Reconciling Acts 2:16 Dispensationally

Acts 2:16-20 “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 shew 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:”

Now, I’m going to make an outlandish statement, especially if you are a Bible Believer. For clarification, I have read Dr. Ruckman's commentary and his reference bible notes on these verses, as well as the works of Gaebelien, Bullinger, and Scofield. And let me say emphatically that I am by no means a more able expositor than any of these men. In fact, I am completely in agreement with Dr. Ruckman, as I am no more than a Bible student, and when compared to these men, a poor one at that.

Now I hope that nothing I say would in any way be perceived as being disrespectful to any of these great men of God. All of which I hold in the highest regard. I am of the opinion that brethren can agree to disagree as long as we agree that salvation in this present age is by grace through faith, plus nothing minus nothing. And that one of the tests of true Christian character is the grace by which we treat those with whom we disagree.

With that said, there has always been, in my opinion, something about these verses and the expositions of these men that never seemed quite right to me. Though I am more in agreement with Scofield’s comments, even his exposition doesn’t quite answer, at least for me, was this, as Peter stated, “that which was spoken by the prophet Joel?”

"I have put my words in your mouth."

Now, the first thing that occurred to me as I considered these verses was that the Holy Spirit in His divine foreknowledge didn’t exclude Peter's supposed nefarious statement from the Scripture record. If, as some have suggested that Peter was merely in error when he claimed that “this was that which was spoken by the prophet Joel,” the Author of the Book could just easily have stricken this claim from the Text, thereby negating any further confusion. But the fact is, he didn’t. I mean, if the statement was indeed made in error, why have Luke record the mistake at all, right? The fact that the statement is recorded for all to see would suggest, at least in my mind, that the record is true. At least partially.

Now, if we are to assume, as the Scripture says, that “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,” then it would seem to me that it would be almost foolish to think that the words of Peter, as given to us in our King James Bible, were somehow totally off base. For if we read in Acts 2:4, we find stated unequivically that on the day of Pentecost, "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak ... as the Spirit gave them utterance."

Furthermore, if we realize that nowhere else in Scripture do we find a correction to or an amendment of Peter’s supposed nefarious statement, this again would lead one to believe that the words of Peter as recorded on the day of Pentecost were indeed factual. Again, at least partially.

Now, if we take these verses in their totality, our first clue as to their proper interpretation emerges. From the outset, regardless of what our personal opinions may be concerning this portion of Scripture, we can all agree that verses 19 and 20 remain unfulfilled. And this is the reason the majority of our expositors have erroneously concluded that none of Joel's prophecy was fulfilled; the only exception being Scofield, who indicates in his reference Bible (see subheading pg. 1150) that the events in Acts 2 were indeed a fulfillment of "that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." Of which I partially agree.

Now, for those of us who “Rightly Divide the Word of Truth,” we realize that the 3 ½ years while our Lord was on this earth, He was offering the Kingdom to the nation of Israel, which was ultimately rejected. And again, to this, I’m sure we’re all in agreement. The results of which are the current dispensation of grace in which we live.

Now, as other expositors have duly noted, the subsequent rejection of our Lord by His own does not in any way negate the fact that His offer of the Kingdom to the nation of Israel was, in fact, legitimate. Furthermore, it likewise doesn’t negate the fact that it was at the very least a partial fulfillment of prophecy. Had the Jews received their Messiah, we know that the events leading to the Millennium would have then commenced. And this matches perfectly with the words of our Lord Himself, who, when standing in the midst of the people, declared, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” (Luke 4:21). But was it? The answer is yes, although not fully. For if we read the exact scripture in which the Lord quotes, we will realize that He doesn’t quote the whole thing. And why? Because He knew the latter part of that prophecy given by Isaiah was 2^nd advent. Notice the difference in what the Lord says and what Isaiah prophesies.

"This day is this scripture fulfilled..." Luke 4:21

(Luke 4:16-21) "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears."

Now contrast that with what Isaiah writes: (Isaiah 61:1-3) "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified."

Notice the Lord stopped at “the acceptable year of the Lord,” and didn’t say “and the day of vengeance of our God…” And why? Because that is clearly 2^nd advent.

And this is the key to understanding Peter’s comments on the day of Pentecost. When Peter made that statement, the imminent return (2^nd advent) of our Lord was then at hand. And this is a constant theme that runs straight through the book of Acts. And this is evident 1. by the message given to Jews and Jewish Proselytes in Jerusalem (repent and be baptized…). The exact same message John the Baptist preached (the forerunner of our Lord), 2. the signs and wonders being manifest, and 3. by the comments of Stephen at his death.

When Stephen was being stoned, he looked up into heaven, and what did he see? “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,” (Acts 7:55). He saw Jesus standing, not sitting as was told at the close of the Gospel of Mark. "So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God." (Mark 16:19). And this, I believe, explains a whole lot of things that occur during the book of Acts that are clearly not Scriptural (ie. signs, wonders, the raising of people from the dead, tongues, and so forth) for the dispensation of the grace of God (the Church age).

Now taken collectively, it is my humble opinion that this proves the validity of Peter's words as given to us on the day of Pentecost. If the nation of Israel had received his message, there would have been no doubt that it would have ushered in the remainder of those events of which Peter spoke. All would have literally been fulfilled. However, because they didn’t receive it, all as with our Lord's offer of the Kingdom during His 1^st advent, is in abeyance. And its ultimate fulfillment is yet future.

May the grace of our Lord be with you all!