And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young me shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.-- Acts 2:17-21
Peter spoke these words quoting Joel 2:28-32 to explain to the Jewish people the events of Pentecost. Peter ascertained from what was happening that he was living in the time of the last days. The book of Acts goes on to explain that miracles, signs, and wonders were still being performed through the apostles (2:43).
This begs the question: If we are still in the last days, shouldn't there be some kind of apostolate that still performs these miracles, signs, and wonders in and around Jerusalem? I don't think these things are happening, or at least I'm not aware of these thing happening.
This begs another question: Have we misunderstood what is meant by "the last days"? I think we're all agreed that the last days occur prior to the "great and magnificent day of the Lord". But we may have extended the duration of the last days beyond their intended scope. Perhaps "the last days" should be limited to the apostolic era. This sounds correct to me. If it is, then "the day of the Lord" has already occurred at the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70.
If we are still in "the last days", then something isn't adding up. There are no apostolic signs and wonders indicating that anything is about to occur. We might be tempted to say that "the sun has turned to darkness" via solar eclipses. But this betrays an ignorance of the nature of apocalyptic language.
Douglas Hoag
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Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, New Lenox, Illinois.
I'm married with two children.
My MBTI type is E/INFP, in case that means anything to you.
My prayer: Lord, help me finish everything I sta
Most importantly, I believe that the reality and personage of God was uniquely and fully realized in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. No one else comes close.
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for the seizures and/or convulsions you may experience while reading this blog.
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I'm married with two children.
My MBTI type is E/INFP, in case that means anything to you.
My prayer: Lord, help me finish everything I sta
Most importantly, I believe that the reality and personage of God was uniquely and fully realized in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. No one else comes close.
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for the seizures and/or convulsions you may experience while reading this blog.
Doug Hoag's Profile
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4 comments:
Great post, Doug.
Doug, we've talked about htis before. But, I keep coming back to it. I haven't quite made up my mind yet. Still, the more I examine this line of thinking, the more sense it makes. Great post!
I am not sure if I can go along with this. It is just such a new way thinking about the last days. I was always taught that the last days were the time between when Jesus came in human flesh and revealed his power over demons and when He will return on the last day to judge the quick and the dead.
I think that Jesus can still cary out His apostolic ministry in the ways described in Acts 2:17-21. The sons and daughters of the church (Jerusalem) still prophesy in the sense that God's Word is proclaimed and confessed and taught in the church. Young men still see visions and old men still dream dreams, they may not be verified to be from God nor added to the words of the Bible, but they may be real, no less. Jesus still pours out His Spirit upon His brothers and sisters and they proclaim Him to all the nations. God still shows wonders be they storms, tsunami, famine or war. The fire, vapor of smoke, sun turned to darkness and moon to blood may still remain to be seen before Christ returns. I don't read these words to indicate that all of these things must take place all of the time during the last days.
I agree that the words recorded by Joel can apply to the Jewish people at Pentecost, and I also think they apply to us today who half of the church year still celebrate Pentecost.
Perhaps the the "great and magnificent day" of the Lord refers to his death on the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Maybe it is the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. I just always read this day to be the day of Jesus second coming when the old earth and heaven would pass away and Jesus would bring the new heaven and new earth. Where Jerusalem (Christ's bride) would come out of the sky in splendor to meet Him.
I am just a laymen and not very learned in Scripture or apocalyptic language, so please forgive me if I am wrong. This is just what I have come to believe and I have a lot to learn in this belief.
Thank you for being used by the Holy Ghost to carry out Christ's ministry of Word and Sacrament.
I appreciate your blog and posted sermons.
I pray that our heavenly Father will guard and protect you.
Thanks for all of the comments.
Chris,
I'm still figuring this stuff out also. Stay tuned!
Anonymous,
Thanks for your kind words. I do much of my thinking through my fingers. I can certainly understand your hesitancy in agreeing with my post. But I'm trying to understand how the original audiences of the Scriptural witness would have ascertained what they heard and read from the apostles, always trying to remember that Scripture interprets Scripture, and thereby being faithful to the inspired text.
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