Sabbath School

Adult Sabbath School Bible study guide.

Read Acts 2:1–21. Why did Peter quote Joel in the context of Christ’s first coming? What role does prophecy play in this passage?

In these New Testament verses, we find one of the longest quotations from the Old. When reading the reasoning of Peter, we might ask, “Peter, what about the signs? We can’t see them in your situation.” Peter would probably answer, There was a fulfillment of the signs. When Jesus was hanging on the cross a few days ago, the sun was darkened for three hours (Mark 15:33).

What was a convincing argument for Peter is, perhaps, less persuasive for us today. We are still expecting a more complete fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. The key lies in the text of Joel itself. In Joel 2:23, Joel mentions the early and latter rains. Acts 2 is the first fulfillment of this prophecy—the early rain. The final fulfillment will be the outpouring of the Spirit just before the end of time through the latter rain.

Often people define prophecy as “predicting the future.” This is not wrong, but Bible prophets also called people to repentance. After all, later as Peter was speaking, some in the crowd were convicted.

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ ” (Acts 2:37, NKJV).

And what did Peter answer?

“ ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call’ ” (Acts 2:38, 39, NKJV).

John the Baptist, as a prophet, also called people to repentence. Although proclaiming the first coming of Jesus, he also preached repentance for their sins. “ ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ ” (Matt. 3:2, NKJV).

Thus, Joel 2 will find its final fulfillment in the future. As Joel and Peter did, the prophets of the end times will call for repentance, point to Jesus, and provide guidance for God’s end-time church.

Upon seeing these supernatural manifestations, the crowd initially thought it to be some kind of natural event. In this case, they thought that the men were drunk! (Drunk men suddenly speaking in foreign languages?) However irrational their response, what is it about people that causes them, even in the face of the supernatural, to try to find a natural explanation?

Supplemental EGW Notes

What promise did our Lord Jesus Christ make to His disciples to furnish them with consolation in view of His departure from them? It was the promise of the Holy Spirit of God. The divine influence of the Holy Spirit was to cooperate with the human mind and bring to their remembrance whatsoever Christ had spoken unto them. The great need of this time of peril is the Holy Spirit, for it will bring to the receiver all other blessings in its train. The truth believed will transform the character. In the light of the truth that is shining in our day, we are reproved for the dearth of the Holy Spirit. . . . As long as individuals are content with a mere theory of truth, and are yet lacking in the daily operation of the Spirit of God upon the heart, which is manifested in outward transformation of character, they are cutting themselves off from the qualification that would fit them for greater efficiency in the Master’s work. . . . The baptism of the Holy Ghost as on the day of Pentecost will lead to a revival of true religion, and to the performance of many wonderful works. Heavenly intelligences will come among us, and men and women will speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Spirit of God. But should the Lord work upon people as He did on and after the day of Pentecost, many who now claim to believe the truth would know so very little of the operation of the Holy Spirit that they would cry, “Beware of fanaticism.” They would say of those who were filled with the Spirit, “They are filled with new wine” [Acts 2:13, NRSV]. . . . When souls long after Christ, and seek to become one with Him, then those who are content with the form of godliness exclaim, “Be careful; do not go to extremes.” When angels of heaven come among us and work through human agents, there will be solid, substantial conversions, after the order of the conversions of the day of Pentecost. Now. . . be careful and do not go into human excitement. But while we should be careful not to go into human excitement, we should not be among those who will raise inquiries and cherish doubts in reference to the work of the Spirit of God, for there will be those who will question and criticize when the Spirit of God takes possession of men and women, because their own hearts are not moved, but are cold and unimpressible.—Christ Triumphant, p. 371.

The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.