Acts 2:18-37

18 Peter, not Joel, speaks of prophesying. It is an inspired break between that part of Joel's prophecy which was fulfilled at Pentecost and that which is yet future.

22 In the evangel of the kingdom the appeal is to the life of our Lord during His earthly ministry. Paul never knew Him in this character. He did not meet Him until after His ascension, and the present economy, based on Paul's experience and revelations, does not recognize Christ after the flesh. Peter's appeal, in proclaiming the kingdom, is no model for us now. Our relationship to Christ begins with His death, burial, resurrection and ascension.

23 The Jews knew that Christ should suffer. Their sacred scrolls were explicit. This was the counsel which determined His death beforehand.

24 The resurrection is the central and essential theme of every evangel. As Peter is proclaiming the kingdom, he proves His resurrection by referring his hearers to king David and his throne. David is the one with whom the throne covenant had been made (2Sa_23:5). It is as David's Heir that Christ will sit on the throne, ruling the nation of Israel, during the thousand years.

27 Death is a return. The spirit returns to God Who gave it (Ecc_12:7). The soul returns to the unseen. The body returns to the soil (Ecc_12:7, cf. Gen_3:19). In the case of our Lord, He commended His spirit to the Father (Luk_23:46). Here he speaks of His soul in the unseen. But His body did not return to the soil. In this His death differs from others. There was no dissolution or decomposition which accompanies the death of other men. His resurrection was unique also. Others who are vivified, will not rise with the same body which was put into the tomb, but God will give each one a body according to His pleasure (1Co_15:38). But He arose with the identical frame which bore our sins, pure, spotless and unsullied even by the hand of death.

30 God's covenants are of two kinds, conditional and unconditional. All those conditioned on human effort, such as the covenant at Sinai, end in failure. All dependent entirely on God, as the covenant with Abraham concerning the land, and with David, concerning the throne, are sure of fulfillment. Moreover, God interposes with an oath, so that there is nothing more sure than that One shall sit on David's throne ruling the sons of Israel.

34 The whole passage shows that Peter is proclaiming a literal king and a literal kingdom for Israel. The descent of the spirit had nothing to do with the formation of the body of Christ, but was a well known sign which indicated the approach of the judgment era which precedes Messiah's advent. In accordance with the burden of his message Peter chooses to bring before them king David and the covenant God made with him, because, if they accept his words, it is this covenant which would be fulfilled. They had crucified Him as the King of Israel. His resurrection proves Him to be the One Whom David foretold. All that remains to be done, should Israel, as a nation, repent, would be the judging of His enemies. This will occur in the judgment era. Here is no hint of, or preparation for, the present interval of undiluted grace, in which God is raising up His enemies, like Saul of Tarsus, to sit with Christ on His celestial throne.