Cloven tongues with fire of the Holy Spirit falls on the disciples of Jesus Christ.

Acts 2:1-13

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“When the Day of Pentecost had 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 the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them cloven tongues, as of fire, and sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4

As a point of interest, this is before the conversion of Paul, which happened in Acts 9:1-22, and his missionary journey began in Acts 13. Also, there were 120 people gathered in one accord [Acts 1:15], and this event is prophesied about in 2 Chronicles 5:12-13.

Pentecost is celebrated by the Jewish culture fifty days after the Passover festivities. For us followers of Jesus Christ, Passover represents the blood of Christ applied to our heart which causes death to pass over us as we receive eternal life. There were fifty days from when Christ died on the Cross to atone for sin, and was resurrected, to the day of Pentecost [outpouring of the Holy Spirit]. Christ died and was buried, then three days later was resurrected. Then He walked on this earth for 40 days after His resurrection [Acts 1:3]. That is 43 days total, then the Apostles waited in Jerusalem for another 7 days before the Holy Spirit came. That is a total of fifty days from His crucifixion to the day of Pentecost.

At that time, about 120 disciples of Jesus Christ [Acts 1:15] were all in one accord in Christ Jesus and in one place. In today’s culture, the gathering of Believers with one accord in one place is opposed. At the same time, love has gone cold, the spread of the Gospel of Christ is being prohibited, and the Holy Spirit has become scarce in this world. Today’s churches have abandoned the testimony of Jesus to partner with the community and their atheistic values.

When the Holy Spirit came, there came a sudden sound from heaven, like a rushing mighty wind, and filled the whole house where the 120 were sitting. This is the same Holy Spirit that empowered all of the disciples of Jesus to be His witnesses. As we see today, the Gospel of Christ has reached global proportions, as quoted, “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 The core work of the Holy Spirit is to convict of sin and bring people to Jesus Christ and to make us His witnesses.

“Cloven tongues, as of fire” means double, the same as a two-edged sword has two blades, one on each side. Fire represents the presence of the Holy Spirit. As followers of Jesus Christ, we speak words that separate us from the ways of this world while at the same time drawing us nearer to Jesus Christ. The Bible speaks of the word of God being sharper than any two-edged sword, which is true of a tongue speaking with the Holy Spirit. In the Holy Spirit, this is a true interpretation of the “cloven tongues”, as quoted, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:12-13

In the context of the scriptures of this post, “cloven tongues” also refers to speaking in a foreign language and at the same time speaking with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Each of the 120 members in the room received a tongue filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit and they all spoke in another language as the Holy Spirit gave them the ability, as we see in the verses of Acts 2:5-12, as quoted below this paragraph. Those were languages of each other’s countries. For example, the Galileans were speaking in such a way that people in Libya and many other countries could understand. In other words, the Holy Spirit gave these tongues as a way to bring the Gospel of Christ to all the world by removing language barriers. Today, the Bible is translated in many, many languages across the globe.

“And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.” Acts 2:5-13

On the map below, you can see the 15 places where people heard the Galileans speaking in their language by the Holy Spirit. Jerusalem, where the Holy Spirit was poured out, is seen marked with the red dot in the middle of the image towards the lower half. Paul’s missionary journey would involve many places within the 15 places on the map, and his missionary journey began in Acts 13, as his conversion happened in Acts 9:1-22.

The tongues/languages spoken about here are very much different than the tongues/languages that Paul says are best to be kept to self than for public use. The next post speaks about those lesser forms of tongues.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1