Pentecost Acts 2:17 “In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” Do we find ourselves in the last days when these things will take place? What is the background and context to this verse? Reading this verse in Acts carefully, one will see that it does not regard prophecy that will take place “in the last days”. Peter is actually quoting Joel’s prophecy here which was fulfilled in his life time (Joel 2:28). The Jews expected that all prophecies would be fulfilled when the Messiah arrived. But we know today that that did not happen because Israel rejected their Messiah and these prophecies have been postponed just as the establishing of the earthly kingdom for them had been postponed. Most of Joel’s predictions were fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. But Joel’s prophecy indicated a lengthy break (the last 2000 years) before the fulfilling of all the aspects of his prophecies. Peter and the other apostles expected all the prophecies Joel described to be fulfilled in their time and rightly so. But they did not realise that in that checkered time of shift and change the whole nation (with the exception of a few individuals) would reject Jesus as their Messiah and that the last days that started on the Day of Pentecost, did not continue. Because of their unbelief Israel was cut off and Joel’s prophecies stopped midway. Many Old Testament prophecies were broken into parts like this: one verse fulfilled and the next still to be brought about. These prophecies will certainly all still be fulfilled when God resumes His programme with the nation of Israel. Israel has been set aside today (Romans 11); they are “Lo-ammi” - not my people (Hosea 1).
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 06:24:15 +0000
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