Peter Preaches On Prophecy

Acts 2:14–21
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This passage brings us face to face with The Day of the Lord. In both the Old and New Testaments there is much that is not fully understood unless we know the basic principles underlying this time period. The Jews divided time into two ages. There was The Present Age, which was utterly evil and doomed to destruction; and there was The Age to Come, which would be the golden age of God.  Between these two ages was to The Day of the Lord, the terrible birth pangs of the New Age. It would come suddenly like a thief in the night. On that day the world would be shaken to its very foundations. It would be a day of judgment and terror. There are descriptions of this day all through the prophetic books of the Old Testament and in much of the New Testament too. Typical passages are Isaiah 2:12; 13:6; Amos 5:18; Zephaniah 1:7; Joel 2; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; and 2 Peter 3:10.

Spectators who listened to the Apostles speaking in other languages thought they had an explanation for what they were hearing (v. 14). They said, “These men are drunk with new wine.”  That is wine that has just started the fermentation process and has double the amount of alcohol, as opposed to older wine. Peter told the crowd that the apostles couldn’t be drunk (v. 15). After all, it was only 9 AM.  He went on to prove that Jesus was indeed the Messiah by quoting the prophet Joel (v. 16). Quoting the Scriptures allow­ed the Holy Spirit to do the speaking (vv. 17-21). All at once, in one place, in evident power, proclaim­ing the mighty works of God in the languages of the Gentile world, the Spirit was indeed poured out on men. At the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11), man was praising himself, and God changed their languages. On the day of Pentecost, man was praising God, and God miraculously helped the apostles to witness to people in their own native languages. 

Application

How important is fulfilled prophecy in my spiritual life? When I think about what God has foretold about the future, I should also think about all the prophesies He has already fulfilled in the past.