PERSONAL PENTECOST
Christians, especially the Pentecostals and Charismatics, make a big deal out of the second Pentecost portrayed in the book of Acts because it justifies their affection for speaking in tongues. Other Christian denominations include the second Pentecost in their annual liturgy of religious holidays. Jews, on the other hand, think only in terms of the first Pentecost which they celebrate annually as the Feast of Weeks (i.e. Shavuot).

Misunderstanding of the concept of Pentecost exists because neither the Jews or Christians understand the symbolism, nor do they understand God’s attitude of time.

STUDY TIP: See Time: Hours, Days, Weeks and Ages.

Lacking this understanding, Jews and Christians read about two Pentecosts (one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament) and think in historical terms of events that happened to different groups of people at different historical times. Jews and Christians, therefore, think of Pentecost as a historical event to be observed in an annual feast or liturgical event in the church calendar. Neither religion considers the symbolic application of the events to individuals as unique personal events. This global/historical perspective makes it impossible for them to interpret scripture in a way that contributes to personal righteousness. In other words, Bible is just history. The only application is to use scripture as an excuse to create a religious event (i.e. feast/holiday/tradition) that God hates.

Pentecostals/Charismatics do their best to personally apply scriptures about Pentecost but they still fail for lack of understanding of the symbolism of tongues. Focusing on New Testament scripture about tongues, they create doctrines out of the fact that some converts to Christianity spoke in tongues. From this they conclude that the physical act of speaking in tongues is normative to Christianity. And so, even though the practice of speaking in tongues was evident in other religions, past and present, Pentecostals ignore what God has said about following the customs of other nations (i.e. religions) and do it anyway.