Troublesome Topic: PRECEPTS ABOUT TONGUES FROM ACTS 2:41
Lesson 5 of 9Acts 2:41
Translation
Indeed those who heartily received the word from him were baptized and on that day about three thousand souls were added.
Paraphrase
Then those who gladly welcomed the message Peter had spoken were baptized. That very day about three thousand souls were added to the number of those that follow Jesus.
HERE WE FIND THE ACTION OF THE THUMMIM – THE CONCLUSION OF THE MATTER
Here is the completion, the application of truth to the lives of those who heard the message. They asked the apostles questions directly related to the Thummim in verse 12, “What is the purpose of what we are witnessing here?” and again in verse 37, “What shall we do?” His answer is found in verse 38 – “repent and be baptized.”
Then the completion of it all was seen here in verse 41 with their response when 3000 of them repented and were baptized.
The day of Pentecost, known to the Jews as the Feast of weeks, was held in celebration of the end of all their grain harvests. Harvest-time is the ultimate fulfillment for a farmer; his Thummim in a physical sense. The day of Pentecost recorded in this chapter was the fulfillment of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on this earth and at the same time, it was the beginning of God’s great harvest of souls based on the fact that Jesus had gone and left the Holy Spirit in His place.
According to Ray Vanderlaan, the conversion and baptism of 3000 people was the exact same number of people who had died on this day of the calendar after they had worshipped the golden calf crafted by Aaron (see Exodus 32:28). This brought it full circle. This was the Thummim.
The inclusion of people who were at a disadvantage because of a language barrier proves that the harvest (fulfillment) God desires was, and always will be, a diverse harvest from all the people groups on earth, not just the Jews.
The next lesson in the Mid Length Series on Tongues is Precepts about Tongues from Acts 10:30-31