CONTRASTING
PENTECOST AND BABEL
At Pentecost, God did the reverse of what he did at the tower of Babel.
At Pentecost, God poured out his Spirit. At Babel, the people did not have the Spirit of God.
The people of Babel tried to make a name for themselves. They were not trying to do God's will or glorify his name. The consequence of this was that God cursed them by confusing their language. They could not co-operate with each other and so they were scattered.
If our language or terminology is confused, then we will not be able to understand each other. We will not be able to achieve anything, let alone build God's city. The result of confusion is division.
God did the opposite of this at Pentecost. People were able to understand each other again and co-operate to build God's city/dwelling place/temple (ie the church).
If we are going to build God's dwelling place today, then we need to understand and co-operate with one another. To do this, we need to have a common Biblical terminology.
Genesis 11:1-9
From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
That is why it was called Babel --because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
It is prophesied in Joel that in the last days, God would pour out His Spirit on ALL PEOPLES - not just Jews.
This began to happen at Pentecost commencing with the Jews in Jerusalem and rapidly spreading to the Gentiles in the Surrounding Nations.
From that time on, all men and women from every Language, Tribe and Nation would have access to God by one Spirit, though faith in Jesus Christ, The Son of God.
Jesus had previously commissioned the disciples to preach the Gospel starting in Jerusalem, then Samaria and finally to the ends of the Earth.
Salvation would be available to all who believe the Gospel: First for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
It was no coincidence that Jesus was Crucified during the Passover Feast. It was at this very time that He chose to go up to Jerusalem; knowing what would happen.
Jews from every nation were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover - A feast to commemorate the time when God spared the lives of all whose houses were covered by the blood of a Lamb - It was held on the 14 day of the first month of the Jewish calendar - Nissan (April).
On the day Jesus rose from the grave, Jesus appeared to the disciples and told them not to leave Jerusalem until they had received the gift of the Holy Spirit (50 days later).
Pentecost was the day that our Lord chose to empower the believers with the Holy Spirit.
The Feast of Pentecost was to commemorate the giving of the Law. It was held on the 6th day of the third month - Sivan (June). It was precisely 50 days after the Passover.
On the Day of Pentecost, the Believers numbered a hundred and twenty. They were gathered together. All of them were Jews or converts to Judaism. (There were no Gentile Believers present at that point).
When God poured out his Spirit at Pentecost, people were baptized and filled with the Spirit. They were so overflowing with joy that people thought they were drunk.
The Spirit enabled them to speak in other tongues so they could understand each other in their own native language.
Other signs of Baptism in the Spirit included praising God and prophesying.
They had a common faith and a Godly vision.
The Church grew rapidly even though they spoke different languages.
Philip took the Gospel to the Samaritans (who were half Jew and half Gentile) but they could not receive the Spirit until Peter and John went down from Jerusalem to confirm that the Gospel was not just for Jews.
Subsequently, God Poured out his Spirit on the Gentiles starting with Cornelius' House, much to the surprise of the circumcised believers. They were Baptized in the Spirit simply by hearing the message, before the disciples even had a chance to lay hands on them or Baptize them in water!
Prior to this it had been against the Jewish Law to associate with a Gentile, but now, the Gentiles had the Spirit of God too!
Paul was miraculously converted and chosen by God to 'carry' His Name to the Gentiles and to the people of Israel.
The Church started with just 120 people....
Acts 2:1-21
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?
Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?
Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome
(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"
Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.
These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning!
No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
"'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'
