Institute for Creation Research

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

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And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

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And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

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And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

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Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

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And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

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And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

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Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

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Phrygia, and ° Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, ° °

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Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

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And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth ° this?

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Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. °

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But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

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For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

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But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

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And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

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And ° on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

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And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

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The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

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And it shall come to pass, that whosoever ° shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

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Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

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Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

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Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

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For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always ° before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:

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Therefore ° did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover ° also my flesh shall rest in hope:

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Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

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Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

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Men and brethren, let me freely ° speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

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Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

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He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

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This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

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Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

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For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,

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Until I make ° thy foes thy footstool.

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Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

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Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

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Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

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For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

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And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

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Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

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And they continued stedfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

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And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

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And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

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And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had ° need.

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And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

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Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Acts 2:1

2:1 day of Pentecost. “Pentecost,” meaning “fifty days,” was a festival observed fifty days after the feast of firstfruits, which was held on a sabbath day. The feast of firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14) was actually prophetic of the resurrection of Christ (I Corinthians 15:20), which also had taken place on the first day of the week. Thus Pentecost was held on the first day of the week, and it was on such a day that the Holy Spirit came to indwell the church. Quite possibly this fact played a part in the gradual adoption by the churches of the first day of the week as their regular day of rest and worship (note Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:2). The weekly observance of the sabbath was in commemoration of the completion of God’s work of creation (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11), but God’s great work of redemption was now also completed (John 19:30). Thus, by observing their weekly “sabbath day” (“rest day”) on the first day of the week, they would be honoring the completion of both God’s work of creation and His work of redemption. Pentecost also commemorated the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, which occurred fifty days after the Passover (Exodus 12:6; 19:1,11).

Acts 2:2

2:2 filled all the house. The mighty wind, representing the coming of the Spirit, “filled all the house” the house; the baptism (i.e., “immersion”) by the Spirit thus was emphasized symbolically when the Lord Jesus first sent Him, fulfilling His promises (e.g., John 7:39; 14:16).

Acts 2:3

2:3 tongues like as of fire. These mysterious cloven tongues seem to depict a fiery root, divided into many individual tongues, enough to reach each person in the company. They were not real fire, however, but “like as of fire.” There have been various speculations as to their nature, but since it was a supernatural phenomenon, these seem pointless. In any case, the mighty wind filling the house and the fire-like tongues reaching each of the company are the audible and visible signs that the Holy Spirit had come, baptizing and filling all of them, fulfilling John the Baptist’s prophecy that Christ would baptize them “with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Luke 3:16).

Acts 2:4

2:4 filled with the Holy Ghost. Although the Spirit’s baptism and filling occurred simultaneously in this initial manifestation of His power, the two are separate ministries. All believers are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ once for all at the time of conversion (I Corinthians 12:13). They can, however, be filled with the Spirit on more than one occasion and, in fact, are exhorted to “be [continually being] filled with the Spirit” (literal reading of Ephesians 5:18). Note, for example, the repeated fillings recorded in Acts 4:8,31; 9:17; 13:9.

Acts 2:4

2:4 other tongues. These were “other tongues,” not “unknown tongues” or “ecstatic tongues.” Except when referring to the actual physical organ, the word “tongue” in the New Testament always refers to a language. In this case, the tongues are the actual languages of the different nations listed in Acts 2:9-11, as made obvious in the context.

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