Nougat 29

Y’shua had ascended.

God’s Spirit had come.

No one around them missed it. It was a phenomenal moment. Sound, sight and transformation combined to assure the world that God was doing something different. In previous dispensations, YHWH appeared to individuals either in private or in the public sphere, demonstrating favour or chosenness for a particular assignment. It was usually a ministry of one.

When God chose Israel, it was a singular encounter: Jacob with God. His family – which became a nation, then a kingdom – was blessed (i.e., selected and anointed) because of God’s covenant with Jacob. The same happened with David. There was still an element of individual divine encounters that flowed over into families.

Some of this shifted when Y’shua became human. His grace was extended to Jews and Gentiles. But as a human, Y’shua was restricted by both time and place in a way that God, as Creator, is not. Likewise, God’s Spirit is not bound by time and space. God’s plan was about to be unfolded to the world. And for the global revelation, God’s strategy shifted. God sent God’s ‘mini-me’ – us humans filled with God’s Spirit and reflecting God’s likeness to remind us all of God’s redemption plan. It had been spoken of in prophecies centuries prior. That was what Peter attested to. That’s what we reflect on in Today’s Holy Nougat

Acts 2:17 CEVDCI

[17] “When the last days come, I will give my Spirit to everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams.

Sent … With Prophesying, Visions, and Dreams

Peter, the disciple who had once denied Y’shua, was now the group’s spokesman. As a professional fisherman, it was expected that he would not be very articulate. But he had been anointed by God’s Spirit to share the Good News of salvation to all. Peter did not see this as a random or even an individual act of God. He explained to all who cared to listen that this was God’s plan. For Peter, the visible outpouring of God’s Spirit signalled the final act of God’s redemption plan. The curtains had opened and God’s chosen were now following the script as directed by God to the prophet Joel.

Self-Check

Do we agree with Peter’s premise that God’s final act of redemption began with Pentecost? What does that mean for us?

Application

Peter’s assertion of the eschaton – i.e. the last days – is found in Joel 2:28. We may recall that Joel 2 offers the Israelites both challenge and hope in its depiction of the ‘day of the Lord’. This day is accompanied by gloom as it follows the desolation and devastation resulting from the Lord’s overthrowing the enemy. Yet, after a season of repentance, YHWH offered restoration, miraculous signs and wonders.

That period, says Joel, would then be followed by the outpouring of God’s Spirit – a time of prophecy, dreams, and visions. Joel does not use the phrase ‘eschaton’, or its Hebrew equivalent Acharit HaYamim. In a sense, he didn’t have to. Prophets perceived what was in the hearts of others, spoke truth to power, and/or predicted forthcoming events. But prophecies were written to offer hope for the future (even if their content was negative).

So, by situating the outpouring of God’s Spirit after the Day of the Lord, we hear Joel intimating that the Spirit’s manifestation would be after a period of judgment. For some, this places Peter’s assertion at odds with Joel’s prophecy. I propose that it was two different eras being described in one prophetic utterance.

With Y’shua’s death, there was a judgment on Death, Sin, and the one who ruled over death – Satan. Hebrews 2:14-15 and Colossians 2:15 both assert that with His death Jesus defeated Satan and Death. That victory definitely ushers in the Day of the Lord. All that happened thereafter (as per Joel’s expression that introduced the outpouring of God’s Spirit in verse 28), is a new day. That ‘new day’ for Peter began at Pentecost. God’s Spirit was evident on and through ordinary people in an extraordinary way. One could agree that God’s Spirit was poured out on all flesh.

If we can see alignment between Joel’s and Peter’s interpretation of God’s act at Pentecost, then we should be able to count ourselves among those in whom God’s Spirit dwells. It may be that initially we are the recipients of God’s redeeming grace. However, having been called into redemption, we are sent to share the Good News of redemption. We are thus equipped with Prophecies, Visions, and Dreams. We are the sent of our day. May God’s glory be seen in us as the curtains open.

Point to Ponder

How are we using the signs God has placed on God’s chosen to further the work we have been sent to do?

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May all we seek be found in Christ