Acts 2:2-4 2And there came suddenly from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, 3and divided tongues like fire became visible to them and sat upon each one of them, 4and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, just as the Spirit was giving them to speak.
Three symbolic events happened as the believers were praying. The first in verse 2 came to their ears with a sound like a great rushing wind. God’s presence was experienced sometimes in the Old Testament as a wind (Isaiah 66:15). The type of wind described here was great and intense, like a tornado. The Greek word for wind (pnoēs) is related to the word for “spirit.” Breath represents the presence of a person’s spirit or life (Genesis 2:7). The wind represented the coming of God’s presence in a powerful and obvious way.
The second event came in verse 3 to their eyes with images like tongues of flames resting above each person’s head. Tongues (glōssai) can refer to the physical tongue in the mouth or linguistically to languages. The images that appeared above each person’s head looked like tongues of fire, which was the closest those present could describe the phenomenon. God’s presence is often depicted in the Old Testament with fire (Exodus 3:2; 19:18; 1 Kings 18:38–39; Ezekiel 1:27). God’s presence had come upon each person, with no one left out, indicating the earnestness of each person.
The third event in verse 4 came to their voices with the ability to speak in tongues. The tongues speaking was the final indicator of the presence of the Holy Spirit. This verse has been the most controversial for interpreters. The word for tongues (glōssais) is the same as in verse 3. As verses 5-13 indicate, these tongues represent various languages of the pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. These languages were other (heterais) because they were different than the languages of the gathered disciples. They symbolize the ability to speak the gospel in ways that others could understand. The verb filled (eplēsthēsan) used with the Holy Spirit elsewhere in Acts leads to the proclamation of the gospel (4:8, 31; 13:9). This filling was the baptism with fire that both John the Baptist and Jesus promised. The event empowered the disciples to immediately carry out Jesus’ mission for them of preaching the good news to the world.
For older posts, click here.
