11/10/21
Did you ever wonder why the Holy Spirit gave the Apostles the ability to speak in other languages at the feast of Pentecost? The passage in (Acts 2 - King James) tells us that the Jews who were dwelling in Jerusalem “out of every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5 KJ) at the feast, were confounded, “because that every man heard them speak in his own language” (Acts 2:6 KJ).
…….”in his own language"….
The Holy Spirit had given the apostles the immediate ability to speak in foreign languages:
(Acts 2:8 KJ) And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
And what were the Apostles saying in the languages of the Jews who were from:
(Acts 2:9-11 KJ) Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, (10) Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, (11) Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
The Apostles were speaking in all these languages “the wonderful works of God.”
Why, though, all the sudden, were they given the incredible ability to speak in many languages?
Let us recall that the reason God had created the nation of Israel was to be God's “kingdom of priests” to the nations. After God brought the Hebrews out of Egypt and they had arrived at Mt Sinai, God told Moses to tell the people:
(Exodus 19:4-6 KJ) Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. (5) Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: (6) And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
…..”ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests,”
It was God's purpose in creating the nation of Israel that His people of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob be His witnesses to the (spiritually) lost Gentiles. The nations did not know God and were in rebellion against God. You can see this very clearly in the first 11 chapters of the Scriptures.
So, in (Gen 12 KJ), God calls a Gentile idolater named Abram (Josh 24:2 KJ) and tells him to leave his country, kindred and father's house,..and to go ”unto a land that I will shew thee:” (Gen 12:1 KJ). From then on, starting with Abram and Sarai his wife, God creates the nation of Israel. God eventually brings His nation out of Egypt and over to Mt. Sinai where He brings them into relationship with Himself, and calls the Hebrews to be His “kingdom of priests”.
But in order to be His witnesses to the world, to the Gentile/nations, His “kingdom of priests,” they must be able to ‘speak’ the world's languages.
The Lord Jesus gave instructions to His disciples after He rose from the dead. These instructions are popularly called the “great commission”. The disciples were to preach repentance for the remission of sins to the world. After His resurrection the Lord Jesus gave His instructions:
(Luke 24:47 KJ) And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
….And then the LORD Jesus said this to His disciples:
(Luke 24:48 KJ) And ye are witnesses of these things.
…..For His disciples to be His witnesses, His Kingdom of priests etc, the Apostles must have the ability to speak in the languages of the world, to speak in the various languages of the nation's native tongues, about their need to repent and receive remission of their sins. So the Lord Jesus told His disciples that He would:
(Luke 24:49 KJ) And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
The “promise” is for His disciples to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is the One who will give them the power, the supernatural gifts to be His witnesses to the world. Recall that John the Baptist had prophesied that the Lord Jesus would baptize with the Holy Ghost:
(Matthew 3:11 KJ) I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
The Lord Jesus baptized (filled) His Apostles with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost (see: Acts 2:1-4 KJ). He had already given them the Holy Ghost prior to this after His resurrection in (Jn 20:22 KJ). And the Holy Ghost gave the Apostles the instant ability to speak in the foreign languages of the Jews who dwelt at Jerusalem, but were born in other countries and who also spoke the languages of the countries in which they were born.
Notice the ‘order’ that the Apostles were to take the message of repentance and remission of to the world. The Lord Jesus said this to them right before He ascended to His Father:
(Acts 1:8 KJ) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
The disciples were to begin in Jerusalem, then all Judea, then Samaria, and unto the…..
…99 percent of the time when this last part is quoted, you will hear this:
..and unto the uttermost part(S) of the earth.
But that is not what the Lord Jesus said. He said, “unto the uttermost par(t) of the earth.” And that is very significant where the “great commission” is concerned, and where God interrupted it by the “dispensation of grace”, is concerned.
The uttermost par(t) of the earth in the Scriptures is talking about Israel. And the uttermost part(s) is talking about the nations…the Gentiles. The Father tells His Son to ask Him, and He, the Father, will give His Son (Jesus) the nations…i.e, the “uttermost part(S)” of the earth:
(Psalms 2:8 KJ) Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
See, the Lord Jesus ‘knew’ that Israel would reject their renewed offer of the kingdom after Pentecost. That is, “all nations” were and will ultimately hear the Apostles message, but the Apostles would not get the message to all Israel (the uttermost par(t) of the earth), before the “great commission” was interrupted and stopped, and also before the Lord Jesus returns at His second coming. The Lord Jesus told His disciples:
(Matthew 10:23 KJ) But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Why, then, did the Lord Jesus send the Apostles, starting in Jerusalem, to go preach repentance to the nations knowing that the Jews in Jerusalem would reject the “great commission” message? Because in (Lk 13: 6-9 KJ) the Lord Jesus Christ prophesied a 1 year extension that He would give to Israel, a renewed offer of their kingdom, and He was going to let Israel hear the offer in the great commission”……and decide.
Israel rejected their King and Kingdom and in their rejection “sent a message” to the exiled Lord Jesus Christ now sitting at the Father's right hand in heaven. The message? They stoned Stephen to death (Acts 7:59 KJ)
(Luke 19:14 KJ) But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
The great commission was superseded when the Lord Jesus Christ saved Saul of Tarsus, from heaven, in (Acts 9; Eph 3 KJ) and commissioned him to give the Gentiles a different gospel (good news) called the gospel of grace.
The good news (gospel) of the “kingdom of heaven” in earth, is indeed good news! But it is not in operation at the same time as the good news (gospel) of the “mystery” …the “one new man”….the “ neither Jew nor Gentile”,… the “dispensation of grace”, that God gave to Paul (Eph 3:1-3 KJ) to give to all of us.
However, after the rapture of the church, the suspended “great commission” will be restarted. And the very same gift of being able to speak in the languages of the nation’s that the Holy Spirit gave to the Apostles at Pentecost, will be given again to those who will be God’s witnesses on the earth during and after the 7 year tribulation.
Why?
Because the Body of Christ the Church is gone and the whole world will hear the testimony of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses (the “slain” but now resurrected “dry bones”…those “firstfruits” unto the Lord - Ezek 37; Rev 7,14 KJ) proclaim the “gospel of the kingdom”. The Lord Jesus said about that time:
(Matthew 24:14 KJ) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Those “nations” were the ones who were supposed to hear that message in the “great commission”,…..but it was interrupted by Israel's rejection of their King and kingdom and the subsequent onset of the “dispensation of grace”, that God gave to Paul to give to the Gentiles.
In the millennium, the gift of tongues will still be going on as God's “kingdom of priests”, the “little flock”, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, go about sharing the gospel of the kingdom in the languages of the world.
It will be the reversal of the confusion of tongues (languages) that God imposed on the Gentiles at the tower of babel (Gen 11:1-9 KJ)
(Zechariah 8:23 KJ) Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.