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The Ancient Yet New Fire That Pentecost Ignites

In the Hebrew Bible, mysterious windstorms with fire or lightning are consistently associated with two things: God’s presence and the formation of a temple.

Yahweh becomes present to Moses through the fire of a burning shrub called the seneh tree (which sounds a lot like “Sinai” and foreshadows what happens there later). In that famous scene, God speaks in Moses’ own language and tells him he’s standing on holy ground, implying this place is like a temple. And then God promises to empower Moses to help him set Israel free from oppression (Exod. 3).

Moses delivers his people from slavery, and they travel to Mount Sinai, where a bigger fire blazes on the mountain as a wind and fire (lightning) storm kicks up (Exod. 19:18-20). Like before, this fire signals God’s presence, marking this mountain as God’s dwelling place and a symbolic temple. The people are confused, amazed, and even panicking in fear (Exod. 20:18). But God assures them that he is partnering with them for their good, not to harm them. And he gives ten commandments for life that everyone agrees to follow.

Later, when the tabernacle is built on that same mountain, God shows up in a huge column of fire, hovering above it. The fire signals God’s presence and marks this space as his dwelling place. When Israel builds a permanent temple, the same fire shows up as God’s “dwelling glory.” This is a tangible sign that God’s presence has settled in his temple in the midst of his people’s community life.

The stories of Moses and the burning bush, Mount Sinai, the tabernacle, and the temple all include fire that shows up when God’s presence arrives and marks his dwelling space or temple. In Acts 2, Luke is hyperlinking to these previous divine-fire scenes to give a background to the Pentecost story. The divine fire has previously rested on Yahweh’s temple spaces, so where does it rest in this scene?

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.” Acts 2:1-3

It’s a temple made out of “each one of them.” It’s made of people. People will meet with God not in a geographic place or constructed space but in connection with those who choose to trust and follow Jesus. God’s fire shines with power and harms nobody, and it ignites a cosmic revolution, the Church. The story tells us that God now dwells within the community of Jesus followers. This living temple is made of people who operate like Jesus, ending fear and oppression with love and peacefully teaching humanity how to love and bless one another. In this sense, Pentecost marks the beginning of a new world.