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Brother Turner:
 To
what does "this is that" of Acts 2:16 refer? Thank
you. C.G.
Reply:
It
has been many years since this was answered on this page,
so I will rehash some of that material.
First,
consider "that" which Joel spoke. It is a redemption
or restoration prophecy, clearly Messianic. The "wonders in
the heavens... blood, fire, and smoke... sun turned into
darkness and moon to blood" depict an overthrow of great
powers: Babylon, in Isa. 13:6-13; Edom or Idumea, in 34:1-10;
Jerusalem, in Zech. 14:1-f. These days of reckoning, and
demonstrations of God's power are called "The Day of the
Lord" or "of Jehovah." Joel spoke of such a day,
in like terms.
But
Joel's "day" was a time of deliver- ance. "There
shall be those that escape," and "among the remnant
those whom Jehovah doth call." These terms are frequently
used in Isaiah — see 1:9; 4:2-6; 10:20-23; 11:10-16; — and
if you have read these passages you see they also refer to
Christ. In Isa. 49:5-6 it is clear that Gentiles will be
redeemed at the same time and by the same Savior as the
"remnant" of Israel. (See Amos 9:8-12, which James
clearly relates to salvation in Jesus Christ, for all nations,
Acts 15:13f.) So, Joel's "day" was the Christian
dispensation, the "last days" or "age" or
the "today" of Heb. 3:15, or Paul's "now" of
2 Cor. 6:2; cf. Lu. 4:21.
Joel's
prophecy of the coming of the
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Christian age indicated that it would be
signaled by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 32:14-15
and 44:1-5 also make this same relation of Spirit to the new
dispensation, and Messianic kingdom.
Peter
connects all these points of Joel's prophecy to salvation in
Jesus Christ. He says Christ is on David's throne; and the
promise is to all that are afar off, or "whosoever will
call upon the name of the Lord." His "this" must,
therefore, have reference to more than the single outpouring of
the Spirit upon that 24-hour day. "This" immediate
outpouring is but the beginning of a dispensation in which
"daughters" and "handmaidens" will also
prophecy (Acts 21:9), and the Spirit will be poured upon the
Gentiles (Acts 10:44-f). "That" — the
"Day" of the Lord, the deliverance of the Jewish
"remnant" and of all who will call upon the name of
the Lord was what Joel had predicted; and on the first Pentecost
following the resurrection of Christ, when the Holy Spirit was
poured out upon the chosen witnesses (Lu. 24:48-49), Peter could
say, "This is that —." The time has come for
salvation in Jesus Christ.
For
the sake of readers other than the querist we may add that the
outpouring of the Spirit upon a limited number in the early days
of this last age, profited all. It confirmed the acceptance of
Gentiles (Acts 11:17-18) and proved the source of God's message
to all (Mk. 16:20, Heb. 2.1-4). It is our assurance that the
Scriptures are complete, accurate, and will "endure"
(Jn. 16:12-14; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). The sword of the Spirit, the
word of God (Eph. 6:17) "cuts" the heart today even as
it did on Pentecost.
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