Acts 2:17-22 Bible Teaching

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SING WORD OF GOD
SILENCE

When we return we will continue with Peter’s words to the masses there at Pentecost.

Alright, last week we discussed how some of the Jews were charging the Apostles (and others) with being drunk and Peter stood and said, “We aren’t drunk but this is that which was prophesied by the prophet Joel.”

In other words what they were experiencing right then and there was the beginning of fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel for them (in what scripture says is the last days).

And then Peter cited Joel’s prophecy as the description to show it was an actual description of what the people were seeing, beginning with Joel saying:

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh (this we have seen has happened) . . . and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy (which we covered last week)
, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Acts 2.22
Milk
September 13th 2015

So let’s continue covering the second part of verse 17 where Peter quotes Joel as saying that in those last days . . .

4. “Your young men shall see visions.”

In Old Testament times God communicated to those who were called “the prophets” in various ways. One of these ways was through visions and so prophets were also called seers.

Of course those of us who came out of Mormonism know that they refer to their living prophet through the title, “Prophet, Seer and Revelator” when we examine the terms from the Bible because
the name “seer” was used first and then it was replaced by the term prophet.

We support this through 1st Samuel 9:9 which says,

“He that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.”

It seems the term seer was once used because there were instances when a person was overcome by the Spirit of God and entered into some sort of trance or ecstasy which produced a vision or the appearance of objects or events that they would “see.”

Daniel 2:28; 7:1-2
Ezekiel 11:24
Genesis 15:1
Numbers 12:6
Job 4:13 are examples of this.

Sometimes they would speak of being transported to another place or a scene in a distant land or age passed before their minds.

Peter here says that according to Joel this was being brought back to them at that time – “this is that.”

Just like we know young women prophesied (in the case of Philipps four daughters) we also know that the Holy Spirit falling here opened young men to having visions.

In Acts 9:10 we know Ananias had a vision, that Paul had seen Ananias in vision” And that in Acts 10:3, Cornelius “saw in a vision evidently an angel of God coming in to him,” and also Peter saw some sort of vision of a net being lowered from heaven. And these are just those that were recorded.

A question lingers today – do people see visions now? I don’t know. People claim to see them. I hear stories of people receiving them. Apparently people in Muslim countries have had visions of Jesus today. Christian cessasionalists say no way – this was fulfilled here and all spiritual gifts are over.

Because this certainly happened then does not mean, in my book, that God is prohibited from causing them to happen now. And it is really hard to define what could be called a vision so my best advice is this:

If you believe you have had a vision from God, check and test it against scripture, make sure its contents are not in opposition to what has been, and decide for yourself where you think it originated.

Joel’s prophecy adds:

5. “And your old men shall dream dreams.”

Again, in former times the will of God was made known in this manner too.

God informed Abimelech in a dream that “Sarah was the wife of Abraham,” (Genesis 20:3).

He spoke to Jacob, (Genesis 31:11) to Laban (Genesis 31:24) to Joseph (Genesis 37:5) to the butler and baker (Genesis 40:5) to Pharaoh – a non-Jew (Genesis 41:1-7) to Solomon (1st Kings 3:5) and to Daniel, (Daniel 2:3 and 7:1).

Moses wrote in Numbers 12:5-6:

“And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. And he said, “Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.”

And of course we know that this mode of communication from God was present in the Gospel accounts as Pilates wife was troubled by a dream and Joseph was warned through one on what action to take.

All Joel seems to be saying is that when God poured His Holy Spirit out upon all flesh that old men would dream dreams.

This is the ONLY time after this mention in Acts that dream or dreams is mentioned with the exception of Jude where the Greek word for dreams is used in the negative, and in describing reprobates says:

Jude 1:8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Again, are dreams a reliable form of communication from God to man today? Again, I don’t know. I hate to discount every single thing that comes our way mystically but I have to admit there are few things more boring in my book then someone who places an inordinate amount of attention upon them.

I have actually known of a person who divorced her husband over a dream she had when she was a teenager and kept with her as a sign. When speaking with her today she admits she made a grave mistake.

6. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

So far Peter through Joel has cited males and females, old and young, displaying spiritual gifts. Now he speaks of those who are servants and handmaidens – male and females indentured or working in the homes of others, having the Holy Spirit fall upon them and they will prophesy.

The meaning seems to be no longer is the Holy Spirit reserved for a specific people or gender or socio economic group but upon all people.

Now, in the rest of Joel’s prophesy which Peter assigned to them in that day –

i.e. “were a not drunk but this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel.”

Covers what I believe were all signs that Jesus had already explained would be signs of His return.

In Matthew 24, after being asked by Peter, James, John and Andrew what were the signs of His coming, Jesus said (among other things)

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.”

Here Peter says, men and brethren what you are witnessing, this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel, who also said in verses 19-20:

“And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.”

I am more than convinced that what Peter was telling these men gathered at Jerusalem could be paraphrase like this:

“My devout brethren, you are witnessing the beginning of the fulfillment of the Prophecy of Joel, who described what the last days would look like.

Our Lord, who you put to death, described the very same thing. We do not have much time before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives and falls upon us. Now is the time to receive Him.”

We won’t go into it now but as the end drew near an escalation of these things would occur.

They would begin with God pouring our His Spirit on all flesh, and would be on hand (or at the door) when

Signs or wonders would “be shown in heaven above,” and when there would be “signs in the earth beneath” and “blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.”

These last terms are emblematic and are used to describe slaughter (Blood) war (Fire) and vapor of smoke (destruction).

All fulfilled maximally at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Peter adds from Joel

“The sun shall be turned into darkness” (through eclipse, smoke, clouds) “and the moon into blood.”

The word blood here means an obscure, reddish color which the moon has when the atmosphere is filled with smoke and vapor – which again are symbols of war and destruction.

In Revelation 6:12 and 8:8 we read:

“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood..

Just more Hebrew symbolic language used to describe apocalyptic events of tremendous calamity and war. And remember – AGAIN – Peter said THIS IS THAT which was spoken of by the Prophet Joel.

This is that . . . . the beginning of all Joel said.

When did Joel say all of this would happen? When did Peter apply all Joel said:

To that period of time, with all of it occurring (verse 12)

“before that great and notable day of the Lord come.”

In light of the past two days events, and in light of all that people do with biblical misinterpretation, it is up to you – who have heard the facts JUST on this situation to decide the time frame Peter was labeling, according to Joel’s prophecy, “That great and notable day of the Lord.”

Other more literal translations of this line describe it this way:

Revised:
“the great and manifest day.”

The WNT and Young’s says:
“– that great and illustrious day.”

The Twentieth Century NT says:
“–that great and awful day

The Web says:
“before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.”

BBE says
“before that great day of the Lord comes in glory:”

Darby says
“before the great and gloriously appearing day of [the] Lord come.

And the MNT says:
“that great and terrible day.”

Most Christians today believe that this day has yet to happen, that somehow when Peter says this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel either all Joel said did NOT occur OR we are waiting for nearly 2000 years for the rest of it to happen.

(beat)

You decide for yourselves. Finally Peter adds the last words of Joel:

13. “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

In other words, in the midst of all of these signs and wonders and events – whether it be the Holy Spirit working through people or signs in the heavens or earth,
“whosoever would call on the Lord would be delivered.

It is an indisputable Hebraism that for someone to call on the name of the Lord was saying the same thing as whoever called on the Lord Himself.

“Would be” . . . the King James says saved, but the better translation would be protected, delivered, protected, made whole.

“Saved from things that would harm,” protected from danger, “moved away from things that would make us less than whole.”

Call upon the Lord and you will be delivered from any and all impending calamities.

Every one of the apostles warned in their writings that impending calamities were about to come – that the day of judgment was approaching and that the readers of these epistles were passing through the last days of the their world’s history.

Call upon the Lord, Peter says here to unbelievers, remain in the vine, Jesus said earlier to beleivers, “endure through all these trials in Him,” James, John, Peter, Paul and all the writers pleaded, “and you will be saved.”

There are a number of principles we can discuss here about this verse.

First of all, it teaches us that in the face of impending judgments they faced and that we all face upon our demise, the solution is to call upon the Lord.

First of all, anyone who relied upon their own strength, wisdom, or intelligence that would not call upon the name of the Lord when the judgement fell were lost.

Many people suggest that if Jesus impending judgment already fell then the need to prepare ourselves for meeting Him in the air is over. Hardly.

We will all experience our own second coming and judgment and now is the time to prepare to meet Him in the air (as it were).

Additionally, look how easy it was, according to Joel and echoed by Peter, to be saved.

“Call upon the name of the Lord.”

Again, for those people then, amidst all the signs Joel gave, the “out” or “saving solution” was to call upon the Lord and He would be faithful in saving them.

I would suggest that the same advice goes out to all people today. In the trials of our lives, in the days when we feel like everything is coming down around us, call upon the name of the Lord and He will save you. Maybe not from physical destruction, but certainly from ourselves, our sin, and the burdens that come with life without Him.

Now, Peter here, speaking to these devout Jews who were still under the Law and understood God materially in terms of behavior and response, are only told to call on the name of the Lord by Peter who is citing Joel.

I am convinced that this was absolutely correct advice for them. Prior to the destruction of Jerusalem all they had to do is call upon the name of the Lord (who was Jesus the Messiah sent to them) and they would be saved.

However, in a letter to the church at Rome, Paul wrote the following:

Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Why the difference? Is it just a matter of style of speech of Paul, who was sent to the Gentiles, offering up advice that was different to the Gentile world?

I would chalk the differences up to writing style, and suggest that it would be obvious that for a Jew to call upon the name of the Lord (Jesus) that they would believe in their heart and by calling on Him were confessing with their mouths and in so doing were admitting to the fact that this Lord, this Messiah, was raised from the dead.

Simple as that. Likewise, I believe that Paul was just making himself clear when he articulated his instructions. In other words, while he actually does echo Peters words in verse 13 of Romans 10, saying:

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” his added caveats to the instructions (that is, to believe in the heart, confess with the mouth and believe that the Messiah rose from the dead) are in complete harmony with the spirit of the command to call upon the name of the Lord.

Long story short – there’s no fooling God. His arm to save is extended to those who in calling on Him really believe He is who He claimed to be and they honestly believe it and are not just using Him as a tool.

Biblical literalists miss out on the content of the human heart and have for centuries insisted that all a person needs to do is say his name, or call on Him and such a person would be saved.

In the context of all of scripture I think this appeal to 19th century revivalist camp meetings is over.

God seeks those who seek Him in Spirit and in Truth. Merely calling on Jesus does not always convey such a heart.

For this reason we have not adopted come forward and be saved practices at CAMPUS and I have frankly been suspect of them ever since I got into ministry.

It’s not that people aren’t saved when they do this – they can be – but if a person’s heart is right such salvation experiences can and will and have happened in the car, in nature and often when a person least expects it.

I remember hearing a story (and I apologize if I am repeating this to you) but I heard the story of a woman who was sitting in the back of a church and the pastor made an invitation to come forward for an altar call.

An usher was standing by and the woman asked him:

“Do I really need to go down there?”

The usher said, “Yes. It is important that you do.”

The woman remained in her seat.

The next week the pastor had another call and again, the woman, this time more touched by the message, asked the same usher the same question:

“Do I really need to go down there and do this in front of everyone?”

Again the usher replied in the affirmative.

By the third week the woman was broken in her heart, and she wept throughout the whole service, knowing who she was and where she stood before God. The pastor gave an alter call.

The woman, weeping, stood and said to the usher take me down to the front and the Usher replied:

“You don’t need to go down there. All you need is right here with you.”

At this point, having quoted Joel, Peter takes the crowd to another level, and proceeds to show that Jesus Christ, by virtue of God’s hand on His life which was illustrated through miracles that He had performed among them had been taken by them – according to the determination of their leaders and the foreknowledge of God – and was crucified and slain but then He overcame the grave – because the grave could NOT hold Him.

This is how Peter puts it (beginning at verse 22)

22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

Let’s wrap today up with these verses. Back to verse 22. Shifting gears away from the Prophecy of Joel, Peter now turns to his own voice and says:

22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

Ye men of Israel, you have heard the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, now let me speak to you about Jesus of Nazareth, who Peter describes as

“a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,” which Peter says, God did by Him in their midst, as they themselves knew.”

Reading the New Testament many people take the miracles of Jesus and believe they must be replicated today.

Here we read what I believe is perhaps the main reason Jesus did the miracles – to prove He was of God, sent by God, that He represented God on earth.

There was no other way for them to know this. Since sending His Spirit, with God working on and in and through us, we know Him through the Spirit and not by signs and wonders.

But for Jesus to wonder about proclaiming He was from God without giving them proof would have been very ineffective.

Fulfilling prophecy of what He would do, these miracles validated for them who He was prior to the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Put it this way, prior to the Holy Spirit falling on all flesh miracles and signs were the mode of the day. Once the Holy Spirit fell, it became the manner in which God reached people – not immediately – there was an ebbing and flowing, but over time.

Also note the line –

“Which God did by him.”

I want to make something as clear as possible at this point – what filled the MAN Jesus was God.

Let me say this again – what filled THE MAN JESUS – made of flesh, of a woman, was not just God but Paul wrote in Colossians 2:9

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

When did this fullness of God enter Him?

When Mary was overcome by the Spirit. The Spirit . . .of God and she, woman, born under the Law, conceived.

It was complete and immediate as John tells us

(Joh 3:34) “for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.”

He was literally “the Son of God” AND “the Son of Man.”

“God (fully) with us” in a fully human, fleshly manly body, the HUMAN Jesus learned, “by obedience through the things which He suffered” (Hebrews) to overcome all things while housed in human flesh like us – including . . .

the Law, Sin, the elements, disease, devils, animal will, Satan, and even death itself.

As a result – because He submitted His flesh to the will of the Father our of love, Jesus – the Man – overcoming all things on our behalf is known in scripture as our Lord (our master) and Our Savior (the one who delivered us from death).

God is still referred to as the Father, or as simply to God, and Jesus (the Man, filled with the fullness of God) is known as our Mediator to the one Father, as our Lord, Savior and King to the One God.

Scripture paints this clearly.

Paul writes in Romans 1:7 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

He adds in the very next verse:

Romans 1:8 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.”

Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So far in all of these the meaning and message is clear – the One God loved us and gave us a Messiah, a Savior, a Lord and King and by and through Him alone we become God’s again.

1st Timothy 2:5 makes this clear, saying:
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”

Consider Romans 15:6 “That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1st Corinthians 1:3-4 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ.

1st Corinthians 8:6 is particularly clear, saying:

“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”

1st Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I my estimation we cannot get around the fact that there is ONE God and His Word became a man, Jesus, who, overcoming all things, now stands as our mediator, Lord and Savior to bring us to the Father.

The caveat is that Jesus was this one God in the flesh – He was filled with His fullness as a Man.

These ideas are confirmed by other passages:

2nd Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

1st Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

2nd Thessalonians 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

Speaking of Jesus the Man the writer of Hebrews says in 12:2:

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

1st Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

In these passages and passages like this – there are dozens more – we clearly see the relationship between the One God and His Son our Lord and Savior.

But we cannot deny that there are also passages that clearly speak to our Lord and Savior as God! Why do they do this?

Because He was God with us. Because in the Man God dwelled fully. Because the actual expressions of God – His Words – became flesh and dwelled among us.

In this we see that all expressions, blessings, pourings are Him – whether His Word, or His Spirit – they are all God – sending and pouring and blessing us so He can bring us to Him.

Just listen to this passage in Titus. Speaking of His return with judgement, we read this of Jesus:

Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

One God – manifesting us, reaching to us, blessing us in innumerable ways, but most cogently, through His Son, the Son of Man and now, since Pentecost, by His Spirit.

Q and A

Thanks to Dr. Don