The Acts of the Apostles
Chapter 2

Drawing Toward Pentecost

As we enter into chapter 2, we keep in mind that Jesus was crucified, died and was buried at Passover in April of 29 A.D.  On the 3rd day God rose Him from the dead.  We are now in a period of time called The Tme of the Omer, meaning the 50 days in between the Feasts of Passover and Pentecost. 

The masses of Jews had gone home to plant their crops, and were awaiting the time of the plucking of their 1st fruit to bring back at the Feast of the Pentecost in June.  During that Time of the Omer, Jesus, in His resurrected state, appeared to many of His disciples for the first 40 days.  During that time, He specifically taught on the Kingdom of God.  Forty days had now passed and Jesus took His apostles to Mount Olive where He told them to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit Who would come to endue them with power in only a few days – not many days from now, and then He ascended into heaven.

For the next 10 days the apostles and disciples of Jesus had been praying in the upper room, waiting on the fulfillment of the promise from Jesus – the power of the Holy Spirit.   It was during this time that business was conducted, as well as prayer was given as they waited for the promise of the Holy Spirit.  Because it was prophesied by King David in the Scriptures 1000 year prior, a new apostle needed to be appointed to replace the one who betrayed their Messiah, in which history proved it was Judas Iscariot.  Prayers were given and lots were cast and Matthias was chosen to replace Judas.

The Feast of Pentecost

The Feast of Pentecost is called by several names:  The Feast of First Fruits, Shavuot, Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of the Harvest.  Every year, Pentecost (meaning 50) is celebrated 50 days after Passover, meaning sometime in June.  As the 50th day after Passover is complete and the Day of Pentecost of 29 A.D. has come upon the horizon, we find many thousands upon thousands of Jews, Gentile proselytes, meaning Gentiles who converted to Judaism, and merchants selling their wares from all over the known Roman world had come back to Jerusalem to set up their tents around the Temple Mount.  They were now ready to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost sharp at the 3rd hour of prayer (9:00 a.m.) on that first day.  The people had brought their 1st fruits of their early harvest with them to offer to God at the temple.

The First Pentecost

Passover, celebrated in the spring, commemorates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt as they began their wandering in the wilderness for 7 weeks, which was 50 days before coming at Mt. Sinai.  That first Pentecost happened on Mt. Sinai when God gave Moses His Ten Commandments after leaving Egypt.  As such, God’s people entered into covenant with God – the Mosaic Covenant, which Jews have observed since the year 1462 B.C.  It was now 29 A.D., almost 1500 years later.  And unbeknownst to everyone, the 2nd Feast of Pentecost was coming and God was ready to enter into a new covenant – the New Covenant of the Church.

Orthodox Jews (those who do not believe in Christ) have continued to celebrate that 1st Pentecost even to this day

The Second Pentecost

For a Jew living in Israel in the 1st century A.D., the Feast of Passover and Pentecost were two of the three required feasts to attend each year and were the two most attended feasts because warm weather permitted easier travel. 

The time was June of 29 A.D., and as such, spring and summer feasts brought Jews to Jerusalem from all over the known world.  The Feast of Passover had come and gone, and now it was time to return to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost.  Little did anyone know that this Pentecost would be the day a New Covenant with God would take place.

Acts 2:1  When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
 
Did the apostles and disciples  of Jesus know the exact day the promise of the Holy Spirit would come?  Probably not, even though Jesus told them when He ascended into heaven that it would only be a few day, and it had now been ten day.  The Day of Pentecost was celebrated in Jerusalem by thousands upon thousands of Jews, and on this day, God chose this day to begin His 2nd Pentecost - the birth of the Church. 

The apostles and disciples had been in the upper room for ten days anxiously awaiting the promise of the Holy Spirit.  Whether they stayed there all day, or even slept there at night, Scripture does not say.  We do know, because they were committed Jews, they were in the upper room at the hours of prayer, praying in one accord, as well as they conducted business when necessary. 

Hours of Prayer
  Hours of prayer: 3rd hour (9:00 a.m.), 6th hour (noon), and 9th hour (3:00 p.m.).  

The sun had dawned on Jerusalem early on that historical Day of Pentecost in June of 29 A.D. as the people wanted to be on the temple mount to pray by the 3rd hour (9:00 A.M.).  That hour was drawing close and the thousands upon thousands of people had just or was entering the temple grounds as the gates were opened before the 3rd hour or prayer.  

They were gathering together all across the temple grounds and throughout the city when…in a moment of time the loud sound of the roaring wind and the sight of fire came across the sky, catching the attention of everyone on and around the Temple Mount and throughout Jerusalem.  The wind traveled fierce and landed on the Upper Room where the apostles and disciples were praying, which was close by the Temple Mount.

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

This would have drawn crowds of people on the Temple Mount and around as they came running down the road to the Upper Room where fires were resting on the 120 disciples/apostles of Jesus.  They were all speaking in other tongues – languages from all over the world.

5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem 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 proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”  13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

Because of the exiles to Assyria and Babylon, Jews had scattered all over the known Roman world over the past few hundred years.  Jews had come to the Feast of Pentecost from Rome to Mesopotamia, representing every nation and language of mankind. 

According to the Jewish N.T. Commentary, seventy is the traditional number of Gentile nations and languages of mankind.  

Imagine 120 Galilean Jews speaking seventy various languages to where the people could understand them.  With all the noise and chaos, people still heard in their own language as they were speaking the wonderful works of God.  What a miracle!  Yet, there were some who thought they were drunk, and mocked them.

  Jews never drank wine or alcohol during the hour of prayer

All of the apostles were Galileans and unlearned in the ways of the more educated Jews of Jerusalem and other cities in Israel.  They were also considered very uneducated in the eyes of the Gentiles, not knowing Greek or any other language.  Galileans were more backwards in their ways, and spoke Aramaic, and probably a hicks-ville kind of Aramaic at that!   The only time a Galilean left their area of Galilee was when they had to go to feasts in Jerusalem, which was only three times a year.  They were not sophisticated like those in Jerusalem, and definitely stood out as people backward in their ways.  So what the people were now witnessing in these Galileans was most certainly a miracle of God.

As the crowd quieted down…Peter comes on the scene.

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 
 
At that, Peter raised his voice and spoke out…in a tongue and voice where everyone could understand.  Now here was a huge miracles.  Everyone understood Peter, yet there were people from all over the Roman world – who all spoke different languages, not understanding other languages, but they all understood Peter.  In other words, what they heard, no matter what language Peter spoke, they each heard what he said in their own language.  I’m only conjecting my opinion here, but do you suppose what Peter spoke and the people heard and understood was a special language – a language that everyone could understand?  It does not say here; however, knowing that nobody speaks and understands all languages, God gave a special language to where everyone could speak and even understand “as the Spirit wills?” We will talk more on that as we go further into the Book of Acts.  That was a huge miracle what God did in each and every person who listened to what Peter was saying.

16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: (Joel 2:28-32) 17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,

Peter was now announcing a new dispensation had arrived…the Last Days.  Because God gave the Holy Spirit to the people on Pentecost, this Pentecost is now regarded to be the birthday of the Messianic Community – the Church – the Age of Grace - the beginning of the Last Days.  It had finally arrives - we are now under the New Covenant. 

Continuing on what will come to pass in those Last Days, says God…

17 That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;  Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants.  I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above.  And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.  21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.’

That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh:  The Holy Spirit is now available to all flesh – those who believe in and submit their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit then comes to live within that person – to save, comfort, reveal truth, heal, teach – to be their guide in life.  This was something new.

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy:  No longer was hearing from God given only to the prophets.  Sons and daughters, those even new in Christ, will have the indwelling Holy Spirit to speak the words of God to them.  That did not happen under the Mosaic Law.

Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.  And on My menservants and on My maidservants:  Both the young and old in Christ can dream dreams and see visions from God.  It’s another way that God speaks to us.

I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy:  Again, the Holy Spirit will come in that day – the Day of Pentecost, and continue till Jesus returns.  For  those who receive Christ can prophesy, as wasnever done before.

I will show wonders in heaven above  And signs in the earth beneath:  Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.  The sun shall be turned into darkness,  And the moon into blood,  Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.  We are now seeing a glimpse of what will happen at the end of the church age – wonders in the heavens, signs upon the earth – blood, fire, and vapor of smoke, and the moon will even turn into blood.  The Book of Revelation is more specific on this.  All before the great and awesome day of the Lord.

Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved:  

The Greek word for saved is salvation, meaning salvation in your spirit, soul, and body, which is now offered to those who call on the name of the Lord.  They will be saved (spirit, soul and body) from that wrath that is to come upon the earth in the last of the last days upon the earth.  That is a promise from God.

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 

Attested (KJV approved):  Greek 584 = prove, exhibit, demonstrate and accredit
Foreknowledge:  Greek 4268 = Forethought

God had it all planned out long beforehand how He was going to demonstrate, exhibit and accredit His Son because He is the all powerful, ever present, and all knowing God

God knew, God knew Jesus' own people would betray Him, but God used man's evil intents to fulfill His promise when He raised Jesus from the dead to live forevermore.  God is all knowing, ever present and all powerful.

Now Peter goes to the Scriptures (to us the Old Testament) of which they were familiar – and Peter begins by quoting King David.

25 For David says concerning Him:  ‘I foresaw the LORD always before my face,  For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.  26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope.  27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.  28 You have made known to me the ways of life;  You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’

Familiar with this Old Testament passage of Scripture, Peter now quotes from Psalm 16, speaking not of King David, but of the prophesied Messiah – Jesus the anointed one – Jesus the Christ.

Jesus in His earthly body, remembering He became fully human, He still had to trust God that He would do what He promised.  Jesus had to trust that His heavenly Father was always with Him.  He did not have to be afraid.  Knowing He was called to die for the sins of the world, He also had to trust that God would not leave Him in the grave, letting His body rot and decay, and that God would raise Him from the dead – raise Him up to life.

• You and I also must have that same trust in our heavenly Father – that  He is always beside us taking care of us.  And when we leave this earth, He promises us to bring us to home to Him.  In that, we continue to trust that God is taking care of us.  Death will not have victory over us.  We will spend eternity with God our heavenly Father forever.

29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

Again, Peter was not speaking of King David, because David was long dead and remains buried.  How did Peter know he was speaking of Jesus?   We must remember that Peter was a witness to Jesus’ resurrection.  He knew that He did not stay in the grave.  Peter then affirms that what the people were seeing was the work of the risen and ascended Jesus who sent His Holy Spirit upon His church.

 

34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:  ‘The LORD said to my Lord,  “Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” 

Again, Peter is speaking of Jesus.  Jesus, in His bodily form, is up in heaven sitting at the right hand of the Father, where as David’s body still remains in the grave.  While Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of Lords over His Church in this dispensation of the time, a time is coming when Jesus’ enemies will be defeated and He will rule and reign for 1000 years and all His enemies will be under His feet.  For that we look at anticipation to that time, for it is coming up real soon.

36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”  37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”  38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Peter is telling the people that they  can have what they have!  He was emphatically stating that Jesus, whom they crucified is both Lord and Christ.  Christ means anointed of God - Jesus is both Lord and the anointed of God.  The anointed One of God prophesied throughout the Torah and the writings of the prophets, and He is the Son of God – He Lord over all.  And you killed Him.   Suddenly the people got it…they had killed their Messiah – the one whom they were anxiously waiting for so many centuries.  They were cut to the core of their heart – regretting what they had done.  The people cried out – what can we do now? 

Peter, probably somewhat amazed then preached repentance.  What then does repentance mean?  It doesn’t just mean feeling sorry for what you did, but far more than that -  it means to change.  Change from your way of thinking to thinking different.   These Jews earlier had despised Jesus enough to have Him crucified,  But now they could see He truly was their Messiah.  They had to completely change their mind in their thinking toward Jesus.  To turn their direction toward the things of God.  Then be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ is what Peter preached – be immersed (that what baptized means) in the things of God.  This is a heart change – changing from the ways of the world to the ways of Jesus.  That’s true immersion.  And when they truly repented, the Apostle Peter told them their sins would be forgiven.  God would forgive them or killing His Son.  All their sins would be forgiven.

As a sign of their repentance, new believers were water baptized as a public affirmation that they had turned to Jesus.  The question arises whether there water around for 3000 people to be water baptized because there wasn’t any river near by.  But then, there were baptism founts all around the temple for people to clean up before entering into the temple grounds.  How do I know that?  I spent a couple of days around the Temple in Israel.  I walked in one of those baptismal founts.  There are hundreds of their relics around the temple.  While Scripture does not say that it happened like this, but this was one way 3000 people could be water baptized to publicly proclaim Jesus as their Savior and be forgiven of their sins.

While that was huge, the Apostle Peter then stated, they not only would have remission or forgiveness of their sins, but they would receive that same gift of the Holy Spirit as Peter and the other 120 apostles and disciples received in the upper room when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit.  What a miracle – 3000 people saved, born again into the Kingdom of God, water baptized and freed from their sin of crucifying Christ, as well as all of their sins, and then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as well.  What a God we serve!

• While it does NOT state here, these 3000 people were baptized in the Holy Spirit as well or even whether they spoke in tongues.  We can only assume, just as Peter had claimed, the gift of the Holy Spirit was also available for them to receive

39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to ALL who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

That same salvation message is offered to everyone – Jew or Gentile even today.  To receive forgiveness of sins – we must turn from the ways of the world and accept Jesus as the true Messiah – Savior of the world.  To accept Jesus personally into your life.  And if this is something you want to do, you must repent – turn from not believing and trusting in Jesus, to believing that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for your sins, and through Him you have forgiveness of sins.  Then live your life, trusting in Him to take care of you everyday.

40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Peter didn’t stop there, but told of many other testimonies, along with exhorting the people to be saved from the perverse generation they lived in.  Three thousand people gladly believed and received what Peter had preached, receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord and was water baptized giving a public affirmation of their faith in Jesus, and offered the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit.  And so, day by day, people were being brought to the Lord 

42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 

 

What a practical verse here, giving us four examples of how the church should operate.

1. Stay steadfast in the Apostles’ doctrines - Keep in the Word of God.  This is God’s Word to us.
2. Stay in fellowship with one another – the Bible tells us not to forsake the assembling together.  We support one another, we share with one another as the need arises.  
3. Break bread together – celebrating the Lord’s supper is a command given to us to remember all that Jesus has done for us. Whether it is to share a meal around the reminder of the bread and wine, or simply the bread and wine celebrated around remember all that Jesus has done for us…. This should be done on a regular basis.
4. And pray – pray together…worship together -  communion with God is the key to staying close to Him.This is the foundation of the Church….and this is how a Christian must live even today to grow in the ways of the Lord.

All Things in Common

43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

Only God can change the heart of a person – this is a miracle.  As such, an awesome respect and honor for the Lord came from those who believed.  That was represented by the wonders and signs that were done through the apostles.  When God is respected, miracles will happen.  The power of God is at work, lives are touched and changed, and God’s work can be done.  All who believed began to share with one another as people had need.  Some even sold their possessions to help a brother of sister in the Lord who was in need.

Remember, 3000 Jews were saved that day.  Now we had 3120 believers in Jesus Christ.  That is a very large amount of new believers at one time, and more were being added daily.  There were those who came from outside of Jerusalem, and even outside of Israel, and wanted to stay within the apostle’s teachings go learn more, and only had provisions that they carried with them.  There were those whose new faith brought contention at home to where they may have been ostercized.  Coming to Christ doesn’t always mean peace will reign in the home.  For a Jew to become a believer in Jesus could cause some drastic changes in one’s life.  They needed the community of believers to help them grow in their new faith, and even provide provisions temporarily of their physical needs.  There were many reasons why these 1st century new believers at Pentecost needed to surround themselves together.  But they were all hungry to learn more about Jesus and how to grow in their new faith.

That does not, however, support communal living, as we have seen in some cults.  We are not required to separate ourselves from the world, but go into the world to witness the Gospel for Jesus.  We are to make a difference in this world for Christ.

46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, AND breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

The new Jewish believers continued to go to the temple to pray every day. After all, they were still Jewish, with all of its traditions.  That had not changed.  The Law of Moses continued to rule over their lives.  Their Messiah had come, and now they believed that they were "fulfilled Jews."  How exciting that was for them.  In addition, they dined together from house to house to learn more of the Apostle’s teachings, to pray together, break bread together – sharing their food together like we have pot luck, and communed with one another just as Acts 2:42 tells us.

These new believers were excited about their new faith, and they continued to share their testimony of Jesus wherever they went.  And for those who received, they were invited to join them as they went house to house to learn more of the apostle’s teaching, joining in a meal centered around the elements of bread and wine to remember what Jesus has done for us...praying and worshiping together, and sharing themselves with one another.  And as such, the church continued to grow, meaning more and more people were coming to faith in Jesus – trusting and obeying His commands as re-echoed by the apostles.

That completes chapter 2

Click here for Acts - Chapter 3

Pastor Joyce Erickson
Believersbibleschool.com