I, Timothy Nathanael, a doulos of Christ must start off with this: Wow! How time flies when you’re doing time and have work to do! It seems just like yesterday that I was sitting here on my bunk with commentaries, notes and Bibles spread all around getting ready to write you beloved Saints. I do enjoy this time together. It is right up there with my 20 minute weekly phone calls to Pastor Kevin. As I write I think of you all and at the end before mailing off my chicken scratch to Barb, I pull out the mailing list and read each one of your names and stop to pray for you all and your loved ones. Many times this leads to a rabbit trail of many thoughts and a boat load of prayers.
I try to leave up-dates for last, but this is an up-front praise report! So much work! Thank you all for your prayers for the boys of fiberglass! We are making our second fish tank. I don’t know any of the who’s or what’s, but I was told that the tanks are for a church which is going into the fish farming business. The why….well that is out of my pay-grade. What I can tell you is this: we start at 0700 and get done at 3:00 p.m. Somewhere in between is well, madness, organized by two good team trainers and a group of men who really want to make a difference. Please continue to pray for the team leaders as I serve and lead as a man of God. As anyone who has worked with me before knows, I can have an over-the-top personality. Please thank our Lord for this job and His continued provision.
So, if you get it, I’m worn out and a week late in getting this to Phish Bowl Headquarters, i.e. editor Barb. (Editor’s note: I too am getting this out later than usual due to family being here from out of town. Please forgive my delay). Some months it is like I have too much time and other month’s too little time. This month, I don’t know where the time went.
Acts Chapter 2: 1-13
Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. The day of Pentecost: The term “Pentecost” comes from the Greek word Pent ē kostē, which means “fiftieth”. This is one of the three major Jewish festivals; the other two are the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. It refers to the fiftieth day after the Passover festival when the Jews celebrated the Feast of Weeks which was the annual Harvest festival.
Leviticus 23:15 'And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 'Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. 17 'You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the LORD. 18 'And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the LORD. 19 'Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. 20 'The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21 'And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Deuteronomy 16:9 "You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. 10 "Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. 11 "You shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. 12 "And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. NKJV
It is also recorded that Pentecost was known as “First fruits of the Wheat Harvest” and “The Day of First fruits”. All Jewish males were required to attend in Jerusalem (Deut 16:16). It occurred in early summer after the conclusion of the grain harvest. During this harvest celebration the Jews brought to God the first fruits of their harvest in thanksgiving. This was a joyous occasion. Later Jewish tradition associated this festival with the giving of the law at Sinai.
Acts 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. I can’t help but associate the Spirit here with two Biblical symbols. First: In Ezekiel’s vision of the valley filled with dry bones, the life-giving breath of God came as a wind and made these dead bodies live again. (Eze 37:1 The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know." 4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 'Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 "I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD."'" 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."'" 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' 12 "Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 "Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 "I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD.'“) Jesus Himself described the coming Holy Spirit as a wind: John 3:8 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Second, during the Exodus, God appeared to Moses as fire. In Exodus 3:2-5 as a burning bush and again on Mount Sinai, the Lord “descended on it in fire” (Exodus 19:18) (Exodus 3:2-5: And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." 4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” In Exodus 13 “the Pillar of fire” is described).
I think that Luke is careful to point out that the Holy Spirit came both in wind and fire.
Acts 2:4: And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. There are two things here that I also want to look at. One, “Filled with the Holy Spirit” and two, “speak with other tongues”. I have said it before when researching something that is in the Bible it seems like no one is on the same page. But, I can clearly see that one thing is in agreement. Most everyone that I read will tell you they’re right and everyone else is wrong and will say it with deep conviction, backed by a collection of carefully picked verses. So, here is what I can tell you. The promise of the Holy Spirit being sent to us has been fulfilled. Acts 1:4-5: “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 1Co 12:13 “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”
As for tongues, the word translated as tongues here is the Greek word for “known languages”. “As the Spirit gave them utterance”. These apostles were from Galilee and they couldn’t speak all of these other languages, but, they are speaking them now because the Spirit gave them utterances.
Food for thought: If the Passover speaks of the death of Jesus Christ, then we should also believe that the Feast of Pentecost represents something too. We learn from I Corinthians 5:7… “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” The Passover has been fulfilled in the death of Christ and the Feast of First fruits have been fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ. Keep in mind that Pentecost was a time to give thanks to God for what He had done. Could we then say that this Pentecost is the Holy Spirit bringing the first fruits of the work of the cross to God?
All I really know is this: Five minutes before the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, there was no church. Five minutes after the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, there was a church. I know there is so much more to this, but to be honest, I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth and don’t want to be a part of divisive teaching. So we should move on.
Acts 2: 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Jews from all over the Mediterranean would come to this festival. It is recorded that the population of Jerusalem would swell from about one hundred thousand residents to around a million residents. Some would stay in private homes or even in the many inns, but still with so many, the majority would camp within the city walls and even outside of the walls.
Acts 2:6: And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and was confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. If we look back at verse 4, it says “began to speak with other tongues”. Now, here in verse 6, it says “heard them speak”. Believe it or not, half of what I read says that they were talking in others’ languages, and still there is a school of thought that would tell you that they only heard it in their own language. J. Vernon McGee asks this question: “Was the miracle that broke down the language barrier in the speaking or in the hearing?” I think that the real point is that God made a way for all to hear the message…He will always make a way.
Here are some cool facts: Since the time of Alexander the Great who spread Greek culture all the way to Mesopotamia, Greek was the official language. Official documents and letters were written in Greek from countries as far apart as Persia (Iran) to Spain and North Africa to Gaul (modern day France). So most of these men spoke a local language, including Greek.
Acts 2:7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 "And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? The majority of Jesus’ followers at this point were from Galilee, where He had spent most of His time in His earthly ministry. Most Jewish Galileans spoke both Aramaic and Greek and some also spoke Hebrew.
Acts 2:9-11: "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 "Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 "Cretans and Arabs--we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." Now what I want to look at here is not so much Luke’s list of the countries from which many Jewish pilgrims came. I will add this note I found in the Jewish Roots of Acts: Luke’s list of nationalities reflects the three main groups which surrounded Eretz Israel, with Jerusalem lying in the center. The sons of Shem to the East, the sons of Ham to the South, and the sons of Japheth to the North and West. But what I’m really looking at is “both Jews and proselytes”. For some reason to me this line, “visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes” just stands out to me. When I started to look this at this verse, it is either not covered or everyone reads the same dictionary and copied it! This is a translation of the Greek word prosēlytoi, from which we get proselyte. For a male Gentile to become a proselyte, he was required to be circumcised, perform a baptismal rite or purification and offer a sacrifice at the Jerusalem temple.”
Let me try to piece together some points. It seems like it does not just center on the Jews, but also the “ends of the earth”. Luke might be directly associating Jesus’ command to His disciples to witness “to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” and then to the “remotest part of the earth” “from every nation under heaven”. The distinction between Jews and proselytes in regards to Rome may be because of the importance Rome plays in the later chapters of Acts as well as Paul’s ministries to the gentiles.
Acts 2:12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" 13 Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine." Can I tell you that I really enjoyed studying about these verses? In some ways it is not earth-shattering stuff, but on another level it is. “New wine” as it is translated here is the word for “sweet wine”. Here is something I learned during my studying. The Bible talks of three kinds of wine: New wine; old, or best wine; and sweet wine. Here in Acts, it is sweet wine, not new wine. So the question is what is the big deal? So…here’s to the what is the big deal:
New wine: More like grape juice or a less intoxicating drink; a daily drink, a mixture of water & wine.
Old (best) wine: Hebrew: Aluntit or Greek: Oinanthē was used in medicinal purposes and because it had time to “mature” (it was usually stored being submerged in water until it had fully fermented. It was more intoxicating. It was used many times as a way to show honor to someone or even wealth and status.
Sweet wine: Mentioned here it was also known as “honeyed or spice wine---i.e. wine which had been sweetened with honey and pepper. To bring it into today’s context, we would call this a cocktail (i.e., Long Island Ice Tea, Piña Colada or even a Margarita…a party drink!). When researching this “sweet wine” I found some fun facts that I would like to pass on:
• It was considered at the time that a person could tolerate as little as a quarter log (1/6th of an Italian liter) before getting intoxicated.
• Strong warnings against and graphic descriptions of the effects of overindulgence are found throughout Jewish literature (Rabbinical Law).
• A Juridical (relating to law) distinction is made between the man who is tipsy and the man who is drunk or intoxicated.
• Although he who is tipsy may still pray, the drunkard’s prayer is considered to be an abomination or as one who serves idols.
• Similarly, a priest who has drunk a fourth of a log of wine was disqualified from Temple service.
• While an Israelite was disqualified from giving judgment on the same amount.
• An insult: “One of three things is true of that man: Either he lends money upon interest, or he raises pigs, or [he] is drunk with (sweet) wine.”
OK as always, I hope you all take some time to dive into God’s word and find some of the hidden, fun facts. I encourage you all to research the Bible. You will find teachers that will agree with me, but still many good teachers have other views and that is OK. This dialogue is what helps us grow as brothers and sisters in Christ. We will stop here this month. Next month, Peter will answer these men and he will give the first sermon in the church age. We will be covering Acts 2: 14-41. It will be the biggest Phish Bowl to date. But, it must be taught in one serving. I will do my best to be reminded to feed the flock with a spoon, not a bull-dozer. Oh my beloved! Blessed be the Lord our God, because He has heard my voice as I cry out to him on behalf of all you Saints. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped, therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. I ask you all to pray that I’m the guiding light in this dark land that will lead men out of hopelessness into a loving relationship with Jesus the Christ, through the Holy Spirit, for the Glory of our Heavenly Father.
I try to leave up-dates for last, but this is an up-front praise report! So much work! Thank you all for your prayers for the boys of fiberglass! We are making our second fish tank. I don’t know any of the who’s or what’s, but I was told that the tanks are for a church which is going into the fish farming business. The why….well that is out of my pay-grade. What I can tell you is this: we start at 0700 and get done at 3:00 p.m. Somewhere in between is well, madness, organized by two good team trainers and a group of men who really want to make a difference. Please continue to pray for the team leaders as I serve and lead as a man of God. As anyone who has worked with me before knows, I can have an over-the-top personality. Please thank our Lord for this job and His continued provision.
So, if you get it, I’m worn out and a week late in getting this to Phish Bowl Headquarters, i.e. editor Barb. (Editor’s note: I too am getting this out later than usual due to family being here from out of town. Please forgive my delay). Some months it is like I have too much time and other month’s too little time. This month, I don’t know where the time went.
Acts Chapter 2: 1-13
Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. The day of Pentecost: The term “Pentecost” comes from the Greek word Pent ē kostē, which means “fiftieth”. This is one of the three major Jewish festivals; the other two are the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. It refers to the fiftieth day after the Passover festival when the Jews celebrated the Feast of Weeks which was the annual Harvest festival.
Leviticus 23:15 'And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 'Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. 17 'You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the LORD. 18 'And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the LORD. 19 'Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. 20 'The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21 'And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Deuteronomy 16:9 "You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. 10 "Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. 11 "You shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. 12 "And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. NKJV
It is also recorded that Pentecost was known as “First fruits of the Wheat Harvest” and “The Day of First fruits”. All Jewish males were required to attend in Jerusalem (Deut 16:16). It occurred in early summer after the conclusion of the grain harvest. During this harvest celebration the Jews brought to God the first fruits of their harvest in thanksgiving. This was a joyous occasion. Later Jewish tradition associated this festival with the giving of the law at Sinai.
Acts 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. I can’t help but associate the Spirit here with two Biblical symbols. First: In Ezekiel’s vision of the valley filled with dry bones, the life-giving breath of God came as a wind and made these dead bodies live again. (Eze 37:1 The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know." 4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 'Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 "I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD."'" 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."'" 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' 12 "Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 "Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 "I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD.'“) Jesus Himself described the coming Holy Spirit as a wind: John 3:8 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Second, during the Exodus, God appeared to Moses as fire. In Exodus 3:2-5 as a burning bush and again on Mount Sinai, the Lord “descended on it in fire” (Exodus 19:18) (Exodus 3:2-5: And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." 4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” In Exodus 13 “the Pillar of fire” is described).
I think that Luke is careful to point out that the Holy Spirit came both in wind and fire.
Acts 2:4: And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. There are two things here that I also want to look at. One, “Filled with the Holy Spirit” and two, “speak with other tongues”. I have said it before when researching something that is in the Bible it seems like no one is on the same page. But, I can clearly see that one thing is in agreement. Most everyone that I read will tell you they’re right and everyone else is wrong and will say it with deep conviction, backed by a collection of carefully picked verses. So, here is what I can tell you. The promise of the Holy Spirit being sent to us has been fulfilled. Acts 1:4-5: “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 1Co 12:13 “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”
As for tongues, the word translated as tongues here is the Greek word for “known languages”. “As the Spirit gave them utterance”. These apostles were from Galilee and they couldn’t speak all of these other languages, but, they are speaking them now because the Spirit gave them utterances.
Food for thought: If the Passover speaks of the death of Jesus Christ, then we should also believe that the Feast of Pentecost represents something too. We learn from I Corinthians 5:7… “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” The Passover has been fulfilled in the death of Christ and the Feast of First fruits have been fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ. Keep in mind that Pentecost was a time to give thanks to God for what He had done. Could we then say that this Pentecost is the Holy Spirit bringing the first fruits of the work of the cross to God?
All I really know is this: Five minutes before the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, there was no church. Five minutes after the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, there was a church. I know there is so much more to this, but to be honest, I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth and don’t want to be a part of divisive teaching. So we should move on.
Acts 2: 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Jews from all over the Mediterranean would come to this festival. It is recorded that the population of Jerusalem would swell from about one hundred thousand residents to around a million residents. Some would stay in private homes or even in the many inns, but still with so many, the majority would camp within the city walls and even outside of the walls.
Acts 2:6: And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and was confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. If we look back at verse 4, it says “began to speak with other tongues”. Now, here in verse 6, it says “heard them speak”. Believe it or not, half of what I read says that they were talking in others’ languages, and still there is a school of thought that would tell you that they only heard it in their own language. J. Vernon McGee asks this question: “Was the miracle that broke down the language barrier in the speaking or in the hearing?” I think that the real point is that God made a way for all to hear the message…He will always make a way.
Here are some cool facts: Since the time of Alexander the Great who spread Greek culture all the way to Mesopotamia, Greek was the official language. Official documents and letters were written in Greek from countries as far apart as Persia (Iran) to Spain and North Africa to Gaul (modern day France). So most of these men spoke a local language, including Greek.
Acts 2:7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 "And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? The majority of Jesus’ followers at this point were from Galilee, where He had spent most of His time in His earthly ministry. Most Jewish Galileans spoke both Aramaic and Greek and some also spoke Hebrew.
Acts 2:9-11: "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 "Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 "Cretans and Arabs--we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." Now what I want to look at here is not so much Luke’s list of the countries from which many Jewish pilgrims came. I will add this note I found in the Jewish Roots of Acts: Luke’s list of nationalities reflects the three main groups which surrounded Eretz Israel, with Jerusalem lying in the center. The sons of Shem to the East, the sons of Ham to the South, and the sons of Japheth to the North and West. But what I’m really looking at is “both Jews and proselytes”. For some reason to me this line, “visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes” just stands out to me. When I started to look this at this verse, it is either not covered or everyone reads the same dictionary and copied it! This is a translation of the Greek word prosēlytoi, from which we get proselyte. For a male Gentile to become a proselyte, he was required to be circumcised, perform a baptismal rite or purification and offer a sacrifice at the Jerusalem temple.”
Let me try to piece together some points. It seems like it does not just center on the Jews, but also the “ends of the earth”. Luke might be directly associating Jesus’ command to His disciples to witness “to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” and then to the “remotest part of the earth” “from every nation under heaven”. The distinction between Jews and proselytes in regards to Rome may be because of the importance Rome plays in the later chapters of Acts as well as Paul’s ministries to the gentiles.
Acts 2:12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" 13 Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine." Can I tell you that I really enjoyed studying about these verses? In some ways it is not earth-shattering stuff, but on another level it is. “New wine” as it is translated here is the word for “sweet wine”. Here is something I learned during my studying. The Bible talks of three kinds of wine: New wine; old, or best wine; and sweet wine. Here in Acts, it is sweet wine, not new wine. So the question is what is the big deal? So…here’s to the what is the big deal:
New wine: More like grape juice or a less intoxicating drink; a daily drink, a mixture of water & wine.
Old (best) wine: Hebrew: Aluntit or Greek: Oinanthē was used in medicinal purposes and because it had time to “mature” (it was usually stored being submerged in water until it had fully fermented. It was more intoxicating. It was used many times as a way to show honor to someone or even wealth and status.
Sweet wine: Mentioned here it was also known as “honeyed or spice wine---i.e. wine which had been sweetened with honey and pepper. To bring it into today’s context, we would call this a cocktail (i.e., Long Island Ice Tea, Piña Colada or even a Margarita…a party drink!). When researching this “sweet wine” I found some fun facts that I would like to pass on:
• It was considered at the time that a person could tolerate as little as a quarter log (1/6th of an Italian liter) before getting intoxicated.
• Strong warnings against and graphic descriptions of the effects of overindulgence are found throughout Jewish literature (Rabbinical Law).
• A Juridical (relating to law) distinction is made between the man who is tipsy and the man who is drunk or intoxicated.
• Although he who is tipsy may still pray, the drunkard’s prayer is considered to be an abomination or as one who serves idols.
• Similarly, a priest who has drunk a fourth of a log of wine was disqualified from Temple service.
• While an Israelite was disqualified from giving judgment on the same amount.
• An insult: “One of three things is true of that man: Either he lends money upon interest, or he raises pigs, or [he] is drunk with (sweet) wine.”
OK as always, I hope you all take some time to dive into God’s word and find some of the hidden, fun facts. I encourage you all to research the Bible. You will find teachers that will agree with me, but still many good teachers have other views and that is OK. This dialogue is what helps us grow as brothers and sisters in Christ. We will stop here this month. Next month, Peter will answer these men and he will give the first sermon in the church age. We will be covering Acts 2: 14-41. It will be the biggest Phish Bowl to date. But, it must be taught in one serving. I will do my best to be reminded to feed the flock with a spoon, not a bull-dozer. Oh my beloved! Blessed be the Lord our God, because He has heard my voice as I cry out to him on behalf of all you Saints. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped, therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. I ask you all to pray that I’m the guiding light in this dark land that will lead men out of hopelessness into a loving relationship with Jesus the Christ, through the Holy Spirit, for the Glory of our Heavenly Father.
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