This brings us to Acts 1:15-26 and the appointment of Matthias to take the place of Judas, the one who had betrayed the Lord. First, let’s look at the timing of this. Verse 15 tells us this took place “in those days”. This refers to a fairly specific time. We already know Jesus showed himself alive in at least twelve different appearances (those that are recorded as already discussed) for forty days after His resurrection. Leviticus 23:5, 15-16 lets us know there are fifty days between Passover (when Jesus was crucified) and Pentecost (soon to come in Acts 2:1). Pentecost is the Greek word for fifty. So, we can assume the account we’re looking at here took place some time during the seven days between Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost (do the math).
And, as we saw in Lesson 161, Peter is going to change from a weak, cowardly failure into a bold, courageous leader. This is the beginning of that transformation. Luke tells us there were about 120 disciples gathered together (verse 15) when Peter stood up and told them the Scripture concerning Judas spoken by the Holy Spirit through David must be fulfilled (verse 16). This is a reference to Psalm 69:25-28.
This is yet another example of the Scriptures exposing the false doctrine of eternal security. In verse 17 Peter says Judas had “received his portion of this ministry”. Yet later in verse 25 he says concerning someone else taking Judas’ place in this ministry “from which Judas fell to go where he belonged” (compare Psalm 69:28, Matthew 26:23-24, John 17:12).
The next two verses give us the simple qualifications for the one who would be chosen to take Judas’ place. First, it had to be someone who had accompanied the apostles from the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry (the baptism of John) to the end (His ascension). Then, he must be willing to become a witness to Jesus’ resurrection. As we will see, the resurrection will be the main subject and emphasis of the apostolic ministry. We should note the King James Version incorrectly says, “must one be ordained to be a witness”. “Ordained” is not in the original. And, it should be mentioned here that this idea of being ordained is often used in religion to establish a false authority in clergy used to supersede the real authority of the Holy Spirit as teacher and guide in the believer’s life.
So, they nominated two: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias (verse 23). Then they prayed and asked the Lord to show them which one should be chosen (verse 24). Now, today we would use some form of voting to determine who would be chosen. They drew lots. Usually this was done by putting the names on pieces of parchment or stones or maybe pieces of wood. They would then put them in an urn or container of some sort and someone would reach in and take one out (see Leviticus 16:8-9 for an example). Matthias was chosen.
Then Acts 2 begins with, “And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place.” There was the sudden sound of a violent wind that filled the place (verse 2), they saw what looked like tongues of fire that came to rest on all of them (verse 3), they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak “in other tongues” as the Spirit continued to give them clear expression (verse 4).
Now we’ve already discussed in a previous lesson regarding Mark 16:17 the meaning of “new tongues” where “new” is kainos, new in a qualitative sense, different. Here in Acts 2:4 the text has “other tongues”, where “other” is from heteros, another, in a qualitative sense. “Tongues” is glossa, a known language. Both places are referring to known languages that have never been learned or spoken by the one now speaking it. There are several other examples of this in Acts 10:44-48, 19:1-7 and is regulated by Paul in I Corinthians, chapters 12-14 (we’ll look at that in later lessons).
In every case these “tongues” are the same as what is described in the following verses in Acts 2:5-13. Rather than go through this verse-by-verse, since it’s pretty straightforward, I’ll just quote it.
“Now, there were in Jerusalem devout Jews from every country under heaven. And when they heard this sound, many of them came to investigate and were astonished, because they heard the apostles speaking to them in their own particular language. Completely amazed, they asked, Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? How is it, then, that each of us hears them speak in his own native language? Parthinians, Medes and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, those from Rome (both Jews and those who have converted to Judaism), Cretans and Arabs too – we all hear them speaking in our own native language declaring the mighty works of God! Amazed and bewildered, they asked one another, What can this mean? But others thought it was funny and accused them of being drunk from too much sweet wine.”
Just a note of clarification, the “sweet wine” above (“new wine” in the King James Version) is from gleukos, from the root glukus, sweet. This was a wine that was made from a process that preserved the sweetness of the grape, but also produced a higher alcoholic content. Used only here, this was never the wine mentioned in other scriptures that reference wine.
The point that must be made here is that the same interpretation must be used in any of the other references (either in Mark, Acts or I Corinthians) where “other tongues” (another language) or “new tongues” (different languages) are found. You cannot simply change the meaning to fit the practice of some who want it to mean something else, justifying their belief in some unintelligible, so-called spiritual language.