Outline - Hope of the Glory

We are not drunk because it is only 9:00 AM – 2:14-16a) Too early to be drunk!!b) Some have added that they were not likely to break their fast until 10:00 AMThis is the beginning of the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32 – Peter quotes the passage in itsentirety – 2:17-21Joe 2:28 "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, yourold men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.Joe 2:29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.Joe 2:30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.Joe 2:31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great anddreadful day of the LORD.Joe 2:32 And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalemthere will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls.c) There are other prophecies where there are gaps in the fulfillment as there is here.d) Some have tried to argue that Peter is simply saying that this is similar to Joel but,why would it all be quoted verbatim and why did he not explain it this way!e) The fact is that verses were to be fulfilled at Pentecost and resumed in the future.f) If they do not grasp the connection of Pentecost with Israel, then they will notunderstand much of Acts and Paul or the NTg) A dodge to the obvious 14 The author of this document (in Midnight Call) is concernedthat people will use this passage as an argument against the dispensationalapproach. What he doesn’t understand is that the passage definitely supports adispensational approach IF you understand that there will be a gap in its fulfillment.Peter’s Quotation of Joel in Acts 2But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea, andall you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give heed to my words. For these men arenot drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken ofthrough the prophet Joel.”Many advocates of preterism, replacement theology and covenant theology often cite Acts 2:16 as support fortheir interpretation of Scripture. However, I do not believe that Peter’s statements furnish a basis for theirconclusions. “Preterists... generally see these signs as predictive descriptions of the AD70 destruction ofJerusalem by the Romans.” Gary DeMar believes that this passage was fulfilled in the first century. Instead,Peter merely references the Joel passage as support that the Holy Spirit is the cause of the events in Acts 2just as the Holy Spirit will be the cause of events in Joel 2. Let’s look more closely at the details in thepassage.WHAT’S THE QUESTION?The first dozen verses in Acts 2 describe the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and theresponse it drew from those who continued in unbelief. The question posed by the mockers suggests thatChrist’s disciples “are full of sweet wine” (2:13). Peter answered this specific question by declaring that, “thesemen are not drunk, as ye suppose,... but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel” (2:15-16). Peterthen quotes from Joel 2:28-32. The Joel passage describes the supernatural activity of God’s Spirit at work inevents surrounding a yet future coming of Christ. Thus, Peter’s point is that of similarity or analogy betweenwhat the Holy Spirit will do in the future with the nation of Israel and what He was doing in the first centurywhen the Church was founded.A comparison of the events in Joel 2 with what occurred on Pentecost in Acts 2 falls short of fulfillment at anypoint. The Spirit’s activity in Joel cannot be separated from the events that will transpire during the Tribulation;thus, it could not have been fulfilled in Acts 2 unless the Tribulation had taken place at that time, which it didnot. As noted in verse 16, Peter’s unique statement (“this is that”), is the language of comparison, notfulfillment.FULFILLMENT IN ACTS 2?Many believe that at least part of Joel 2 was fulfilled in Acts 2 since Peter quoted it. However, a close look atPeter’s reference to Joel is not that of fulfillment (the word “fulfill” is not used in Acts 2), but one of similarity14 Assertion of Arnold Fruchtenbaum as quoted in http://www.midnightcall.com/articles/prophetic/83.htmlActs Page 14 January 23, 2011 18:07