Acts 2:1-13 The Coming of the Holy Spirit = January 4

Acts 2:1-13

Have you ever traveled where you did not speak the language? What happened?

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• God is ... What do we learn about God in this passage?
• We are ... What do we learn about people in this passage?
• Why did God wait until Pentecost, a Jewish harvest festival (Deuteronomy 16:9-10) to give the Holy Spirit this way?
• Why did the Holy Spirit come so dramatically? Why was it necessary for Jesus to send the Holy Spirit?
• Pentecost was the only time in Acts when the Spirit came with wind-like sound and fire-like appearance. What might have been the point of these outward signs?
• How far have these pilgrims come in Acts 2:9-11? What attracts them to the disciples? How does being filled with the Spirit relate to bearing witness to Jesus?
• How did some confuse foreign languages with drunken babbling? Acts 2:12-13
• I will ... What has the Holy Spirit revealed to us in this passage? How can I apply it to my life this week?
• Would you respond more like those in Acts 2:12, or those in Acts 2:13? Why?
• You can ... Who do you know who needs to hear this? Feel free to share with others by social media links at the bottom of this.

https://www.youtube.com/c/edmondchurchofchrist

Footnotes:  

Pentecost Jewish festival celebrating the wheat harvest. It was fifty days after Passover. 

apostles The men Jesus chose to be his special helpers. 

Spirit, Holy Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. Joined with God and Christ, he does God's work among people in the world. 

from Galilee The people thought men from Galilee could speak only their own language. 

Asia The western part of Asia Minor. 

converts People that changed their religion to become Jews. 

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Acts 2:21 HCSB

https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/act.2.21/51170

##Pentecost

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PENTECOST

                                                                        Mark Scott

If all you see when you study Acts 2 is speaking in tongues you have all but missed the point.  God is using tongues you have all but missed the point.  God is using tongues only as a means to a much bigger end.  

John Stott suggests that the real significance of Pentecost should be thought of in 4 ways:

1.                  It was the final act of Jesus' saving ministry

2.                  It brought to the apostles the equipment they needed for their special role.

3.                  It was the inauguration of the new era of the Spirit.

4.                  It was the first revival of unusual visitations of God.

In addition to these 4 ways I would add:

1.                  It announces that the last days have arrived.  Pentecost is truly the beginning of the end.

2.                  It shows that God kept his Word and promise.

3.                  It undoes the confusion of the Tower of Babel.  In Gen. 11 God used the confusion of tongues to accomplish his purpose.  Here He uses the diversity of tongues to accomplish His purpose. 

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PROSELYTES

By Mark Moore

"It is not easy to find any place in the habitable world which has not received this nation and in which it has not made its power felt" (Josephus, Ant. XIV 7.2).

"For from early generations Moses has had in every city those who preach him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues" (Acts 15:21).

I.             Kinds of proselytes

1.           Gate, also called "God-Fearers" [Phobeomai, Acts 10:2, 22; 16:16, 26; and Sebomai, Acts 13:43, 50; 16:14; 17:4, 17; 18:7]—Accepted all but circumcision; bound by the 7 precepts of Noah:

a.            Against Idolatry

b.           Blaspheming

c.            Bloodshed

d.           Uncleanness

e.            Theft

f.             Obedience—establishment of courts of law

g.            Eating blood

2.           Righteousness—Full proselyte

a.            Required circumcision and/or baptism—Where circumcision was required, women tended to be more open to Judaism.

b.           Baptism was considered by some Rabbis to go back to Jacob (Gen. 35:2) and Moses

(Ex. 19:10).  Some would connect John's baptism with this type of proselytizing.  The Qumran community also practiced immersion for cleansing (although not as an introductory rite).  However, there is simply no evidence of baptism for initiation prior to the 1st century (Epictetus, Discourses, ii.9.19–21).

3.           The ger of the O.T. (translated as proselyte in the LXX), was a resident of Palestine but not necessarily a convert to Judaism.

a.            Allowed to participate in religious events.

b.           Could eat meat of animals not properly slaughtered.

II.          God's Universal focus in the Bible 

1.           O.T. acceptance of foreign nations

a.            Gen. 12:3—Promise that Abraham's seed would bless the world

b.           Ruth the Moabite woman

c.            Jonah sent to Ninevah

d.           Naaman (2 Kings 5:15–19a)

e.            Prophetic statements of Gentile inclusion—Zeph. 3:9f.; Is. 56:3–8; Deut. 23:1; Isa. 56:7.

2.           Examples of proselytes

a.            Present in Synagogues, Acts 13:42–43, 5; 17:4; 18:7

b.           Pilgrims at Jerusalem, Acts 2:10; 8:27; and residents, Mt. 23

c.            Roman soldiers loved the Jewish nation, Luke 7:5

d.           Fasted, prayed and gave alms like Jews, Acts 10:1–2, 30

e.            Were present in the church, Acts 6:1–6

3.           They received a mixed reception from the Rabbis:

a.            Some, like Hillel, accepted them freely and easily (Mish. Aboth, i.12; T.B. Shabbath, 31a).

b.           Others, considered proselytes like a "scab that adhered to the Jewish people" (T.B. Yebamoth 47b, 109b; Kiddushin, 70b).

III.       Attractions of Judaism

1.           Monotheism

2.           Firm ethical standard

3.           Ancient and Inspired revelation

4.           Strong family units

IV.       Dark Side

1.           Violence and threat of death (e.g. John Hyrcanus offered the Idumeans death, exile or circumcision [Josephus, Ant. XIII 9.1; 11.3]; Alexander Jannaeus (B.C. 103–76), destroyed Pella because her people refused to accept circumcision [Josephus, Ant. XIII 15.4]).

2.           Superstitions—most of the proselytizers practiced soothsaying, magic, etc.

3.           They bound converts to legalism and superstition but not to the truth even found in the O.T. (Mt. 23:15).

Proselytes were often rejected by their own people because they became antisocial, despised their gods, abandoned their country and even family members. 

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		Dialects of Tongues at Pentecost
		Acts 2:9–11
Parthians	—	Persian
Medes	—	Persian
Elam	—	Persian
Mesopotamia	—	Syriac with Chaldee (?)
Judea	—	Aramaic
Cappadocia	—	?
Pontus	—	?
Asia	—	Greek (?)
Phrygia	—	Greek (?)
Pamphylia	—	Greek (?)
Egypt	—	Demotic
Lybia	—	?
Rome	—	Latin
Crete	—	Greek (?)
Arabia	—	Arabic

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