Peters Explanation: This is
Like Joel 2. Acts 2:8-13, I Corinthians 13:12, Joel 2
These many different Jews are gathered in Jerusalem and they come from
all over the Roman empire and also the east from the
Parthian empire and Mesopotamia. All are there in Jerusalem and they are
called “devout men” which indicates that at least for the most part the vast
majority of them are believers in an Old Testament sense. This is why Old
Testament theology is so crucial to understanding and properly interpreting
Acts chapter two, because what is happening here is something that was promised
in the Old Testament and it is related to this offer of the kingdom which John
the Baptist offered and Jesus offered but the leadership rejected. We saw that
in Matthew chapter twelve where there was the accusation that Jesus performed
His miracles in the power of Beelzebub, a claim by the Pharisees and Sadducees
that Jesus is not the Messiah, He is the emissary of the devil. This is the
official rejection by the nation of Jesus’ Messiahship. It doesn’t mean that
everybody in the nation rejected Him but the leadership has.
Acts 2:12 NASB
“And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one
another, ‘What does this mean?’” That is important because that is the question
that Peter answers, and he is going to interpret for them the events that have
just transpired. Why did they hear this loud sound? Why did they hear these
disciples from Galilee speaking in these unlearned
languages? The word “amazed” is an interesting word, the verb existemi [e)cisthmi] which is a
cognate from the noun ekstasis [e)kstasij] from which we get
our word “ecstasy.” But this is one of those illustrations where just cognates
and meanings don’t give the real meaning of the word. We can see some
elementary Greek student coming along and saying this was an ecstatic
experience, but that is rarely how the word was used. It is certainly not how
the verb was used. In the Old Testament the Greek word is never used for
ecstasy—neither the verb nor the noun. In fact, the word is used primarily to
express terror, fear or madness, and it is never used for some sort of mystical
ecstatics. In the New Testament the verb most often describes the reaction of
people to a miracle, to some marvellous work of God where they are amazed,
astounded; almost speechless at what has happened because they understand that
what has occurred is beyond the ordinary. So it has the idea of being amazed,
confused or astonished at a set of circumstances. The second word used is the
word “perplexed” which comes from another Greek word which means to be at loss
for an explanation. They just can’t explain it. They see something that is so
out of the ordinary that they can’t explain or understand it.
Acts 2:13 NASB
“But others were mocking and saying, ‘They are full of sweet [or new] wine.’”
The word translated “sweet wine” there is the word gleukos [gleukoj] which refers to sweet wine.
It was wine that had not yet fully fermented. Remember this was the first
fruits of the summer harvest and so the vine harvest had not fully fermented
yet, so there is a little bit of sarcasm going on here. They are mocking. gleukos was relatively inexpensive; it
wasn’t fully fermented wine yet. Peter is going to respond to them and say no,
this isn’t what you think.
Acts 2:14 NASB “But Peter, taking his stand with
the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: ‘Men of Judea and all you
who live in Jerusalem…” That phrase indicates two groups of people, Judeans,
the natives who lived there in Judea, and the phrase
“those who live in Jerusalem” isn’t speaking of
those who lived permanently in Jerusalem but it is the same
Greek word that was used in 2:5 which referred to all the travellers who had
come and were temporarily staying in Jerusalem. “…let this be
known to you…” This is a somewhat questionable translation because it implies a
passive voice, passive to the action of the verb. But that is not what is in
the original where we have a present active imperative, indicating that the
subject “you” performs the action of the verb. What Peter is saying is now you
know this, or he is commanding them to know this. This is backed up by the
second word that he uses which is enotizomai
[e)nwtizomai], an aorist middle imperative, and it means to pay close attention to
something. That is what “heed” means—“and give heed to my words.” So what Peter
says is, now you need to know this, pay attention to what I am going to say. He
is going to explain what just happened.
It is really important to understand this because a failure to do so and
to misinterpret this has led to great confusion in understanding eschatology,
and it directly relates to our understanding of the kingdom. What we are going
to see is that Peter is going to quote from a passage in Joel. He is going to
say this is what the prophet Joel said. There are those who come along and say
this is an exact fulfilment of what Joel prophesied and that this is what Peter
said. That means that Peter is interpreting Joel allegorically and we don’t
need to interpret these passages, these prophecies, from a literal sense. So
they end up saying that this was indeed the fulfilment of Joel chapter two, and
so Joel chapter two indicates the arrival of the kingdom because that is what
Joel two is talking about that happens after the day of the Lord when the
kingdom is established. And since it is not a kingdom that is on the earth it
must be a spiritual kingdom, and so the kingdom is not spiritual. We call
people who believe that amillennialists; they don’t believe in a literal,
physical earthly 1000-year rule of Christ on the earth. One of the central ways
that they get to this is because of the way they try to understand what Peter
meant by “This is what the prophet Joel said.” So when they interpret this in a
strict fulfilment sense they end up using it to support an allegorical
interpretation. It isn’t a strict literal fulfilment, but if it was then they
would be justified in saying that this is allegorical.
In the same way there is the development of a new form of
dispensationalism that really isn’t dispensationalism. It came out of Dallas
Seminary in the mid-1980s and it became known as progressive dispensationalism.
The reason they called it progressive is because their idea was that when Jesus
offered the kingdom and it was rejected the kingdom was actually inaugurated on
the day of Pentecost, but it is not fully inaugurated; it comes in but is not
fully here. The view was called the already-not-yet view. Once you make this
shift because of the way you interpret what Peter said—this is what Joel
said—it opens the door to a number of other things. For example, the Vineyard
movement of John Wember and some others.
Peter’s use of Joel is application. Nothing that Joel says happens in
Acts chapter two, and nothing that happens in Acts chapter two is prophesied in
Joel chapter two.
Acts 2:17 NASB ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR
FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL
PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM
DREAMS; [18] EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES,
BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall
prophesy.
[19] ‘AND I WILL GRANT
WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND
VAPOR OF SMOKE. [20] ‘THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE
GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. [21] ‘AND IT SHALL BE THAT
EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’”
When we look at this comparison and contrast Joel chapter two talks
about the fact that sons and daughters will prophecy, young men see visions,
old men dream dreams, slaves will dream dreams, the Spirit of prophecy will be
poured out upon them, there will be wonders in the sky, the sun will turn to
darkness, the moon into blood, but there is no mention of tongues. In Acts
chapter two there is no mention of prophecy, no daughters speak, no visions, no
dreams, only the twelve speak (all men), there are no wonders in the sky or
earth, the sun doesn’t turn to darkness,
the moon doesn’t turn to blood, and the only thing mentioned is that they speak
in tongues. So Joel chapter two cannot be literally fulfilled by Acts chapter
two. What Peter is doing is saying that this is like what Joel said. It is not
identical, not a direct fulfilment like Micah 5:2 in Matthew chapter two, but
it is showing something similar, a similar pattern. A standard approach at that
time would be that if you wanted to make a point you would quote the passage so
you would get the context and then you would just draw out the one point that
you were making.
If we look at the context of Joel chapter two we see something that is
important to understand. Joel 2:1-11 talks about the day of the Lord. Then there
is a shift that occurs in verse 12 and the focus is on the response to the day
of the Lord. The day of the Lord is a term that refers to a time of judgment
that will come upon Israel when God will
bring this horrendous judgment upon the people.
Joel 2:1 NASB “Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an
alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the
day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near, [2] A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds
and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, {So} there is a
great and mighty people; There has never been {anything} like it, Nor will
there be again after it To the years of many generations.” Notice: It has never
been. It is unique, it is like Jesus said of the Tribulation there is war like
there has never been before. Obviously this is talking about the unique
judgment in history and it can only be the Tribulation.
Then when we come to the end, Joel 2:11 NASB “The LORD utters His voice
before His army; Surely His camp is very great, For strong is he who carries
out His word. The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure
it?” It ends with a question. We are told who can endure it in the next
section. It is those who turn to God. [12] “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return [shub]
to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; [13] And
rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return [shub] to the LORD your God, For He
is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And
relenting of evil.” This word shub or return or repent has great
significance in Old Testament theology. In Deuteronomy 28:29 there is the
warning of future judgments upon the Jews in the land because of the
disobedience and idolatry, and that God will remove them and scatter them
throughout all the nations. But then comes the promise that when they return to
the Lord their God and obey His voice He will restore them from all the lands
where He has scattered them. This word “return” to the Lord is the word shub.
So what Joel 2:12, 13 is referring
to is when this shub event takes place at the end of the day of the
Lord. Then the Lord will come and destroy the enemies of Israel.
Following the day of the Lord the land will be refreshed. Joel 2:18 NASB “Then the LORD will be zealous for His land
And will have pity on His people. [19] The LORD will answer and say to His
people, ‘Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil, And you will
be satisfied {in full} with them; And I will never again make you a reproach
among the nations.’” Are the Jews a reproach among the nations today? Just read
the news. Everybody hates them. They are still a reproach among the nations, so
this hasn’t been fulfilled yet. [20] “But I will remove the northern {army} far
from you, And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land, And its
vanguard into the eastern sea, And its rear guard into the western sea. And its
stench will arise and its foul smell will come up, For it has done great
things.”
Joel 2:28 NASB
“It will come about after this…” After what? After the day of the Lord. The day
of the Lord is the Tribulation, Jeremiah 30:8, the time of Jacob’s trouble.
“…That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters
will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. [29] Even on the male and
female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” That’s after the
Tribulation. [30] “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood,
fire and columns of smoke. [31] The sun will be turned into darkness And
the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. [32] And it
will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on
Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even
among the survivors whom the LORD calls.” Then chapter three talks about going into the
Millennial kingdom: the judgments that occur at the end of the day of the Lord
going into the Millennial kingdom.
The other thing that we see happen here is this pouring out of the Holy
Spirit, and that connects to passages such as Ezekiel 36:26, 27 which is the
fulfilment of the New covenant. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put
a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh
and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk
in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” This is Millennial.
But if we take Acts 2 as a literal fulfilment of a literal prophecy then what
we have to say is that the New covenant was established and inaugurated on the
day of Pentecost, and that all of these things that are true of Joel 2:28-32
happened then and are to be normative in the church today. And that today we
have the new heart and the new Spirit and God causes us to walk in His
statutes. That certainly fits the Calvinistic framework that amillennialism and
Preterism all comes out of. But this is talking about the Millennial kingdom of Israel, it is not talking
about what is happening now. So we must understand that when Peter quotes this
he is not saying this is a literal fulfilment of that prophecy, because we
haven’t had the day of the Lord and we haven’t had all of these things take
place. He is just saying this action by the Holy Spirit is like that which is
described in Joel chapter two.
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