that that kingdom is come, and the other predictions of it are fulfilled. He specifies one, that of the prophet Joel, ch. 2. 28. It is observable, that though Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake with tongues as the Spirit gave him utterance, yet he did not set aside the scriptures, nor think himself above them; nay, much of his discourse is quotation out of the Old Testament, to which he appeals, and with which he proves what he says. Christ's scholars never learn above their Bible; and the Spirit is given not to supersede the scriptures, but to enable us to understand and improve the scriptures. Observe,
(1.) The text itself that Peter quotes, v. 17—21. It refers to the last days, the times of the gospel, which are therefore called the last days, because the dispensation of God's kingdom among men, which the gospel sets up, is the last dispensation of divine grace, and we are to look for no other than the continuation of that to the end of time. Or, in the last days, that is, a great while after the ceasing of prophecy in the Old Testament church. Or, in the day immediately preceding the destruction of the Jewish nation, in the last days of that people, just before that great and notable day of the Lord, spoken of, v. 20. "It was prophesied of and promised, and therefore you ought to expect it, and not to be surprised at it; to desire it, and bid it welcome, and not to dispute it, as not worth taking notice of." The apostle quotes the whole paragraph, for it is good to take the scripture entire; now it was foretold,
[1.] That there should be a more plentiful and extensive effusion of the Spirit of grace from on high than had been ever yet. The prophets of the Old Testament had been filled with the Holy Ghost, and it was said of the people of Israel, that God gave them his good Spirit to instruct them, Neh. 9. 20. But now the Spirit shall be poured out, not only upon the Jews, but upon all flesh, Gentiles as well as Jews; though yet Peter himself did not understand it so, it appears, ch. 11. 17. Or, upon all flesh, that is, upon some of all ranks and conditions of men. The Jewish doctors taught, that the Spirit came only upon wise and rich men, and such as were of the seed of Israel; but God will not tie himself to their rules.
[2.] That the Spirit should be in them a Spirit of prophesy; by the Spirit they should be enabled to foretell things to come, and to preach the gospel to every creature. This power shall be given without distinction of sex; not only your sons, but your daughters shall prophesy; without distinction of age, both your young men and your old men shall see visions, and dream dreams, and in them receive divine revelations, to be communicated to the church; and without distinction of outward condition, even the servants and handmaids shall receive of the Spirit, and shall prophesy, (v. 18.) or, in general, men and women, whom God calls his servants and his handmaids. In the beginning of the age of prophesy in the Old Testament, there were schools of the prophets, and, before that, the Spirit of prophecy came upon the elders of Israel that were appointed to the government; but now the Spirit shall be poured out upon persons of inferior rank, and such as were not brought up in the schools of the prophets, for the kingdom of the Messiah is to be purely spiritual. The mention of the daughters (v. 17.) and the handmaidens (v. 18.) would make one think that the women which were taken notice of, (ch. 1. 14.) received the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, as well as the men. Philip, the evangelist, had four daughters who did prophesy, (ch. 21. 9.) and therefore St. Paul, finding abundance of the gifts both of tongues and prophesy in the church of Corinth, saw it needful to prohibit women's use of those gifts in public, 1 Cor. 14, 26, 34.
[3.] That one great thing which they should prophesy of should be the judgments that were coming upon the Jewish nation, for this was the chief thing that Christ himself had foretold (Matt. 24.) at his entrance into Jerusalem, (Luke 19. 41.) and when he was going to die; (Luke 23. 29.) and these judgments were to be brought upon them, to punish them for their contempt of the gospel, and their opposition to it, though it came to them thus proved. They that would not submit to the power of God's grace in this wonderful effusion of his Spirit, should fall and lie under the pourings out of the vials of his wrath. They shall break, that will not bend.
First, The destruction of Jerusalem, which was about forty years after Christ's death, is here called that great and notable day of the Lord, because it put a final period to the Mosaic economy; the Levitical priesthood and the ceremonial law were thereby for ever abolished and done away. The desolation itself was such as was never brought upon any place or nation, either before or since. It was the day of the Lord, for it was the day of his vengeance upon that people for crucifying Christ, and persecuting his ministers; it was the year of recompenses for that controversy; yea, and for all the blood of the saints and martyrs, from the blood of righteous Abel, Matt. 23. 35. It was a little day of judgment; it was a notable day: in Joel it is called a terrible day, for so it was to men on earth; but here ἐπιφανῆ, (after the Seventy, shews) a glorious, illustrious day, for so it was to Christ in heaven, it was the epiphany, his appearing, so he himself spake of it, Matt. 24. 30. The destruction of the Jews was the deliverance of the christians, that were hated and persecuted by them; and therefore that day was often spoken of by the prophets of that time, for the encouragement of suffering christians, that the Lord was at hand, the coming of the Lord drew nigh, the Judge stood before the door, James 5. 8, 9.
Secondly, The terrible presages of that destruction are here foretold; There shall be wonders in heaven above, the sun turned into darkness, and the moon into blood; and signs too in the earth beneath, blood and fire. Josephus, in his preface to his history of the wars of the Jews, speaks of the signs and prodigies that preceded them, terrible thunders, lightnings and earthquakes; there was a fiery comet that hung over the city for a year, and a flaming sword was seen pointing down upon it; a light shone upon the temple and the altar at midnight, as if it had been noon-day. Dr. Lightfoot gives another sense of these presages; The blood of the Son of God, the fire of the Holy Ghost now appearing, the vapour of the smoke in which Christ ascended, the sun darkened, and the moon made blood, at the time of Christ's passion, were all loud warnings given to that unbelieving people to prepare for the judgments coming upon them. Or, it may be applied, and very fitly, to the previous judgments themselves, by which that desolation was brought on. The blood points at the wars of the Jews with the neighbouring nations, with the Samaritans, Syrians, and Greeks, in which abundance of blood was shed, as there was also in their civil wars, and the struggles of the seditious, (as they called them, ) which were very bloody; there was no peace to him that went out, or to him that came in. The fire and vapour of smoke, here foretold, literally came to pass in the burning of their cities, and towns, and synagogues, and temple at last. And this turning of the sun into darkness, and the moon into blood, speaks the dissolution of their government, civil and sacred, and the extinguishing of all their lights.
Thirdly, The signal preservation of the Lord's people is here promised; (v. 21.) Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, (which is the description of a true christian, 1 Cor. 1. 2.) shall be
