“THE BOOK OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES” Part 3 of 5 
TEN POINTS THAT NEED CLEARING UP IN ACTS  

POINT 1. “TONGUES - ARE THEY FOR TODAY?” (Acts 2:4)

No. They were exclusively for the Jews, starting at Pentecost up to when Paul is beheaded in 68AD. Tongues were a sign of judgment, as God had only ever spoken to the Jew through their prophets, with the Hebrew language. They were to be put aside for 2,000 years. God was speaking in other languages. Their exclusive access to God the Father was over.

Known tongues were the 17, and ONLY THE 17, proper languages (Acts 2:9-11)

Unknown tongues were the 17, and ONLY THE 17, proper languages (Acts 2:9-11). They were proper languages but not known by anybody at a gathering or meeting.

Today’s mouth noises are just babble. They are not languages. They are not known or unknown!

POINT 2. “WAS PENTECOST THE DAYS OF JOEL?” Acts 2:16

“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel” Acts 2:16. Let’s compare the two accounts:

1. I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; … your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, … young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. Joel 2:28-29 

NONE OF THIS HAPPENED AT PENTECOST!

 2. … wonders in the heavens … in the earth… blood … fire … pillars of smoke.  The sun shall be turned into darkness … moon into blood Joel 2:30-31.

NONE OF THIS HAPPENED AT PENTECOST!

 3. … before the great & the terrible day of the LORD come. Joel 2:31.

Was Pentecost the great and terrible day? NO, and the men of Israel knew this.

 4. Joel is foretold being the day of the LORD. This is the seven year wrath of God. This is the tribulation. This is not Pentecost.

 5. …whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: (Joel 2:32). They weren’t being delivered at Pentecost! However, if they would call on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38), they would be saved.

In Joel they will call upon the LORD who is Jehovah. At Pentecost, they call on the Lord who is Jesus. Also, Pentecost was voluntary. Joel is forced upon Israel. It will be a mandatory deliverance.

 6. ….for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, ... and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Joel 2:32. Pentecost was not about a remnant being delivered.

 7. Joel does not talk of anyone speaking in tongues, of rushing wind or cloven tongues of fire.

 8. The Spirit is never poured out anywhere in the New Testament upon any flesh. However, God’s Spirit ‘touches’ the flesh, when a person is born again (Col 2:11-14), in that, the soul is cut from the flesh in a spiritual circumcision that separates the soul from the body of flesh.

 9. The Jews at Pentecost knew they were not in the last days. They knew it was to come in the future some time. They didn’t know when. These two events are separated by 2,000 years.

10. So the “…this is that…” refers to the same Spirit that will work at both times. This is that same Spirit on both occasions. Peter is merely calming down the agitated and confused Jews at Pentecost by saying “Don’t be alarmed. This is not an evil spirit. It is God’s Spirit that is working here. It is the same Spirit that will work in the future – in the days of Joel.

Be comforted! Everything is OK.

Peter is simply stating

“THIS Spirit (now at Pentecost)

IS THAT Spirit (in the future in Joel).”  

 

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Harley Hitchcock

This website’s front page is:
www.AustralianBibleMinistries.com

“THE BOOK OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES”

Part 4 of 5