The Tower of Babel Vs Pentecost Part 2

The significance of the Day of Pentecost described in Chapter two of the book of Acts is, in my humble opinion, minimized by the denominational emphasis of speaking in tongues. To connect the baptism of the Holy Spirit with just speaking in tongues is a minuscule way of viewing what took place on this glorious day. Not that I claim to have the full revelation, but allow me to share what I was able to see a few days ago as I engaged in my own personal devotional time with the Lord.

While the Tower of Babel is a symbol of men’s evil desire to do things apart from God as they proclaim themselves as high and lifted up as God; which was the spirit behind Satan’s fall; in Pentecost, God displayed His zeal of approval for a new way of life. Don’t you see?  At the building of the Tower of Babel, God confused the languages and diverted men’s self-ambitions away from His way of life. In Pentecost, God uses, once again, our language to make His point across. In Acts 2:1-12 we see this amazing story:

“1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

“What does this mean?” somebody asks from the crowd! The Tower of Babel represents and will always represent an incomplete project; a symbol of the empty results of the arrogance of men. It is scary to see the symbol of this tower on our American dollar symbolizing the goal of its completion; however, why should we be surprised, we know who is the god of this world!

Pentecost, on the other hand, represents a total reliance on God and His power. With the representation of every known language at the time, as they spoke in tongues, they were able to supernaturally understand each other! Pentecost is a prophetic announcement of all of the nations coming together as one nation under the flag of God’s Word. The Bible actually calls us citizens from heaven (Phil. 3:20): we now belong to the culture of the Bible. When we call on Jesus to come into our hearts in true repentance of our sins we automatically receive our welcome to the oneness of the language of love that was released on Pentecost. By the Spirit I can encourage you; by the Spirit I can forgive you; by the Spirit I have no limits and by the same Spirit I can proclaim with confidence, no matter the hell that my eyes see, that my side wins.

TO BE CONTINUED…