Acts 2:1

“When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”

What does it mean to be in one accord? The word “accord” in this verse is translated from the Greek word “homothymadon,” which means “with one mind, with one passion, unanimous.”

If you read back in Acts chapter 1, verse 14, they began to pray and eagerly wait for the Promise of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had told them about prior to His ascension to heaven. Now based upon the timing of Jesus’ ascension and the Day of Pentecost, it has been determined that the disciples of Jesus waited in the upper room for 10 days before the Holy Spirit was poured out on them. There were about 120 people in the upper room. That makes me think that it took 10 days for these 120 people to get on the same page, to get in “one accord.” Or maybe they were all united together as they witnessed the risen Lord ascend into heaven, but as they began to wait, things started to get dicey between them. Maybe the Lord was trying to teach them something in the waiting…patience, long-suffering, humility, acceptance of one another’s differences? Imagine being cooped up in a space with 119 other people for over a week. I’m sure there had to be some disagreements, some annoyances, etc. But we can read, without a doubt, in the Scriptures that these people were able to unite, completely, and when they did, fire, wind and a heavenly language fell on all of them. Not one was mentioned that was unaffected by this outpouring of the Holy Spirit!

Does this account of unity and language bring any other account to your memory from Scripture? It makes me think about the story of the Tower of Babel found in Genesis 11. At that time in history, everyone was speaking the same language. The people wanted to make a name for themselves and decided to band together and build a huge tower that would reach to the heavens. The purpose of remaining together and reaching toward heaven was a direct contrast to God’s command to move throughout the earth and cultivate it. The Scripture says that the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the people built. He said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” Because of their unbridled, ambitious pride (similar to the pride that manifested in the Garden of Eden), God confused their language so that they could not communicate with one another to continue this work of rebellion towards God’s commands. God named the city “Babel,’ which means to confuse (later associated with Babylon throughout history as a symbol of pride and rebellion against God). When we unite, anything we want can happen..good or bad!

Now let’s reexamine the account of the Day of Pentecost. Prior to His ascension, Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, making disciples. At the time, they all spoke the same language. They entered the upper room, got completely unified, the Holy Spirit came and they all began to speak in different languages. Sounds really familiar, huh? But this time, it was in obedience to Jesus’ command to wait for the Holy Spirit and then go into the world. The various languages were heard on the streets of Jerusalem and understood by different nationalities of people. And what did they hear? The disciples were declaring the wonderful works of God and praising Him! What a contrast to Genesis 11 and the story of Babel!

In Genesis 11, the people sought to exalt themselves. In Acts 2, the people sought the Lord and His will. At Babel, the people were scattered to put an end to their rebellion. In Acts 2, the people were empowered and equipped to “scatter” into all the world to spread the Gospel. What an illustration of the effects of the condition and motivation of our hearts and intentions towards God and others. On one hand there is pride and selfish ambition. On the other is love for God and love for people. Such a contrast!

Can you imagine what we could do for the kingdom of God if we would come together in complete unity like the disciples in the upper room? After being filled with the Holy Spirit and equipped to spread the Gospel, these 120 or so people turned the world upside down. The spreading of the Gospel has revolutionized nearly every civilization and society in history in some way throughout the entire world…and continues to do so as we continue to “Go into the world and preach the Gospel.”

The disciples in the upper room had different personalities, values, gifts, insecurities, etc. We see this in the interactions between the original 12 throughout the Gospels. They were not unlike us in this way. But, I imagine they got to a point where they laid aside all these differences by the time the Holy Spirit arrived. Imagine what could be accomplished if we could get past all our differences and unite under the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We’d be unstoppable!

Here is further information on the word “homothumadon” that I found so interesting:

Homothumadon: a unique Greek word, used 10 of its 12 New Testament occurrences in the Book of Acts, helps us understand the uniqueness of the Christian community. Homothumadon is a compound of two words meaning to “rush along” and “in unison”. The image is almost musical; a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonize in pitch and tone. As the instruments of a great concert under the direction of a concert master, so the Holy Spirit blends together the lives of members of Christ’s church.

In other words, the Body of Christ, His church, is a symphony made up of many different “instruments” that all come together to create a beautiful and complete sound for our King! Let our prayer be, Bind us together, Lord, with cords that cannot be broken by the schemes of the enemy who seeks to keep us separated and at odds with one another. Amen.