So, why did Peter choose Joel’s prophecy to explain what was happening? Yes, yes, he was saying what the Spirit was giving him to say. But, why Joel, in particular? Because of who were in that upper room, praying and waiting. Because of who were pouring out into the streets of Jerusalem, publicly prophesying and evangelizing in foreign languages. Women
So we asked our class to rewrite doctrine. We gave them a short list of scriptures to work with, encouraged them to go wherever else in the scriptures they felt prompted (or inspired) to pursue, and to come up with a doctrinal statement. Here is what our class came up with:
This was the word from the Lord they had been longing to hear. After their sackcloth and ashes, their weeping and mourning, weakened from their fasts, and sacrifices, and prayers, they longed with every fiber of their being to hear some token of God’s love and mercy towards them.
Both Zechariah and Hannah must have reflected on the gentle yet powerful holiness of God Who is worthy of our grateful homage.
I was in [the] Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a voice loud as a trumpet saying, “Write what you see into a book
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
When everything around us is shaking, we hang on to the truth that you and I are in a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
A wise person lives in humility, submitting their life to God, allowing the Holy Spirit to inform and conform their thoughts, their feelings and thereby their words and actions.
For John, Christianity was empowered by the Holy Spirit. The antichrist was the other spiritual movement, fueled essentially by a supernatural force that was in opposition to God.
Peter drew from imagery that could portray the kind of fearless faith, godly character, and much-maligned yet God-affirmed lifestyle that he was seeking to encourage. Noah and his family of eight were a tiny remnant of faithful people in a very hostile world.
Grace and Peace, Joanne 