Acts
Bible Study
Lesson 5
ACTS 2:1—13 The Day of Pentecost
¥ The events at
Pentecost were all a part of prophesy. Prophesy
relates to Israel.
¥ A literal
translation of verse one reads:
When the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, they
were all together in one place.
- The coming of the Holy Spirit was in
fulfillment of the prophesy contained in Pentecost.
- The feast of Pentecost was the type.
The fulfillment by the giving of the Holy Spirit was the antitype.
- The Bible is filled with
type—antitypes
Aaron—Jesus as High Priest
Lamb—Jesus as our sacrificial lamb
Earthly temple—heavenly temple
Living water—Holy Spirit
¥ The coming of the Holy Spirit was clearly observable and
experiential:
1.
A loud noise like a violent wind (tornado?) came out of heaven and
filled the whole house.
-
It was this sound that got the attention of those outside the building they
were in.
2.
Tongues as fire that distributed and rested on each one of them.
- Being attracted by the sound, as they
got closer they could see the appearance of fire over their heads.
3.
Speaking in tongues by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- All Jews from all nations speaking many
different languages could understand what was being spoken by those filled with
the Holy Spirit.
- These Jews had gathered from all over
to be in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost.
¥ All of these were signs so Israel would
believe.
¥ So far we see
only Jews and Proselytes (Gentiles that are practicing Jews) reaping the benefit
of the Holy Spirit.
¥ At this point,
there is nothing to indicate a new dispensation has begun nor that there was
the formation of a new church, the Body of Christ.
¥ All events so
far are a part of prophesy and relate to Israel and GodÕs plan for her.
- National Israel was to accept Christ as
her Messiah when the Kingdom was offered by Peter.
(Acts 2, 3)
- The Tribulation was then to be ushered
in to purify Israel from all unbelievers (Zechariah 13:8; Romans 11:26)
- Christ would come back to earth and set
up His Millennial Kingdom. (Zechariah 4:4—11)
- Gentiles would be blessed through
IsraelÕs rise. (Isaiah 49:6; 60:3; Zech 8:13; Acts 13:47)
¥ Israel has not been cut off from the
offer, even though they killed their Messiah.
- They did it all in ignorance (Luke
23:34; Acts 3:17)
- They rejected the Father in the O.T. by
following other gods.
- They rejected the Son by killing Him.
- They reject the Holy Spirit by
rejecting His call to believe through signs, wonders and enlightenment.
¥ We will see
the process of rejection as we continue on in Acts 2 & 3.
ACTS 2:14—36 PeterÕs sermon
¥ Peter spoke only to the Jews. Men of
Judah (verse 14) and men of Israel (verse 22)
- Israel and Judah split in 922 B.C. (see
1 Kings 12)
- Israel refers to the 10 northern tribes.
Judah refers to the 2 southern tribes (Judah and Benjamin).
- Rehoboam,
upon taking the throne, instituted harsh labor upon the Israelites. The
northern 10 tribes rebelled, killed Adoram (from the
Òdepartment of forced laborÓ) then made Jeroboam their king.
- This division still exists in PeterÕs
day.
- The two wave loaves (as part of the
feast of Pentecost) is seen by some to represent the
Jews and Gentiles coming together as one in the Body of Christ. A more likely
interpretation is that they represent Israel and Judah finally coming together
in the Millennial Kingdom.
--
If this is so, this was not only prophetic that they would unite, but also that
they would split. (Ezekiel
27:16—22)
--
According to Paul, the Body of Christ is already one loaf. (1 Corinthians 10:16—17)
¥ The events surrounding the Feast of Pentecost are prophetic.
- Since they are of prophesy, they are
not concerning the Body of Christ, which is all Mystery.
- The prophetic events are laid out like
this:
Jesus
Christ glorified ˆ Holy Spirit given ˆ Tribulationˆ Millennial Kingdom
John 7:37—39; Joel
2:28—3:21
- Peter knew these to be the last days
because it was all prophesized. (2:16)
-- Last days refer to the last days of
Israel, not the last days of the Body of Christ.
- We in the Body of Christ cannot know
when we are in the last days because there are no prophetic signposts. Israel
could, on the other hand, know specifically from Scripture when certain events
were suppose to happen and thus could know they were in the last days of prophesy. (see Daniel
9:24—27)
¥ Peter starts telling them about the man
Jesus.
- He came from God and proved Himself by
miracles, signs and wonders. (Verse 22)
1 Corinthians 1:22 For
indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
John 2:18 The Jews then said to
Him, "What sign do You show us as your authority
for doing these things?"
John 4:48 So Jesus said to him,
"Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not
believe."
-- God always used signs to confirm His
word to Israel (see Ex. 4:8, 17, 30; Num. 14:11)
Hebrews 2:4 God also
testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by
gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
- He was nailed to the
cross by the Jews through the hands of the Romans. (verse
23)
- He was raised from
the dead by God. (verse 24)
- This was prophesized by David in Psalms
16:8—11 (verses 25—28)
- He is in the line of David and will sit
on the throne as King. (verses 30—35)
¥ All of these
things point to Jesus being their Messiah. (verse 36)
- No one could deny PeterÕs statements
since there were so many eye-witnesses.
- God made Him both Lord (God) and Christ
(Messiah).
- Many Jews did not and still do not
realize that their Messiah will be God. They assume he will be a only a man that is sent by God.
¥ The Christ (Messiah) was raised up as
proven by the giving of the Holy Spirit.
- If Christ was not raised and glorified,
the Holy Spirit could not have been given.
¥ Notice that Peter is
not preaching the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ but was
shaming Israel to bring her to repentance.
- His sermon points to the cross as being
a shame. (Hebrews 12:2; 13:13)
- On the other hand, Paul equates the
cross as his glory. Galatians 6:14; 1
Corinthians 1:18, 23—24
- ChristÕs resurrection was critically
important to Israel (as it is to us) but it is not part of their gospel
message.
-- If their Messiah did not rise from the
dead, they would have no Messiah.
-- We believe in the Person and His work,
They believe in the Person only.
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