Bible Study on Acts 2, verses 37 to 41, part 1, Repent, and be baptized every one of you

 

Acts 2:37 ¶  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? 38  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. 39  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. 40  And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

 

Notice the Jews here asked a similar question to the Philippian jailor.

 

Acts 16:30  And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

 

Notice how this baptism is connected with repentance for rejecting their Messiah, which the leaders of the Jews and the people that followed their instructions did. The statement here is made after Peter identifies who Jesus is and what the Jews had done to Him.

 

First, what does it mean to repent? The words repent and repentance don’t just carry with them an intellectual assent to something like just changing your mind. They involve a turning from something like sin or an action you were purposed to do.

Exodus 32:12  Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

Jeremiah 4:28  For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

Jeremiah 18:8  If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

Jeremiah 26:3  If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.

Ezekiel 14:6  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

Ezekiel 18:30  Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

Jonah 3:9  Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

Repenting is also an inward action, an act of the mind or spirit, with this baptism as the outward and immediate expression acknowledging the change. Repentance also implies belief as you repent from sin and turn to God. Sin is downplayed in today’s Christianity so repentance from it usually receives short shrift except in the most fundamental of churches. Consider these verses;

Romans 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So, if sin before we are saved and after we are saved is not an issue then what do you think about these verses, if we are just to admit we sin like we admit we chew gum and move on? And why did Christ trouble Himself to die on the Cross?

1Corinthians 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

In the so-called Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, the spiritual counterpart to the very earthy Sermon on the Plain in Luke, Jesus made a very important point in saying that it was more important that you reconcile to a brother who had something against you first than to offer something to God. In Matthew 5 He made a spiritual application for mourning as in regard to contextually mourning for sin’s very existence and hungering for God’s righteousness.

I realize preachers have taken this too far. The most stunning example is Charles G. Finney’s insistence that if you weren’t trying to make up for all of your past sins to the people you had wronged then you probably aren’t saved, which is foolish. But modern preachers not preaching against sin is just as foolish, if not moreso.

You cannot simply dismiss sin and your sin nature as a bad rash and forget it. We need to deal with our sin, or, more importantly to have Christ deal with it.

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Have you mourned for your sin? Do you weep even now over what you feel so helpless to overcome? Haven’t some of you ruined your families? Haven’t some of you wasted your youth on alcohol and promiscuous sex, looking for love and acceptance, a replacement for your father or mother, pursued money and found bankruptcy, messed up your kids? Do you feel nothing? Has someone gotten you to believe that everything is just peachy? David was forgiven but he suffered terribly for his sin, in his family. Don’t you mourn?

I know that there are verses about salvation that don’t mention repentance like Romans 10:9, 10 or Acts 16:31 but we need to look at all of the verses on a topic before we formulate a doctrine in our head. Repentance from sin, from what you are, a sinner, repudiating your sin and turning it over to Christ, trusting His righteousness and not your own is basic to Bible salvation. You won’t come to the point of receiving Christ if you don’t realize you are spiritually bankrupt without God.

Matthew 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Isaiah 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. [contrite is a feeling of remorse, based on guilt]

Psalm 34:18  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

 

Psalm 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

The result of repentance and faith is the receiving of the Holy Ghost who indwells the believer, the Spirit of God and Christ, also called the Holy Spirit in its active state with the Holy Ghost being His person.

Bible Study on Exodus 9, verses 13 to 21, a very grievous hail

 

Exodus 9:13 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14  For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15  For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. 16  And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. 17  As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? 18  Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. 19  Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. 20  He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: 21  And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field.

Here is a threat of death. Pestilence is verse 15 is a reference to plague and sickness.

1Kings 8:37  If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;

This is brought to mind again much later when God condemns Israel for its apostasy.

Amos 4:10  I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

To be cut off from the earth typically is to be killed, to die, to perish.

Genesis 9:11  And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

Zechariah 13:8  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

2Kings 9:8  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:

Verse 16 has an interesting cross-reference in the writings of Paul.

Romans 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

The scripture saith unto Pharaoh? But, this is Jehovah God speaking through Moses? Is the scripture God? Are the words of God we hold in our hands likened to God? The scripture in Romans 9:17 is translated from a word that refers to the written word. We have to consider the following, as well.

Psalm 138:2  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick [living, alive], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

How then do so-called scholars treat the Bible as they would any old book and yet even hold it to standards they do not even apply to Plato or Aristotle’s writings? When you remove the inspiration of God on the hands of writers, translators, and copyists and the usage of the church itself throughout history in regard to the Bible, denying the work of God on His Bible, you do greatly err.

Job 32:8  But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

2Timothy 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2Peter 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

How relevant then is the Bible to our faith? Let us look at the words of a prominent writer from several centuries ago.

William Chillingworth wrote in 1638, “The Bible, I say, the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants!”[1]

Now we have the threat of hail on any animal or person found in the field, out of doors. God said directly to Job;

Job 38:22  Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, 23  Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

A rod turned into a serpent, infestations of frogs, lice, flies, a great plague among the Egyptian cattle, boils on the Egyptians themselves, and hail.

We will see that it is not just going to be hail that will afflict the Egyptians this time. The Hebrews and any Egyptians who feared the Lord should bring their cattle under shelter now.

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[1] William Chillingworth, The Religion of Protestants: A Safe Way to Salvation (1638, repr. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1846), 463.

Bible Study on Acts 2, verses 14 to 36, Whom God hath raised up

 

Acts 2:14 ¶  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: 15  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17  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: 18  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 22  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: 23  Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24  Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25  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: 26  Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27  Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28  Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29  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. 30  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; 31  He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32  This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33  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. 34  For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35  Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

 

Peter quotes the prophet Joel as the prediction of what just happened. He is, of course, speaking in Hebrew, translated into Greek, then into English for us at least. Scholars like H.C. Hoskier noted that manuscripts were translated from one language into another and then back again often.  The book of Joel clearly speaks to the end times but its prophetic importance is also satisfied here at Pentecost as all prophecy typically has a past, present, and future context. Peter and the believing Jews would have been reading the context of Joel and expecting, once again, the restoration of Israel’s former glory and its triumph over its enemies, a recurring theme, hope, and expectation to be imminent.

 

Joel 2:28 ¶  And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29  And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 30  And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

 

Peter preaches about Jesus and in verse 25 he quotes David;

 

Psalm 16:8 ¶  I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9  Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. 10  For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right

hand there are pleasures for evermore.

 

Jesus had previously spoken about this Psalm.

 

Psalm 110:1 ¶  « A Psalm of David. » The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

 

Matthew 22:41 ¶  While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42  Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43  He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44  The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?45  If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? 46  And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

 

The repentant sinner being saved by calling on the Lord in verse 21 will be contrasted against God’s calling of a person to salvation in the next passage in verse 39.  See what Paul says about salvation.

 

Romans 10:8 The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

 

    12 ¶  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek [Paul calls Gentiles Greeks as that is the dominant culture]: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

 

In verse 34 Peter says that David did not ascend into the heavens as Christ did. Christ is the Messiah, David’s Lord. So, with Jesus as the son of David (see Matthew 1:1), the descendant of David, He is also David’s Lord as per Jehovah, LORD God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah, the Christ (see John 4:25, 26), the Word by which all things were created (see John 1:1-18), and the Saviour of the world (1John 4:14), the true God (1John 5:20), the visible, physical appearance of the invisible God the Father (Hebrews 1:3; John 14:9), who in which abides all power and authority in the universe.

 

Matthew 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

 

Verse 36 and the verse in Matthew 28 I just quoted bring up important points about Biblical interpretation. Some theologians have insisted that Jesus was not made the Son of God until He was baptized by God and, in fact, verse 36 says that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Does being made something or being given something mean in our strict usage something you weren’t before or didn’t have before? Does this indicate that Jesus was not the Christ before God made Him so or did not have all power before it was given to Him?

 

For something to be given, granted, or bestowed as a gift does not by necessity mean in a specific moment in time. In the same way for someone to be made someone can have the same meaning. It can refer to something one has always had or always been. As a result I put forward that this made and this given are from the beginning, announced to the world at a specific time, implying no sudden granting or bestowal or change of condition but a declaration of something that has always been so. As an example I can be the heir of my father’s fortune and that status may have always been so even if I do not receive the inheritance until my father dies or I come of age. Our Lord had to be born into the flesh as a man, a human being, to affirm His status as the Saviour of the world, God walking in the flesh on earth.

 

Isaiah 43:10  Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

 

As He told Philip in John 14:9 to have seen Him is to have seen the Father and as Paul said in Hebrews 1:3 Jesus is the appearance of God. Jesus is that Messiah spoken of in Daniel 9:25, 26. He came into this world in a body of flesh and assumed the form of a man, and was and is fully God and fully man, the bridge between God and man.

 

Hebrew 10:5  Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 ¶  Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8  Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

9  Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

 

Peter is accusing the Jews, his own people, of crucifying Christ even though his listeners individually probably had nothing to do with it. He is accusing the Jews of rejecting the Messiah God sent but giving the people of God a way back into God’s good graces as the martyr Stephen will later do to the Jewish leadership.

Bible Study on Exodus 9, verses 8 to 12, a boil breaking forth with blains

 

Exodus 9:8 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 9  And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 10  And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. 11  And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. 12  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.

Remember how when we considered Job that God gave Satan permission to give him boils all over his body?

Job 2:7 ¶  So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. 8  And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.

Here is a point, also, of defining words in the Bible. Verse 9 refers to a boil breaking forth with blains. Blains, an inflammatory swelling or sore, is how the boils were expressed as they filled with pus and were very painful, preventing the magicians from even appearing to try to combat Moses. So, again, we see the Harry Potter wannabes unable to deal with what God is doing. (For all of you fans of Rowling’s books and the movies, keep in mind that a ‘muggle’ used by God is capable of far more than any graduate of Hogwarts.)

The furnace from which the ashes come carries with it an interesting comparison. Egypt is likened to an iron furnace. Imagine a brick-kiln, a furnace where bricks are baked.

Deuteronomy 4:20  But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

1Kings 8:51  For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:

Jeremiah 11:4  Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:

Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. A rod turned into a serpent, infestations of frogs, lice, and flies, a great plague among the Egyptian cattle, and now boils on the Egyptians themselves, but still this Pharaoh, that great type of Antichrist, refuses to yield to the God who created him and who gives him every moment of life. If you find this hard to believe remember how Germany and Japan’s leaders in World War Two kept ordering them to their destruction even when it was clear that all possibility of victory was gone and their homelands were on the verge of being invaded. Pride is a powerful drug.

Proverbs 16:18  Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Bible Study on Acts 2, verses 5 to 13, every man heard them speak in his own language

 

Acts 2:5 ¶  And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6  Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7  And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8  And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? 9  Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10  Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11  Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12  And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13  Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

 

Every nation under heaven does not mean that every nation on earth was represented but that a wide variety of nations where Jews lived had representatives there. There was no distinction with regard to where Jews dwelt as we must remember that words like every and all in English can be without distinction or the more strict without exception. For instance,

 

1Timothy 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

 

…cannot mean all without exception or you can toss out free will and include universal salvation as a doctrine. Of course, this would contradict almost every other verse in the Bible on the subject of salvation. This is clearly all without distinction. Salvation is open to all people. It is God’s wish that all men be saved although they will not be because of their own choices.

 

We get the word nation here from the Greek ethnos from which we get our modern ethnicity or ethnic which denotes people-groups as opposed to what we think when we see nation, as modern nation-states. There are different places represented here whose people speak various languages, all having in common that they were Jews, perhaps by blood or by conversion. These are native speakers, born in the places mentioned. Proselytes, converts to Judaism, called by some commentators of the Jews, new creatures, are mentioned elsewhere.

 

Matthew 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

 

Acts 6:5  And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

 

Acts 13:43  Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

 

As a note of interest, notice how the Holy Spirit appropriates the Jewish reference to the convert as a new creature.

 

2Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

 

Galatians 6:15  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

 

These Jews and proselytes came from the area of present-day Iran and Iraq, Egypt, and North Africa, and in the area of modern-day Turkey. What tongues are is made very clear here by their relationship to the languages spoken.

 

The mocking in verse 13 is based on the fact that the term new wine is defined based on the context. In the following it would be newly pressed juice;

 

Isaiah 65:8  Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all.

 

Remembering that in the specific context of Joseph’s pharaoh it was indeed that, squeezed by a trusted servant’s hand into the pharaoh’s cup.

 

Genesis 40:11  And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

 

However, in other contexts new wine is intoxicating and not just freshly squeezed grape juice.

 

Hosea 4:11  Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

 

Zechariah 9:17  For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

 

And so, new wine here is in a mocking suggestion that the disciples are drunk which Peter will then deny saying it is only 9am, the third hour of the day, a bit early for a normal person to be making merry with wine.

A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 73, thou didst set them in slippery places

 

Psalm 73:1 ¶  «A Psalm of Asaph.» Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. 2  But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. 3  For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4  For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. 5  They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. 6  Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. 7  Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. 8  They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. 9  They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. 10  Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. 11  And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? 12  Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. 13  Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. 14  For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

 

God’s people have often felt this, seen it, and been dismayed by it, that wicked people seem to prosper in the world. They seem to succeed and even reach the heights of power. Some of them, many even, mock God and anyone who follows their Creator and yet seem to have no recompense brought down on them. Look at Job’s lament.

 

Job 21:7  Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? 8  Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. 9  Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. 10  Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. 11  They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. 12  They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. 13  They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. 14  Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. 15  What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

 

And Jeremiah’s complaint;

 

Jeremiah 12:1 ¶  Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore [why] doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? 2  Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

 

Usually, people trying to do right make the argument, why should I do right when others get away with almost anything and prosper and I’m struggling to survive? It’s almost that we envy the wicked but successful person which is a sad state of affairs.

 

Psalm 73:15 ¶  If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. 16  When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; 17  Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 18  Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. 19  How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. 20  As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

 

The Psalmist didn’t want to say what he was thinking publicly for fear he would offend but it was very hard for him to take, having to reconcile the prosperity of the wicked with the suffering of God’s people. Then, he went to the sanctuary of God and God gave him wisdom and understanding and he realized what the fate of the wicked was. Jonathan Edwards will use 18 in his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God which I recommend you read or listen to it being read.

 

The destruction of the wicked on this earth can come in a moment of time, when it is unexpected. Their success vanishes like a dream when one wakes up. They will suffer, as well, in the existence to come in eternity. And God will bring their suffering on them, holding them in utter contempt.

 

Daniel 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

 

Psalm 73:21 ¶  Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. 22  So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. 23  Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. 24  Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. 25  Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 26  My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. 27  For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. 28  But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.

 

The Psalmist is tormented at how foolish he had been. He acknowledges that God is holding him up and is his guide who will receive him into glory, one of the mentions of eternal life by the Hebrew writers. The Psalmist admits he has no one in heaven or earth but God. Even though his thoughts and his flesh die he will live by God’s power forever. He particularly condemns those who have chosen to follow other gods, to go a whoring from God. Finally, he admits that it is good for him to draw close to God, putting his trust in Him, and spreading abroad what God has done and is doing.

 

Just think of how things are for us. We lament that the wicked prosper, or seem to, and some comment often about how they wish God’s judgment would come down on those people in public life who flaunt their sin, their corruption, and their disdain of God. But, if we think about it we know that their fate is not a good one and their sorrow, grief, and eternal pain is hanging over their heads like the Greek Damocles’ sword. It is foolish to complain so and we show no more of an understanding than an animal when we do it. God’s ways are sure, it has been said, but they are tedious, meaning that it can take a lot longer than we’d like for the destruction of the wicked to come but when it does it can come swiftly like the Berlin Wall coming down in 1989. So shall their destruction come as revealed in the book of Revelation, swiftly and with much grief of heart and gnashing of teeth.

 

Psalm 92:5  O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. 6  A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

 

7 ¶  When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever: 8  But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.

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.