The Mystery of the Nations: Scene Six
Before the Father took Jesus back into the heavenly realm (Acts 1) He spent forty days as the resurrected Christ, ministering to the Twelve with signs, wonders, and teachings regarding the Kingdom of God. It was the time of year when Jews from many nations gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks (Lev. 23); that’s the commemoration of the harvest. We call it Pentecost, 50 days after the resurrection when Jesus promised to pour out His Spirit on all flesh: the nations.
It wasn’t coincidental that many nations were represented in Acts 2 speaking foreign languages, reminding us the Tower of Babel when God intentionally confused those languages, but is apparently ready to reverse that curse. Spiritually, the harvest is what we’re living in, the harvest of souls for His Kingdom. God used this event to foreshadow the gathering of nations for salvation: all nations. Devout Jews (Acts 2:6-12) from northern and southern Israel, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Libya, Crete, Rome, and even Saudi Arabia represented the beginning of ‘all flesh’ prophesied in Joel 2.
After Jesus’ final 40 days of ministry and 10 days of waiting (equaling 50) the promise of the Father arrived like a ‘baptism’ when the Spirit overwhelmed them with power to be His witnesses to an ethnically diverse world. This spiritual ‘ingathering’ of the harvest included what God originally intended: a people to love and fellowship with Him for all eternity.
The Tower of Babel caused a lack of understanding between the nations, conversely, Pentecost caused the nations to hear and understand the mighty works of God in their own languages! This multitude of nations who experienced this unexplainable, supernatural sign inevitably had some questions.
“Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?”
And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Acts 2:7-8, 12, 37
I don’t know about you, but I’d have some questions too! This ethnically diverse group represented ‘the nations’ and Peter didn’t hesitate to give them the answer,
“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.” Acts 2:38-39
God’s love is undeniable and often unexplainable as we connect the Old Testament with the New realizing that His Plan from the beginning was to have a variety of people, from different cultures who love Him and appreciate their differences. Everyone, black, brown, or white comes to the Cross in the same way, with humility and repentance.
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