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ACTS 106
In Acts 2:14-21, Peter has just told Israel that
they were in the last days by quoting Joel 2:28-32. The only
way they can survive that time is to "call on
the name of the Lord" (vs 21). But just 53 days
before, they had crucified Him! Now Peter is going to quote
some more prophecy to show them just how much trouble they are in.
Acts 2:22-36
22 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:
God promised signs and wonders to
Israel, (Ex 34:10; Is 8:18)
and Christ did lots of them,
(John 20:30,31&21:25) so they were without excuse for
not recognizing Him as their Messiah. Signs and miracles are
associated with Israel, and always point to
something. They are not just to make somebody feel better.
So you see signs and wonders in times of transition,
in Matthew to Acts, and after our Gentile age in Hebrews to
Revelation.
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and
by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
They are guilty of murder! Just because God knew
beforehand what they would do, does not make them less
responsible for their action. However if Jesus had not been
willing to die for us, they could not have killed Him.
(Mat 26:53; John 10:18)
24 Whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he
should be holden of it.
Jesus had no sin of His own, so death could not hold Him.
(Rom 6:23; Heb 4:15)
Next Peter quotes David from Psalm 16:8-11.
25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always
before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be
moved:
26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover
also my flesh shall rest in hope:
27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me
full of joy with thy countenance.
Now Peter explains and applies this prophecy.
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto
you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried,
and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
David is still dead so this prophecy is not about him.
30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that
God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins,
according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his
throne;
(II Sam 7:12-16; Ps 89:20-37)
Israel’s hope is for Christ to come from David’s family and
restore David’s kingdom on earth.
(Acts 1:6)
31 He seeing this before spake of the
resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell,
neither his flesh did see corruption.
When Christ died, His soul went to hell, but He rose
from there before His body could corrupt. See the comments
on "hell" at the end.
32 This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we all are witnesses. (I Cor
15:3-8)
33 Therefore being by the right hand of God
exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the
Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and
hear.
The fact that the Holy Ghost had come as promised
(Joel 2:28; John 16:7,8; Ez 36:25-28)
was proof that Jesus is the Christ, and had
not only been raised from the dead, but had also been
exalted to the Father’s right hand in heaven.
Now Peter quotes David again, from Psalms 110. (Read the
whole psalm.)
34 For David is not ascended into the heavens:
(and therefore David is not speaking of himself)
but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my
Lord, (God the Father said to God the Son,
Pr 30:4) Sit
thou on my right hand,
35 Until I make thy foes thy
footstool.
The Son was raised from the dead, exalted to the Father’s
right hand in heaven, and next, His foes are in
trouble. Who are His foes? Peter makes that clear in
the next verse.
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel
know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
The title "Lord" means the one with supreme
authority, the controller of all power, and
"Christ" means Messiah, the only One who can
deliver them and fulfil their hope.
The One they killed turned out to be the highest power in the
universe, and their only chance to get out from under Gentile rule.
Are they in trouble now! Not only did they not get rid of
Jesus by killing Him, but now He is about to come back in wrath
(Is 13:9-13) and use them
for a footstool!
Are you seeing how different Acts is from our message
today? We understand now that Christ’s death paid for their sins
too, just like ours (Rom 3:25; Heb 9:15),
but that is not yet what is being preached here in Acts, and that is
not what Israel was being urged to believe. Rather, they need to
change their mind (repent) about who
Jesus is, and recognize Him as their Messiah.
In Acts 2, the cross is cause for guilt and fear,
and great mourning. (Zech 12:10-14)
In our dispensation, the cross removes our
guilt and fear, and fills us with gratitude.(Rom
5:1,9,10 & 8:1,31-34; II Cor 9:15) We glory and rejoice in
the cross, (Gal 6:14; I Thes 5:16) but
that is certainly not the message here in Acts 2! And we Gentiles
are not who Peter is speaking to..
Hell:
Until Christ paid for sin, everybody went to hell when they
died. Hell was divided into 2 compartments. One was a place of
torment and the other was a paradise. See this in Luke
16:19-31. When Jesus died He went to hell in the heart of the
earth, (Mat 12:40) but He told the
thief on the cross that he would be in the paradise section with
Him. (Luke 23:39-43) Payment for our
sin was made while He was on the cross. Before He died physically,
He suffered spiritual death for us, during which He said, "My God,
My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mat
27:46; Ps 22:1,6-18. Spiritual death is being separated from God and
forsaken.)
Apparently, now that sin is paid, paradise has been moved into
the presence of God in heaven, (II Cor 12:2-4;
Heb 12:22,23) and only the lost remain in hell until Rev
20:11-15.
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