“And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you. And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
I know that you acted in ignorance - "...God's law demanded that murderers should be executed without mercy. Cities of refuge had been provided for the protection of the manslaughter exclusively. Only such as had slain others accidentally (the words in Num. 35 and Deut. 19 are 'ignorantly' and 'unawares') could expect to find help there. The murderer who made the mistake of supposing that judges in the cities of refuge would be lenient, would soon find himself delivered to death by those very judges. Murder was in no wise to be condoned under the law of Moses. Six times in Number 35 alone we read: 'The murderer shall surely be put to death.' And in Deut. 19:13 it is written: 'Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel...'
"But was not the crucifixion of Christ murder in the very first degree? Can any excuse be found for jurors who plot the defendant's death beforehand? who condemn him to death before he has even been heard? who set up false witnesses to insure his condemnation? who subject him to inhuman torture before he is even found guilty? Can any excuse be found for the many irregularities which characterized that trial, conviction and execution as plain murder? Can such wickedness be explained away by kind words?
"The fact is that before the crucifixion Israel's leaders did not know that Jesus was the Christ. True, they could have known, yes, and should have known, but the fact remains that they did not know. They were in a similar position to that in which Saul of Tarsus was later found. He too could and should have known, but he did not know, and later wrote: 'I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.'
"No excuse, of course, could be found for the hate and injustice and cruelty which Israel and shown toward Christ, but the fact is that they did not know that He was the Christ. Our Lord Himself implied this when He said: '...when ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He...' (John 8:28).
"In other words, those responsible for the crucifixion well knew that they were murdering their Victim, but they did not know that their Victim was Christ. Whatever may be the full implication of 1 Cor. 2:8, it surely teaches that had 'the princes of this world' known who their Victim was 'they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.'
"This, of course, did not justify their action, but it was a basis upon which God might show mercy. Had they recognized Him as Messiah they would not have dared to condemn and crucify Him, but they did not believe Him to be the Messiah, hence our Lord's appeal: 'they know not what they do,' and Peter's concession: 'And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it.'" (Stam)
return - i.e., turn from sin to God by reversing their verdict about Jesus and confessing Him as the Messiah
"Those who suppose that Israel was set aside at the cross for rejecting the kingdom, and that the Body of Christ began at Pentecost, should surely stop and meditate upon this passage. The fact is that we do not find one specific offer of the kingdom to Israel until we reach this passage. How then could the Body of Christ have had its beginning at Pentecost? The kingdom was only proclaimed 'at hand' prior to Calvary. At Pentecost Israel was notified that Christ has risen from the dead, and that He surely would occupy David's throne. There is the reminder that 'the promise is to you,' but here in Acts 3 for the first time we find Peter making the proposition that if Israel will repent the times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord and God will send Jesus Christ back to earth to reign.
"As to Peter preaching the gospel of the grace of God at this time, it is significant that not once in the messages of Acts 2 and 3 does Peter tell his hearers that they many look to the cross or trust in the blood of Christ to be saved. They are charged with the crucifixion of Christ and called upon to repent. Even when they cry: 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Peter replies that they must repent and be baptized every one for the remission of sins. And here again he calls upon them as a nation to repent, promising that if they do the rejected Christ will return and the times of refreshing will come.
"What preacher of grace today would proclaim to his hearers the message which Peter here proclaims? Surely we would be most unscriptural if we told our hearers to repent so that Christ and the times of refreshing might come to earth from the presence of the Lord. On the contrary, we call upon men to believe so that they might be raised to sit with Christ in the heavenlies.
"All this is not to deny that men who believe do repent, nor that those who truly repented at that time were in fact saved through the blood of Christ. We are dealing here with the message preached and it cannot be denied that to them it was: Repent and God will send Jesus down here, while to us it is: Believe and God will take you up there. To them the message was, 'Him...ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain...Repent, and be baptized every one of you...for the remission of sins' (Acts 2:23, 38). To us it is: '...we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace' (Eph 1:7).
"How perfectly in order it was for Peter, here at Jerusalem, to offer the return of Christ, and to add: 'Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things...' Jerusalem is the one city in all this world where God has set His name and where Messiah is to reign. As the capital of the Jewish nation at that time and the seat of its government, Jerusalem must repent before He could come back to earth. How can we forget the solemn and touching words of the rejected Lord to His beloved city: 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord' (Matt 23:37-39)." (Stam)
times of refreshing and restoration of all things - the millennial kingdom
by the mouth of His holy prophets - "Once more we are taken back to our Lord's clear instructions to His disciples after the resurrection (Luke 24:45). They learned from His lips the real meaning of the prophetic writings. St. Peter is very definite on the subject of the second advent doctrine (see 2Pet 1:19-21). That God spake by the prophets about the 'times of restoration of all things' is abundantly evidence by such passages as Isa. chs. 11, 25, 35, 40; Jer. 31; Ezek 36; Joel 2, 3: Mic. 5; Zech. 12-14, etc." (Walker)
"These are very interesting words and of great importance. They can only be understood in the right way if we do not lose sight of the fact to whom they were addressed, that is to Jews, and not to Gentiles. They are the heart of this nation. If this is lost sight of, the words must lose their right meaning. The repentance which is demanded of them is an acknowledgment of the wrong they had done in denying the Holy and righteous One, a confession of their blood-guiltiness in having slain the author of life. This, of course, would result in their conversion and the blotting out of their sins as a nation. This God had promised before to the nation. 'I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins' (Isaiah 43:25). Anticipating that glorious day in which this shall be accomplished, a day still to come, the prophet spoke the following glorious words: 'I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins; return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest and every three therein; for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel' (Isaiah 44:22-23).
"...It would be impossible to mention all these promises in what the times of refreshing and restoration of all things consist. These days of a coming age, the kingdom age, or as we call it, because its during will be a thousand years, the Millennium, are fully described on the pages of the Old Testament prophecy. Not alone will the nation be blessed, but Jerusalem will be a great city, the land will be restored and become the great center for blessing; the nations of the earth will receive blessing and groaning creation will be delivered from its groaning, and the curse which rests upon it. If we interpret the Word of Prophecy literally and cease spiritualizing it, we shall have no difficulty to behold the full meaning of the times of refreshing and the restitution of all things.
"...Not only in the Old Testament do we find a description of what is to come for Israel, the nations and creation, but elsewhere in the New Testament these times of refreshing and restoration of all things are clearly indicated. See Matthew 19:28; Romans 8:19-23; Ephesians 1:10, etc. But between these two words of promise of what shall be Israel's portion if they repent, stands another fact: It is the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is a great fundamental passage of that great doctrine, the second coming of Christ. Peter declares that God is going to send Jesus Christ. This must mean a second coming. To teach this in the clearest manner, he adds that the heavens received Him, but they will not retain Him forever. He has gone into the heavens till the true restoration of all things comes. The second coming of Christ will result in the times of refreshing and restoration of all things. This event is, of course, His visible and glorious coming back to earth again, to the Mount of Olives from where He ascended, and for the deliverance and blessing of His earthly people. The coming of the Lord for His church as revealed through the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessal. 4:13-18 must be distinguished from this visible return to the earth. The resurrected and living saints will be caught up together in clouds to meet the Lord in the air, into which the Lord descends when He redeems His promise to His own: 'I will come again and receive you unto myself.' Of this Peter had no knowledge at all when he delivered this testimony to the nation. What he speaks of is the coming of Christ in power and glory to establish His Kingdom in the midst of His people to extend over the entire earth, so that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters the deep. Of that coming prophets had spoken again and again. Indeed, it is impossible to separate in the prophetic Word the blessings promised for Israel, the nations and creation and the coming of Christ in glory as the King of kings." (Gaebelein)
v 22 - "It is doubtless this prophecy from Moses' writings that forms the background of our Lord's repeated cry: 'He that hath ears to hear let him hear!' and of the Father's command: 'Hear ye Him,' and of the Samaritan woman's observation: 'I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things' (Matt 11:15; 17:5; John 4:25)." (Stam)
these days - "From the mistaken notion that Pentecost was 'the birthday of the Church,' a more serious blunder has naturally followed; namely, that by 'these days' Peter meant...the days in which we now live. Thus the Old Testament prophets are supposed to have predicted what is taking place today. But the dispensation of grace, the blessing of the Gentiles through Israel's fall, the forming of the Body of Christ with its position in the heavenlies—all this was not the subject of prophecy, but of 'the mystery' which had been 'hid from ages and from generation,' until Israel had sealed her rejection of the King and His kingdom and God revealed it through Paul, the chief of sinners saved by grace (Col 1:24-27). The prophets could not have prophesied about this hidden purpose, nor could Peter have known about it here, just after Pentecost, for how could he then have appealed so passionately to Israel to accept Christ as King? Indeed, our Lord, just before His ascension had declined to tell His apostles whether the kingdom would 'at this time' be restored to Israel, still keeping God's purpose for this present dispensation a secret. Thus the apostles could present Israel with a bona fide offer of the kingdom and a sincere plea to accept it, leaving Israel no grounds for complaint when it became necessary for God to set the nation aside. Hence, in the passage we are considering, Peter says nothing about the dispensation of grace or the Body of Christ, but rather about the covenant promises and the blessing of 'all the kindreds of the earth' THROUGH Israel." (Stam)
first - "(protos) first, chief - before (3), best (1), first (128), first of all (2), first importance (1), first man (1), first one (1), first things (1), first time (1), foremost (5), leading (2), leading man (1), leading men (5), outer (3), previous (1)" (Strongs)
I know that you acted in ignorance - "...God's law demanded that murderers should be executed without mercy. Cities of refuge had been provided for the protection of the manslaughter exclusively. Only such as had slain others accidentally (the words in Num. 35 and Deut. 19 are 'ignorantly' and 'unawares') could expect to find help there. The murderer who made the mistake of supposing that judges in the cities of refuge would be lenient, would soon find himself delivered to death by those very judges. Murder was in no wise to be condoned under the law of Moses. Six times in Number 35 alone we read: 'The murderer shall surely be put to death.' And in Deut. 19:13 it is written: 'Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel...'
"But was not the crucifixion of Christ murder in the very first degree? Can any excuse be found for jurors who plot the defendant's death beforehand? who condemn him to death before he has even been heard? who set up false witnesses to insure his condemnation? who subject him to inhuman torture before he is even found guilty? Can any excuse be found for the many irregularities which characterized that trial, conviction and execution as plain murder? Can such wickedness be explained away by kind words?
"The fact is that before the crucifixion Israel's leaders did not know that Jesus was the Christ. True, they could have known, yes, and should have known, but the fact remains that they did not know. They were in a similar position to that in which Saul of Tarsus was later found. He too could and should have known, but he did not know, and later wrote: 'I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.'
"No excuse, of course, could be found for the hate and injustice and cruelty which Israel and shown toward Christ, but the fact is that they did not know that He was the Christ. Our Lord Himself implied this when He said: '...when ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He...' (John 8:28).
"In other words, those responsible for the crucifixion well knew that they were murdering their Victim, but they did not know that their Victim was Christ. Whatever may be the full implication of 1 Cor. 2:8, it surely teaches that had 'the princes of this world' known who their Victim was 'they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.'
"This, of course, did not justify their action, but it was a basis upon which God might show mercy. Had they recognized Him as Messiah they would not have dared to condemn and crucify Him, but they did not believe Him to be the Messiah, hence our Lord's appeal: 'they know not what they do,' and Peter's concession: 'And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it.'" (Stam)
return - i.e., turn from sin to God by reversing their verdict about Jesus and confessing Him as the Messiah
"Those who suppose that Israel was set aside at the cross for rejecting the kingdom, and that the Body of Christ began at Pentecost, should surely stop and meditate upon this passage. The fact is that we do not find one specific offer of the kingdom to Israel until we reach this passage. How then could the Body of Christ have had its beginning at Pentecost? The kingdom was only proclaimed 'at hand' prior to Calvary. At Pentecost Israel was notified that Christ has risen from the dead, and that He surely would occupy David's throne. There is the reminder that 'the promise is to you,' but here in Acts 3 for the first time we find Peter making the proposition that if Israel will repent the times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord and God will send Jesus Christ back to earth to reign.
"As to Peter preaching the gospel of the grace of God at this time, it is significant that not once in the messages of Acts 2 and 3 does Peter tell his hearers that they many look to the cross or trust in the blood of Christ to be saved. They are charged with the crucifixion of Christ and called upon to repent. Even when they cry: 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Peter replies that they must repent and be baptized every one for the remission of sins. And here again he calls upon them as a nation to repent, promising that if they do the rejected Christ will return and the times of refreshing will come.
"What preacher of grace today would proclaim to his hearers the message which Peter here proclaims? Surely we would be most unscriptural if we told our hearers to repent so that Christ and the times of refreshing might come to earth from the presence of the Lord. On the contrary, we call upon men to believe so that they might be raised to sit with Christ in the heavenlies.
"All this is not to deny that men who believe do repent, nor that those who truly repented at that time were in fact saved through the blood of Christ. We are dealing here with the message preached and it cannot be denied that to them it was: Repent and God will send Jesus down here, while to us it is: Believe and God will take you up there. To them the message was, 'Him...ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain...Repent, and be baptized every one of you...for the remission of sins' (Acts 2:23, 38). To us it is: '...we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace' (Eph 1:7).
"How perfectly in order it was for Peter, here at Jerusalem, to offer the return of Christ, and to add: 'Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things...' Jerusalem is the one city in all this world where God has set His name and where Messiah is to reign. As the capital of the Jewish nation at that time and the seat of its government, Jerusalem must repent before He could come back to earth. How can we forget the solemn and touching words of the rejected Lord to His beloved city: 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord' (Matt 23:37-39)." (Stam)
times of refreshing and restoration of all things - the millennial kingdom
by the mouth of His holy prophets - "Once more we are taken back to our Lord's clear instructions to His disciples after the resurrection (Luke 24:45). They learned from His lips the real meaning of the prophetic writings. St. Peter is very definite on the subject of the second advent doctrine (see 2Pet 1:19-21). That God spake by the prophets about the 'times of restoration of all things' is abundantly evidence by such passages as Isa. chs. 11, 25, 35, 40; Jer. 31; Ezek 36; Joel 2, 3: Mic. 5; Zech. 12-14, etc." (Walker)
"These are very interesting words and of great importance. They can only be understood in the right way if we do not lose sight of the fact to whom they were addressed, that is to Jews, and not to Gentiles. They are the heart of this nation. If this is lost sight of, the words must lose their right meaning. The repentance which is demanded of them is an acknowledgment of the wrong they had done in denying the Holy and righteous One, a confession of their blood-guiltiness in having slain the author of life. This, of course, would result in their conversion and the blotting out of their sins as a nation. This God had promised before to the nation. 'I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins' (Isaiah 43:25). Anticipating that glorious day in which this shall be accomplished, a day still to come, the prophet spoke the following glorious words: 'I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins; return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest and every three therein; for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel' (Isaiah 44:22-23).
"...It would be impossible to mention all these promises in what the times of refreshing and restoration of all things consist. These days of a coming age, the kingdom age, or as we call it, because its during will be a thousand years, the Millennium, are fully described on the pages of the Old Testament prophecy. Not alone will the nation be blessed, but Jerusalem will be a great city, the land will be restored and become the great center for blessing; the nations of the earth will receive blessing and groaning creation will be delivered from its groaning, and the curse which rests upon it. If we interpret the Word of Prophecy literally and cease spiritualizing it, we shall have no difficulty to behold the full meaning of the times of refreshing and the restitution of all things.
"...Not only in the Old Testament do we find a description of what is to come for Israel, the nations and creation, but elsewhere in the New Testament these times of refreshing and restoration of all things are clearly indicated. See Matthew 19:28; Romans 8:19-23; Ephesians 1:10, etc. But between these two words of promise of what shall be Israel's portion if they repent, stands another fact: It is the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is a great fundamental passage of that great doctrine, the second coming of Christ. Peter declares that God is going to send Jesus Christ. This must mean a second coming. To teach this in the clearest manner, he adds that the heavens received Him, but they will not retain Him forever. He has gone into the heavens till the true restoration of all things comes. The second coming of Christ will result in the times of refreshing and restoration of all things. This event is, of course, His visible and glorious coming back to earth again, to the Mount of Olives from where He ascended, and for the deliverance and blessing of His earthly people. The coming of the Lord for His church as revealed through the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessal. 4:13-18 must be distinguished from this visible return to the earth. The resurrected and living saints will be caught up together in clouds to meet the Lord in the air, into which the Lord descends when He redeems His promise to His own: 'I will come again and receive you unto myself.' Of this Peter had no knowledge at all when he delivered this testimony to the nation. What he speaks of is the coming of Christ in power and glory to establish His Kingdom in the midst of His people to extend over the entire earth, so that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters the deep. Of that coming prophets had spoken again and again. Indeed, it is impossible to separate in the prophetic Word the blessings promised for Israel, the nations and creation and the coming of Christ in glory as the King of kings." (Gaebelein)
v 22 - "It is doubtless this prophecy from Moses' writings that forms the background of our Lord's repeated cry: 'He that hath ears to hear let him hear!' and of the Father's command: 'Hear ye Him,' and of the Samaritan woman's observation: 'I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things' (Matt 11:15; 17:5; John 4:25)." (Stam)
these days - "From the mistaken notion that Pentecost was 'the birthday of the Church,' a more serious blunder has naturally followed; namely, that by 'these days' Peter meant...the days in which we now live. Thus the Old Testament prophets are supposed to have predicted what is taking place today. But the dispensation of grace, the blessing of the Gentiles through Israel's fall, the forming of the Body of Christ with its position in the heavenlies—all this was not the subject of prophecy, but of 'the mystery' which had been 'hid from ages and from generation,' until Israel had sealed her rejection of the King and His kingdom and God revealed it through Paul, the chief of sinners saved by grace (Col 1:24-27). The prophets could not have prophesied about this hidden purpose, nor could Peter have known about it here, just after Pentecost, for how could he then have appealed so passionately to Israel to accept Christ as King? Indeed, our Lord, just before His ascension had declined to tell His apostles whether the kingdom would 'at this time' be restored to Israel, still keeping God's purpose for this present dispensation a secret. Thus the apostles could present Israel with a bona fide offer of the kingdom and a sincere plea to accept it, leaving Israel no grounds for complaint when it became necessary for God to set the nation aside. Hence, in the passage we are considering, Peter says nothing about the dispensation of grace or the Body of Christ, but rather about the covenant promises and the blessing of 'all the kindreds of the earth' THROUGH Israel." (Stam)
first - "(protos) first, chief - before (3), best (1), first (128), first of all (2), first importance (1), first man (1), first one (1), first things (1), first time (1), foremost (5), leading (2), leading man (1), leading men (5), outer (3), previous (1)" (Strongs)
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