Bible Connections 8: Pentecost Reclaims

Peter stands up at Pentecost and says this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. He is not reaching for a proof text - he is naming the passage the day is fulfilling.
Joel universalises something Moses only wished for. The Spirit comes on all God's people, young and old, sons and daughters, without regard to rank.
And the setting is Babel. Every element of the Pentecost story reaches back to the reclamation of the nations disinherited at Babel. God divided the languages there and scattered the peoples. Here he speaks every language at once and gathers them.
Scripture links:
- Genesis 11:1-9 - the languages divided, the nations scattered.
- Joel 2:28-32 - I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
- Acts 2:1-11 - each one hearing them in his own language.
The mission did not begin at Pentecost. It resumed there.