The Tower that God Built

Acts 2:14-21 Peter's Sermon (Joel 2:28-32) 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' NKJV

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

To sum up what we studied yesterday; the crowd in response to the confusion of the Holy Spirit’s power working in Christ’s disciples, was a slanderous judgment of drunkenness. After hearing the “wondrous works” of God in their own tongue; the crowd just looked at the disciples like they were crazy. Nothing like this has been seen before. In fact, this was the opposite of the confusion that God gave the people at the Tower of Babel in history. Gen 11:1-9 The Tower of Babel 11 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the Lord said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. NKJV These people were building a tower to reach the heavens to make a name for themselves and show God just how awesome they were. Essentially, they were trying to get to heaven by their own works and power, but God saw their ungodly heart and confused their language and divided them up so that they might have an opportunity to cry out to God for mercy in the future of His providence. They needed God as their Strong Tower; not to show God how awesome their power and strength is. Therefore, because the people were all agreed and together in their pride before the Lord, He saw how this prince of this world and sin would destroy their souls. So, He confused their language, so that, they would be scattered over the face of the earth. The people’s purpose for building a tower was in rebellion to The Lord’s command to be fruitful and multiply in the earth. Their actions were a form of witchcraft and self-righteousness, which the Lord hates. Therefore God had every right to judge them as He did, but He always leaves room for mercy, which leads us to what Peter is about to preach before these “devout” men in Jerusalem. Peter is ready through the Holy Spirit’s power to give an answer to these “devout” men who did not know what to make of hearing the “wondrous works of God” in their own language (Acts 2:5,12; 1 Pet. 3:15). He starts out by addressing those who dwell in Judea and Jerusalem first, men of his own culture and tongue, men who have heard of the prophet Joel (Rom. 1:16). He gives them warning to listen carefully, knowing that these are “devout” men who are “serious” worshipers of the God of Israel, and who know the history of Israel and the patriarchs. He leads out by quoting a prophesy of Joel. 17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; . . . The same Spirit that divided the language of the first culture after the flood, roughly 4000 years ago, is now at work to bring these “tongues” back into an understanding of God’s one love language; through the Person and work of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who now is and always was, the only way to heaven. He is the tower that God built for man to reach God (Jdg. 9:51; Ps. 61:3; Pr. 18:10). It will only be by His power and His work if man is going to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20). The “devout” Jews will have to forsake their once dearly held beliefs about the “Temple” and the sacrifices (Matt. 5:24) if they are going to be true worshipers of God that worship in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:24). Because God is not the author of confusion, man’s sin is responsible for the confusion; both at the tower of Babel and at Pentecost (1 Cor. 14:33). As noted earlier it was pride that caused God to act in judgment and divide their language because they confused God’s command. But at this point, during Pentecost, the confusion was an ignorance of God’s mercy. Acts 3:17-21 17 "Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. NKJV

At this point the Holy Spirit reigns in the earth, but according to these verses Christ Himself will come bringing a restoration and reign in Israel (Rev. 20), which we studied earlier, but what Israel and we need today is a spirit of repentance.

I don’t have much time to get into Joel’s prophesy in this study, but Lord willing we continue in our next study. For now, be “devout” and consider what Peter is preaching about repentance, and do not remain ignorant as these “devout” Jews were; at least in their mind; but according to God's mind who has the power to correct our misunderstanding of His law. Eph 4:17-19 17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. NKJV Rom 12:2 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. NKJV