When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out 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. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Acts 2:1-21 NRSV)
It is the day of Pentecost? This is how this passage starts. Because Pentecost was not something new.
This is the giving of the Spirit to us who live in the New Testament but for our Hebrew Scripture brother and sisters this is a feast they have celebrated for many years. This is the Festival of Weeks, or Shavuot. You see this is one of the festivals that is a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. That is what all of the people from different countries and languages were there. But this was not the first Pentecost. The Spirit has blown and moved through God’s people before and has since.
Pentecost for us New Testament is the giving of the spirit, but this is not the first and last and only blowing or moving of the Spirit. See Acts chapter 8 with the Ethiopian Eunuch or chapter 9 with Saul/Paul’s conversion or chapter 10 with Cornelius’ family conversion. Here are three moving of the Spirit that blew through the lives of the believers.
We need to be open to the moving of the Spirit and allow God to move in our lives.
So when will your next consuming fire come and set your life ablaze?
aSacredRebel 