Jesus had foretold his disciples that miraculous signs and wonders
should accompany and attest the word of the gospel published by them
(Mark xvi, 17, 18), and the subsequent history gives abundant
illustration of the fulfillment of this promise, in the healing of the
sick, raising the dead and other miracles of power. But the only signs
mentioned on the day of Pentecost are the “rushing mighty wind,” the
“cloven tongues like as of fire,” and the gift of “other tongues.” The
first of these has been already considered. We will now inquire into the
“tongues like as of fire.” “There appeared unto them cloven tongues,
like as of fire; and it sat upon each of them.” Says Alexander,
“_Cloven_ should rather be, _distributed_, so that one sat on each of
them. (Vulg. _linguæ dispertitæ_.) The common version, which implies
that each tongue was divided into two or more, is at variance with the
usage of the Greek verb (_diamerizomenai_), which sometimes denotes
moral separation or estrangement (Luke xi, 17, 18; xii, 52, 53), but
never, physical division. Its usual sense of distribution, or allotment,
may be seen by a comparison of Matt, xxvii, 35; Mark xv, 24; Luke xxii,
17; xxiii, 34; and Acts ii, 45.”[86] “There appeared unto them
distributed tongues like as of fire, and one sat on each of them.” Such
is the literal meaning of the evangelist. These tongues “_appeared_,”
“_like as_ of fire.” Not burning, but brightness or illumination was
their characteristic. They had thus the appearance of burning lamps, and
seem evidently to have been symbols of that divine illumination which
through the ministry of the gospel was about to be given to the
Gentiles. In the tabernacle and temple stood the seven branched golden
candlestick, with its seven lamps, which were by the priests daily
replenished with oil, and kept burning continually. In the opening of
the vision of the Apocalypse, John saw seven golden candlesticks, or
lampstands, in the midst of which was one like the Son of man, in whose
right hand were seven stars. These stars were the burning lamps of the
lampstands. (Compare Rev. i, 12, 13, 16, 20; iii, 1; and iv, 5.) They
were explained to him. The candlesticks were the seven churches of Asia,
and the stars were the angels of the seven churches. There has been some
question among expositors, as to the form of church government
contemplated in this vision. But the most are agreed that, whatever was
the form, the angels were the ministry, conceived as lamps of light
upborne by the churches. By this interpretation, we are led to the same
understanding as to the golden candlestick in the tabernacle and temple,
since the scenery of the Revelation is a recognized transcript from the
temple, which was a pattern of the heavenly things. The seven lamps
shining as stars in the darkness of the sanctuary, through the continual
supply of oil ministered by the priests, were a beautiful type of the
ministry and ordinances of the church of God, shining amid the moral
darkness of the world, through the gifts and graces of the Spirit poured
upon them by Jesus, the great high Priest. The day of Pentecost had been
predicted of old, as the time of the shedding of light upon the Gentiles
by the awakened church. “Arise, shine; for thy light is come and the
glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold the darkness shall
cover the earth and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise
upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall
come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”—Isa. lx,
1-3. By Zacharias, at the birth of John, and by Simeon, at the
presentation of Jesus in the temple, He had been described in this
character,—“The dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to
them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death; to guide our feet
into the way of peace.”—Luke i, 78, 79. Says Simeon, “Mine eyes have
seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all
people,—a _Light_ to lighten the _Gentiles_, and _the glory_ of thy
people Israel.”—Ib. ii, 30-32. John, in the beginning of his gospel
speaks in the same manner,—“In him was life and the life was the Light
of men, and the Light shineth in darkness.”—John i, 4, 5. Jesus had
described the ministry of John, under this figure. “He was a burning and
a shining light.”—John v, 35. He had distinctly foretold his disciples
that they were ordained to be the light of the Gentiles. “Ye are the
light of the world. A city that is set on a hill can not be hid. Neither
do men light a candle (_luchnon_, a lamp), and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the
house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good
works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”—Matt. v, 14-16. And
now, upon them waiting and expectant, He sheds down the oil of the
Spirit’s grace, kindles a light upon every brow, and inspires them to
utter God’s praises in the tongues of every land; thus, to them
signifying that the time was come to “Arise and shine,” and to others
announcing that the Light of the Gentiles had risen upon the world.
Footnote 86:
Alexander on the Acts.