Empowered by the Spirit

Secular:

Personal:

Biblical:

Subject: What happened 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection?

Textual:

Acts 2:1-21

What happened 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection?

God sent the Spirit (1-3)

Pentecost

Festival of Weeks - Harvest festival

First fruit offerings

later celebrated covenant given by God at Mt. Sinai

God comes in fire

Delivers the law to Moses

Fire and Sinai. At some point during the intertestamental period, the Jewish people had begun to observe Pentecost as a commemoration of the giving of the law at Mount Sinai—an event that involved a fiery theophany (Exod 19:18). VanderKam suggests that Acts 2 understands Pentecost to be a covenant renewal festival (VanderKam, “Covenant and Pentecost,” 239–254). Thus, Acts may be portraying the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 as the establishment of a covenant between God and the Church in a way reminiscent of the events on Sinai (Davis, “Acts 2,” 43–45; Witherington, Acts, 131).

Ronald D. Roberts, “Pentecost,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

From Heaven came a sound

like wind

Ezek 37:9-14

filled entire house

Tongues of fire rested on each of them

God inspired a message (4-11)

all filled (120?? from Acts 1:15)

Spirit gives utterance

beyond human power and understanding

declaring the mighty works of God to the nations in their native tongue

God fulfilled His promise (12-20)

God offers salvation (21)