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Pentecost
May 27, 2012

Imagine what it would be like to come across a group of people who were speaking different languages and were able to understand each other. Without any other details, you might be thinking of a space movie set in the future where human explorers are in contact with alien life. And in the sci-fi genre of film, this is a routine occurence. In the modern world, someone will probably develop an app for a smart phone to handle this need for two people who speak different languages and need to talk with each other. Language differences are not the barriers that these once were. Imagine a time in earth's history set thousands of years ago. There were no smart phones, there were no phones, no computers, no television, and no radio. The ability to read and write were luxuries reserved for the elite. While most could handle the verbal communication in their own language, most were unable to converse with a person in a different language. Only some could read the written form of their own language. To understand where this started, we need to go back in time thousands of years ago to place called Babel.

Genesis 11:1-9
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

You see at one time, everyone on earth spoke the same language. Nobody had a hard time understanding another person. And so they talked, and talked, and talked some more, and thought that it would be good to become like God. In their mind, the best way to become like God was to build a tower so tall, that people would think of their tower and God in the same way. And who knows, they might have even wanted to build lots of steps in the tower so that if a person wanted to they could walk all the way up to heaven. God heard about this. It's not like we can keep anything from him. God knows everything. So God decided to come to earth and check out the tower, and in one way he seemed to be impressed and in another way he seemed to be a little concerned. God knew that as long as man was able to understand each other, that the minds of many people would make great things but he was concerned because he also knew that man had both the knowledge of good and the knowledge of evil. God knew that in addition to the many great good things mankind would make, mankind would also make many great evil things, and this was a concern for God. So God did what was best and gave people many different languages all at once. Imagine being in an amusement park with dozens of your favorite friends with thousands of other people who you don't know, when all of a sudden all of your friends start speaking a different language. You can't understand them, and they can't understand you. It's like they never ever spoke your language and you never ever spoke the language your friends now speak. You find out that this change in language has happened to everyone else in the amusement park. People are upset,confused, frustrated, angry, and unsure what to do. And in the midst of all these strange languages you hear someone speaking your language. I don't know what you would do, but I probably would try to talk with that person to see if they had any idea of what just happened. My best guess is that as I spoke with this person, I would see other small groups start to form, and slowly the small groups would grow slightly larger. This is what happened at the tower of Babel. God confused the language of mankind so that there would be less talking, because God did not want mankind to think they were like God because of a tower they built. Building a tall tower or making anything really big does not make somebody like God. Something else has to happen for a person to become like God, so God confused the language of mankind. It would take the death of Jesus and the giving of the Holy Spirit for that something else to happen.

Acts 2:1-22
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

When the Holy Spirit was given for all to see, it was given on Penecost, and Pentecost in 2012 falls on May 27th. Even though God had confused the language in Babel, the Holy Spirit allowed people to understand and speak different languages. What the Holy Spirit allows to happen is for the mind of God to begin developing within a person and if we really want to be like God, and there is nothing wrong with that, we must really want to have the mind of God, and this can only come through the Holy Spirit. We cannot pretend that because we try to do good we have the mind of God. We cannot think that because we try to be nice we have the mind of God. We cannot think that because we share we have the mind of God. We can only have the mind of God when we have the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot have the mind of God. And when we have the Holy Spirit, we cannot fully understand everything like God does. We can only understand a very small part of what God understands. So just because a person has the Holy Spirit, it does not mean they are like God as God is God. It just means they have a small part of the mind of God and are just beginning to understand what is important for God. And as we begin to understand what is important for God, we should begin to understand there is a need to obey his commandments, and that his commandments should lead us to have concern for each other.

2 John 5-6
And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

So Pentecost, one of the Holy Days of God, was used by God to come full circle on the Tower of Babel. God's fine with us wanting to become like him as long as we want to be like him for the right reasons. Back in the days of the Tower of Babel, they had all the wrong reasons to be like God. They thought of God in terms of power and prestige. When the Holy Spirit is given for all to see, as is what happened on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit allows us to be thinking of what it means to become like God for all the right reasons. We know that we have to obey the commandments and that obedience leads us to have concern for each other.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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