When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.

–Parallel verses:
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭11‬:‭4‬-‭9‬
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.
The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Language is such a fascinating thing. I know people who speak languages other than English, and it takes practice to maintain the vocabulary, tone inflections, dialect differences, etc. Language can also convey certain cultural uniqueness and sarcasm through idioms and catch phrases.

I find it interesting that though there are now so many different languages and dialects in this world, when we pray God does not need an interpreter, he understands us in real time. Actually he understands the intentions of our hearts before we form them into the words of a prayer. The Apostle Paul speaks to this: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” (‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭26‬-‭27‬)

So we must declare God as the Almighty, All-Knowing God above all language.
With this groundwork laid, we now take a look at the time of Pentecost and the speaking of other languages into the broader context of the Bible as a whole. We understand that after the Holy Spirit was given, Paul said that the Spirit of God inside us can pray for us, as he can understand the things that weigh on our hearts before we speak them.

Going backwards in time now, we go to our parallel verses in Genesis. The people of the earth, all speaking the same language, united together and planned to build a city with a tower that reached the heavens. Why? “To make a name for ourselves.” And who were they trying to impress and be like? It must have been the spiritual beings, for they wanted to reach and touch heaven. This is just like the temptation Eve and Adam fell for in the Garden of Eden – they wanted to have the knowledge and power of God. They were prideful, arrogant, and sinful, in that they did not recognize the role God had given them on this earth. The created stood up against their Creator and willfully went against His design for them.

So God created multiple languages, and changed the peoples languages that they knew in their minds supernaturally. This must have been very humiliating for them. It scattered them, put them in their place, and forced them to recognize that God was God and they were not.

Fast forward to Pentecost, and God used the speaking of different languages (or tongues) for an entirely different purpose. This time, instead of different languages scattering and dividing people, he created for a period, in essence, a common language for all to hear. Acts 2:6 tells us that each one heard them speaking in their own language. So this time, God, who is the author and Creator of all in this world — the one who confused communication by causing people to speak different languages than the ones they knew in the time of the Tower of Babel — now caused people who spoke one language to be heard in languages they did not know, so that the truth about Jesus Christ could be shown in power.

What a wonderful reversal of things God made happen at Pentecost. Where once confusion and separation by language existed, now there was, for a time, no confusion and no language barriers.
And I believe that God not only demonstrated this power of his for those living then to experience, but for us to trust in and count on too. THERE IS NO COMMUNICATION BARRIER GOD CANNOT AND WILL NOT BREAK THROUGH, IN ORDER TO SPEAK THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS AND HIS SAVING GRACE TO A LOST WORLD! WOW! We serve such a mighty and loving God!

Lord, thank you for being the God over all communication, language, and truth. You reign and rule above it all. No media outlet or disinformation campaign can overtake you in your quest to share the gospel to lost and broken people. Use me however you desire to advance your kingdom work!