What were Peter and the other apostles doing at Pentecost?
At Pentecost, Peter and the other eleven apostles were promoting the Gospel, proclaiming that Jesus was the Christ, and doing so in languages everyone could understand. This miraculous work of the Holy Spirit had a divine purpose: to bring salvation, just as the overall purpose of Scripture is that mankind might hear the plan of salvation.
Les teaches that at Pentecost Peter and the other eleven men were promoting the Gospel—that Jesus was the Christ—but they were doing it in languages everyone could understand. It was a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit with a divine purpose: to bring salvation. Les points out that the whole purpose of the book, from cover to cover, is that mankind might hear the plan of salvation, and Pentecost was an example of that. The men were speaking to other people, not to themselves. Les also notes that the next time this happens is in Acts chapter 10, when Peter goes to the house of Cornelius, but at Pentecost the focus was on proclaiming the Gospel to those present in understandable languages.
More Questions
What did Peter say the people had to do before they received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost?
Under Peter's Pentecost preaching, the Jewish believers had to repent and be baptized, and then they would receive the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit was not promised before those steps.
What Jewish feast was taking place when Peter preached in Acts 2?
In Acts 2, the setting is the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, a feast day when Jews from all over the then-known world had gathered in Jerusalem.