BibleProject - Acts E2: Pentecost and the Expected Unexpected Spirit

Episode Date: May 7, 2018

This is Episode 2 in our series on Acts! In part 1(0-10:50), the guys cover the story of Pentecost in Acts 2. Jon notes how remarkable this story is. Tim agrees, but responds that the Jews had been waiting for a promised outpouring of God’s spirit. And the way that it happened, with tongues of fire hovering over peoples’ heads and a violent rushing wind, is different than what was expected. Jon asks a question about the difference between “tongue” and “language” in the original Greek. In part 2 (10:50-23:45), Tim asks, where the the other places are in the Bible where fire is used to show God’s presence. The burning bush with Moses, the fire in the Tabernacle, and several others. Tim says the point of “tongues of fire” in the Pentecost story is to show that God’s presence is dwelling in men and women. God has chosen to tabernacle himself with people. Paul later writes “you are the temple of God” meaning that quite literally, Heaven and Earth now meet in the bodies of God’s people. Then Luke chooses to outline all the different Jews in Jerusalem from Pentecost. He specifically names 15 different places the Jews are from. Tim points out that many times this scene gets mistaken for “multi-ethnic” when at this point, it is not just “multi-cultural” but “mono-ethnic”. Meaning they are all Jews, but from different cultures around the world. In part 3 (23:45-30:45), Tim continues to outline the Pentecost story. He says Peter’s sermon is evidence that God has answered the question the disciples asked Jesus, “when will the kingdom be restored to Israel?”. Peter is now declaring that God’s kingdom is here in Jerusalem and it will begin spreading outward as Jews leave Pentecost and return to their homelands. In part 4 (30:45-end), the guys briefly cover the references between this story and other stories and lists in the Old Testament. For example, the list of 15 different regions in Acts 2 overlaps with a list of the exiles in Isaiah 11. Tim says that next up in the story is “The Tale of Two Temples”. The physical Temple of Judaism is now in direct conflict with the spiritual temple of God dwelling in humans. Thank you to all our supporters! more at www.thebibleproject.com Show Resources: Eckhard J. Schnabel, Acts, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Alan Thompson, The Acts of the Risen Lord Jesus Produced By: Dan Gummel. Jon Collins. Matthew Halbert-Howen Music: Color Pallette 90: Dan Koch Do it Right: Dan Koch Fall Back: Dan Koch Defender Instrumental: Rosasharn Music

Hey, this is Cooper at Bible Project. I produce the podcast in Classroom. We've been exploring a theme called the City, and it's a pretty big theme. So we decided to do two separate Q and R episodes about it. We're currently taking questions for the second Q and R and we'd love to hear from you. Just record your question by July 21st

and send it to us at infoatbiboproject.com. Let us know your name and where you're from, try to keep your question to about 20 seconds and please transcribe your question when you email it in, try to keep your question to about 20 seconds, and please transcribe your question when you email it in. That's a huge help to our team. We're excited to hear from you. Here's the episode.

Hey, this is John at the Bible Project. Right now, we're working our way through the Book of Acts, the story of the early church. The Book of Acts is telling me that if I've given my allegiance to Jesus, I'm a part of a Messianic Jewish sect that started as a persecuted religious minority movement in ancient Jerusalem. Like, that's a living heritage. Christianity as humble beginnings, but it had been expected by Jewish prophets who were hoping expecting a new work of God's spirit to come and recreate Israel. So in this episode, Tim and I discuss the singular event that gave Christianity its early spark, its momentum, Pentecost. A time where God's spirit showed up in an expected, but unexpected way.

So in the same way, there was an expectation about the spirit. We looked at one from Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Zechariah, all have really explicit hopes for a new work of the presence and spirit of God in this new age. But what happens doesn't quite correspond to what anybody would have expected. All the believers were in one room,

and there was a loud, violent wind. And then tongues of fire came flying over people's heads, which sounds pretty scary and pretty confusing. But fire is an important image in the Bible about God's presence. God appeared in a burning bush, Timosis, in flames over Mount Sinai, and in a pillar of fire over the Tabernacle. And so the flames at Pentecost? This is the marking out of Temple's face. Places where heaven and earth meet become where God's appearance manifests itself.

So that's the claim being made here. The GEOUSES people are where heaven and earth meet. So today on the show, Pentecost. The New Israel and our bodies as the Temple of God. Thanks for joining us. Here we go. of God. Thanks for joining us. Here we go. Alright, so the Book of Acts, we just talked through the first chapter. Or just the opening scene. Opening scene of the first chapter. Yep. And how it kind of gives us a template for how the Book of Acts is going to, how it's going to work. Mm-hmm. How a marginal, small, messianic Jewish sect

became an international multi-ethnic movement that will become the most ethnically diverse, religious movement in human history. Spoilers. Ha-ha-ha. That's remarkable. Yeah. First of all, second of all, we would expect then to find in this foundation story, what are the core values?

What's the core? What kind of story could generate that kind of movement in human history? And hold it together. It's an interesting way to pose it. One of the key components of the story was that this whole thing was going to start when they got power from on high. Yes. Get the power. They're going to get the power. And so that's what this next chapter is about.

That's what the next scene, yeah, the next key story is about. Power time. I printed the text out here just so you could, I'd love to give you the honor. Oh, once again. Get to keep reading. Yeah, come on. When the day of Pentecost had come, which this is Jewish holiday.

Pentecost. Yes, yep. There were three in, you read the Torah, there's three pilgrimage holidays or feasts. And so these are three times a year when hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over the world would descend on Jerusalem. The population of the city was just explode.

Quadruple or I don't know how you say five or six times. Quintuple. Quintuple. Six-tuple. Yeah, that kind of thing. Yeah, that's as far as I go. So Castlever in the spring, and then Tabernacles in the,

or Sukkot in the fall. Okay. And then Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, comes in between. And Pentecost, that means the fall. Okay. And then pentacost, or the feast of weeks, comes in between. And pentacost, that means 50 days. Yeah. And it's because you counted off seven sevens after Passover. Okay.

Seven sevens after Passover. Then that's the day, pentacost. And then it's, and then it's pentacost. It was, it began as a harvest or a late. It's a harvest celebration. Early summer harvest feast. Yeah. So usually this is happening in, you know, May, that kind of thing.

Okay. May or June. So it's Pentecost. Pentecost. And they're all together in one place. Suddenly, there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And they're appeared to them, tongues as a fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Yeah, I mean, usually you have like 30 questions. I don't know if that permission to stop. Goes fast. Oh yeah, totally. If you want to stop. Goes fast. Oh yeah, totally, if you want to stop. We've talked about this before.

I mean, one way you frame this is like, we've talked about God. And I don't know if those conversations on God are going to come out before acts or not, probably not. Yeah, unclear. But as we talked, we're going to do video on the identity of God. And as we talked about that, and we talked about, why is it that it's important to think of God? Why is it a Christian way to think of God as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit?

I see. And why not just the Father and the Son? That's kind of nice. It's got the Father, you got the Son. Yeah, Jesus, talk to the Father, the Father says things about Jesus for heaven. That kind of nice. It's got, you know, the father you got the son. Yeah, Jesus, talk to the father, the father says things about Jesus for heaven, that kind of thing. It's a nice, tight lower relationship. Yeah.

Like I get it. I have a father, I'm a son, I'm a father, I have a son to understand that. Yeah. But thrown in the mix is the spirit. But the reason that you've mentioned was because of how earth shattering this moment was of the spirit coming and the way this reads is pretty remarkable.

It's not kind of like, you know, we just felt fired up all of a sudden. Everyone just felt encouraged and blessed and everyone was ready to go. It was like, no, there was this crazy sound from heaven. They don't say crazy. Violent. Violent. That's what it looks like. Violent sound.

Yeah. That's kind of spooky. Yeah, it's more than crazy. It's like terrifying. That's terrifying. Yeah. And then, tongues of fire. Yeah.

Like that's, I would be ducking for cover or something, you know, if you saw like fire, yeah, coming down. Descending towards your head. You'd be like, is that lightening? I wouldn't tackle you. Coming at me, yeah, I'd be like, let's get out of the way.

Get you out of the way. And it's not just like one, it's distributed. And then you like, don't tackle me forever. You've got one too. Like, and then everyone starts talking in other languages that they don't know. Yeah. That's weird.

It's just a really extreme moment. Yeah. And not normal. Not normal. Not normal. So back to your question about the identity of God. There was shelf space, mental shelf space from the Hebrew Scriptures about when the kingdom of God comes, when God begins to bring heaven and earth back together, it'll involve some kind of human figure.

And sometimes talked about as taking up to the son of man, divine status, like the son of man, or a king from the line of David. And so Jesus occupies that mental shelf space, the Messianic King, but he also explodes it to a new level, because he's a son of God in a way that's similar and way different than any of the sons of David before him. And so in the same way, there was an expectation about the Spirit. We looked at one from Isaiah. But Isaiah's chock full, Ezekiel, Joel, Ezekeriah, all have really explicit hopes for a new

work of the presence and spirit of God in this new age. And so that is, we're walking out that part, you know, of the prophetic hope of the scriptures. But what happens in the same way, it just fulfills and it blows open the doors. Like the way that it happens doesn't quite correspond to what anybody would have expected. And it seems that this experience left a mark on how the early Jesus followers talked about God. If this hadn't happened, it's likely that we would have a binitarian sense of talking about God throughout the New Testament. Because that is often what you get. Dualitarian.

Dualitarian, binitarian. But because of what happened with Pentecost and what Jesus had said leading up to these events, that left a permanent mark in awareness of the early Christians that the invisible presence of the Spirit is another distinct presence of God that is God and distinct from Jesus and distinct from the Father. Just like Jesus is both God and distinct from God. We find that same space is created for the Spirit. Why is the phrase speak with other tongues instead of speak with other languages? Oh yeah, you know that's odd. The word in both Greek and Hebrew, the word for language is the word for tongue.

For the physical thing in your mouth. Tongue means language. Okay, they don't have a separate word. Correct. And so it's just the tradition of our translations. It's more just, yeah, that our English translations. And I think the phrase speaking in tongues, because that's become a phrase that means a lot of things to a lot of people.

Yeah, that's right. So I forget, this might be the new American standard translation. I think that's what I copied here in that you read. And so they just go with the word tongue. Do other translations say that? Because down in verse 8 it's gonna say we hear each of them in our own language. That's the same word. But the same word. Okay. Yeah. And we do that in English. Your mother tongue. Oh yeah. We have a few phrases where we still use the tongue. We still use it for language. Yeah.

What tongue are you speaking? I think I want to start using that. 1 ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ � Let's just pause because it's a good moment. So you just said, it's crazy. Like if you saw fire descending, you would have run or I said I would tackle you and that's probably true So what are we supposed to imagine or think of here these little? Tung's it's the same word tongues. They start speaking in other languages, but then there's something like a You know yeah tongue of fire. I get that yeah. Yeah, yeah

So what's going on here? Okay. So again this is a good example where Luke is using this biblical narrative convention of Overlaying an ancient story on top of this one. Okay. So do I have any categories for when the presence of God shows up in a place that there's wind, wind from heaven, wind from heaven, or fire, over some remarkable circumstance. Yeah, so we got the burning bush just fire there. Yep, yep. Moses hears like a wind, a gentle wind, right? All you think of Elijah. Let's stop the burning bush. Okay Okay, so the Burning Bush, but that takes place where? The narrative of the Burning Bush opens.

In the wilderness. In the wilderness. But even more specific, this Bible trivia, you shouldn't have to know this, but it's on Mount Sinai. Oh, the narrative opens and says, oh, this is good. Actually, it says called the Mount Horab, but the name of the bush in Hebrew is Siné.

The book, the bush is called Siné. It's called the Siné Bush. And only one bush in all of ancient Hebrew literature is ever called the Siné Bush. And in fact, there's only one story in all of ancient Hebrew literature where it's called the Siné Bush. And it's called the Siné bush and it's the burning bush. It takes place on Mount Horib which when you read through the narrative in Exodus, Mount Horib is the name of Mount Sinai. Why does it have two

names? Likely, like some sort of regional dialect difference. But on Mount Horib, Moses encounters the fire god in the Sinai bush. And in that speech God says to Moses, hey, this is a sign to you when you rescue the people, bring them right here to the spot. And then the narrative Moses brings them to Mount Sinai, where he saw God in fire at the Sinai bush. It's good. It's a good one. Yup. And when God comes in fire on Sinai, it's a little more dramatic.

Yup. It's a little more intense. And there's fire to the Tabernacle. And then the Tabernacle. That's right. And that's all taking place. At Sinai. All three of those scenes take place on Mount Sinai.

Interesting. So the bush, top of the mountain, and then the mountain glory fire transfers to the tent. In Ezekiel's vision, the ancient of days is described as like fire, right? Correct, the Godmobile. The Godmobile. The God cherry, good Ezekiel sees.

Yep. In Daniel's vision of the ancient of days, there's brightness and fire flowing out. And those are all images of God over the Holy of Holies over the Ark of the Covenant. Ezekiel and Daniel's visions are. So notice they're all hovering around temple imagery. You also have a narrative in kings and chronicles that when Solomon builds the temple in Jerusalem, the tabernacle fire in glory transfers to the temple. So the glory fire wind thing now floats above the temple.

So the commonality is this is the marking out of temple space. This is the fire. Heaven and Earth from heaven. Places where heaven and earth meet become temple spaces become places where gods, appearance, manifests itself with these physical phenomenon that all kind of look the same. People are freaked out. There's wind, fire, cloud, stuff. It's a storm.

It's a storm. It's like, yes, yeah, it's like into a storm. A violent rushing wind. Yeah. So Luke phrases it in verse three. He talks about the wind singular enters the room. But then when he talks about the fire, he pauses and he really nails down that description, where he says,

and he really nails down that description where he says, they're appeared to them, tongues like fire, distributing themselves, resting over each one. Right. So he didn't have to tell us that. Yeah, it's not, and it's not like him to go into a lot of detail. Yeah, yeah, they don't have to tell you anything. Yeah. And often a lot of detail is left out. Correct. So when there's this much detail, it's just yeah, they don't have to tell you anything. Yeah, so and often a lot of details left out Correct. So when there's this much detail. It's important. I would love this is a scroll moment a background scroll moment Where if we have Mount Sinai in the fire coming on a one temple over the temple

or the tabernacle and over the temple and then that maps on to Divine glory fire. We had to be cool if like in the scroll all of the people are in the room and behind them the scroll opens it's Mount Sinai and you see fire hitting Mount Sinai in the scroll but then you see this same kind of fire coming down and then distributing it's just kind of maps on to it. Yeah, that's right. So you can see like, oh okay okay, I see what's up in here. Yeah, so Paul, the Apostle, decades before Luke composed this account and phrased it quite this way, decades before Peter and Paul had already worked out language for this concept. You are the temple of God.

Yeah, you, and Paul can say, you as an individual, therefore don't sleep around. It's first Corinthians 6. Yeah. Or he can say, y'all, a whole community of Jesus followers are at the temple. Therefore, don't put up with arrogant leaders. Yeah. Because they'll corrupt the temple. So here Luke is showing in narrative form that basic idea.

But it's happening at Pentecost, which means it's the foundation moment. It's the formation of the new temple. If the Messiah, if the king from the line of David, has been raised up in all the classic Messianic promises in the Hebrew scriptures, I'll raise up your seed after you, he tells David, and he will build a temple for my name. Second, say, my seven. But with the expectation there is of a king being raised up into power, a political power. Yes, yes, thatus 7. But with the expectation there is of a king being raised up into power, a political power. Yes, yes, that's right. And that physical temple being built.

Yeah, that's right. Or rebuilt. Correct. And so here it's Jesus being raised up from the dead, or raised up to death, and then raised from the dead, and then a spiritual temple is built. Yeah, yeah, a non-physical... Well, it is a physical temple. It is a physical temple. It's made of people.

Made of people. People. The Jesus people are where heaven and earth meet. Just like heaven and earth met in the body, the person of Jesus. That's the claim being made here. It's temple, this is new temple language, which makes perfect sense then of what happens next. Shall I read?

I'll take over. I'll take over. All right, verse five. Luke, pause is that scene. This is where you have like in comic books. You have the next panel. It's like meanwhile. Meanwhile.

Now, there were Jews dwelling in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. Because it's Pentecost. Pentecost, hundreds of thousands. And when this sound occurred, a crowd came together, bewildered, because each one of them, that is, all Jews from all over, was hearing them, the small crowd of Jesus followers, speaking in his own language. Actually, it's this phrasing that makes some people wonder if all the disciples were to speaking Aramaic and the miraculous thing happening here is in the translation process that they're hearing it.

The sound waves are being changed. True. But he says above, they begin to speak other languages. Right. And then they say, and each one of them is hearing in his own language whichever yeah They were amazed and astonished. Yeah, like you would be Aren't these all Galilean speaking? How is it we each hear them in our language to which we're born? How'd they know they're Galileons the way they're dressed?

Oh, I think we're dialect. Well, they're hearing them in their own language. That's a good point. That's a solid point. Peter gets identified in the in Jesus' trial scene. Remember, he's outwarming himself by the fire. Yeah. And that little girl says, you're a galleon. Yeah, I'm sure you got a look to you. Maybe they have a look. That's a good point. Yeah, I'm sure you've got a look. So yeah. Maybe they have a look.

That's a good point. Yeah. The question never occurred to me. And then this is within the quote that they're saying, likely this is Luke supplying us with the list here. He names 15 places. Parthians, parthia, this is like up to the north, meads and elamites. That's modern-day Iran, Persians.

Residents of Mesopotamia, ancient Babylon, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, this modern-day Turkey, regions in modern-day Turkey, Fridia and Pamphilia also, up in modern-day Turkey, Egypt, North Africa, Libya, and Cyrene, also North Africa. Rome, way, or West Mediterranean, both Jews and proselytes, proselytes being non-Israelite, but converts who got circumcised and become Torah-observant. or observant. Creetans, the island of Crete, off Italy, and Arabs way off to the east and Saudi Arabian peninsula. So in other words, he just painted a map of the ancient world. Yeah. This is the equivalent of saying the whole world. The whole world. Yeah. Yeah. If you draw everywhere they're aware of. Yeah, exactly.

The known world. It's Luke's way of saying the known 15 that he names there. We each hear them in our own language speaking of the mighty deeds of God. And they were amazed, saying to one another, what does this all mean? And others made fun of them saying, oh yeah, they're full of sweet wine. So it's not really that sweet wine. Sweet's how it is. I didn't realize it's sweet wine. Sweet wine. Sweet berry wine, you know that? That's so good.

Sweet berry wine. Yeah. What's that guy's name? Um, yeah. That guy. It's the sweet berry wine guy. Oh, I forgot about that. Oh, yeah.

I should know his name. Um, man, there's multiple things rushing together. Yeah. And so notice the description, it's important though. He's very specific that even though these are people from all over the known world, they're Jews, or converts to Judaism. Well, that's why they're there.

Correct, that's right. So it's a pilgrimage feast, and they're there because of Pentecost. So it's multi-cultural, but it's mostly monoethnic. However, we're now 500 years, no, 600 past the first waves of exile. So, you know, these people are coming from generations and generations, like if they've lived in all these places. So Jerusalem felt very international, multicultural, but they're all there because of their ties to their ethnic heritage as Jews. They all have different languages and cultures now, correct?

They're all Jewish, but they're... Many languages, many cultures, but they're all Israelites. And that's important because remember, the whole thing is, when is the time that you're going to restore the kingdom to the tribes of Israel? Who are scattered at this point? Who are scattered, but not on Pentecost. They all come back. They're all here.

It's very, it's really important. The multi-culturalism often gets mistaken for multi-ethnic, and that's coming in the later on in the book. But the picture here all ethnically is mono-ethnic, but multi-cultural. So then Peter gets up and he gives a famous Pentecost speech. And it's a sense, it's this beautiful, I mean, it's this copy and paste job of the Hebrew prophets and Psalms that you could want. It's this beautiful speech. Most of it is weaving together, language of the Old Testament with the story of Jesus.

But there are a handful of places where he addresses the people that he's speaking to. This is at the bottom of page 6 there. And every time he does so, he indicates that he's speaking too, Israelites. So when he says, let all the house of Israel know, especially in the prophet Ezekiel, the house of Israel is his way of referring to the tribes, the 12 tribes of Israel. And actually, it seems that Luke composed Acts 2 with an eye towards the prophet Ezekiel. Because the phrase, the whole house of Israel is important for Ezekiel's view of the restoration from exile. That it will be a time when all the tribes come back and are reunited. That they're reunited here in the land

That's a key prophetic hope Ezekiel has multiple scenes talking about how the reunified New covenant new heart new spirit people of God will be created by the pouring out of God's spirit Mm-hmm. It's important to him in Ezekiel and by the pouring out of God's spirit. It's an important theme in Ezekiel. And then also in Ezekiel, he has a key role for what he calls just a new David. He doesn't say Messiah.

He just uses the name David to refer to the Messianic King. So Luke's giving every clue that what's happening here at Pentecost is the renewal of Israel. The formation of the reunified tribes, all the tribes are there, or representatives, you know? There wasn't any other event where you could say

everybody's represented here. And it's during other pilgrimages? Oh, I'm sorry. It could have been, but it happened to be pentacost. But the point is, is it's happening on a day when Jerusalem is full of more of the representative tribes than on any other day. And that's the day when Pentecost happens.

And so we're told that 3,000 come to give their allegiance to Jesus and then hundreds and thousands more in the days of follow. So it seems to me that the question that the disciples asked is being answered here. When's it going to happen? When's it going to happen? And he says, listen, here's what's going to go out to all nations. You don't need the blueprint, but it's coming soon. And here it is, it's the answer. It just happened. Yeah, it's going to happen soon and power is going to come for come. That's right. And then here comes... To be my witnesses, and what are they doing?

They're telling the story of God's mighty deeds, which now includes the story of Jesus Messiah. The rejection, Peter Sermon is about. He tells the story of God's been at work here, the blessed nation through Abraham. He sent the King. You rejected him, but God vindicated him. He's exalted him as Messiah. Here's your chance to recognize your Messiah and thousands of Jews from all over the world do. Yeah, so interesting. I never really thought about that. Like, I always pictured all those

converts being Jerusalemites who then stick around and form the early church. But they would all then end up going back to the places they came from and then what? Like, they're followers of the way of Jesus and them and their families and whatever, in Iran or Mesopotamia. Yeah, and it seems like a bunch of people's, this is before like Paul would go and plant churches in these places and stuff.

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, Paul's not going to start doing that for another, that's just going to be another decade or more down the road. So there's something happening in those first decade and a half, 15 years. It was the spreading of this multicultural Israelite crew that formed a nucleus at Pentecost. And the way Luke tells the story, the way Peter talks, everything that the Prophet's hope for. That's what Peter says. This is the renewal of Israel. So it's the renewal, the regathering of Israel, from among the exiles to form the nucleus

of the new covenant, Israel with their hearts transformed by the Spirit. The question that the apostles had were when is the time for you to restore the kingdom to Israel? Yep. And so this is God restoring the kingdom to Israel. It seems the way Luke's design these first two chapters is this is the fulfillment to their question. Which makes sense.

Jesus' answer was, listen, you don't need the full timeline, but you're gonna receive power and become my witness is right here and this is the ground zero, Yeah. Jerusalem, then it's gonna spread out. Yep. And what else is Peter announcing Jesus as the risen king of Israel and the world and thousands converting and having their lives transformed by the spirit. It's the coming of the kingdom of God to a multicultural crowd in Jerusalem. Some people have also drawn attention

to a thematic connection, but the confusion of languages at Babylon in Genesis. Yeah, that's like a reversal of that. Correct, correct. And I do think there's on a big picture level that's for sure resonating in the background here. I think the main scroll I want to have is of the filling of the temple, and then of the gathering of Israelites around the temple, you know, around the tabernacle, if that's on the scroll, you know, if we have a bunch of

Israelites gathering and then they'll map on the disciples as the new temple with the fire and then with all these people coming around them. But the idea of Babylon being this act of human arrogance and self-exaltation. That led to a confusion of the language. The confusion of the languages. Here it's the reunification of language to form the seed of Abraham, the new seed of Abraham. It's pretty cool. But it's in the background like Luke doesn't even draw attention to it. You just kind of have to know the story.

Right. To see that. So when Peter gives a speech, he is quoting a lot from Ezekiel and by using the let all of the House of Israel know, it's really calling back to this idea of the 12 tribes being unified. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, and it connects to the hope in Ezekiel, but also in Jeremiah, Isaiah, that when the new covenant people are formed after the restoration of exile, it will be all the tribes represented. And you tell me why Luke pauses the narrative in the mid-climactic scene to list

15, right? in the mid-climactic scene to list 15. Right? Regions of the known world. Like what? He's just a geography buff. Yeah, that's one explanation. Right, but usually they're so economic in how he tells these stories.

And here, just the story gets really blooms out just on a list. And the list remarkably overlaps with the list of the exiles from Isaiah chapter 11. Was there just no travel and commerce over to like Spain? Oh, human history. Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, at this point in the Roman Empire,

they had roads and shipping everywhere. Yep. Yeah. You're right. Actually, I was exaggerating when I said it's the known world right at the time Because even in Jonas Day Tarshish is likely Spain. Oh really? Yep, but Tarshish Where's what is that the way he's gonna go to he's trying to lead a Tarshish? That's a long way away

Yeah, so it's far away from Ninevez you could go So yeah, that's a good point Luke's list could have been more expansive, so he's not just trying to blow out a picture of the whole globe here. But it is from all points of the compass, where he draws from. So, Pentecost, we've got the new temple ruled by the son of exalted son of David, the son of exalted son of David, his renewed covenant people from the tribes. So what's the next part of the story is Luke's going to show how that new temple is planting and being built here in Jerusalem and it comes into conflict with the physical temple, actually with the leaders of the physical temple. It's a tale of two temples.

What I call the section. Then that tale of two temples is going to lead to conflict. And that conflict is going to culminate in the first martyr in the story, which is Stephen. And that closes the Jerusalem movement. Because with the martyrdom of Stephen, the disciples scatter outside of the city and start going out. So that's the first video, be that interesting Pentecost, and then this tale of two temples leading to the conflict and scattering. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Bible Project Podcast. Today's music was by Dan Koch and our show was produced by Dan Gummel. If you like this show, you might also enjoy Tim's podcast, the collection of his lectures

and sermons over the last decade. It's called Exploring My Strange Bible. You can find a link to it in our show notes. Thanks for being a part of this with us. All right, don't worry about that. We believe the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus. We are a crowdfunded project by people like me. Find free videos, study notes, and more at thebibelproject.com. 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1%, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1 %, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, you you