Babel and Pentecost

Tongues of Fire

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Many Christians see the day of Pentecost as Babel turned around. At Babel, God confused one language into many. At Pentecost, God made His good news heard in many languages at once.

A feast day. Pentecost was a Jewish harvest feast held fifty days after Passover. The word Pentecost means fiftieth. Jews from many nations came to Jerusalem for it.

Waiting and praying. Jesus had risen from the dead and gone back to heaven. He told His followers to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came (Acts 1:4-5).

The sound. “Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2).

Tongues of fire. “Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them” (Acts 2:3).

Filled. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). Tongues here means languages. The Holy Spirit is God, and He gave them the words.

Came down. At Babel the Lord came down to scatter proud people. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down from heaven to fill humble believers.

Understood. A crowd gathered, “and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language” (Acts 2:6). At Babel, people could not understand each other. At Pentecost, everyone understood!

Every nation. People had come from many lands, from Persia to Rome and from Egypt to Arabia. They heard the followers of Jesus telling the wonderful works of God in their own languages (Acts 2:9-11).

A different name. Babel's builders wanted to make a name for themselves. At Pentecost Peter preached the name of Jesus. He told the crowd that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).

Peter's message. Peter told them that Jesus had been crucified and that God had raised Him from the dead (Acts 2:23-24, 32). Then he called them to turn from their sins and trust Jesus (Acts 2:38).

Gathered in. “And that day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41). Babel scattered people, but Pentecost gathered them into God's family.

What we learn. Pride scatters, but the Holy Spirit gathers people to Jesus. He still comes to live in everyone who trusts Him (John 14:16-17).

What to do. Thank God for the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to help you tell one person about Jesus this week.

Many Christians see Pentecost as God's answer to Babel. The two events mirror each other point by point: down instead of up, understanding instead of confusion, gathering instead of scattering.

Pentecost. The Greek pentekoste (say: pen-teh-kos-TAY) means fiftieth. It was the Feast of Weeks, fifty days after Passover, when the first loaves from the wheat harvest were offered to God (Leviticus 23:15-17).

A harvest of people. At a harvest feast, God brought in a harvest of people: about three thousand souls in one day (Acts 2:41).

Wind and fire (2:2-3). The Greek pneuma (say: NOO-mah) can mean breath, wind or spirit. Fire recalls God's presence at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:18) and at the burning bush. The Holy Spirit came in power, as a Person, resting on each believer.

Tongues (2:4). The Greek glossa (say: GLOSS-ah) means tongue or language. At Babel God confused the languages; at Pentecost He used them. The Spirit did not undo the languages; He carried the gospel through them.

Confused (2:6). The crowd “were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.” The Greek word for confused here, syncheo (say: soon-KEH-oh), is the same word the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament, uses for the confusing of languages in Genesis 11:7 and 9.

Every nation under heaven (2:5-11). The crowd came from Parthia and Media in the east to Rome in the west, and from Egypt and Libya in the south: the same lands where the families of Genesis 10 had spread.

The wonderful works of God (2:11). Babel's builders talked about their own greatness. The believers at Pentecost declared God's greatness.

Up or down. Babel tried to build up to heaven. At Pentecost heaven came down: the risen and exalted Jesus poured out the Spirit He had promised (Acts 2:33).

The name. Babel wanted a shem, a name. Peter preached that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21), and soon after that salvation is found in no other name than Jesus (Acts 4:12).

All flesh. Peter explained the day with Joel's prophecy: “I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh” (Acts 2:17). All flesh means people of every kind, not one nation only.

Application. The Holy Spirit who filled the believers at Pentecost lives in every Christian (1 Corinthians 6:19). He gives courage to speak about Jesus, in whatever language your friends speak.

Every Tribe and Tongue

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Babel divided people into many languages and nations, but God did not give up on any of them. Soon after Babel, God began His plan to bring people of every nation back to Himself.

A promise for all. God told Abram, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). The families scattered at Babel were the families God promised to bless.

The gospel to Abraham. Paul says the Scripture “preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed’” (Galatians 3:8).

One family. “He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). Every person of every language comes from the same family.

A light for the nations. God said of His Servant, “I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). Gentiles means the nations who are not Jewish. Jesus is that Servant.

Go to all nations. Before He went back to heaven, Jesus told His followers to go and make disciples of all the nations (Matthew 28:19).

Lifted up. Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32). He was speaking of the cross.

Brought near. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).

No more strangers. “You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).

One body. Christians from every nation are one body in Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12). Pride divided the builders at Babel, but Jesus makes very different people one.

Every tongue. One day “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11).

The great crowd. John saw “a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9). God does not erase the languages. He gathers people from every one of them.

What we learn. God loves people of every country and language. The cross is where people scattered by sin are gathered back to God and to each other.

What to do. Pray for a missionary or for a country far away. Be kind to someone who speaks a different language or comes from a different place.

Genesis 10 lists the nations that came from Noah's sons, and Genesis 11 shows how their languages began. From Genesis 12 on, God is at work bringing those nations back to Himself.

The nations (10:32). “From these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.” Babel (11:1-9) shows how that division began.

Genesis 12:3. God's answer to Babel is a promise: “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The word families, mishpachot (say: mish-pah-KHOHT), is the same word used for the families of the nations in Genesis 10 (10:5, 20, 31, 32).

Galatians 3:8, 16. Paul calls the promise to Abraham the gospel preached ahead of time. The blessing comes through Abraham's Seed, “who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16).

Isaiah 49:6. The Servant of the Lord would be “a light to the Gentiles,” bringing salvation “to the ends of the earth.” Simeon applied these words to the baby Jesus in the temple (Luke 2:32).

Acts 1:8. Before He ascended, Jesus told His followers they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the earth. Pentecost was the starting point.

Ephesians 2:12-19. Gentiles were once “without Christ… having no hope and without God in the world” (2:12). The cross broke down the wall between Jew and Gentile and made one new people (2:14-16).

Revelation 5:9. The new song in heaven praises the Lamb: “For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” Redeemed means bought back at a price.

Revelation 7:9. The great multitude stands “of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues.” Heaven keeps the variety of the nations, now united in worship.

Babel and the Lamb. At Babel, people united around their own name, and God scattered them. In Christ, people are united around His name, and God gathers them. Unity without God ended in confusion; unity in Christ ends in worship.

Philippians 2:11. One day “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Tongue here means every language and every people: no nation is left out.

Application. The gospel is for every people group on earth. Learn about a missionary or a people who have not heard of Jesus, pray for them by name, and treat classmates from other cultures as future brothers and sisters in Christ.

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