Acts 2:1-4 English Standard Version
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
If a vessel is filled with water, there is no longer any room for air. This is the essence of being filled with the Holy Spirit, there is no room for self. The power of the Holy Spirit overwhelms the presence of self and takes over. These men did not know the language they spoke. They were not learned men.
There are fifty days from Passover to Pentecost. Pentecost is the first of three great festivals. It is the feast of weeks. This is what the International Standard bible Encyclopedia has to say about Pentecost.
“The requirements of the three great festivals were then well understood at this time, and their authority was founded in the Mosaic Law and unquestioned. The festival and its ritual were minutely described in this Law. Every male in Israel was on that day required to appear before the Lord at the sanctuary.”
This is a sign of God’s perfect timing in which the power of the Holy Spirit was not demonstrated until this great gathering of faithful Jews that were gathered before the Lord. What was different for all these men was to experience that the sanctuary of the Lord now abides in men. That had to be demonstrated in a way that was undeniable. Every man had to see for themselves the power of the Lord as He appeared before them.
This was something that had never happened before in all their experiences.