Pentecost: Tongues of Fire!

This week, I talked to someone from Crosspoint who was excited their body is the temple of the Lord. The verses in I Cor. were mentioned in passing in the daily readings, but they got all fired up:

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? I Corinthians 3:16 (NIV)

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. I Corinthians 6:19–20 (NIV)

On the day of Pentecost, there was the sound like a violent wind and “what seemed to be tongues of fire separated and came to rest on each of them.”

What an amazing event! The sound of wind, the sight of a flame of fire separating and resting on each person – a burning flame without harming their hair. The flames, representing the HS, show that Jesus’ disciples are God’s temple. The imagery is right out of the OT!

In Exodus 3, Moses, the man God used to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses saw “a bush on fire that did not burn up.” That flame indicates God’s presence. From the bush that was on fire but did not burn up, the Lordcalled Moses to lead his people.

After God has brought his people out of slavery in Egypt and meets them in thunder, fire, and billows of smoke that covered the mountain of the Lord, we read how Moses and the skilled workers who made the portable temple. Numbers 9, they finally assembled the tabernacle.

This is a big deal for God’s covenant people. The plan for the tabernacle is given in 7 chapters: Ex. 25-31. Ex. 35-40 records how they carried out God’s design for the tabernacle. It takes 6 chapters! When papyrus is rare and expensive, 13 chapters about making the tabernacle is a lot of writing.

Obviously, a detailed description of the tabernacle is important for God and his people. The tabernacle is where heaven and earth meet. This intersection between the throne room of God and the Israelite’s camp in the desert shows how humankind can approach God.

In the NT book of Hebrews, the author, inspired by the HS, describes the tabernacle services:

Only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. Hebrews 9:7–8 (NIV)

It isn’t until the NT that we hear how the Most Holy Place was opened. The author of Hebrews explains Jesus’ atoning sacrifice to rescue humankind from sin in terms of the sacrifices at the tabernacle:

When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:11–12 (NIV)

In short, human disobedience and sin are a barrier between people and God. The Lord God is so holy and righteous that anything impure and sinful is destroyed. It’s not something I can overcome by willpower or by trying harder. Since humankind’s fall into sin, I am not able to live up to God’s standards. I’ll let you judge your success for yourself.

Here’s where Jesus’ sacrifice comes in. Jesus entered his creation and became human because he loves his world and the people he created. Like an OT lamb sacrificed as a sin offering, Jesus lay down his life as a sacrifice. His blood offers “eternal redemption” for all who profess faith in Jesus.

In Matthew’s gospel you can read how the way to the Most Holy Place was opened when Jesus died:

When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Matthew 27:50–51 (NIV)

Jesus’ sacrifice makes it possible to enter the presence of God.

I get it. The connections in the Bible between the tabernacle in the wilderness, the torn veil in the Jerusalem temple, and the description of Jesus’ sacrifice in Hebrews 9 might sound technical and hard to follow if you haven’t been a student of the Bible for a long time.

Here’s what it means. God has brought you close to himself. Jesus’ sacrifice covers your sin and guilt. God’s presence on earth is no longer restricted to a tent in the wilderness or a temple at the highest point in Jerusalem. He lives among his people. The church as become his dwelling place.

The image at Pentecost of the flaming presence of God the HS is the same imagery used in the burning bush, when God met his newly freed people at Mt. Sinai, and when the tabernacle was assembled and consecrated. God has come to meet his people. The Lord God almighty dwells among his people. He makes his home right in their midst.

The tongues of fire at Pentecost are God’s assurance that he is with Jesus’ disciples. The collected people of God is God’s NT dwelling place. The HS has come upon them in power!

Like the tabernacle in the wilderness, God’s presence isn’t tied to one location. The Israelites moved with the tabernacle.

Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. Numbers 9:17 (NIV)

The cloud that appeared like fire in the darkness of light led and guided God’s people.

 The HS of God does the same in the NT. God is present among his people. Jesus makes that promise in Mt 18:

Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.Matthew 18:20 (NIV)

The assurance is repeated in the letter to church in Corinth:

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? I Corinthians 3:16 (NIV)

That’s you (pl) not you (s). God’s people are God’s temple.

The Lord continues to lead and guide his people. That’s why we read from Acts 13. The church prayed and fasted together, and the HS said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for special work.” In case you missed it, Luke highlights the church’s obedience to the leading of God the HS in the next verse:

The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. Acts 13:4 (NIV)

This is revolutionary! You don’t need to be jealous of how clear God made things for the Israelites to follow him in the wilderness.

It’s relatively easy to follow pillar of cloud or fire. When it moves, you go. When it stops you camp.

It seems that the early Christians could follow the leading of the HS. It is what we’re trying to do together at Crosspoint too. We’re trying to follow the leading of God the HS. It’s our goal as a congregation. It’s our goal as families and individuals. We want to be exactly where God wants us to be, doing exactly what God calls us to do.

That’s why we study Scripture and discuss it. We talk to God in groups and individually, praying for God’s direction. Not praying God will bless our plans, as good as that sounds. No! We want to follow God’s plans like the church in Antioch, like Barnabas and Saul (aka the Apostle Paul).

At times it’s hard to discern God’s leading. It’s sometimes hard to tell if it’s your own idea or divine inspiration that God is whispers in your ear. So later in the NT, in John’s first letter, 

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1 (NIV)