A look at Acts 1:8 & Acts 2:6

What is the significance of Acts 1:8?

The significance of Acts 1:8 is expressed twofold (1) power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, (2) witness Jesus to the end of the earth. Power from, or associated with, the Holy Spirit here refers to “being empowered to speak boldly by testifying to the message of God’s work through Jesus” (δύναμιν, dynamin)[1]. Believers in the book of Acts will find themselves against great opposition, such that their very lives were at stake, some of whom lost it. Boldness was a mighty commodity, for without the Holy Spirit providing it, the word would not have gone out. Remember that the great commission was to “go therefore and make disciples…” Matt 28:19, the Holy Spirit helps make this happen.

Witnessing Jesus unto the end of the earth has been a topic of debate as many scholars have varying opinions regarding its meaning. Is it Rome? Is it all over the world, even unto the remotest parts? Matthew 24:14 says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Scholars can debate all they want; I believe the witness of Jesus Christ is to go to the entire world, literally. Paul would have loved that mission adventure. Bertram L. Melbourne, in expressing his position on what “to the end of the earth” means, concludes that, “The argument presented here shows that Luke may have understood the phrase from both the Greek and Jewish perspectives. The Gospel was to be preached to the whole world, including the most distant lands…”[2]  

What kinds of tongues were being spoken at Pentecost? Were any of them unknown (so-called "heavenly") languages?

Acts 2:6 reads, “When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.”[4] In the Greek, Strong’s number 1258, the word language is translated dialektos, διαλεκτος, which means conversation, speech, discourse, language, the tongue or language peculiar to any people.[5] These were not unknown “heavenly” languages. The Bible is clear; those that were filled with the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues, or languages, understandable to the crowd. Bock states, “They hear the message “in their own language” as the disciples speak to them in tongues.”[6]He goes on to say, “This direct communication bewilders or perplexes them.”[7]

This bewilderment comes from the idea that Galileans are uneducated and can’t possibly speak all these different languages; it is obviously the power of the Holy Spirit and clearly His filling the believers on the Day of Pentecost. There is an interesting parallel with the speaking in tongues issue on the Day of Pentecost and the Scripture regarding Babel – God confusing language, and here, God causing language to be understood. God is looking for all cultures to experience the gospel message of Jesus Christ. I like what an article I read states,

St. Luke's Pentecost story from the Acts of the Apostles, which puts the issue of the multiculturalism of the Gospel firmly before us with its reversal of the lower of Babel story and its resulting confusion of languages (Genesis 11:1-9) to the new reality of everyone hearing "them speaking in the native language of each" (Acts 2:6).[8]

It is our “new reality.” God wants everyone everywhere to hear the gospel, and He wants it done where everyone gets it. 

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[1] Darrell L. Bock, Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary On The New Testament (Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 63.

[2] Holy Bible, New International Version, YouVersion.com, Internet, http://www.youversion.com/bible/matt.24.niv, (accessed 18 July 2012).

[3] Melbourne, Bertram L. "Acts 1:8 Re-Examined: Is Acts 8 its Fulfillment?" Journal of Religious Thought57/58, no. 1-2 (2001): 1-III, http://search.proquest.com/docview/222075053?accountid=12085.

[4] Holy Bible, New English Translation, Bible.org, Internet, available from https://net.bible.org/#!bible/Acts+2:5, accessed 18 July 2012.

[5] Thayer and Smith. "Greek Lexicon entry for Dialektos". "The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon",  http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/dialektos.html (accessed 19 July 2012).

[6]  Bock, 100.

[7]  Ibid.

[8] "The Day of Pentecost May 27, 2012." Currents in Theology and Mission 39.1 (2012): 103+. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 July 2012.http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA280625507&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w(accessed 19 July 2012).