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I’ve read the account of the Holy Spirit’s descending upon the Apostles at Pentecost in Acts 2 many times, and every time I’m struck by the bizarre image of tongues of fire resting on their heads. When I see a tongue, I think of a strange organ that I often don’t pay attention to. It wriggles and turns and writhes to make words. And not just that, at Pentecost the tongues were made of fire.
Many commentators believe that the tongues point back to Babel in Genesis 11, where God confused the language of the earth. At Pentecost, the Apostles spoke the languages of the nations present; everyone could hear the gospel in his own tongue. The tongues showed that the Holy Spirit was at work in reversing the confusion of the nations through the very organ that had led to confusion in the beginning. A new God-centered unity was at work. And more than that, the fire pointed to purity and divine presence: These tongues were for the saving of the world unto a holy God.
Though the many languages at Babel brought confusion, we can also experience confusion even within a single language. We’ve all had the experience of hearing something incorrectly or miscommunicating. Many of us have experienced the corrosive effects of gossip, malicious speech, and offensive language. Indeed, James uses the fire image for tongues in a different way than Pentecost does—to describe how the tongue can set things ablaze unto destruction (ch. 3). The truth is, words have tremendous power: They bind us together, but they also tear us apart.
Why? Because God’s words have power, and we’re created in His image. In the beginning, God spoke, and His word made things. We don’t create ex nihilo, but our words still have power to change, manipulate, and accomplish things in His creation. Since we failed to fulfill the task of imaging Him well, God sent His own Son to accomplish what we couldn’t. “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Christ’s tongue brought goodness rather than evil; it said all the right things and none of the wrong. His was a holy tongue that spoke only the will of His Father. That is now our calling: to make His Word our word and His will our will, and to use our tongues to praise Him for all He has done, both now and forever.