The Plans Haven’t Changed

Acts 2:12-21

Working as a plumber, I would frequently be sent to homes of people who didn’t speak English very well, if at all. Though I speak only a very limited amount of Navajo, and am not fluent in Spanish, the fact that I could speak some of their language really got people’s attention. Even those who spoke English well liked the fact that I knew some of their language. Imagine the impact on visitors to Jerusalem when people who would not be expected to speak their language can. Now imagine them speaking even little known languages fluently. It definitely got people’s attention.

“And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.” (Acts 2:12-13)

People who had struggled to learn another language well enough to get by were amazed that anyone could speak some of those languages without spending years in those countries. There had to be something special involved. For those who spoke only Hebrew or Greek, Like some people hearing another language, who don’t understand, it all sounded like gibberish and they concluded they were just drunk.

“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.” (Acts 2:14-15)

As Peter pointed out, if they were drunk, they’d have had to start drinking really early since it was only about nine am. Instead of being drunk, Peter tells them this is a partial fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32. The slight differences in the wording are the result of Peter’s quote having been translated into Greek before being translated into English.

“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:16-21)

While the final fulfillment of the prophecy will not occur until the tribulation period, the giving of the Holy Spirit has already occurred, and will continue right until the very end, giving the power to spread the word of God. Revelation 19:10 tells us that witnessing and preaching about Christ is essentially prophecy, “…for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

By referring back to the prophecies, Peter makes it clear that the things that are happening are not some new thing, but a continuation of what was started in the Old testament. In many ways, the Old testament was like a set of blueprints for the customer to look at, while the New testament is the actual building. No matter how detailed the blue print is, it is hard to visualize exactly what the building will be like. Here Peter shows one part of God’s plan, of people witnessing through the Holy Spirit’s power.

He concludes, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21) This is the same thing Paul says in Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:14-15 explains the importance of the prophecy. “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

More than four hundred and thirty years before Mosaic Law was given, Genesis 15:6 speaks of Abraham, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Time after time the Old Testament refers to people calling on the Lord because they believe in him. Psalm 116:2 is just one example of many. “Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.”

When building a building, it may be necessary to set up a temporary safety structure over the sidewalk to protect passersby that is not shown on the blueprint. When the job is finished, the temporary construction will be removed, but while it is there, it looks as if the plans have been changed. Galatians 3:19 makes it clear that the Law was such a temporary construction. “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.” It did not change the original plan according to Galatians 3:17. “And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.”

By using Joel’s prophecy and ending with “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved,” Peter is establishing the same thing that Paul teaches in Galatians 3, that salvation is by faith, in both the Old and New Testaments. Hebrews 10:1 states, “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.” The Mosaic law could never save anybody, because it was only a temporary substitute to make people aware of their sin according to Romans 3:20. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

I Peter 1:18-21 makes it clear the plan hasn’t changed since before the world was ever created. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.”