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b) Acts 2:4: Luke continued his report on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1–3).
He wrote, “And all were filled of the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak other tongues even as the Spirit was giving them [the ability] to speak.”
Being filled with the Spirit empowers us for the Lord’s use. He enables us to bear witness via acts of service or speaking (Luke 1:13–17; Acts 4:5–13, 29–30; Acts 9:17–22; Acts 13:8–12).[1]
The verb which Luke used here (pimplēmi) conveys greater intensity than another word which also means “be filled” (plēroō).[2]
Elsewhere in Acts, Luke employed the phrases “receiving the Spirit” and “being baptized by the Spirit” as synonyms for “being filled” (pimplēmi) (Acts 1:4–5; Acts 10:44–48; Acts 11:15–18).[3]
Paul used the verb plēroō when he admonished believers to be continually filled with the Spirit,[4] resulting in giving thanks and mutual submission (Eph 5:18–21).[5]
Thus, someone already filled with the Spirit (pimplēmi) can receive renewed or added filling (plēroō) for a special task, for harmony with people, and for communion with God (Luke 4:1–14; Acts 6:1–8; Acts 7:55–60).[6]
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In Greek, a “tongue” (glōssa) can refer to the physical organ, an established language, or an ecstatic religious utterance.[7]
Paul commanded that those in congregations who “speak in tongues not of humanity” should do so only in the presence of an interpreter (1 Cor 14:1–19).[8]
The adjective “other” (heteros) tongues confirms that Luke referred to existing languages.[9] During the Feast of Pentecost, the Spirit enabled the believers to speak in human languages unknown to them.[10]
Aside from that day, the Lord has not granted speaking in tongues as a universal spiritual gift (Cf. 1 Cor 12:4–11, 27–31).[11]
This event began a new era in God’s kingdom,[12] a reversal of what transpired in Babel (Gen 11:1–9).
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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Read Acts 2:4. In what way did the experience of believers on the day of Pentecost differ from what happens today? What effect does being filled with the Holy Spirit have upon a person? How did you initially experience being filled by the Spirit? When are you especially aware of the Spirit’s presence?
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Go to A Bewildered Crowd (Acts 2:5–8)
[Related posts include The Spirit Descends (Acts 2:1–3); A Bewildered Crowd (Acts 2:5–8); Babel Reversed (Acts 2:9–11); A Plain in Shinar (Gen 11:1–2); Let Us Bake Bricks (Gen 11:3); A Stairway to Heaven (Gen 11:4); A Deity Descends (Gen 11:5–7); Dispersed over the Face of the Earth (Gen 11:8–9); Satan Tempts Christ (Matt 4:1–4); A Second Temptation (Matt 4:5–7); The Third Temptation (Matt 4:8–11); Unity in the Spirit (Eph 5:18–21); and Submissive to One Another (Eph 5:21–24)]
[Click here to go to Chapter 12: Scattered to the Ends of the Earth (Gen 11:1–9)]
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[1]Gerhard Delling, “πιμπλημι” (pimplēmi), TDNT 6:128–34, 130.
[2]Schnabel, Acts, Acts 2:4
[3]Witherington, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, 133.
[4]Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, 94.
[5]Witherington, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, 133.
[6]Witherington, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, 133.
[7]Arndt, Danker, and Bauer, “γλῶσσα” (glōssa), BDAG, 201–2.
[8]Bruce, The Book of the Acts, 52.
[9]Witherington, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, 132–3.
[10]Larkin, Acts, Acts 2:1.
[11]Witherington, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, 132–3.
[12]Witherington, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, 132–3.
Redemptive History and Theology 