SOG&MOC Reversing Babel

Today’s passage in Acts chapter 2 is like a double layered cake. Double the deliciousness, (Don) a duplex of doctrinal delight, (Maggie) twice the theological tastiness, if you will! Acts 2:1-13 packs a 1-2 punch. The first 4 verses and the last 9 verses are masterfully designed to blow our tiny little brains!

2:1-4

Creation/New Creation pattern (Let’s get a little nerdy)

I want to bring us back to a pattern that I mentioned way back when we met at my house. Does anyone remember what I called the pattern of creation?

Through the waters, to the mountain of God, for life in His presence.

We first saw this design in creation, then in the Flood narrative, and we saw it as the people came out of Egypt and proceeded to Mount SI-NI, and it happened again as they crossed the Jordan river and entered the promised land, ultimately coming to Zion where the Temple was built. We even see it in Jesus in the opening chapters of Matthew come out of Egypt, go through the waters of Baptism, and ascend the mountain in Galilee.

This pattern is the pattern of creation and new creation. It’s the movement from chaos to order, and for those in bondage, the movement from slavery to salvation.

Every follower of Jesus proceeds through this very pattern, passing through the waters of baptism and proceeding in to the life of the Church where they encounter the presence of God. Paul the Apostle says, “therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” God has rescued his people from the bondage of sin and death and called us to live in the light of his all-satisfying presence. Now I’ve mentioned a couple times that this creation pattern can be seen as birthing event. At birth we pass through the amniotic waters, so baptism is often cast in the language of new birth. In Exodus God refers to Israel as His firstborn son. There are the birth pangs of the plagues, the passing through the bloody door and the waters of the sea, and this new nation is born out on to the dry land of the wilderness and drawn up by their Father to His holy Mountain. So too, every person who in the Christ, is a new creation, born again - Through the waters, to the mountain of God for life in His presence.

The Spirit of God

In Genesis 1 the Spirit of God is moving over the waters. The Hebrew word for Spirit is Ruach. In Genesis 8 God causes the wind to blow over the earth and the flood waters subside. Can you guess what the Hebrew word for wind is? That’s right Ruach, the same word for Spirit. In Exodus 14 God parts the sea with a strong wind - Ruach. At these key moments in this creation and new creation pattern, the Ruach is active in the movement through the waters. When Jesus passed through the waters of baptism the Spirit of God hovered overhead. And in our own new birth Jesus says, we are “born of the Spirit.” John the Baptist baptized with water, but Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

Filling the Temple

So if we see that our passing through the waters of Baptism is the first movement of the new creation pattern, how does our entrance into the life of the Church finish the pattern? Don’t we need to experience the presence of God on his Mountain? In the Exodus they pass through the sea and come to Mount SI-NI, but God does not properly dwell in their midst until the Tabernacle is built and His glory fills it. Likewise, when Israel passes through the Jordan they then take a long journey that ends with the Temple being erected on Mount Zion, where once again God’s presence fills the House with glory. The Tabernacling presence of God, is followed by his Templing presence. John tells us in Chapter 1 of his gospel account that the Word became flesh and “tabernacled” in their midst. The incarnation represents the tabernacling presence of God with his people, but would this lead to him taking up residence in the Temple in Jerusalem? The glory of God left the Temple Mount in Ezekiel chapter 10, and there was no record of it ever returning. Surely when you read Matthews gospel account and you get to Chapter 21 anticipation is almost at a boiling point. Jesus enters Jerusalem like a King, and he proceeds straight to the Temple and cleanses it! Is this the moment? Will he go and reside in the Holy of Holies? No. We all know this is not what happens. Jesus is rejected by the Jewish leaders. As Jesus leaves the Temple he tells the people that this House has been left desolate, and he tells his disciples that the Temple will be destroyed, not one stone left on top of another. Then Jesus, rather than taking up residence on Zion, is lifted up on a cross on Golgotha. Rather than entering the Holy of Holies, his body is placed in a tomb. But, on the third day he ascends from the depths of the earth, and then ascends again to rest on his heavenly throne. But before he departs he tells his followers to wait in Jerusalem.

Now, here is where things get very interesting. In Exodus 40 we read about the glory of YHWH filling the Tabernacle. In 1 Kings 8 the glory of YHWH fills the Temple. The tabernacling presence gives way to the templing presence. Listen to Acts chapter 2 with that reality in your head:

“Suddenly a sound like a violent rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And divided tongues like fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability to speak out.”

The disciples had been told to wait for the baptism of the Spirit, they were in an elevated house in Jerusalem. Then a rushing wind comes (remember the Ruach in the creation pattern!) and fire descends on the people. Here is the great revelation, the wind fills the house, and the Spirit of God fills the people. Just like Exodus 40 and 1 Kings 8, Acts 2 depicts the presence of God filling his Holy place, but unlike those past moments this new Temple is not a building, but a people! Jesus’ tabernacling presence in the incarnation is followed by His templing presence in the creation of the Church. Jesus told his disciples in John 16 that it is better for him to go so that the Spirit could come to them. The Church is the new Temple, the new house of God! Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” He says again in 2 Corinthians, “We are the temple of the living God, just as God said, ‘I will live in them and will walk about among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people.’” Here Paul is applying the language of Leviticus 26 and the Tabernacle to the new Temple - the Church. Paul says in Ephesians 2 that the Church was “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,  in whom you also are built up together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” This is truly mind-blowing. If you wanted to meet with God during the reign of King Solomon, you would go to His holy glorious palace, if you want to meet with him during the reign of King Jesus, you go to his holy gathered people. God’s presence is manifested on the earth in the gathered Church. When you come to Saint Casper’s on Sunday, when you break bread in each others homes throughout the week, and you come together to serve your community, God is there. The Maker of all things, who created the world so that he could dwell in the midst of His people forever and ever has erected a new Temple and filled it with His life and light. As marvelous as this is, the question remains. Why? Why didn’t he just return to the building on Zion? Why create a living, mobile Temple? 2:5-13

The first big literary movement in the Bible is the 11 chapter introduction to the story in Genesis. If you recall, God formed and filled the world for fellowship with humanity. But Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s good design and were exiled out of the Garden. As they multiplied outside of Eden humanity made that long and devastating journey down the mountain of God to the desolate wastelands in the east. This introduction to the Grand story of the Bible ends at a city called Bavel (known in English as Babel or Babylon). The height of humanity’s rebellion is on display as they build a rival, man-made mountain as a memorial to their supposed greatness. God’s beautiful plan in creation has been abandoned by his own image bearers, his vice-regents want to rule in their own strength. The journey of Genesis 3-11 is an eastward decent away from God’s glorious presence. It is in Genesis 11 that God, in his righteous judgment, confuses the languages of the people and scatters all humanity across the wide world.

I mentioned back when we started this series that the Bavel scene was of monumental importance to the whole story of the Bible, yet it has been regrettably overlooked in our modern Christian imagination. The problem in the story of the Bible is that humanity is scattered across the wilderness, doomed to whither and die, rather than flourishing and multiplying in the Garden, in the life-giving presence of God. God’s goal for creation (and I hope you know it by now) is a grand global garden city where God dwells in the midst of his people as an everlasting source of life and light. But, by the end of Genesis 11 the rebel humans are divided up, unable to understand each other, and scattered across the world. The introduction to the biblical story is a heartbreaking tragedy. But God, the author of history, who spoke the universe into existence, isn’t telling a story that ends in tragedy. No, in his story Bavel is reversed. The curses of Genesis 3-11 will reversed as a distant descendant of Abraham brings blessings to the nations. The call of Abraham in Genesis 12 is in direct response to the story of Bavel in Genesis 11. The entire story of the Old Testament is pregnant with hope - hope of the reversal of Bavel. Hope that the scattered and confused nations would be drawn back up in to God’s presence for blessing. Somehow this would be accomplished through the offspring of Abraham. In Matthew 1:1 we saw that Jesus was indeed that long-promised Son of Abraham, but we have yet to see how exactly Bavel will be reversed. Until now.

In Acts chapter 2 the followers of King Jesus are fashioned into a Temple, a Temple filled and flowing with God’s glorious Spirit. But again, why create a living, mobile Temple? Look again at Acts 2, but this time with the reversal of Bavel in mind. The Church is formed and filled. They walk outside and begin to speak. The text says there were people from every nation under heaven wondering the streets of Jerusalem. And as they listen they are in confusion. Are you tracking? All the nations are gathered up. There is confusion around language (are you picking up big Bavel vibes yet?), but here the confusion is of another kind. They are confused because they can understand. The very confusion that God had cursed the people with at Bavel has been reversed in this moment! In this scene, at the launching of the Church, the new Temple that houses the presence of God, Bavel is literally being reversed! The confusion and scattering are now transformed into a gathering and understanding! The writer, Saint Luke, is doing everything he can to show us that Bavel is being reversed!

Just before the Bavel narrative in Gen 11, we have a big list of nations. So even here in Acts 2 the author includes a big list of nations. This list isn’t some fun fact or some frivolous, throw away detail. It’s his way of putting REVERSING BAVEL in bright glowing letters on the page. Let me read verses 9-12 of Acts 2:

“Parthians and Medes and Elamites and those residing in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya toward Cyrene, and the Romans who were in town, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages the great deeds of God!” And all were amazed and greatly perplexed, saying to one another, “What can this mean?”

I’ll tell you what it means, it means that Bavel is being reversed! The mission of gathering up the nations and drawing them into God’s new sanctuary - the church, has kicked off in miraculous Spirit-wrought splendor! Thousands were added that day, and billions have been added since. The Temple of God, his dwelling place on earth, is alive, it’s mobile, and it is global. Like a city on a hill, like a mountaintop global garden-city, it’s light shines in the darkness.

Already/Not Yet

The creation pattern is the new creation pattern. Through the waters, to the mountain of God, for life in the presence of God. All of the wonder of Acts 2 and the rest of the New Testament can be understood in what some call the already and not yet paradigm. The kingdom of God has already been inaugurated, but not yet consummated. Jesus has already come, but has not yet come finally and fully, the reversal of Bavel is already underway, but not yet complete. This already/not yet tension is the hope and fuel of the mission of the Church. Our labor is not in vain, but firmly rooted in marvelous hope. Let us press on in the Spirit of God to the Last Day when all our hopes will be “already.”

Plural “Yous”

My prayer for us this week is that this episode has awakened your heart to the weight and wonder of the Church. Do not forsake the assembly of the holy people of Jesus. A christian without a church home is like a newly rescued Israelite who has wandered away from the tabernacle, and is lost in the wilderness. It’s helpful to remember that all of the “yous” in the Epistles are plural. When Paul says, “Do you not know that you are God’s Temple…” that you is a plural you. Also when Paul says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you.” Those yous are plural. They are you alls, or y’all here in the south.

Listen to this verse again and note the corporate nature of it, “We are the temple of the living God, just as God said, I will live in them and will walk about among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people.” The wonder of the new temple and the temple mission of gathering up the nations is that all of it is infinitely bigger than you or me. So, bind yourself to the new temple - the Church and gather locally with others doing the same thing, and this fallen, confused, and scattered world will begin turning on it’s head. I know this sermon is a pretty hefty load of info…two whole handfuls of theological goodness. But here is the takeaway, here is what I want you to remember: The Church is the mobile global Spirit-filled Temple of God that is on a Babel-reversing mission. If you want to remind yourself of who we are and what we’re doing come to Acts chapter 2.