. God will later scatter this church all over the Empire. Almost every church will become a small, persecuted home church.
There were many private and public pools in Rome open at 9 AM in the morning, so these baptisms could have easily been completed.
The Fellowship of the Early Believers
42 They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
The early church was not a seeker church that performed music concerts, skits, play, entertainment, and social activities. They did three things. The taught the word of God. They fellowshipped. They prayed. The early church accepted the oral teachings of the apostles, until the written form was produced.
43 Reverential awe came over everyone, and many wonders and miraculous signs came about by the apostles.
Notice that only the apostles performed miracles. In the Book of Acts, only apostles and their legates will perform miracles. Legates were those that the apostles commissioned and laid upon hands. The laying on of hands was not a mystical transfer of power. It was a symbolic gesture that linked the legates with the message of the apostles. The apostles had authority from God to appoint others to help them spread the good news.
44 All who believed were together and held everything in common,
Many socialists falsely use this verse to further their political agenda. The church was not forced to give to the government. They were giving voluntarily to the church. There was a lot of poverty in Rome during this time, especially in the church.
45 and they began selling their property and possessions and distributing the proceeds to everyone, as anyone had need.
These acts would later cause the Jerusalem church to go into poverty. Paul would later begin taking donations from the Gentile churches in order to help the Jerusalem church survive.
46 Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts,
Many local churches were set up in homes. There was no rent, no utility, and no support-staff bills. All of the donations could be used to support the pastor-teacher so that he could study and teach, and to send out missionaries, such as Paul and Barnabus.
47 praising God and having the good will of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved.
The church began to grow. The 3000 included men only. With women and children, the church may have been over 12,000.
