INSTRUCTIONS: Pray. Read the text. Then use the questions below as guides to write out what you have learned from the text. You can go as deep or as basic as you choose. You may choose to only answer based on the text you are studying, or you may decide to use other passages from the Bible, commentaries, or additional outside sources of information. You can answer in any order. You may choose to spend one day in only answering from the text and another day filling in information from other sources. You may add additional details that are not asked for in the narrative study format, such as historical context, archeological information, or questions you have for further study. Always complete your own study before reading my example so that you do not limit your own thinking.
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
Characters Who is this story about? List all of the people in the story and what you know about them. In addition, there maybe animal, plant, and supernatural characters in the story. Of course, every story will include God as a main character. Sometimes, His presence is obvious, but sometimes, you must look deeper to find Him in the story.
Setting: Where and When? Check out maps to understand the relationship of ancient places to modern countries. How is this place connected to other places that you have read about? Is this place different from the locations just before this story started? Where will the characters go after this story is finished? Does this place have any spiritual significance? Part of the answer to this question might be a specific date and time of day, but a more important answer looks at what events happened before, what events happened after, and most importantly, what other events are occurring simultaneously. It is important to compare the events of the Bible with other historical events that were happening at the same time, but it is even more important to compare various Bible stories and events with each other. For example, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel all provide differing perspectives on what was happening during one specific time period, so the other two books can provide a lot of insight to explain the situations occurring in a story from one of the other books.
Plot (Problem and Solution) What is the problem happening in the story? Why is the problem happening? Could the problem have been avoided? What are the consequences that result from the problem? Was the problem resolved? If so, how was the problem resolved? What was God’s preferred solution? What solutions did humans try that were not in alignment with God’s way of handling situations?
Text-to-Text Does anything remind you of other verses that you have read in the Bible? Do you want to search deeper for more texts that speak about this subject? If so, what is the consensus of the texts that you found, i.e., what lessons were communicated by the majority of the texts and were they different from the story that you are studying?
Text-to-World What general lessons about life are in the text? What similarities do you see between the story and our modern world? What differences are there between the story and today’s world?
Text-to-Self What specific application can you find for your own life, i.e., what message is the Holy Spirit trying to give you from this story? Have you ever experienced any situation similar to the story? Would you have reacted differently than the characters? If so, why
Text-to-God What does this story reveal about God and the way that He interacts with humans? Did God approve or disapprove? How do you know? Is there anything confusing about God in this story?
My Example Bible Study
Note: You can go much deeper than this example with lots of connections and details. You can also use this narrative format for studying the Bible at a more basic level with fewer connections and skipping textual cross-references. This format can be used to suit your own needs at the present time. You may decide to fill in more information at a later date when you have more time. I recommend that you either type or write your ideas because this is an attempt to understand the Bible at a deeper level. Thus, you may want to refer back to your notes and add information as you learn more.
Characters “They were all together.” This would include the twelve apostles (including the newly chosen one), Mary the mother of Jesus and Jesus’ brothers, and unnamed women. There may have been only these people or there may have been about 120 people. People in the crowd who spoke a variety of languages including Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya/Cyrene, Rome, Cretans, and Arabians. The Holy Spirit—He came with a loud rushing wind that filled the whole house. Then He took on the appearance of divided tongues of fire that came to rest on each person there—men and women.
Setting: Where and When? Where: Jerusalem in a house with a big enough room for at least seventeen people to gather and probably many more. In fact, there may have been 120 people there. The house was located in an area of Jerusalem that was busy enough that the sound of the wind shaking the house would draw a crowd. The Holy Spirit probably came to them when they were in the upper room of the house that is mentioned in Acts 1. At the beginning of the scene, they are all sitting in the house. Then they must have stood up and exited the house because the scene moves to the area outside of the house where Peter will address the crowd.
When: Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks. Pentecost took place 50 days after the Feast of First Fruits. The Feast of First Fruits was the feast where the Israelites were to bring the first part of the harvest to the temple before they harvested any more. The Feast of First Fruits took place in the first week after Passover. Thus, when Jesus rose from the dead, He was the firstfruit of the harvest that will happen at the second coming. Then Jesus continued to be with the disciples for 40 days and then told them to wait in Jerusalem until the Spirit came, i.e. until Pentecost.
At Pentecost the men of Israel were to gather in Jerusalem and bring offerings from their completed harvest to the temple. Essentially, the disciples were symbolic harvest offerings. Jesus had worked with them for 3 1/2 years, and now they were ready. He told them at the Last Supper that they were clean and that He would be glorified in them when the Spirit came. To the universes, they were to be representatives of Jesus’ harvest among humanity. They were Jesus’ offering to the Father. Just as God sent fire down from heaven to consume the offering at Solomon’s Temple to show that He accepted the offering, there was fire at Pentecost and a new sign to show that the Father accepted the offering of Jesus’ harvest. Then, immediately the Spirit (God) entered His new temple, their bodies.
Plot (Problem and Solution) Before His ascension, Jesus had told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4-5). “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Act 1:8). They knew that they were waiting for something special that would provide them with power, and that when they received that power, they would begin telling the world about Jesus. They were waiting for the promised baptism, but they were not quite sure what it would entail since no one had ever experienced it before.
The coming of the Spirit drew the attention of large crowds from all over, and they converged upon the area of the house. I suppose this was because it had been ground zero for the wind and noise made by the arrival of the Spirit. The apostles and company would have been questioned about what had made all of the ruckus. They would have begun answering and explaining about Jesus and the Spirit. As they all spoke, the crowd realized that they were speaking in a multitude of languages. These were understandable languages spoken by the many visitors to Jerusalem at this time. I wonder if they spoke the languages with Galilean accents. How else would the crowd have known that the men were Galilean? Their clothing? Did Galilean Jews look differently from Judean Jews? The people who could speak several languages were amazed at the linguistic ability of these followers of Jesus, but to others who only spoke one language, it just sounded like gibberish. Thus, they accused the apostles of being drunk. The words being spoken were words praising God and telling of the amazing action that He had just performed. This was the first step in the witnessing activities that Jesus had said that they would be performing.
Text-to-Text Pentecost reminds me of Paul’s logic that since Jesus was the firstfruits of the resurrection, we will also be resurrected. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ” (1Co 15:20-23).
Jesus promised the Spirit at the Last Supper. ““If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (Joh 14:15-17). “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (Joh 14:26).
The entrance of the Holy Spirit into the human temples has similarities with other times when God manifested His presence to humans. “As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire descended from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the Temple. The priests could not enter into the Temple because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’s Temple. When all of the Israelis saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD resting on the Temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement, worshipped, and gave thanks to the LORD, “Because he is good; because his gracious love is eternal” (2Ch 7:1-3).
Text-to-World Just like today, when there is a disturbance of some kind, people gather to find out what is going on. God drew the people to the location of His followers, but His followers did their part in pointing back to God in praise. When God draws people in to us, what will they find? Will they find us glorifying God or focused on ourselves and our troubles? Another similarity is that there were skeptics back then just as there are today. These people deny the evidence right before their eyes to seek a “normal” explanation for amazing signs. We should not expect everyone to accept the obvious evidence of God’s working. There will be skeptics and mockers no matter how obvious and undeniable the sign that God provides. In our modern world, people try to use science to deny God’s miraculous presence. However, they are not honest in their use of science. In fact, they misuse the scientific principles and methods when it benefits their own point of view. If they used science in a truly objective way, God’s presence would be undeniable.
Text-to-Self I frequently interact with people of different cultures and a multitude of languages, but I do not have the gift of tongues. Instead, God has provided me with the gift of teaching. Instead of speaking their languages, I end up teaching them to be comfortable in speaking English. I believe that this is the route that God wants me to use to proclaim His love. My teaching shows them that they are of value to me. Their communication skills open the door to receiving knowledge of God more efficiently from the many tools that God has provided in English.
I don’t know how I would react to experiencing a miraculous phenomenon like having tongues of fire resting on my head and speaking in a foreign language that I have never studied. I think that I would be in shock and disbelief that it was happening. Either that, or I would just accept it as normal and go with the flow until later when I would be amazed that it had happened and unable to get my mind around the abnormality that I had participated in.
The wind is particularly fierce as I meditate on this passage. It has blowing loudly for hours. This helps me to gain a sensory picture of the power that was in the room as the Spirit blew through it. That would be a scary experience if a person did not have the comfort of knowing that this overwhelming force was from the Savior who loved us and died in order to keep us safe with Him for eternity.
Text-to-God Most times God acts with subtlety and gentleness. I have experienced the quiet persistence of the Spirit attempting to gain my attention. I have heard His quiet voice telling me that He loved me. However, God is not limited to quiet behind-the-scenes activity. When God decides it is appropriate, He can fill a mountain with fire, wind, and earth-shaking power. The coming of the Spirit to fill the disciples required that kind of display to announce that a new order had come to the world. This is one of the stories in the Bible where human actions and desires aligned with God’s desires and actions. They worked as a team. God drew the audience in and the humans did their part in explaining the message that God wanted the crowd to hear. I pray to be able to work as a team with God every day to accomplish the objectives that God desires.