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Jamaica Patois Wisdom #8 By Jefferson David Tant (The Jamaican Patois dialect is colorful, unique and humorous. It is my desire to share some of the philosophy shown in this mix of colorful phrases that are witty as well as thought-provoking. I hope the readers both profit and enjoy. In my quarter-century plus of teaching there, I have come to appreciate some things about their culture. – Jefferson David Tant)
Patois: One
one coconut full basket A familiar adage in the English language (and perhaps other languages, as well) is “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” The operative word both in Patois and English is “patience.” It is also an often used word in Scripture. We find the word and its variations some 46 times in the Bible. This is one of the characteristics of God, who has exercised great patience with his people time and again. Over and over he put up with Israel’s disobedience and stubbornness. We would certainly be without hope if the Lord was not patient with us in our own weaknesses. Please consider some of the various applications of the exhortation for us to be patient. With life. “The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit.” (Ecc. 7:8). Our world is conditioned to instant gratification. Even food is marketed as “instant coffee,” “Jiffy corn muffin” and “instant pudding.” This generation expects, as soon as they graduate, things their parents and grandparents worked many years for. But it is well known that we have a much greater appreciation for things we labor for rather than what is merely handed to us. “Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting” (Psalm 126:5). With erring brethren. Do we sometimes get tired of brethren who are weak and stumble a lot? Of course we do! Should we give up on them? Obviously there comes a time to move on when it is apparent that they do not want to change, but “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone” (I Thess. 5:14). With teaching the lost. Obviously we would like for each prospect to be like the eunuch, who, after one lesson, said to Philip, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:37). Thankfully, I have had a few like that, but not many. Some may take years. We had a sister whose patience with an unbelieving husband eventually won him after 27 years. He even began preaching some. What is the value of a soul? What is the result if we give up too soon? With ourselves. Did you ever undertake a difficult task, and after various obstacles and setbacks throw up your hands and say “I quit”? We’ve all probably been there. But there is one goal where quitting is not an option—heaven! “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains” (Jas. 5:7). When the going gets tough, “we glory in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation works patience” (Rom. 5:3). Even in difficult times, we can look to the Lord for strength. “Behold, we call them blessed that endured: ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful’ (James 5:10). “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised” (Heb. 10:36). Remember, “One one coconut full basket.” & Commentary on Acts 2:4-6 By Bob Myhan 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. The phrase, “filled with the Holy Spirit,” does not mean that the Holy Spirit was literally inside them, that is, inside their bodies. The angel told Zacharias that his son, John, was to “be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb” (Luke 1:15). However, when Jesus was baptized by John, “the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him” (Luke 3:23-22). Was the Holy Spirit literally inside John’s body or did He descend from heaven “in bodily form like a dove upon” Jesus? If He “descended in bodily form like a dove upon” Jesus, He could not have been literally inside John’s body. It was John, not John’s body that was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Likewise, it was the apostles and not their bodies that “were filled with the Holy Spirit,” on this occasion. Nor does being “filled with the Holy Spirit” necessarily mean that one has been given power to perform miraculous signs, for “John performed no sign” (John 10:41). John was “filled with the Spirit” in that he was filled with the knowledge necessary to “prepare the way of the Lord,“ by pointing the people to Jesus, “the Lamb of God,” the Christ (John 1:6-36). Paul later would write to the Corinthians “you are in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 7:3). Were the Corinthians literally in the hearts of Paul and Timothy? Of course not! He was referring to the emotional tie he and Timothy had with them. The apostles “were filled with the Holy Spirit,” in that they were filled with the knowledge and power that the Holy Spirit imparted. They now had perfect recollection of all that Jesus had said to them (John 14:26). They also, no doubt, had become fully conscious of the Holy Spirit’s taking full control of their tongues and mental faculties so they might function as official ambassadors of the kingdom of God to bind on earth what was bound in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Matthew 16:19), so that all might know how to be born again and enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3-7), which is the same as the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 4:12-17; Mark 1:14-15). “To speak with other tongues” obviously means, “to speak in other languages,” which is made clear in verse six. This ability would certainly expedite the preaching of the gospel to, and making disciples of, all nations (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15). Jesus had included this ability as one of several signs that would follow believers (Mark 16:17-20). It was not limited to the apostles but included some on whom they would later lay their hands (Acts 19:1-6). “As the Spirit gave them utterance” refers to the Holy Spirit speaking by their mouths, as He “spoke before by the mouth of David” (1:16). Jesus said this would be true of those whom He had sent out on the limited commission (Matthew 10:19-20). It would be even more useful under the Great Commission. 5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. Again, the reason for so many Jews to be dwelling in Jerusalem at this time was the fact that it was the Feast of Weeks (also called the Day of Pentecost), which always fell fifty days after the Passover Sabbath (Leviticus 23:15-22). It was one of three times each year that all male Israelites were to be in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:16). They would come for the Passover and remain for the Feast of Weeks. It should be remembered that the Northern Kingdom of Israel was defeated by the Assyrians, as divine punishment for having gone into idolatry. The people of Israel were then scattered throughout the Assyrian Empire and were never reconstituted as a nation. The Southern Kingdom of Judah was later defeated and taken into captivity by the Chaldeans. But they returned after seventy years and restored the divinely-appointed feast days (Nehemiah 8:13-18). But many of them remained scattered throughout what eventually became the Roman Empire and those who were devout conscientiously traveled to Jerusalem for those feasts. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. The “sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,” was heard throughout the area and, understandably, created a great deal of curiosity on the part of the people who had come to “offer a new grain offering to the Lord” (Leviticus 23:16). When they came together, every one of them heard his own language being spoken by the apostles. This shows, conclusively, that “other tongues” in verse 4 refers to “other languages.” This event is reminiscent of the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel. Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord 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. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:1-9) All Jews would have been taught the Hebrew language and those who had even a primary education would have learned Greek, which had become the universal tongue during the reign of Alexander the Great and continued as such throughout the Roman Empire, having never been replaced by Latin. However, the people of each nation and province within the empire had their own language, which the Jews living therein would need to learn. (To be continued) |