The pouring out of the Holy Spirit was prophesied about.

Acts 2:14-16

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
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“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:” Acts 2:14-16

Peter stood up with the eleven other Apostles, which included Mathias who replaced Judas Iscariot [who betrayed Christ Jesus with a kiss], as described in Acts 1:23-26. All of the Apostles of Jesus Christ stood together when Peter spoke to the people of Judea and Jerusalem [which would have been predominantly Jewish people]. These people had never experienced or witnessed Galileans suddenly speaking in other languages. Those languages were being understood by those who were present from foreign cities, regions, and countries [as described in Acts 2:1-13]. The people of Judea and all of Jerusalem were flabbergasted, and ridiculed those suddenly speaking in a foreign language, “But these speak evil of whatever they do not know…” Jude 1:10 While those “cloven tongues of fire” propelled the Gospel of Jesus Christ to global proportions, click here for what Paul said about tongues that are not profitable in promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ [part of Acts 2:1-13].

Peter made it clear that those speaking with the “cloven tongue of fire” were not drunk, it was only 9 o’clock in the morning. In those days, drinking was done predominantly in the evening hours. “For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:7

Peter quoted Joel 2:28-32, which is the prophecy of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Once again, the Old Testament Scriptures were quoted to speak to the Jewish people who prided themselves in living for the Old Testament. Below is the quote from Joel,

“And it will come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it will come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.” Joel 2:28-32

In the next post, we read how Peter quoted the entire passage of Joel 2:28-32, except for half of a verse, which would have been very important to the Jewish people. That is verse 32b, which says, “For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.” Peter would have omitted that part for three very good reasons, 1] The outpouring of the Holy Spirit and deliverance is not just for the Jewish people, not restricted to Jerusalem and Mt. Zion. 2] The Jewish people will not receive anything from the Lord until they acknowledge that Jesus is their Christ and Savior. “See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you will see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Matthew 23:38-39 3] Peter was following the leading of the Holy Spirit when he omitted verse 32b.

Today, we know that Mt. Zion symbolizes our Heavenly home within the New Jerusalem and is not the Mt. Zion within the State of Israel. It’s obvious that there is no part of the State of Israel that is a promised land for all of God’s children and is not where we go in search of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are familiar with this Church song,

We’re marching to Zion,
Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We’re marching upward to Zion,
The beautiful city of God.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11