On the day of Pentecost, a strange and wonderful occurrence took place. Jesus, just before he ascended, had said unto his disciples, "Wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard of me. ...Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me...unto the uttermost part of the earth."

About 120 persons had been "continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication" in Jerusalem. When the day of Pentecost came, this promise of Jesus came to pass, as they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

When some thought them to be drunk, Peter explained, "These are not drunken, as ye suppose,...but this is that, which was spoken by the prophet Joel...." He then quoted the passage in Joel, where the Lord promises to pour out his Spirit.

If someone were to ask, "What prophecies were fulfilled on the day of Pentecost?" the one in Joel would be easy to cite, seeing as Peter, himself, made the correlation. Did you know, however, that there are other direct and integral prophecies in the Old Testament, which foretell this event?

For instance, Isa. 28:11 says, "For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people," prophesying of the baptism with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.

Another prophecy is found, allegorically, in an historical event recorded in 2 Chron. 5:11-14, at the dedication of the temple. In Eccl. 3:15, we are told, "That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past." Or, as we have heard in modern English, "History repeats itself." We see however, that this is so: not by chance, but by design. By the authority of God.

So if "that which is to be has already been," then the outpouring of the Holy Ghost must have been foreshadowed in the O.T. In the record of the dedication of the temple, the connection is readily seen:

"...the Levites which were the singers...being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:..."

"It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord...that the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God."

Similarly, at Pentecost, there were ‘about an hundred and twenty’ in one accord praising and thanking the Lord. The glory of the Lord filled the place where they had gathered, and they spake in tongues and behaved in a way that caused some on-lookers to believe that they were intoxicated (could not stand to minister).

Many other things in the New Testament can be found in the Old Testament, and are not always specifically mentioned as by Peter in Acts 2, or, as Matthew often did, when he wrote, "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord..." These things can be known, however, if we remember that "God requires that which is past."