Acts 2:19

And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the day of the Lord come, That great and notable day.

Wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath ... Several of the most spectacular wonders ever seen on earth had occurred right there in Jerusalem the day Jesus was crucified only fifty-three days before Peter thus spoke. The very sun's light failed; and, as it was the full moon, the satellite appeared as blood. Pontius Pilate wrote to the Emperor Tiberius that "The moon, being like blood, did not shine the whole night, and yet she happened to be at the full."[27] Thus the sun and the moon were "wonders in heaven"; and the earthquake, the rending of the veil of the temple, and the resurrection of many of the dead, were signs on the earth beneath. See in my Commentary on Matthew, pp. 483-495.

Certain commentators, such as Harrison, refer these verses to "the day of Christ's coming in glory,"[28] apparently overlooking the most spectacular fulfillment of them a little over seven weeks prior to Peter's message. Despite this, it is not wrong to see in these words a prophecy of the final day also. As Bruce pointed out,

"The last days" began with Christ's first advent and will end with the second advent. They are the days during which the age to come overlaps the present age; hence the assurance with which Peter could quote the words of Joel and declare, "This is that."[29]

The blood and fire and vapor of smoke ... were spectacularly associated with every great Jewish feast, such as Passover or Pentecost. It is difficult for any modern to envision the sacrifice of a quarter of a million lambs and all of the blood and "vapor of smoke" that inevitably accompanied such an event. These words most certainly fix the occasion of the signs mentioned as occurring upon one of the great Jewish festivals, which of course they did.

The awful events prophesied by Joel and here announced by Peter as fulfilled (that is, beginning to be fulfilled) were omens of fearful judgments about to fall upon the chosen people; but in concert with this, Peter also extended the hope of grace and forgiveness, basing his whole sermon on the climactic final sentence concluding the passage from Joel.

[27] Tertullian, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Pilate to Tiberius (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1957), Vol. 3p. 463.

[28] Everett F. Harrison, op. cit., p. 389.

[29] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 68.