How does Acts 3:20 connect with Old Testament prophecies about Jesus? Setting the scene • After healing the lame man, Peter addresses the amazed crowd in Solomon’s Colonnade (Acts 3:11–12). • He calls Israel to “Repent therefore, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you” (Acts 3:19–20). • Peter links three promises—cleansed sin, refreshing restoration, and the sending of Jesus—to well-known Old Testament hopes. God promised to “send” the Messiah • Genesis 49:10 – Shiloh, the ruler from Judah, will come. • Isaiah 7:14 – “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.” • Isaiah 9:6 – “For unto us a child is born… and the government will be on His shoulders.” • Isaiah 11:1–2 – A shoot from Jesse will be endowed with the Spirit. • Micah 5:2 – Bethlehem will produce the ruler “whose origins are from ancient times.” • Zechariah 9:9 – Zion’s King comes “righteous and having salvation.” Acts 3:20 echoes these prophecies: the long-awaited One has already come in Jesus and will come again. “The Christ appointed for you” – Messiah as God’s chosen Servant • Isaiah 42:1 – “Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My chosen One in whom My soul delights.” • Isaiah 49:6 – The Servant is appointed “to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.” • Psalm 2:2 – “The kings of the earth take their stand… against the LORD and against His Anointed.” Peter affirms that Jesus perfectly fulfills every “appointment” spoken over the Servant-Messiah. “Times of refreshing” – restoration foretold • Isaiah 44:3 – God will pour out water on thirsty ground and His Spirit on offspring. • Isaiah 55:1–3 – The invitation to drink freely and enter an everlasting covenant. • Joel 2:28–29 – The Spirit poured out on all flesh, fulfilled in Acts 2 and still unfolding. • Ezekiel 36:25–27 – Cleansing water and a new heart accompany Israel’s renewal. Peter connects these “refreshing” promises to repentance and the Messiah’s presence. Jesus as the promised Prophet like Moses • Deuteronomy 18:15 – “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.” • Deuteronomy 18:18–19 – God will “put My words in his mouth.” Acts 3:22–23 (just a few verses after v. 20) quotes this passage directly, showing Jesus fulfills the Mosaic pattern. Suffering first, glory later—two horizons of one Messiah • Isaiah 53 – The Servant bears sin before seeing “the light of life” (v. 11). • Psalm 22 – From pierced hands (v. 16) to worldwide worship (v. 27). • Zechariah 12:10 – They will look on the One they pierced, then mourn and be cleansed. Peter’s reference to “sending” Jesus includes the completed first advent (suffering) and the anticipated second advent (glory). Second sending foretold in the prophets • Daniel 7:13–14 – “One like a son of man” comes with the clouds to receive an eternal kingdom. • Zechariah 14:3–9 – The LORD descends to the Mount of Olives and becomes King over all the earth. • Malachi 3:1–2 – “The Lord you are seeking will come suddenly to His temple… But who can endure the day of His coming?” Acts 3:20 points forward to this climactic return, when every prophetic promise reaches its fullness. Putting it together • Old Testament prophets proclaimed a divinely sent, Spirit-anointed deliverer who would suffer, rise, and reign. • Acts 3:20 gathers those threads into one sentence: God will “send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you.” • The call remains the same—repent, receive forgiveness, enjoy present refreshment, and live in joyful expectation of the King’s return, exactly as Scripture has always declared. |
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