Bible Study on Acts 2, verses 1 to 4, with other tongues

 

Acts 2:1 ¶  And when the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting. 3  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

 

Pentecost, or the fiftieth day, is the feast of harvest, the firstfruits, the second of the three great feasts under the Law celebrated at Jerusalem according to Strong. The Jews call it Shavout. It is the culmination, to modern Jews, of the entire Passover season and commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. It is a celebration of God’s covenant with the Jews and we find it here as fulfilled in Christ as Passover was fulfilled in Christ. The Jews are missing out on a great and wonderful thing here partly because of a hardened heart and partly because of the perfidy of Christians in history.

 

Exodus 23:16  And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

 

There is; 1. Feast of Unleavened Bread or Passover. Hebrew Pesach or Greek Pascha. 2. Feast of Harvest or Pentecost. Hebrew Shavuot. 3. Feast of Ingathering or Feast of Booths or Tabernacles.

 

Leviticus 23:15 ¶  And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

 

It was the fiftieth day after the offering of firstfruits after Passover and it was indeed, at this time in Acts, quite a harvest. The disciples were visited by a sound like a powerful wind (a simile which uses like or as to make a comparison between two different things to aid in understanding), tongues like as of fire (a figure of speech called a simile, not tongues of actual fire, but like as of fire) landed on each of them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in other languages, each as the Spirit gave them.

 

So, you have Passover, Christ the Passover Lamb, Pentecost, the harvest that creates the church, and Tabernacles, the gathering of the church at the end.

 

A tongue in verse 4, or glossae in Greek, is a distinct language or dialect spoken by a unique people. It is not gobbledygook. These figures of speech are similes, unlike things joined by as as in as of a rushing mighty wind and like as of fire as a physical description of the tongues that descended. Cloven tongues like as of fire is an expression of the appearance of the phenomenon in verse 3. Notice here how tongues is used from the same Greek word in two different ways, one for speech and one for how something looked. Think of ways we do that in our everyday speech. We can talk about our physical ceiling in a room and we can talk about the proverbial “glass ceiling” that we cannot pass through for promotion at work. We can even use both ceilings in a letter or email.

Bible Study on Isaiah 3, verses 16 to 26, because the daughters of Zion are haughty

 

Isaiah 3:16 ¶  Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 17  Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts. 18  In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, 19  The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, 20  The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, 21  The rings, and nose jewels, 22  The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, 23  The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. 24  And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. 25  Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. 26  And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

 

The women of Jerusalem and Judah are accused of being haughty, arrogant and pretentious.

 

Note what Peter said about women adorning themselves with ornaments and jewelry and trendy hairstyles.

 

1Peter 3:1 ¶  Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2  While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 3  Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

 

I considered detailing each of these various items of adornment for the upper-class women of Jerusalem and comparing them to Roman and Greek customs and items but thought that would just interfere with the point God is making through Isaiah. The point is that for all of the grand display these women put on to show the world it will mean nothing in the judgment that is coming and is here already. Everything they use to make themselves pretty and to show themselves as a superior class will be worthless and they will suffer a great deal.

 

Finally, the men who so valiantly protect them will die and Jerusalem and these high and mighty women will be brought low. Can you compare this with the items women in America wear today? From nose rings to hairstyles to jewelry there is much to compare and consider.

 

Compare Isaiah 3 to Leviticus.

 

Isaiah 3:1 ¶  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

 

Leviticus 26:26  And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

 

Isaiah 3:14  The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

 

Leviticus 19:10  And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

 

Isaiah 3:26  And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

 

Leviticus 26:43  The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.

 

Bible Study on Acts 1, verses 15 to 26, he was numbered with the eleven apostles

 

Acts 1:15 ¶  And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) 16  Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. 17  For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. 18  Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. 19  And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. 20  For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. 21  Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22  Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. 23  And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24  And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, 25  That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. 26  And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

So, the early Christian church begins with a few dozen people, a hundred and twenty as the text says. Peter is quoting or alluding to prophecy in the Old Testament, also teaching us how to view certain passages in their prophetic significance. Read Psalms 55:12-13 and 109. Read Matthew 27 about Judas’s physical end of life.

Peter, in verse 20, takes Psalm 69:25 and 109:8 combining them for a prophetic statement about Judas guided by the Holy Spirit. Word substitution between Old and New Testaments gives us the meaning of Bishoprick as the office held with Bishoprick being the office of a bishop, what we call a pastor today.

Psalm 69:25  Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.

Psalm 109:8  Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

Now, Peter is trying to replace Judas as an Apostle. This is very interesting because we are only told about twelve Apostles, the women who supported them, plus an unspecified number of disciples throughout Jesus’ ministry but here Peter names two who were disciples all along. They cast lots for which one will replace Judas Iscariot, Joseph “Barsabas” Justus or Matthias. Acknowledging that God has sovereignty over chance and that there is no randomness in the universe they know that when they cast lots God controls the outcome. They may have used pebbles, a potsherd, or a piece of wood as we would today roll dice or flip over cards or flip a coin. They may have put names in a pot and drew them. But, the Bible teaches that the outcome of all such things is in the hand of God. That’s kind of tough for a modern person to wrap their minds around. Go ahead and flip a penny. The result is an act of God? It boggles the mind but just read the book of Job carefully.

God allowed the Israelites to cast lots in certain situations to determine His will. See Numbers 26:55; 33:54; 34:13; 36:2; Joshua 18:6-10; 1Chronicles 24:5, 31; 25:8,9; & 26:13,14. In addition, heathen also cast lots to determine the will of the gods. See Jonah 1:7.

What does this say about the ideas of chance and randomness in reality?  A person reading the Bible carefully could easily say there is no such thing as randomness or luck, as all events are from the hand of God either by His direct will or by His permission.

Judas is referred to by John as the son of perdition.

John 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Paul refers to the Antichrist, the Beast of Revelation, which are John’s terms, as the son of perdition. Some commentators imply that Judas will be resurrected in the form of the Beast.

2Thessalonians 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

They will see this reference to his own place and suggest that he will be the Beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit in Revelation 11:7 and 17:8. We will not know if this is so until the end so there is no point in spending too much time on such speculation.

Bible Study on Exodus 9, verses 1 to 7, Let my people go

 

Exodus 9:1 ¶  Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2  For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. 4  And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel. 5  And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. 6  And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 7  And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

Moses is now told to threaten Pharaoh with a great death among all of his cattle. A murrain (mu-wren) is an infectious disease among animals and the Hebrew word murrain is translated from, transliterated as “deh’-ber,” is used most of the time for the English pestilence in the Bible. Again, too, nothing will die that belongs to the people of Israel. Still, the Pharaoh remained stubborn. Wonders continue as there was first the rod turning into a serpent, surface water turned to blood, infestations of frogs, lice, then flies, and now a great plague among the cattle of the Egyptians.

Remember how during the time of the great famine Joseph arranged for the Egyptians to sell their cattle to the government in exchange for bread and the Pharaoh wanted Hebrew men to watch over his cattle in Genesis 47? 

Verse 3 gives us a definition of cattle in the Bible which is much broader than our modern consideration of beeves or cows and bulls only.

It is interesting how this happened right after Moses’s expressing of a concern about sacrificing that which was unpleasing to the Egyptians in front of them and I spoke of how they held many animals as representing gods. This is an attack on the Egyptian food supply and on their gods showing that Jehovah God, the creator of all mankind, has power over disease, a power these gods are helpless in front of. For a side note, Augustine of Hippo, the great Christian leader of the fifth century AD, also wrote in his City of God how the gods of the Romans were helpless to save them from the calamities they faced throughout their history.

Bible Study on Acts 1, verses 12 to 14, the mount called Olivet

 

Acts 1:12 ¶  Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey. 13  And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. 14  These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

 

A sabbath day’s journey, according to John Gill and Matthew Henry, was about 2,000 cubits from any town. The restriction from traveling on the Sabbath is found under the Law.

 

Exodus 16:29  See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

 

The distance one could travel based on tradition was based on the distance from the ark of the covenant the Hebrews were to walk crossing the river Jordan.

 

Joshua 3:4  Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

 

Like modern Christians the Jews were always looking for loopholes in the Law.

 

These events transpired on the hill called Mount Olivet or the Mount of Olives where David ascended mourning at Absalom’s rebellion in 2Samuel 15:30. It plays a significant part in the end of history as per Zechariah 14:4 when Christ returns. Jesus sat on it when he talked about end times in Matthew 24. It is where He was arrested before His crucifixion as per Matthew 26:30 with the Garden of Gethsemane at the base of it. So, interestingly, God’s king ascends Mount Olivet in mourning, Christ speaks of the end of history from it, is arrested on it, and ascends from it, and will land on it.

 

The eleven remaining Apostles and the women, along with Jesus’ mother, Mary, pray together in a upper story of a house that was one of theirs or was provided for them by someone. Either Jesus’ brothers are referred to specifically here or it is a reference to His followers as brethren. There were no buildings specifically set aside for church worship until late in the second century.

Bible Study on Exodus 8, verses 20 to 32, swarms of flies

 

Exodus 8:20 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21  Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. 22  And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. 23  And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be. 24  And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies. 25  And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. 26  And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? 27  We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. 28  And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me. 29  And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD. 30  And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD. 31  And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. 32  And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

The rod turning into a serpent, the surface water turning into blood, the frogs, the lice, and now the flies. Baalzebub, a god of the Philistines at Ekron, referenced in 2Kings, chapter one, is the lord of the flies. In a play on this god’s name, we get in the New Testament Beelzebub, the lord of the house, whom Jesus called the prince of devils in Matthew 12:24. In Luke 11:18 we get, by virtue of parallel phrasing, the information that this god is Satan himself.

Matthew 12:24  But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Luke 11:18  If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

The Egyptian god of the flies was Kheper or Khepri according to some, pictured with a man’s body and a fly’s head, although some authorities name another god. God insulted and judged the Egyptian hierarchy of gods in these plagues as noted previously.

            It is a matter of common sense to believe these things did not afflict Goshen, where the Hebrews lived, but that exemption from suffering is only mentioned here first as a sign of God’s power in dividing His people from the rest. He had a reason for doing so here which He might not have in a natural disaster now when churches and Christians suffer along with the heathen.

Pharaoh is now willing for the Hebrews to have a time of worship within his territory but when Moses persists he agrees that they go into the wilderness, only not too far. But again his heart is hardened and he goes back on his willingness to let them go.

When Pharaoh offered that the Hebrews sacrifice to their God in the land Moses declared that the sacrifice they would make to the Lord was the abomination of the Egyptians and that they would attack the Hebrews for doing so in their presence. This was his excuse for why they needed to journey into the wilderness. The Egyptians held several animals as sacred, for instance a cow for Isis, and it must be remembered that much later when the Romans ruled Egypt a Roman official was murdered by a mob for killing a cat. Moses was not willing to sacrifice in a manner unpleasing to God just to keep from causing a riot among the Egyptians for sacrificing in a manner that displeased them.

Bible Study on Acts 1, verses 6 to 11, But ye shall receive power

 

Acts 1:6 ¶  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7  And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

 

One of the common errors of Evangelical Protestantism and Fundamentalism is the belief that the Old Testament Jews were looking forward to the Cross as we look backward to it. It is clear, though, from reading the Bible in context that the Jews did not understand the suffering of their Messiah and knew nothing about the Cross at all.

 

Luke 1:74  That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

 

Luke 1:74 shows that there was an expectation that Christ the Messiah would restore Israel and deliver it from Roman occupation. This expectation persisted even after Christ’s resurrection as shown here in Acts.

This shows how the Fundamentalist doctrine that in the Old Testament the Jews were looking forward to the Cross is wrong. They did not understand Isaiah 53. Their confusion persisted until an eleventh century rabbi nicknamed Rashi developed the idea previously only mentioned by a few that rather than being about a singular man the chapters in Isaiah about the Messiah were actually about the suffering Jewish people as a group thereby totally confusing the Jews with regard to Christ.

Jesus’ Jewish followers literally had no clue what He was talking about when He referred to His impending agony on the Cross or understood anything about His Resurrection.

Matthew 16:21 ¶  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

 

Mark 9:9  And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. 10  And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean…31  For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. 32 

But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

 

Luke 18:31 ¶  Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32  For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33  And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34  And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

 

John 20:9  For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

 

The Jews, even Christ’s followers, were expecting Him to restore Israel to its former glory. But, He makes it clear that this information is not for them, or us.

 

Deuteronomy 29:29  The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

 

We understand prophecy and the future only in a limited way but we are given it for a reason. Perhaps, as Jesus told the Apostles;

 

John 16:4  But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

 

In verse 8 He tells them what is going to happen in the immediate future and what they are to do.

 

Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

Mark 16:15  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

 

Note verses 9 and 10 and read Luke 24.