It’s hard to overstate the importance of Pentecost. For many Christians it’s simply a nice story about “the birth of the Church,” the sending of the Holy Spirit, the speaking in tongues. A story about how God sent out the Holy Spirit like a tongue of fire.
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts 2:21
It’s an amazing story, but often that’s where it ends. There may be a connection here and there to how it reverses the story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11, but it’s usually a surface connection and fails to carry the import of the Genesis event or the connection it has with Pentecost.
In Genesis 11 the people were arrogant and God judged them, not just by confusing their language and their understanding of each other, but by scattering them and dispelling their unity.
If they wanted to reach heaven and be their own God then they would be on their own to do it. If they wanted to make a name for themselves rather than be under and worship in the name of the one true God, God wasn’t having it. If they didn’t want Him, so be it; He wasn’t going to force Himself on them. Instead He would choose His own people for Himself. The next chapter in Genesis has Him choosing Abram and giving His covenant to him.
Jump forward to Pentecost. Here we have the time after Jesus conquered the chaos and confusion caused by sin, death, and the devil and after showing Himself to multitudes as being alive, He ascended into heaven and now sends the Holy Spirit to bring people together. To unite in Jesus. To reverse the chaos of Babel and move forward with a new life in the Spirit of God. A Spirit who unites, not in Himself, but in the name and the salvation of Jesus Christ. The reversal comes to all who call upon the name of the Lord. All who have faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit shows that they will be saved. Beyond confusion, beyond chaos, beyond scattering. In Jesus there is beautiful understanding, order, and a gathering together in God.
What a wonderful reversal! What a beautiful end! What a joyous day to celebrate!
“Thank you Lord Jesus for conquering chaos and confusion. Thank you father for sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost so that the curse of Babel would we reversed and that now all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved! May we live and breathe your spirit in our lives and through the lives of others. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Scriptures
- Genesis 11:1-9
- Acts 2:1-21
