Tongues at Pentecost

New Testament glossolalia or tongues is a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12). In the book of Acts, on the day of Pentecost we read, “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 as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2: 2-4). Evidently, this panorama is wholly accredited to the mystical work of the Holy Spirit. We cannot logically claim that these languages were known by the speakers because it specifically states that these believers were “filled with the Holy Ghost” and “the Spirit gave them utterance,” in which they all spoke in “other” or diverse languages. These tongues or languages spoken were understood by the witnesses of this event.

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

Peter answered the question “What meaneth this?” as follows:

Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

Peter then links the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy with the exaltation of Jesus of which it was evidence, and by Whom the Holy Spirit was given as a gift from the Father.

Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

This is the only incident described in the Bible in which there was this particular type of manifestation of tongues. Unique features: wind from heaven, tongues of fire, all spoke simultaneously, but the people heard the messages in the languages of the areas they came from.

Was this a one-time occurrence? We do not know. We cannot be sure that in every incident of the occurrence of tongues the Bible records every detail of what happened. It is conceivable that this sort of occurrence was repeated (for example in Acts 10, or in the Corinthian churches) but not described in full.

But it would be right to admit that this is the only account given to us in the Bible concerning this type of phenomena, in which the hearers heard the message in their own language.

However, this is by no means the only Biblical account concerning the manifestation of speaking in tongues. In every other case (clearly so in Acts), except for the languages involved, the operation in which these tongues were made manifest appears to be one and the same, namely, being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking as the Spirit gave them utterance.

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