Gift of Tongues - Acts 2:1-12

It has been 50 days since Jesus was crucified and we know that most of that time has been spent with Jesus teaching his now Apostles how to run the church without Him physically present. On this day of the Jewish Feast of Weeks, the Jews celebrated both the end of the wheat harvest and the receiving of the Torah by Moses on Mount Sinai. The Apostles and I would assume many of the disciples, were gathered together “with one accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”  This is a sudden and surely unexpected event, but one they were clearly ready for and I feel like so many of our own spiritual experiences are like that. I know for me, there were several times when I learned something significant that I wasn’t expecting but that I was ready for.

The appearance of “cloven tongues like of fire” is significant for a couple of reasons. The IM calls this “a visible manifestation of the Spirit’s presence.” The cloven tongues are an interesting description because of what happens right after this, where the Apostles go outside and immediately begin to speak in tongues to the people gathered in Jerusalem. The Spirit appearing as “fire” is appropriate because we hear of “burning in your bosom” or a “warmth” that you feel when the Spirit is testifying. I don’t think I can ever remember the Spirit being equated to cold, so fire would be a very fitting representation.
This rush of the Spirit was overwhelming for three of their senses, very loud, very bright, and very hot, but is again, the ways that the Spirit speaks to us. This is the day that the Savior had promised his disciples would come, the day when the Holy Ghost would be their constant companions. The IM quotes Elder Jeffrey R. Holland as teaching, “The very name Pentecost comes into the Christian vocabulary as synonymous with breathtaking spiritual manifestations and a divine outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon all the people.” If we consider Moses receiving the Law directly from God as happening on the original day of Pentecost, then the Apostles receiving the Holy Spirit directly from God on the first day of Pentecost since the Atonement, then the timeline completely makes sense.
Interestingly, Moses and the Apostles weren’t the only ones to ever experience this incredible spiritual outpouring at one time. The IM reminds us “At the time of the dedicatory services for the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet Joseph Smith prayed for a special outpouring of the Spirit from on high: ‘Let it be fulfilled upon them, as upon those on the day of Pentecost,’ he pleased in behalf of the Saints. ‘Let the gift of tongues be poured out upon thy people, even cloven tongues as of fire, and the interpretation thereof. And let thy house be filled, as with a rushing mighty wind, with thy glory.’ This plea was fulfilled, not just once, but several times during the days following the initial dedicatory services. Joseph Smith recorded that on one occasion, ‘a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the (Kirtland) Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw glorious visions; and I beheld the Temple was filled with angels, which fact I declared to the congregation.”
The Apostles “were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.” My first question is why were there so many international Jews at Jerusalem at that time? Pentecost was a festival known to all Jews from the time of Moses, so they would have known to come to Jerusalem for the Feast. The IM says, “The crowd that was gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost was a diverse group of Jews who had been part of the Diaspora 9the scattering of the house of Israel into lands other than Palestine) who spoke many different languages. These travelers are listed as being born in Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamia, Judaea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya about Cyrene, Rome, Cretes, and Arabians. This is a lot of different places and at least 15 different languages.
When the Apostles started speaking in these languages, the visitors were “amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” I’ve never understood the significance of hearing something in your native language. I’ve had friends that have told me how much they love hearing the gospel taught in their language and I’ve never really had a reference for that because I speak English and only English and pretty much everyone else around me down too. I haven’t ever really had anything to compare that experience to. What surprises me about my friends’ statements is that they all speak English very well, so I wonder, “why does hearing the gospel in your native language matter when you speak and understand English just as well?”
This is one of those deep, psychological issues because the mind can understand but it’s the spirit that is touched. Speaking English when English is not your native language might feel like conforming to another culture, and sometimes might even feel like your abandoning your native culture and most people have strong feelings of love and happiness that is associated with the culture that they were born into. By embracing the gospel in another language and culture it might feel like you’re giving up what you love about your friends and family and home in order to conform. But when you hear the gospel taught in your own language, it’s kind of feeling accepted of the Lord, like Jesus is saying that who you are and how you were born is ok, that you are enough and loved no matter what your circumstances. Jesus isn’t just a God of English speakers or speakers of Hebrew, He loves all people in all languages and hearing the gospel in your own language that you know and love can help you feel the love that God has for you and your family.
When the forgieners asked “aren’t these Galilaeans?” it sounded like it might have been meant derogatorily, and maybe it was, but really, they were just pointing out, “how did these poor Jews from a Podunk town learn my obscure language?” The IM says, “each many heard the Apostles’ words in his own language. The gift of tongues was given to the earthly Apostles on the day of Pentecost so they could preach the gospel in multiple languages. This gift is one of the signs of the true Church. The Prophet Joseph Smith explained the proper use of his gift: ‘The gift of tongues by the power of the Holy Ghost in the Church, is for the benefit of the servants of God to preach to unbelievers, as on the day of Pentecost.”
The Apostles were able to teach other Jews about the Savior and His Gospel because they were able to communicate in a language that they understood. This is in keeping with Jesus’ command to preach the gospel to the Jews first, he apparently did just mean the Jews in Palestine, but he meant Jews everywhere. These Jews that were visiting from foreign lands had probably not been as corrupted by the Pharisees as those that were in Jerusalem, so they would have had a different perspective when presented with the gospel. They also would have taken their new understanding and faith back to their homelands with them afterward and started to prepare the Gentiles there for the gospel when it arrived through missionaries later.
The IM quotes President Joseph Fielding Smith as teaching, “The true gift of tongues is made manifest in the Church more abundantly, perhaps, than any other spiritual gift. Every missionary who goes forth to teach the gospel in a foreign language, if he (or she) is prayerful and faithful, receives this gift.” As much as we’d all like dramatic spiritual events, 99% of what we do receive comes slowly and quietly and without fanfare. This is the way that the gift of tongues is given to most people, through prayer and faith and study and effort, and then the Spirit will bestow knowledge and ability on those who would not be able to receive it that quickly any other way.