Acts 2:3

Sunday, 24 October 2021 <p> </p> <p>Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. Acts 2:3</p> <p> </p> <p>In the previous verse, it was noted that the sound of the rushing mighty wind filled the house where the people were sitting. It is at this time that Luke next records, “Then there appeared.”</p> <p> </p> <p>The idea seems to be that within the house, and without any known, visible source, something new came forth. The thought is not unlike what happened as is recorded in Daniel 5 –</p> <p> </p> <p>“In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.” Daniel 5:5</p> <p> </p> <p>Seemingly, and out of nowhere, the fingers of a man’s hand appeared. Likewise, Luke records that to these disciples there appeared “to them divided tongues.” The verb is actually a present participle. The thought is something like, “dividing tongues,” or “parting tongues.”</p> <p> </p> <p>The word “tongues” is glossa. It signifies a tongue, a language, or even a nation which is distinguished by its language. Even before getting to the next verse, the idea is clear. A language is being presented “as of fire.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Here the Greek is specific. It is not necessarily fire (although it could be), but that the tongues appeared and acted as would tongues of fire. Their appearance brought to mind how a tongue of fire would look and act as it divided from the main source. In the Old Testament, the term “tongue of fire” is found only once, in Isaiah 5:24 –</p> <p> </p> <p>“Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 5:24</p> <p> </p> <p>There, it signified the disapproval of the Lord towards the people of Israel an