Acts 3:24 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.

NIV: Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days.

NASB: And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and his successors onward, have also announced these days.

CSB: "In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days.

NLT: Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today.

KJV: Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.

NKJV: Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.

The coming of the Jewish Messiah is prophesied in many Old Testament passages. God, through Nathan, promised that David would have an heir with an eternal kingdom (2 Samuel 7:16). Jeremiah recorded God saying that God would make a new covenant with Israel; He said, "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jeremiah 31:33). Psalm 118:22 predicts that the Jews would reject their own Savior.

The most powerful, and yet confusing, prophecy about Jesus and the times in which Peter is speaking is from Daniel 9:24–27. It speaks of seventy "weeks" or seventy sets of seven years each—490 years total. The first "week" started "from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem" (Daniel 9:25). This is taken to mean when King Artaxerxes of Persia ordered that the wall of Jerusalem was to be rebuilt around 445 BC (Nehemiah 2:1–8). It would take seven "weeks" to completely rebuild Jerusalem. After another 62 weeks, or 434 years, "an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing" (Daniel 9:26). This reaches AD 30, the year of Jesus' recognition as the Anointed One, such as by Mary of Bethany (John 12:1–8), and His crucifixion.

The initial seven "weeks" plus the sixty-two "weeks" adds up to sixty-nine "weeks." Daniel 9:26 seems to be a double-prophecy. It was initially fulfilled in AD 70 when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. But there is a larger gap between Jesus' final year on earth and the beginning of the seventieth "week." The church age is not found in very many prophecies; prophecy is generally for Israel and the nations around Israel. The second fulfillment of Daniel 9:26 and the fulfillment of Daniel 9:27 will be during the seven-year tribulation when the Antichrist makes a covenant with Israel and her enemies for seven years and the defiles the temple.

It's amazing to think even the year of Jesus' crucifixion was prophesied of in the Old Testament.

Acts 3:11–26 transcribes the sermon Peter gives at the temple. While Peter and John enter the temple to pray, Peter heals a lame beggar who has asked for alms. The man is healed and leaps up, praising God (Acts 3:1–10). When this catches the crowd's attention, Peter explains that the healing power did not come from them but from Jesus of Nazareth whom the Jews killed. The results are mixed; the Jesus-followers gain unwanted attention from the Jewish officials (Acts 4:1–3), but five thousand men plus women find faith in Jesus (Acts 4:4).

Acts 3 is comprised of two sections: the healing of a lame man and the explanation of that healing. First, a man who has been lame his whole life approaches Peter and John to beg from them at the temple. When Peter heals him in Jesus' name, a crowd gathers around. Peter gives witness to Jesus (Acts 1:8) and tells the crowd that Jesus' authority and power healed this man. Looking back as modern readers, we see how, as the man's body symbolically ''repented,'' or turned away, from its broken form into freedom of movement, so the people can repent from their broken thoughts, actions, and beliefs, and find freedom from sin.

Acts 3 contains the second major speech of Jesus' followers. In Acts 1, Jesus ascended into heaven. In Acts 2, His followers received the Holy Spirit and gave such witness to Him that three thousand people believed in Him. Here, Peter explains that Jesus' power and authority have healed a lame man, and Jesus can heal sinful hearts, as well. This moment will bring the fledgling church to the attention of the Sanhedrin: the Jewish ruling court. There, Peter and John will set the example for all Jesus-followers. Jesus told them to be His witness (Acts 1:8); nothing a human authority can say will stop them.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.