When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. (2) And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (3) Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. (4) And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (5) And there were dwelling in Jersulam Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. (6) And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. (7) Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? (8) And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? (9) Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, (10) Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytism, (11) Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God”.
The Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke, the Gentile physician and historian of the early Church. Forty days after the crucifixion of Christ Jesus and His resurrection from the dead much had changed. The apostles had fled in terror from the scene of the crucifixion, not understanding and in fear that they would be killed next. Then Christ was raised from the dead and appeared to these men who became utterly convinced that Jesus was God and everything He said was true. The Lord stayed with them, teachinging them for forty days untill He rose out of this world – leaving them with the great commission to carry His word to all nations of the known world. Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until the promixed Spirit would come to them
So now it is fifty days after the Resurrection and the religious Jews from all the nations of the world have gathered at Jerusalem for the feast of weeks or first fruits. These particular Jews – and Gentile proselytes were at Jerusalem to worship God from diverse cultures and separated geographically. We are told by Luke that the apostles and disciples were there of one accord when Gods time came for this great miracle. There was the manifestation of a great sound – of a sudden rushing wind which cannot be seen but can be heard and felt. Then the visible tongues of fire. Then a gathering of a fearful crowd. The violence of the wind caused the fear which opened the gate of the mind. (There are no atheists in foxholes).
And the diverse peoples heard the apostles speaking in their own dialects and languages. By calling them Gallileans Luke is telling us the crowd knew these men and knew they were ignorant fishermen who pretty much stuck to their own country and were not acquainted with other languages So the speaking in tongues was a great miracle. The gift of the Spirit was a visible gift and all the signs were for the ages. The appointment and gift clearly were of God and a fulfillment of the promise of Christ to send the Spirit
The Spirit now gave the apostles the power and courage to carry out the great commission of Christ. Now begins the new era of God dealing with men – the era of the Spirit Who empowers men for witness to Christ and to witness not just to the Jews but also the Gentiles – God is calling the gospel to all nations with the purpose to spread the knowledge of God to all; not for our own edification but to empower men to bear witness to the glory of God. That is the meaning of Pentecost
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eared to these men