Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Acts 2:22
Tuesday, November 08, 2011 |
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:
As we approach a very controversial passage of scripture for our devotional reading today I would like to share several thoughts with you that may help each of us to understand better what actually did happen on that "Day of Pentecost" almost 2,000 years ago.
"Pentecost" is one of the seven Jewish feast days that God gave the Jewish people, the last of the four spring feasts. It was the day that the promise of Jesus was fulfilled as He said it would be, the Holy Spirit would come to the new converts of Christ, those who would be called Christian, John 16:7-13.
I would like for you to think about several thoughts I have gleaned in my study of this portion of scripture. On this particular "Day of Pentecost" there were Jews from "every nation under heaven", verse 5, in Jerusalem.
Pentecost was a "pilgrim feast day" and the Jews were required to come to Jerusalem to observe the "feast". This meant that all twelve tribes were in Jerusalem, no "ten lost tribes" were missing.
Also, please notice that on Pentecost there was no such thing as people speaking in "unknown tongues or languages". The passage gives us a list of all the languages spoken that day, verses 6-11.
By the way, notice what they were speaking in the languages of the peoples gathered there that day, verse 11, "the wonderful works of God". That phrase is interpreted in verses 22-24 where Peter, the preacher on the "Day of Pentecost", gave the Jews gathered in Jerusalem, the "gospel", the death of Jesus Christ, verse 23, and the resurrection, verse 24.
On this day "about 3,000 souls", verse 41, were saved. There is one more controversial item to deal with, Peter's reference to the Prophet Joel's prophecy, found in Joel 2:29-32.
I want you to know that whatever Peter was saying, he was not saying that Joel's prophecy was being fulfilled that day. It's interesting to note that nowhere in Joel's prophecy does it call for "speaking in tongues".
It does, however, call for "marvelous signs in the heavens" to happen, verses 19-20, and none of those things happened that day. What did happen, as Joel said, was that those "who called upon the name of the Lord", verse 21, did get saved.
One other thought about Joel's prophecy, verses 15-21, it could not have been fulfilled on that "Day of Pentecost" because the ancient Jewish prophet Joel said that this prophecy would be fulfilled during the "Day of the Lord".
That period, "The Day of the Lord", does not begin until after the Rapture of the Church and takes place during the lead-up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, during the Tribulation Period. That's what Joel's prophecy is describing in Joel 2, "the Day of the Lord", this is a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. (Please see my audio series on "Joel".)
The "Day of Pentecost" was a great day for me as a Gentile, it marked the beginning of the "Church Period", verse 47. From that day, until the Rapture, both Gentiles and Jews who come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour are part of the "body of Christ", the Church, His bride.
It is this "bride", the Church, which Jesus will shout for to join Him in the heavens at the Rapture of the Church. There is no prophecy that must be fulfilled before the Rapture. All prophecy yet to be fulfilled will be fulfilled after the Rapture. The Rapture could happen today.
PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for that special group, the Church, of which I am a part and whom You will call to be with You in heaven at the Rapture of the Church, which could happen today.
For further study - Acts 2:1-24
As we approach a very controversial passage of scripture for our devotional reading today I would like to share several thoughts with you that may help each of us to understand better what actually did happen on that "Day of Pentecost" almost 2,000 years ago.
"Pentecost" is one of the seven Jewish feast days that God gave the Jewish people, the last of the four spring feasts. It was the day that the promise of Jesus was fulfilled as He said it would be, the Holy Spirit would come to the new converts of Christ, those who would be called Christian, John 16:7-13.
I would like for you to think about several thoughts I have gleaned in my study of this portion of scripture. On this particular "Day of Pentecost" there were Jews from "every nation under heaven", verse 5, in Jerusalem.
Pentecost was a "pilgrim feast day" and the Jews were required to come to Jerusalem to observe the "feast". This meant that all twelve tribes were in Jerusalem, no "ten lost tribes" were missing.
Also, please notice that on Pentecost there was no such thing as people speaking in "unknown tongues or languages". The passage gives us a list of all the languages spoken that day, verses 6-11.
By the way, notice what they were speaking in the languages of the peoples gathered there that day, verse 11, "the wonderful works of God". That phrase is interpreted in verses 22-24 where Peter, the preacher on the "Day of Pentecost", gave the Jews gathered in Jerusalem, the "gospel", the death of Jesus Christ, verse 23, and the resurrection, verse 24.
On this day "about 3,000 souls", verse 41, were saved. There is one more controversial item to deal with, Peter's reference to the Prophet Joel's prophecy, found in Joel 2:29-32.
I want you to know that whatever Peter was saying, he was not saying that Joel's prophecy was being fulfilled that day. It's interesting to note that nowhere in Joel's prophecy does it call for "speaking in tongues".
It does, however, call for "marvelous signs in the heavens" to happen, verses 19-20, and none of those things happened that day. What did happen, as Joel said, was that those "who called upon the name of the Lord", verse 21, did get saved.
One other thought about Joel's prophecy, verses 15-21, it could not have been fulfilled on that "Day of Pentecost" because the ancient Jewish prophet Joel said that this prophecy would be fulfilled during the "Day of the Lord".
That period, "The Day of the Lord", does not begin until after the Rapture of the Church and takes place during the lead-up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, during the Tribulation Period. That's what Joel's prophecy is describing in Joel 2, "the Day of the Lord", this is a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. (Please see my audio series on "Joel".)
The "Day of Pentecost" was a great day for me as a Gentile, it marked the beginning of the "Church Period", verse 47. From that day, until the Rapture, both Gentiles and Jews who come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour are part of the "body of Christ", the Church, His bride.
It is this "bride", the Church, which Jesus will shout for to join Him in the heavens at the Rapture of the Church. There is no prophecy that must be fulfilled before the Rapture. All prophecy yet to be fulfilled will be fulfilled after the Rapture. The Rapture could happen today.
PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for that special group, the Church, of which I am a part and whom You will call to be with You in heaven at the Rapture of the Church, which could happen today.