In the view of canonical-compositional hermeneutics, the use of the Hebrew Scriptures in the New Testament represents the literal meaning of the Old Testament, a meaning intended by the Old Testament authors.[1] If this is the case, Joel intended his prophecy in Joel 2:28-32[2] to include the events of the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2.[3] This paper will explore the possibility that the use of Joel by Peter as reported by Luke in Acts 2:16-21 is more than sensus plenior,[4]double reference,[5] or midrashic application.[6] It will seek to answer this question: Did Peter read Joel as Joel intended to be read, or did Peter read meaning into Joel that Joel never intended? This will be a primary step in examining the possible significance of canonical-compositional hermeneutics for renewal theology.

CANONICAL-COMPOSITIONAL HERMENEUTICS

Canonical-compositional hermeneutics view the final shape of the Tanak as intentional, informative, and part of the process of inspiration. In contrast to historical criticism, canonical-compositional hermeneutics do not rely on the events behind the text to determine meaning; meaning is found in the text itself.[7]

John H. Sailhamer, a leading proponent of compositional hermeneutics, urges the “return to the notion that the literal meaning of the OT may . . . be linked to the messianic hope of the pre-Christian, Israelite prophets.”[8]

“By paying careful attention to the compositional strategies of the biblical books themselves, we believe in them can be found many essential clues to the meaning intended by their authors—clues that point beyond their immediate historical referent to a future, messianic age. By looking at the works of the scriptural authors, rather than at the events that lie behind their accounts of them, we can find appropriate textual clues to the meaning of these biblical books. Those clues . . . point to an essentially messianic and eschatological focus of the biblical texts. In other words, the literal meaning of the Scripture . . . may, in fact, be the spiritual sense . . . intended by the author, namely, the messianic sense picked up in the NT books.”[9]

Although there is no consensus as to the definition of canonical criticism,[10] scholars working in this field agree that “the context of the final canon is more important than the original author.”[11]Canonical criticism includes four common emphases: (1) Since the church has received the Bible as authoritative in its present form, the focus should be on that canonical form rather than on a search for the sources behind the text; (2) the text must be studied holistically to determine how it functions in its final form; (3) the theological concerns of the final editor(s) must be explored; and (4) in later texts, the canon provides clues in the use of earlier biblical texts.[12]

Brevard Childs asserts that “the lengthy process of the development of the literature leading up to the final stage of canonization involved a profoundly hermeneutical activity on the part of the tradents.”[13]Those who were involved in the preservation of literary tradition shaped the text in such a way that the shape influences interpretation.[14]

The question for canonical-compositional hermeneutics in this paper has to do with the extent of correlation between Joel and Acts. Is Joel, in a sense, “Acts in advance”? Or is Acts a partial fulfillment of Joel? Or does Peter quote Joel merely to point out that the events of Pentecost, like the events foretold by Joel, included an outpouring of the Holy Spirit?

HOW MUCH OF “THIS” IS “THAT”?

Apart from a canonical-compositional approach, the significance of Luke’s reference to Peter’s quote from Joel’s prophecy in Acts 2:16-21 tends to be explained in two widely differing ways. Some scholars interpret the text in a way that minimizes correlation between Joel and Acts; others interpret it in such a way as to maximize correlation.

INTERPRETATIONS THAT MINIMIZE CORRELATION

Correlation between Joel and Acts is radically minimized by the dispensational hermeneutic of C. I. Scofield. In its comments on Joel 2:28, the New Scofield Reference Bible disassociates Joel’s prophecy from any fulfillment on the Day of Pentecost:

“Peter did not state that Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. The details of Joel 2:30-32 (cp. Acts 2:19-20) were not realized at that time. Peter quoted Joel’s prediction as an illustration of what was taking place in his day, and as a guarantee that God would yet completely fulfill all that Joel had prophesied. The time of that fulfillment is stated here (“afterward,” cp. Hos. 3:5), i.e. in the latter days when Israel turns to the Lord.”[15]

Another example of extreme minimalism is offered by Charles Lee Feinberg in his comments on Joel 2:28-32. In Feinberg’s view, Joel “cannot be fulfilled until Israel is returned to their own land.”[16]Although Feinberg acknowledges Peter’s reference to Joel, he asserts that

“that fact alone does not constitute a fulfillment. In the first place, the customary formula for a fulfilled prophecy is entirely lacking in Acts 2:16.[17] And even more telling is the fact that much of Joel’s prophecy, even as quoted in Acts 2:19-20, was not fulfilled at that time. We cannot take the position that only a portion of the prophecy was meant to be fulfilled at all, because this would work havoc with Bible prophecy. . . . The best position to take is that Peter used Joel’s prophecy as an illustration of what was transpiring in his day and not as a fulfillment of this prediction.”[18]

More recently, Graham S. Ogden similarly minimizes the connection between Joel and Acts.

“In Acts 2:16-18, Peter at Pentecost quotes Joel 2:28-29, giving the impression that what Joel had in mind was specifically the Pentecost event. We can see that Joel himself spoke to his contemporaries who were in need of comfort during a national crisis. Further, his vision was restricted to an event in Judah. He does not envisage this event embracing Gentiles; Peter does (Acts 2:39). From several points of view it is clear that Joel’s original intention and what the early Church understood it to be are not identical. Therefore, to say that the latter “fulfils” the former, in the sense that it is the direct result of a word spoken earlier by Joel, is inappropriate.”[19]

Is there, then, a meaningful connection between Joel and Acts? Ogden limits the connection to the essential nature of the events: “Peter publicly proclaims thereby that the God who was active in Joel’s day was similarly active in his own time . . . .”[20]

Robert B. Chisholm, Jr. comments that although Peter’s words in Acts 2:16 “may seem to indicate that he considered Joel’s prophecy as being completely fulfilled on that occasion . . . it is apparent that the events of that day . . . do not fully correspond to those predicted by Joel.”[21]Chisholm sees the early chapters of Acts as offering the kingdom of God to Israel again. Peter did not at that time understand “God’s program for the Gentiles in the present age,” and he apparently “believed that the kingdom was then being offered to Israel and that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit signaled the coming of the Millennium.”[22] Instead, “the complete fulfillment of the prophecy . . . was delayed because of Jewish unbelief . . . .”[23]

The minimalist view of the connection between Joel and Acts focuses on the idea that Joel is about events that concern Israel primarily, if not exclusively, and that these events are tied to an as yet unfulfilled restoration of Israel to the Promised Land. The strongest connection to be made is that Joel’s prophecy serves as an example of the kind of event that happened at Pentecost.[24]

INTERPRETATIONS THAT MAXIMIZE CORRELATION

In contrast to the minimalist view, some scholars hold that the Pentecost event is, to a lesser or greater degree, an actual fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. Though he approaches the subject from a dispensational point of view, Thomas J. Finley writes, “Perhaps Pentecost can be called the time of the first fruits. It was the inauguration of the age of the Spirit. Joel’s prophecy can apply throughout the ‘last days.’ There is no inherent reason to restrict his statement about the gift of the Spirit to one particular occasion.”[25]

Ronald B. Allen suggests that “[b]iblical prophecy may be pictured as having a conical shape extending from the Old Testament occasion on the left, to the fully-opened bell with the kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth on the right. All along the way there may be fulfillment. It is all a part of the same prophecy.”[26] From this perspective, Allen sees similarities and dissimilarities between Joel’s prophecy and the Pentecost event. There are five similarities: (1) The principal issue in both texts is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the people of God; (2) in both Joel 2 and Acts 2 the outpouring of the Spirit is associated with spiritual gifts of unusual forms of speech; (3) the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost was associated with heavenly phenomena and paraphysical signs; (4) Pentecost was a time of tremendous evangelism; and (5) both Joel and Acts 2 share the common geographical center of Jerusalem.[27] There are three dissimilarities: (1) The special wonders and omens of which Joel prophesied were only minimally realized; (2) the egalitarianism of Joel 2 is only partially realized in Acts 2 and following; and (3) a major difference exists between the expectation of Joel 2 and the realization of Acts 2. This has to do with the concept of the time of the end and the Day of Yahweh. Since these days are yet ahead, Joel’s prophecy is not yet completely fulfilled.[28]

Allen is able to see Pentecost as “one of the great fulfillments” of Joel, with other fulfillments occurring with each outpouring of the Spirit in Acts and with the ultimate fulfillment still pending.[29]

In David Allan Hubbard’s view, “Peter sketches the sweep of the ‘those days’ which Joel saw coming and finds their fulfilment [sic] in the outpouring of the Spirit which constituted the church and demonstrated its unique qualities as God’s people.”[30]

F. F. Bruce comments that “Peter’s quotation of [Joel’s] prophecy means that these days, the days of the fulfilment [sic] of God’s purpose, have arrived.”[31] No longer must Christ’s followers search and inquire as to what person or time the prophetic Spirit pointed to, as did the Hebrew prophets[32]; instead, “they know: the person is Jesus; the time is now. The ‘last days’ began with Christ’s appearance on earth and will be consummated by his reappearance . . . . Hence the assurance with which Peter could quote the prophet’s words and declare ‘This is it.’”[33]

In the view of C. K. Barrett, “The Pentecostal event is the fulfilment [sic] of prophecy.”[34]

“That the events he describes were the fulfillment of Scripture is a central part of Luke’s understanding of them. . . . The quotation from Joel . . . is important for Luke’s understanding of eschatology: God has begun, but not completed, the work of fulfilment [sic]; Christians are living in the last days, but the last day has not yet come.”[35]

F. Scott Spencer sees Peter’s reference to Joel as having significance for the entire Acts story:

“Peter cites a prophecy of Joel about the outpouring of the Spirit as the key to understanding the day’s strange events: Joel’s announcement has just been fulfilled. . . . the Joel citation serves a programmatic function within Acts: what Joel announced sets the agenda for the entire Acts journey. Jesus’ Sabbath reading from Isaiah—focusing, like Joel, on the Spirit’s activity—served a similar function in Luke’s Gospel.”[36]

I. Howard Marshall points out that Peter’s quote from Joel is not limited to Acts 2:17-21; a reference to Joel 2:32 is found in Acts 2:39: “What was happening was to be seen as the fulfillment [sic] of a prophecy by Joel . . . Joel 2:28-32. A further phrase from the same passage is to be found in verse 39 . . . .”[37] But Marshall observes, “It is hard to know in what way Joel envisaged the fulfilment [sic] of his oracle.”[38] This is at the heart of the question for canonical-compositional hermeneutics. The issue of authorial intent is fundamental to the evangelical quest to interpret Scripture literally. Some evangelical scholars dismiss a canonical approach to hermeneutics because it seems to them to override authorial intent.[39] But if authorial intent and canonical intent are the same, as suggested by Sailhamer, the objection vanishes.

Typical of those who see fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy as beginning but not being completed on Pentecost is R. C. H. Lenski: “Peter must quote Joel’s prophecy in full because the second part of it states how long the Spirit, poured out at Pentecost, will continue his work in the world, and because the last line opens the door of salvation to everyone who, in repentance and faith, calls on the Lord.”[40]

Daniel J. Treier rejects the typical dispensational view that Peter used Joel 2 merely as an analogy or rhetorical device, the covenantal view that the Pentecost event completely fulfilled Joel’s prophecy, and the multiple-fulfillment approach that sees only the first two verses of Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:28-29) as having been fulfilled to an initial degree on Pentecost with the greater fulfillment yet to come and the next two verses as awaiting fulfillment at the time of the end.[41]Instead, Treier opts for what he calls “a multiple-lens approach.” Distinguishing the “lens of Joel,” the “lens of Peter,” and the “lens of Luke,” Treier suggests that “Peter, guided by the Holy Spirit, used a structure that is foreign to us but nevertheless valid: an advance typology. The eschatological portents qualify as a valid type if we accept their prediction as a guarantee of their historicity and certainty.”[42] In Treier’s view, Joel and Peter may have understood “all flesh” to refer to Israel only, but Luke understood the term to include Gentiles.

“Were Peter and Joel wrong to assume this referred to Israel, or did Luke inappropriately read current events into the text? The latter is incorrect, for Luke by the Spirit correctly interpreted the events he experienced. The former may be partially correct. While God apparently invested these words with meaning for the Gentiles because of his redemptive program, it would have been difficult for Peter or Joel to foresee the widening scope of that program. Whatever the evils of sensus plenior, some type of similar structure must account for the divergence here between the expectations of Peter and Joel . . . and the reality of God’s expanding redemptive program.”[43]

For Treier, the fulfillment of Joel 2 in Acts does not negate “the possibility of a future fulfillment related to ethnic Israel.”[44]

Although progressive dispensationalism, covenant theology, and Treier’s multiple-lens approach see varying degrees of correlation between Joel’s prophecy and the Day of Pentecost, none of these perspectives see the Day of Pentecost as being as firmly and thoroughly rooted in Joel as would a canonical-compositional approach. It is to this that we now turn our attention.

JOEL, PETER, AND CANONICAL-COMPOSITIONAL HERMENEUTICS

To approach Joel from the perspective of canonical-compositional hermeneutics, we would begin first with what Sailhamer calls in-textuality. This has to do with an examination of the “cohesive nature of the strategy of the smallest literary” units.[45] Sailhamer points out that “the various parts of even the smallest literary units can be expected to belong together and to make sense as a whole. In-textuality . . . is the inner coherence of the smallest units of text.”[46] At this point, we may look for literary structures like chiasms.

Next, we move to inner-textuality, based upon the idea that the “strategies within the smallest units of text . . . make up the whole fabric of biblical narrative books.”[47] The idea here is that of “inner-linkage binding narratives into a larger whole.”[48] For example, we may look for how poetic texts are linked to narrative texts, or we may look for parallelisms and their relationship to the non-parallel texts that surround them. Specifically, we should be alert to “clues lying along the seams of . . . larger units that point to the author’s ultimate purpose.”[49]

Third, a canonical-compositional hermeneutic is concerned with inter-textuality, “the study of links between and among texts.”[50] We will be concerned with links between Joel and Deuteronomy, since Joel’s locust plague theme is apparently related to the curses connected to Israel’s disobedience to the Law of Moses. We will also examine Numbers 11; Joel’s promise of the egalitarian outpouring of the Spirit seems to be the answer to Moses’ prayer that the Lord would put his Spirit upon all of his people in order that all would be prophets.[51] As Sailhamer observes, “If . . . there is an authorially intended inter-textuality, then it stands to reason that some loss of meaning occurs when one fails to view the text in terms of it.”[52]

Finally, we are concerned with con-textuality. This has to do with “the semantic effect of a book’s relative position within the OT Canon.”[53]In this case, how is Joel connected verbally and thematically to Hosea, Amos, and the rest of the Book of the Twelve? What interpretive effect do these books have on each other?[54]

IN-TEXTUALITY

The chiastic structure of Joel indicates intentional literary and thematic design. Duane A. Garrett has presented convincing evidence that the two sections of Joel are interlocked by the following chiasms, demonstrating the unity of the book.

First Chiasm
A (chap. 1): Punishment: The locust plague
B (2:1-11): Punishment: The apocalyptic army
C (2:12-19): Transition: Repentance and (vv 18-19) introduction to Yahweh’s oracular response
B’ (2:20): Forgiveness: The Apocalyptic army destroyed
A’ (2:21-27): Forgiveness: The locust-ravaged land restored[55]

Second Chiasm
A (2:20): Judgment: The apocalyptic army destroyed
B (2:21-27): Grace: The land restored
B’ (3:1-5): Grace: The Spirit poured out
A’ (4:1-21): Judgment: The nations destroyed[56]

In Garrett’s view, the relationships between the various parts of these chiasms within each chiasm, and the relationship of the chiasms with each other indicate that “Joel sees the healing of his land as a type of a distant, greater day of salvation for all who come to Yahweh.”[57]

“Joel’s theology is intensely typological. He does not perceive any present act of Yahweh’s judgment or salvation as being unique and unrelated thematically to a later, ultimate work of Yahweh. Nor does he perceive of any future work as being without contemporary precedents. The day of Yahweh may come many times, but each one moves closer to the final consummation.”[58]

The implications of in-textuality in Joel are as follows: (1) It indicates that the book must be read as a unit rather than fragmented, as has resulted from a strictly historical-critical approach[59]; and (2) it suggests that Joel’s literary design is intentionally typological. If the locust plague of chapter 1 is a type of the invasion of a human army in 2:1-11, as Garrett makes quite clear,[60] other portions of the text may be typological as well. The restoration of the land in 2:21-27, for example, may very well be related typologically to the outpouring of the Spirit in 2:28-32.[61]

INNER-TEXTUALITY

After a review of the parallel strophes within the poetic units of Joel, H. G. M. Williamson asserts that “it is hard to escape the impression that the various sections of the book are composed with conscious reference to the others in order to present a unified message. … though the prophet’s ministry doubtless began in a concrete historical situation, the book as we now have it is the product of intensive literary activity.”[62]The parallels under consideration are offered by L. C. Allen, who asserts that “the second half of the book [Joel 2:18—3:21] takes up and reverses the destruction and deprivation of the characteristic of the laments of the first half [Joel 1:2 – 2:17],” concluding that “the whole composition has been constructed as an intricate literary mosaic with remarkable skill and care.”[63]

At the very least, the parallels within Joel further demonstrate the unity of the book. Regardless of the origin and timing of possible compositional work after Joel’s original autograph, it is evident that the book as it now stands is intended to be read as a whole. The two parts of the book are related; they form a unity of one book.

“The Day of the Lord is a significant element in the first half (note especially its use as an inclusio in 2:1, 11), and this leads naturally to its development in the second part, for which the locust plague was a harbinger. Moreover, several characteristic features of Joel’s style are evident in both parts: quotations from other prophetic books are distributed equally in both, and there are a number of verbal links between the two as well, e.g., 1:14 and 3:9; 1:15, 2:1f., and 3:14; 2:1b and 2:31b; 2:10a and 3:16a; 2:10b and 3:15; 2:11a and 3:16a; 2:11b and 2:3b, etc. Progress along this line shows itself to be exegetically more fruitful, and has led to a deeper appreciation of the structure of the book as a whole.”[64]

The parallels within the book also further indicate the typological intent of the author. For example, the reference to the “Valley of Jehoshaphat” in 3:2 is apparently intended as a type of the “valley of decision” of 3:14. There is no known location of a literal and physical “Valley of Jehoshaphat,” and the name Jehoshaphat means “Yahweh judges.” Just as an English-speaker today may speak of the “valley of despair” without any reference to a geographical location, so Joel could speak of the valley of judgment by Yahweh, especially in view of his later reference to the “valley of decision.”

As Pettus points out, “The argument for unity is centered around unity in content, structure, and linguistic/stylistic considerations.”[65]

INTER-TEXTUALITY

Not only is there significant and informative in-textuality and inner-textuality within the book of Joel; the vocabulary and themes of the book are linked back with the Torah, interpreting the events of Joel in terms of the Law of Moses. For example, a consequence of disobedience to the Law of Moses is to be plagued by locusts.[66] Another consequence was that the rain of the land would be changed “to powder and dust.”[67] In Joel, not only have the locusts invaded, but “the new wine is dried up” (1:10), “the vine has dried up, and . . . all the trees of the field are withered” (1:12), “the seed shrivels under the clods” (1:17), and “the water brooks are dried up” (1:20). But if Judah will repent (2:12-14), the open pastures will spring up, the trees will bear fruit, and the fig tree and vine will produce (2:22). This will be because Yahweh will “cause the rain to come down for you” (2:23), both the former and latter rain. Again, one of the curses associated with disobedience to the Law of Moses is that “you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness” (Deut 28:29). In Joel, “the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness” (2:10b; see also 2:31a; 3:15).

Not only may further thematic links be seen between Joel and Deuteronomy 32, but also structural links. This is pointed out by Douglas Stuart:

“Joel 1 and 2 reflect both structurally and thematically what is found especially in Deuteronomy 32. The nonimperative verbs in Joel 1 are predominantly preterite, while the nonimperative verbs in chapter 2 are predominantly present-future. . . . Deut. 32 displays a similar shift in preferred tenses, as the song shifts largely from what has happened (vv. 1-21a) to what is coming (vv. 21b-43). When the thematic correspondences are added, the result is a high degree of comparability . . . .”[68]

Stuart offers links between Deuteronomy 32 and Joel 1-2.[69] These thematic and structural links indicate strongly that Joel was not only aware of the Deuteronomic consequences of departure from the Law of Moses and the promises of restoration upon repentance, but that he intentionally structured his book to reflect these themes. Thus, the relationship between Joel and Deuteronomy is an interpretive relationship.

It is widely recognized is that Joel’s promise of the outpouring of the Spirit (2:28-29) is the answer to Moses’ prayer in Numbers 11:29.[70]When the Spirit that was upon Moses was placed on the seventy elders, causing them to prophesy, it was a radically new pneumatological concept for the ancient Israelites.[71] When Eldad and Medad prophesied in the camp rather than at the tabernacle, Joshua’s shock was palpable: “Moses my lord, forbid them!” (Num 11:28). Instead, Moses answered, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” (Num 11:29). This was an even more radical concept, for it anticipated a day when the Spirit would come not merely upon selected male leaders among the Israelites, but upon all of the Lord’s people without regard to gender or social standing. This is exactly the promise of Joel.

The intertextuality between Joel and the Torah is very significant, for Joel looks not only to the past; he also looks to the future. As we shall see, Joel is a link between Pentecost and the Torah.

CON-TEXTUALITY

Andrew Lee discerns five thematic connections between the Minor Prophets: (1) Numbers of passages address the restoration of Israel and the return from foreign lands; (2) there is a recurring theme of the punishment of the nations; (3) Jerusalem will become the center of worship; (4) a king will again lead the nation; and (5) there is hope for a future blessing.[72]

That there is an intended verbal link between Joel and Amos is immediately apparent when one reads directly from the end of Joel to the beginning of Amos: “The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem” (Joel 3:16a); “The Lord roars from Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem” (Amos 1:2a). From the perspective of canonical-compositional hermeneutics, links like this at the end of one book and the beginning of the next knit the books together; they should be read not as two books, but as one.[73]

The contextual links between Joel and the rest of the Minor Prophets indicate not only that these books form a unit, but also that Joel is pivotal in this collection of books. The thematic and verbal connections among the Minor Prophets suggest not only that they should be viewed as a unit, but that when any one of them has strong connections to the New Testament, looking forward to the era of the Messiah and the Spirit, an influence is exerted on all the rest of the books to draw them toward the messianic future as well. It should be no surprise that the only Minor Prophets not quoted in the New Testament are Obadiah, Nahum, and Zephaniah. In the book of Acts alone, Peter quotes Joel, Stephen quotes Amos,[74] Paul quotes Habakkuk,[75] and James quotes Amos.[76] Peter and James are both specific in connecting the Minor Prophets with the establishment of the church.[77]

THE USE OF JOEL IN ACTS 1-2

A careful examination of Peter’s Pentecost sermon indicates that he had more of Joel in mind than Joel 2:28-32. The book of Joel was foundational to his sermon; it appears not only in direct quotes, but also in verbal links and allusions. In addition, an examination of Acts 1 indicates that Luke intentionally connected the events leading up to Peter’s sermon with Joel.[78] It is significant that it was essential to be in Jerusalem to receive the Promise of the Father, baptism with the Holy Spirit.[79] Joel identified Jerusalem as the geographical location of deliverance. Deliverance would not stop there, however. Through the efforts of the disciples, it would spread over the earth. The promise given by Joel is identical with the promise given by Jesus. It was the outpouring of the Spirit.[80] Joel’s prophecy was egalitarian. Luke is careful to record that the waiting believers included not only the male, but female disciples.[81] Joel’s promise occurs in conjunction with a gathering of Jewish exiles. It includes “all nations.” Luke reports that on the Day of Pentecost, Jews were present “from every nation.”[82] One of the indications of the judgment of Yahweh in Joel was the drying up of the new wine. Upon Judah’s repentance, however, the new wine would be restored in abundance. On Pentecost, mockers judged the newly Spirit-filled believers to be “full of new wine.”[83] Although they spoke from their unbelief, Luke may use their statement to indicate a connection between Joel and the Pentecost event.[84] Peter’s quote is influenced by, but not identical to, the Septuagint (LXX).[85] Not only is it significant that he quotes such a lengthy text from Joel to explain the events of Pentecost; it is also significant that he reiterated the fact that both males and females will be involved in prophecy. He does not terminate his quote after Joel’s reference to the Spirit; Peter includes the references to wonders in the heavens, but he also inserts a reference to signs in the earth, following neither the Hebrew text nor the LXX. The fact that Peter immediately follows this quote from Joel with a declaration that Jesus was attested by God “by miracles, wonders, and signs” indicates that he connects these events in the life of Jesus with Joel’s prophecy. Rather than bifurcating Joel’s prophecy between events fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost and events yet to occur at the end of the age, Peter offers the events of Pentecost and the life of Jesus as the fulfillment of Joel.[86] In Peter’s answer to the question, “What shall we do,” there are thematic links to Joel and direct quotes from the prophet.[87] Peter’s command to repent summarizes Joel’s call to turn to God with all one’s heart, with fasting, weeping, mourning, and the rending of the heart. Peter’s promise of remission of sins captures Joel’s promise that God is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and that he relents from doing harm. Peter’s command to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ is his answer to Joel’s promise that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Peter’s statement that the promise of the Spirit is not only to those present, but also to their children and to all who are afar off is at least verbally linked with Joel’s multigenerational idea. And the final words of Peter’s statement, “as many as the Lord our God will call,” are virtually identical to the LXX of Joel 2:32, “among the remnant whom the Lord calls.”[88]

CONCLUSION

The in-textuality in Joel, seen in its chiasms, indicates the purposeful literary design of the book. It is a unit, one book, as is further demonstrated by its inner-textuality of parallelisms. The inter-textuality of Joel is rich in thematic and verbal links radiating back to the Torah; its con-textuality is seen in its common themes and phrases with the rest of the Minor Prophets. The presence of Joel’s ideas and words in the first two chapters of the book of Acts is notable.

Did Peter think that Joel, as a prophet, foresaw Pentecost? If we take Peter’s statement, “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel,” at face value, coming to the text without any preconceived notion that the prophecy of Joel could not yet be fulfilled, or that it could be only partially fulfilled, Peter’s statement certainly indicates that he believed Joel prophesied about the Pentecost event. There is nothing in Peter’s treatment of Joel to indicate that he intended only to use Joel as an illustration or an application; there is nothing to indicate that Peter believed that Joel’s prophecy could be bifurcated between the outpouring of the Spirit and the wonders and signs. For Peter to follow his quote from Joel by noting the miracles, wonders, and signs done by God through Jesus gives strong contextual force to the idea that Peter wanted his hearers to understand that Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled in its entirety.[89]

But there is another point that gives even more strength to the idea that Peter saw Joel as anticipating Pentecost. That is Peter’s quotes from Psalm 16:8-11 to authenticate the resurrection of Christ as the subject of prophecy. Peter followed this quote with these words: “David . . . being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ” (Acts 2:29-31). To Peter, the prophet David knowingly foresaw the resurrection of Christ. David did not think he was prophesying about himself. When Peter’s references to Joel in Acts 2:16 and David in Acts 2:30-31 are placed side by side, little difference in meaning can be discerned between them. The fact that David spoke knowingly indicates that Joel did the same. There is nothing to indicate that David was more aware of the import of his prophecy than was Joel.

What is the significance of this for renewal theology? First, Joel is liberated from the restrictions placed on his prophecy by Scofieldian dispensationalism. Joel becomes a prophet for the church; his prophetic voice is not restricted to Israel and to a time yet future. Second, because of Joel’s unity with the rest of the Minor Prophets, those prophets are also liberated for the church. Third, because of Joel’s roots in the Torah, he serves as link between the church and Moses, reaching with one hand back to Moses’ prayer that all of God’s people would be prophets and with the other forward to Pentecost. Moses’ prayer is answered in the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost and on all who enjoy the Pentecostal experience. This liberates the Torah from limited relevance to the church. The Torah becomes a document that is concerned not merely with ancient history and lists of laws for people of a culture far removed from us; it vibrates with anticipation of a better day, a day when the Spirit is not just for the one, or even for the seventy, but for all.[90]

From a canonical-compositional perspective, if Joel sees repentance as resulting in the outpouring of the Spirit, so does Deuteronomy. Joel is not reading meaning into the Torah; he is reading meaning from it. Joel carries forward the eschatology of the Torah.

We have long recognized the Christological content of the first five books of the Bible. Now we must explore the pneumatological content of these books. As Jesus said, Moses wrote of him.[91] It seems apparent that Moses also wrote of the Holy Spirit.

The veil over the Old Testament is taken away in Christ, and we must remember that “the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”[92] To see Christ and the Spirit in the Hebrew Scriptures liberates us to read them clearly, to enjoy the fulfillment of their messianic intent, and to receive the Promise of the Father, his Holy Spirit.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allen, Ronald B. Bible Study Commentary: Joel. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988.

Barrett, C. K. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles. Edited by J. A. Emerton, C. E. B. Cranfield, G. N. Stanton. 2 vols. vol. 1, The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1994.

Blaising, Craig A. and Darrell L. Bock, ed. Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992.

Bromiley, Geoffrey W., ed. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. vol. 2. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1982.

Brown, Raymond E. The Sensus Plenior of Sacred Scripture. Baltimore: St. Mary’s University, 1955.

Bruce, F. F. The Book of the Acts. Edited by Gordon D. Fee. rev. ed. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988.

________. Commentary on the Book of Acts. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1977.

Childs, Brevard. Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992.

Driver, S. R. The Books of Joel and Amos with Introduction and Notes. Edited by A. F. Kirkpatrick. 1st ed., Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1898. Reprint, 1898.

English, E. Schuyler, ed. The New Scofield Study Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1967.

Feinberg, Charles Lee. The Major Messages of the Minor Prophets. New York: American Board of Missions to the Jews, 1948.

Finley, Thomas J. Joel, Obadiah and Micah, Everyman’s Bible Commentary. Chicago: Moody, 1996.

Garrett, Duane A. “The Structure of Joel.” JETS 28 (1985): 289-97.

Hartill, J. Edwin. Principles of Biblical Hermeneutics. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1947.

Hubbard, David A., ed. Hosea-Jonah. vol. 31, Word Biblical Commentary. Waco: Word Books, 1987.

________. Joel and Amos: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1989.

Lee, Andrew Yueking. “The Canonical Unity of the Scroll of the Minor Prophets.” Ph.D., Baylor University, 1985.

Lenski, R. C. H. The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles. Minneapolis: Augsburg. Reprint, 1961.

Lubeck, Ray. “An Introduction to Canonical Criticism.” Evangelical Theological Society Papers. Portland, OR: Theological Research Exchange Network, 1995.

Marshall, I. Howard. The Acts of the Apostles: An Introduction and Commentary. 1st American ed. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1980.

Ogden, Graham S. and Richard R. Deutsch. A Promise of Hope—a Call to Obedience: A Commentary on the Books of Joel and Malachi. Edited by George A. F. Knight, Frederick Carlson Holmgren, International Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1987.

Pettus, David D. “A Canonical-Critical Study of Selected Traditions in the Book of Joel.” Ph.D., Baylor University, 1992.

Radmacher, Earl D. and Robert D. Preus, ed. Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984.

Sailhamer, John H. “Hosea 11:1 and Matthew 2:15.” WTJ 63 (2001): 87-96

________. Introduction to Old Testament Theology: A Canonical Approach. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995.

Spencer, F. Scott. Acts. Edited by John Jarick, Readings. A New Biblical Commentary. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1997.

Stuart, Douglas. Hosea-Joel. Word Biblical Commentary. Edited by David A. Hubbard. vol. 31 Waco: Word Books, 1987.

Tate, Randolph. Biblical Interpretation: An Integrated Approach. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1991.

Treier, Daniel J. “The Fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32: A Multiple-Lens Approach.” JETS 40 (1997): 13-26.

Tucker, Gene M., ed. Canon and Community: A Guide to Canonical Criticism. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984.

Walvoord, John F. and Roy B. Zuck, ed. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament. 2 vols. vol. 1 Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.

Copyright © 2004 by Daniel L. Segraves
[1] An example of this may be seen in John H. Sailhamer, “Hosea 11:1 and Matthew 2:15,” WTJ 63 (2001):87-96. Sailhamer suggests, “[T]he sensus literalis (historicus) of Hos 11:1 is precisely that of Matthew’s gospel. Hos 11:1 speaks of the future, not the past. . . . The messianic sense that Matthew saw in the words of Hos 11:1, ‘out of Egypt I have called my son,’ was already there in the book of Hosea. Matthew did not invent it” (88-89).
[2] In the Hebrew text, this is Joel 3:1-5.
[3] To say “Joel intended” does not mean that Joel, as the original author of the book, necessarily understood his prophecy to foretell the events of Pentecost; it means that the book of Joel, in its final composition and canonical placement in the Tanak, foretells the Pentecost event. From the perspective of canonical-compositional hermeneutics, “author” includes not only those who wrote the autographs, but also those involved in the final composition of the text.
[4] Raymond E. Brown’s definition of sensus plenior is widely recognized. Sensus plenior is “that additional, deeper meaning, intended by God but not clearly intended by the human author, which is seen to exist in the words of a Biblical text (or group of texts, or even a whole book) when they are studied in the light of further revelation or development in the understanding of revelation” (Raymond E. Brown, The Sensus Plenior of Sacred Scripture [Baltimore: St. Mary’s University, 1955], 92. Cited by Andy Woods, “The Use of Hosea 11:1 in Matthew 2:15.” Online: http://www.spiritandtruth.org/teaching/documents
/articles/11/11-contents.htm#sdfootnote33sym. Accessed August 16, 2004.
[5] Double reference is the idea that “a passage applying primarily to a person or event near at hand, is used by [the Holy Spirit] at a later time as applying to the Person of Christ, or the affairs of His kingdom” (J. Edwin Hartill, Principles of Biblical Hermeneutics [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1947], 105).
[6] W. Randolph Tate points out that “[u]nderlying the midrashic exegesis of scripture are two crucial presuppositions: (1) The scriptures were given by God and are consequently relevant for all subsequent generations; and (2) each part of the scriptures (sentences, phrases, words, even single letters) has an autonomy independent of the whole. These two presuppositions then have an interesting corollary: Since the scriptures were given by an infinite God, a particular passage in part or whole may have an infinite number of applications” (W. Randolph Tate, Biblical Interpretation: An Integrated Approach [Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1991], 119-120).
[7] A thorough explication of canonical-compositional hermeneutics’ focus on text rather than event and canon rather than criticism is offered by John H. Sailhamer, Introduction to Old Testament Theology: A Canonical Approach (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 36-114.
[8] Ibid., 154.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Canonical criticism is essentially the same hermeneutical approach as canonical-compositional hermeneutics.
[11] Ray Lubeck, “An Introduction to Canonical Criticism,” Evangelical Theological Society Papers 1995 (Portland, OR: Theological Research Exchange Network), 3.
[12] Ibid., 1-2.
[13] Brevard S. Childs, Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1992; reprint 1993), 70.
[14] The material in footnotes 8, 9, 11, 12 was also included in the author’s paper “The Use of the Hebrew Scriptures in the New Testament: An Introduction to Canonical-Compositional Hermeneutics,” presented to Dr. Graham Twelftree in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course RTCH 751 Interpreting Scripture, offered by Regent University in the curriculum for the Ph.D. in Renewal Studies. It is included here because this paper’s topic requires a brief introduction to canonical-compositional hermeneutics.
[15] E. Schuyler English, ed., The New Scofield Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1967), 1045.
[16] Charles Lee Feinberg, The Major Messages of the Minor Prophets (New York: American Board of Missions to the Jews, 1948), 29.
[17] In response to Feinberg, Walter Kaiser remarks, “The truth of the matter is that there is no single [fulfillment] formula used consistently in Acts or elsewhere in the NT for that matter.” Cited by Thomas J. Finley, Joel, Obadiah and Micah, Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody, 1996), 60.
[18] Feinberg, The Major Messages of the Minor Prophets, 29.
[19] Graham S. Ogden and Richard R. Deutsch, A Promise of Hope—a Call to Obedience: A Commentary on the Books of Joel and Malachi (ed. George A. F. Knight and Frederick Carlson Holmgren; Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1987), 38.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, 2 vols. vol. 1 (ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck; Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1421.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Ibid. In response, Thomas J. Finley points out that “more allowance needs to be made for the fact that Pentecost represents the inception of the church. Thus, something more foundational must have happened than simply an offer which was ‘delayed because of Jewish unbelief’” (Finley, 1996 ).
[24] As dispensationalism continues to develop (the term “Progressive Dispensationalism” is often used to describe recent developments in dispensationalism that soften Scofield’s view that the church is not seen in the Old Testament), dispensational theologians are rethinking the relationship between Old Testament prophecies and the use of these prophecies in the New Testament. For example, Kenneth L. Barker states “that several passages that other dispensationalists relegate solely to the future received a literal fulfillment in the New Testament period or are receiving such fulfillment in the continuing church age—in addition to a final, complete fulfillment in the future in the case of some of those passages. Classic examples would be the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32 in Acts 2:17-21 and of Amos 9:11-12 in Acts 15:16-17—without denying a final, future stage to complete the fulfillment with respect to Israel . . . . That is to say, these propositions are not either-or but both-and” (Kenneth L. Barker, Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church [ed. Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bock; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992], 323).
[25] Thomas J. Finley, Joel, Obadiah and Micah (Chicago: Moody, 1996), 61.
[26] Ronald B. Allen, Bible Study Commentary: Joel (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 95.
[27] Ibid., 93.
[28] Ibid., 94-95.
[29] Ibid., 95. Allen’s view is similar to that of S. R. Driver and A. B. Davidson, from the late nineteenth century: “It would be incorrect . . . to regard a particular occasion as exhausting the fulfilment [sic] of the prophecy. Joel’s words . . . look rather to that fuller illumination to be enjoyed in general by God’s people in the future, which is to be a characteristic of the Christian Church throughout the ages; they are ‘not a prediction of the event of Pentecost, but of the new order of things of which Pentecost was the first great example’” (S. R. Driver, The Books of Joel and Amos with Introduction and Notes, 1st ed., Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges [ed. A. F. Kirkpatrick; Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1898; reprint, 1898], 67).
[30] David Allan Hubbard, Joel and Amos: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 73.
[31] F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, rev. ed., The New International Commentary on the New Testament (ed. Gordon D. Fee; Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988), 61.
[32] Bruce references 1 Pet. 1:10-11, 20.
[33] Ibid. Emphasis in original.
[34] C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, 2 vols., vol. 1, The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (ed. J. A. Emerton, C. B. Cranfield, and G. N. Stanton; Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1994), 135.
[35] Ibid.
[36] F. Scott Spencer, Acts, Readings. A New Biblical Commentary (ed. John Jarick; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1997), 32.
[37] I. Howard Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles: An Introduction and Commentary, 1st American ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1980), 73.
[38] Ibid., 74.
[39] See, e.g., Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.’s response to Elliott Johnson in Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible (ed. Earl D. Radmacher and Robert D. Preus; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 441-46.
[40] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles (Minneapolis: Augsburg; reprint, 1961), 76.
[41] Daniel J. Treier, “The Fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32: A Multiple-Lens Approach,” JETS 40 (1997): 13-14.
[42] Ibid., 21.
[43] Ibid., 25.
[44] Ibid.
[45] John H. Sailhamer, Introduction to Old Testament Theology: A Canonical Approach (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 207.
[46] Ibid.
[47] Ibid., 209.
[48] Ibid.
[49] Ibid., 210.
[50] Ibid., 212. This may be somewhat the same idea as Sanders’ assertion that the “true shape of the Bible as canon consists of its unrecorded hermeneutics which lie between the lines of most of its literature” (James A. Sanders, Canon and Community: A Guide to Canonical Criticism, Guides to Biblical Scholarship, Old Testament Series, ed. Gene M. Tucker [Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984], 46).
[51] Although it is outside the scope of this paper, we could consider the links noted by H. W. Wolff: “three main tradition complexes which have influenced the language of Joel. They are the Day of Yahweh prophecies (Zeph. 1-2; Isa. 13; Ezek. 30; Obad., and Mal. 3), the prophetic oracles against the nations (Jer. 46, 49-51; Ezek. 29-32, 35), and the prophecies concerning the enemy from the North (Jer. 4-6; Ezek. 38-39).” H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos, Hermeneia (trans. Waldemar Janzen, et al.; ed. Frank Moore Cross, et al.; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977), 11. Cited by David D. Pettus, “A Canonical-Critical Study of Selected Traditions in the Book of Joel” (Ph.D., Baylor University, 1992), 8, n. 20.
[52] Sailhamer, Introduction to Old Testament Theology, 213.
[53] Ibid.
[54] Canonical-compositional hermeneutics approach the interpretive task from the perspective of the Tanak order of the books, viewing Jesus’ references to the Tanak order as informative. (See Luke 11:51; 24:27, 44-45.)
[55] Duane A. Garrett, “The Structure of Joel,” JETS 28 (1985): 295.
[56] Ibid. Garrett is following the chapter and verse numbering system of the Hebrew text.
[57] Ibid.
[58] Ibid., 297.
[59] H. G. M. Williamson points out that this challenge is “on the basis that the Day of the Lord in the first part was contemporary with the prophet, but future in the second part.” In addition, it has been “argued that the apocalyptic sections were added to an original oracle about a locust plague in 1:1—2:17, though 1:15; 2:1b-2a, 11b also have to be attributed to the later writer.” It has also been suggested that “1:1—2:27 contains a record of Joel’s oral preaching, ch. 3 a supplement to guarantee the eschatological interpretation of the Day of the Lord, and 2:28-32 a later, sectarian addition to apply the promises to a narrower group within Israel.” See H. G. M. Williamson, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 4 vols., vol. 2 (ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley; Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1982), 1079.
[60] See Garrett, The Structure of Joel, 289-294.
[61] Hebrew 3:1-5. “The image of pouring (referring to a liquid) makes an interesting connection to the promise of rain in 2:23 (see Isa. 44:3)” (Finley, Joel, Obadiah and Micah, 54).
[62] Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1079.
[63] Ibid.
[64] Ibid.
[65] David D. Pettus, “A Canonical-Critical Study of Selected Traditions in the Book of Joel,” 35.
[66] Deut 28:38, 39, 42. Compare with Joel 1.
[67] Deut 28:24.
[68] Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, vol. 31, Word Biblical Commentary (ed. David A. Hubbard; Waco: Word Books, 1987), 228.
[69] Ibid.
[70] See, e.g., Barrett, The Acts of the Apostles, 24; Barton, Joel and Obadiah, 95; Feinberg, The Major Messages, 28; Lee, The Canonical Unity of the Scroll of the Minor Prophets, 64.
[71] See Num 11:16-26.
[72] See Andrew Yueking Lee, “The Canonical Unity of the Scroll of the Minor Prophets” (Ph.D., Baylor University, 1985), 217-18.
[73] This phenomenon is often seen in the Psalter.
[74] Acts 7:42-43; Amos 5:25-27.
[75] Acts 13:41; Hab 1:5.
[76] Acts 15:16-17; Amos 9:11-12.
[77] The following texts from the Minor Prophets are quoted in the New Testament: Hos 2:1, 3 in Rom 9:25-28; Hos 6:6 in Matt 9:13; 12:7; Hos 10:8 in Luke 23:30; Rev 6:16; Hos 11:1 in Matt 2:15; Hos 13:14 in 1 Cor 15:55; Joel 2:28-31 in Acts 2:17-21; Rom 10:13; Amos 5:25-27 in Acts 7:42-43; Amos 9:11-12 in Acts 15:16-17; Jonah 2:1 in Matt 12:40; Mic 5:1 in Matt 2:6; Mic 7:6 in Matt 10:35-36; Hab 1:5 in Acts 13:41; Hab 2:3-4 in Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Hag 2:6, 21 in Heb 12:26; Zech 8:16 in Eph 4:25; Zech 9:9 in John 12:15; Zech 11:12-13 in Matt 27:9-10; Zech 12:10 in John 19:37; Zech 13:7 in Matt 26:31; Mark 14:27; Mal 1:2-3 in Rom 9:131; Mal 3:1 in Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27; Mal 3:23-24 in Matt 17:10-11.
[78] Compare Joel 2:32 with Acts 1:4, 8.
[79] Acts 1:5.
[80] Compare Joel 2:28 with Acts 1:5, 8.
[81] Compare Joel 2:28 with Acts 1:13, 14.
[82] Joel 3:1-2 with Acts 2:5-11.
[83] Compare Joel 1:5, 10; 2:24; 3:18 with Acts 2:13.
[84] When the chief priests and Pharisees sought to destroy Jesus, Caiaphas, the high priest, said, “You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish” (John 11:49-50). Although Caiaphas did not believe on Jesus, John wrote, “Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad” (John 11:51-52). It is within the ability of Scripture to present unbelievers as speaking divinely ordained words.
[85] Compare Joel 2:28-32 with Acts 2:16-22.
[86] As F. F. Bruce points out, “It was little more than seven weeks since the people in Jerusalem had indeed seen the sun turned into darkness, during the early afternoon of the day of our Lord’s crucifixion. And on the same afternoon the paschal full moon may well have appeared blood-red in the sky as a consequence of that preternatural gloom. These were to be understood as tokens of the advent of the day of the Lord, ‘that great and notable day,” a day of judgment, to be sure, but more immediately the day of God’s salvation to all who invoked His name” (F. F. Bruce, Commentary on the Book of the Acts [Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1977], 69). A careful comparison of Joel 2:30-31; 3:14-16 with Matt 27:45-54 suggests that the events surrounding the death of Jesus could very well be a major fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. Although nothing is said in Matt 27:45-54 about blood, fire, and vapor of smoke, it is recognized by many scholars that these can be references not only to natural disasters but also to warfare. (See Graham S. Ogden, A Promise of Hope—A Call to Obedience, 38; John Barton, Joel and Obadiah, 98; David Allan Hubbard, Joel and Amos, 71; S. R. Drive, Joel and Amos, 66.) Jesus had warned that the age would be characterized by war (Matt 24:6-7). It may be, however, that in Peter’s mind and for his purposes on the Day of Pentecost, the reference to fire can be connected with the tongues as of fire that rested upon the believers (Acts 2:3); the reference to blood could connect in the minds of the disciples with the crucifixion of Jesus, who had asked them to drink from a cup representing his blood (Matt 26:27-28). Another clue suggesting that Peter may have had the events of the crucifixion in mind is the messianic theme of Psalm 18. Paul invests Psalm 18 with messianic meaning. (See Rom 15:8-9; Ps 18:49.) Comparison of Psalm 18:7-11 with Matthew 27:45, 51 shows close verbal linkage. Both texts refer to the shaking of the earth, quaking of the foundations of the hills (rocks splitting), and darkness. In this context, Psalm 18:8 reads, “Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; coals were kindled by it.” This is symbolic language and we might dismiss any connection with the crucifixion of Christ except for the fact that Paul specifically reads Psalm 18 as a messianic text.
[87] Compare Joel 1:3; 2:12-13, 32 with Acts 2:38-39
[88] LXX: proskeklētai hous kyrios (whom the Lord has called); Acts: proskalesētai kyrios ho theos hēmōn (the Lord our God shall call).
[89] This is not to suggest that there are no continuing fulfillments. Each outpouring of the Spirit is in some way a fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy.
[90] Paul understands Deut 11:32 to be about the church. The way he quotes the verse is significant: “But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: ‘I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation” (Rom 10:19). By asking, “Did Israel not know,” Paul attributes prophetic knowledge to Moses. The church was not yet “a nation,” but Moses knew such a nation would come into existence.
[91] John 5:46; Luke 24:44.
[92] 2 Cor 3:14-17.

Copyright © 2004 by Daniel L. Segraves

• He was led as a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7).
• Back to school ….
• Introducing my second volume on Psalms to an adult Sunday school class.
• My mother, Agnes Segraves, would have been 100 years old today.
• Second volume of The Messiah in the Psalms is now available in Kindle format.
• Do you know the meaning of your name?
• What does a Calvinist say after falling down the stairs?
• A Wonderful Gift for Babies.
• Let Us Make Man [Revisited]
• My 115 year old Christmas gift.
• Update on Book Signing this Wednesday, December 3, 2025 at 10 a.m.
• Have Thine Own Way
• Book signing event coming up December 3, 2025
• Thanks for visiting my book signing event!
• Will I see you at 9:15 tonight?
• UPCI GENERAL CONFERENCE 2025
• New book available in both paperback and eBook formats.
• New book now available at pentecostalpublishing.com
• At last, Psalms volume 2 has arrived!
• All that Thrills My Soul
• Closer by the moment!
• Back to my roots.
• Nearing the finish line.
• The Hermeneutical Circle and Canonical-Compositional Hermeneutics
• It has taken me only about 2,555 days ….
• Your greatest power.
• The Role of Tongues in Praying in the Spirit
• How videos are produced at the UPCI headquarters.
• Is speaking in tongues the evidence or the sign of baptism with the Holy Spirit?
• Sixty years of ministry.
• How consumerism redefines our values.
• Jesus taught hermeneutics.
• Pneumatology at Urshan Graduate School of Theology
• Purpose Institute and Bible Project
• Israel and Paul’s great sorrow and continual grief.
• Goodbye World, Goodbye!
• The first purchase for our new home.
• Good News!
• With gratitude ….
• All done!
• Almost there ….
• A New Year and a New Era for Logos Bible Software
• Marching on …
• Psalm 92 and Old Age
• Here’s what has happened in recent weeks.
• Somewhere …
• A glance toward the future from a very old psalm: Psalm 90
• Does Psalm 89 include an internal contradiction?
• Psalm 88 … Is There Any Hope?
• Is Psalm 87 a Pentecostal psalm?
• Now, on to Psalm 87
• Celebrating our first date!
• At last, Psalm 85 is finished.
• Videos on YouTube
• The Christology of John: In the Beginning [video]
• The Christology of John: In the Beginning
• Interesting and little known information about the New King James Version.
• Checking out the $130,000 Shigeru Kaiwai.
• Daniel and Susan Segraves on the Nancy Grandquist Podcast
• A Surprising Discovery of a Blog Written by David K. Bernard and Something I Didn’t Know About Myself.
• Messiah in the Psalms, Lesson Three, Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places
• Messiah in the Psalms, Lesson Two, Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places
• Messiah in the Psalms: Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places, Lesson One
• Pentecost Sunday at The Sanctury UPC
• Tomorrow…Pentecost Sunday
• Urshan University
• Living a Holy Life
• Here’s a sign for you …
• Good news from Urshan Graduate School of Theology!
• Presentation at the Urshan Graduate School of Theology Symposium
• Morning Has Broken
• An Unusual Post
• Urshan Symposium of Apostolic Pentecostal Scholars
• Learning Biblical Aramaic
• Substantial Savings Until December 31, 2023
• Getting Up to Date on the Psalms Project
• Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem
• Hamas [חמס]
• Curriculum Vitae
• Letting Our Hair Down: Another Look at I Corinthians 11:2-16 [A]
• Another Look at I Corinthians 11:10: A Plea for Caution
• Upcoming Urshan Symposium of Apostolic Pentecostal Scholars
• First-Century Jewish Christology
• First-Century Jewish Christology
• First Century Jewish Christology
• First Century Jewish Christianity
• First Century Jewish Christology
• 15% discount on my books until July 14, 2023
• “The sick … shall recover” (Mark 16:18).
• The Arkansas District Camp Meeting is scheduled for July 11-14, 2023.
• Oneness Pentecostalism: Race, Gender, and Culture
• Bits and Pieces ….
• The Messiah in the Psalms
• Psalm 83 and the future of volumes 2 and 3 of The Messiah in the Psalms
• Psalm 82 and its 2389 words.
• Psalm 81 … it took a while, but now it’s finished!
• Finding the time to do the important thing.
• I will utter dark sayings of old (Psalm 78:2).
• Back to school ….
• No Respecter of Persons
• Writing well.
• Is Thy Heart Right With God?
• A visit to the seminary classroom via the Book of Proverbs
• The Ten Commandments
• We arrive in Orlando!
• Celebrating Our Ninth Anniversary!
• God Chose a Day of Rest
• “The New Birth,” Second Session, Purpose Institute
• Finally, the thesis.
• The Encyclopedia Britannica and Baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ
• The Pneumatology of the Minor Prophets
• “The New Birth” offered by Purpose Institute
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 13
• My Journey from Theory to Thesis
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 12
• Standing on Holy Ground …
• The joy of meeting old friends by surprise!
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 11
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 10
• Charity Gayle
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 9
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 8
• The Most Important Question: What Shall We Do?
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 7
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 6
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 5
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 4
• Sin as an Addiction: Lesson 3
• Sin as an Addiction: Lesson 2
• The Addiction of Sin
• Thoughts about the Use of the King James Version
• To Know the Son is to Know the Father
• The Use of the Hebrew Scriptures in the New Testament: An Introduction to Canonical-Compositional Hermeneutics
• What I’ve been doing in the writing ministry since 2017
• “I Bowed on My Knees and Cried Holy”
• Draw Me Nearer: A good theme for 2022
• The day I wore suspenders to school
• How has God directed your steps in the early days of 2022?
• Who will direct your steps in 2022?
• A Pentecostal Church in Chin State Burned Down by the Burmese Army | Persecution
• Education in Transition: From Judaism to Christianity
• My Seventy-Sixth Birthday: October 29, 2022
• Daily Wisdom 353: Proverbs 15:21
• Daily Wisdom 352: Proverbs 15:20
• Daily Wisdom 351: Proverbs 15:19
• Daily Wisdom 350: Proverbs 15:18
• Thanks for stopping by to check out my twenty-first book!
• Book Signing Today at the UPCI 2021 General Conference
• Daily Wisdom 349: Proverbs 15:17
• Daily Wisdom 348: Proverbs 15:16
• Book signing at 2021 UPCI general conference
• Daily Wisdom 347: Proverbs 15:15
• Daily Wisdom 346: Proverbs 15:14
• Daily Wisdom 345: Proverbs 15:13
• Our eighth anniversary!
• Daily Wisdom 344: Proverbs 15:12
• Daily Wisdom 343: Proverbs 15:11
• Daily Wisdom 342: Proverbs 15:10
• Daily Wisdom 341: Proverbs 15:8-9
• Daily Wisdom 340: Proverbs 15:7
• Daily Wisdom 339: Proverbs 15:6
• Daily Wisdom 338: Proverbs 15:5
• Daily Wisdom 337: Proverbs 15:4
• Daily Wisdom 336: Proverbs 15:3
• Daily Wisdom 335: Proverbs 15:2
• Daily Wisdom 334: Proverbs 15:1
• Invitation to participate in the Pentecostal Publishing House Blog
• Daily Wisdom 333: Proverbs 14:35
• Daily Wisdom 332: Proverbs 14:34
• Daily Wisdom 331: Proverbs 14:33
• Daily Wisdom 330: Proverbs 14:32
• Daily Wisdom 329: Proverbs 14:31
• Daily Wisdom 328: Proverbs 14:30
• Daily Wisdom 327: Proverbs 14:29
• Daily Wisdom 326: Proverbs 14:28
• Daily Wisdom 325: Proverbs 14:26-27
• Daily Wisdom 324: Proverbs 14:25
• Daily Wisdom 323: Proverbs 14:24
• Daily Wisdom 322: Proverbs 14:23
• Daily Wisdom 321: Proverbs 14:22
• A bit of insight on Acts 22:16
• Daily Wisdom 320: Proverbs 14:20-21
• Daily Wisdom 319: Proverbs 14:19
• Daily Wisdom 318: Proverbs 14:18
• Daily Wisdom 317: Proverbs 14:17
• Daily Wisdom 316: Proverbs 14:16
• Daily Wisdom 315: Proverbs 14:15
• Daily Wisdom 314: Proverbs 14:14
• Daily Wisdom 313: Proverbs 14:13
• Daily Wisdom 312: Proverbs 14:12
• Daily Wisdom 311: Proverbs 14:11
• Daily Wisdom 310: Proverbs 14:10
• Daily Wisdom 309: Proverbs 14:9
• Daily Wisdom 308: Proverbs 14:8
• Daily Wisdom 307: Proverbs 14:7
• Daily Wisdom 306: Proverbs 14:6
• Daily Wisdom 305: Proverbs 14:5
• A brief lesson on apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
• Daily Wisdom 304: Proverbs 14:4
• Daily Wisdom 303: Proverbs 14:3
• Daily Wisdom 302: Proverbs 14:2
• The Roots of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers in the Book of Psalms
• Follow-Up on Massachusetts-Rhode Island Summer Summit
• Session 3: Bible Lesson for Friday, July 15, 2021 Massachusetts – Rhode Island Summer Summit
• Session 2: Bible Lesson for Thursday, July 15, 2021 Massachusetts – Rhode Island Summer Summit
• Session 1: Bible Lesson for Wednesday, July 14, 2021 Massachusetts – Rhode Island Summer Summit
• An Invitation to Teach at the Upcoming Massachusetts – Rhode Island District Summer Summit
• Daily Wisdom 301: Proverbs 14:1
• The Day of Pentecost at Life Church
• Daily Wisdom 300: Proverbs 13:25
• Daily Wisdom 299: Proverbs 13:24
• Daily Wisdom 298: Proverbs 13:23
• Daily Wisdom 297: Proverbs 13:22
• Daily Wisdom 296: Proverbs 13:21
• Daily Wisdom 295: Proverbs 13:20
• Daily Wisdom 294: Proverbs 13:19
• Daily Wisdom 293: Proverbs 13:18
• Daily Wisdom 292: Proverbs 13:17
• Daily Wisdom 291: Proverbs 13:16
• Daily Wisdom 290: Proverbs 13:15
• Daily Wisdom 289: Proverbs 13:14
• Daily Wisdom 288: Proverbs 13:13
• Daily Wisdom 287: Proverbs 13:12
• Daily Wisdom 286: Proverbs 13:11
• Daily Wisdom 285: Proverbs 13:10
• Daily Wisdom 284: Proverbs 13:9
• Daily Wisdom 283: Proverbs 13:8
• Daily Wisdom 282: Proverbs 13:7
• Daily Wisdom 281: Proverbs 13:6
• Back to the classroom!
• Video: The Holy Spirit in Galatians 6
• The Holy Spirit in Galatians 6
• Daily Wisdom 280: Proverbs 13:5
• Daily Wisdom 279: Proverbs 13:4
• Daily Wisdom 278: Proverbs 13:3
• Video: The Holy Spirit in Galatians 5
• The Holy Spirit in Galatians 5-6
• Daily Wisdom 277: Proverbs 13:2
• Daily Wisdom 276: Proverbs 13:1
• Video: The Holy Spirit in Galatians 1-4
• The Holy Spirit in Galatians
• Video: The Holy Spirit in II Corinthians
• The Holy Spirit in II Corinthians
• Daily Wisdom 275: Proverbs 12:28
• Daily Wisdom 274: Proverbs 12:27
• Daily Wisdom 273: Proverbs 12:26
• Daily Wisdom 272: Proverbs 12:25
• Daily Wisdom 271: Proverbs 12:24
• Daily Wisdom 270: Proverbs 12:23
• Daily Wisdom 269: Proverbs 12:22
• Daily Wisdom 268: Proverbs 12:21
• Excellent and thought-provoking post by Dr. Robin Johnston
• Interesting comment on Acts 22:16
• Daily Wisdom 267: Proverbs 12:20
• Daily Wisdom 266: Proverbs 12:19
• Daily Wisdom 265: Proverbs 12:18
• Daily Wisdom 264: Proverbs 12:17
• Daily Wisdom 263: Proverbs 12:16
• Daily Wisdom 262: Proverbs 12:15
• A return to the classroom
• Daily Wisdom 261: Proverbs 12:14
• Daily Wisdom 260: Proverbs 12:13
• Daily Wisdom 259: Proverbs 12:12
• The Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 12-14
• The Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 12-14
• Daily Wisdom 258: Proverbs 12:11
• My students . . . my peers.
• Daily Wisdom 257: Proverbs 12:10
• A big discovery!
• Daily Wisdom 256: Proverbs 12:9
• Daily Wisdom 255: Proverbs 12:8
• The Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 2:1-5, 10-16; 3:16; 6:11, 19; 7:40; 12:1
• The Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 2:1-5, 10-16; 3:16; 6:11, 19; 7:40; 12:1
• Daily Wisdom 254: Proverbs 12:7
• Logos 9 Discount Ends February 1, 2021
• Daily Wisdom 253: Proverbs 12:6
• 777 views!
• Daily Wisdom 252: Proverbs 12:5
• The Holy Spirit in Romans 15:13, 16, 18-19, 30
• Daily Wisdom 251: Proverbs 12:4
• The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans 15:13, 16, 18-19, 30
• Daily Wisdom 250: Proverbs 12:3
• Daily Wisdom 249: Proverbs 12:2
• Daily Wisdom 248: Proverbs 12:1
• Daily Wisdom 247: Proverbs 11:31
• The Holy Spirit in Romans 8:26-27; 9:1; 14:17
• The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans 8:27; 9:1-3; 14:17; 15:13, 16, 18-19, 30
• Daily Wisdom 246: Proverbs 11:30
• Daily Wisdom 245: Proverbs 11:29
• Daily Wisdom 244: Proverbs 11:28
• The Holy Spirit in Romans 8:18-27
• The Holy Spirit in Romans 8:18-27
• Daily Wisdom 243: Proverbs 11:27
• Stories from my life: My call to preach the gospel
• Daily Wisdom 242: Proverbs 11:26
• Daily Wisdom 241: Proverbs 11:24-25
• Stories from my life
• Daily Wisdom 240: Proverbs 11:23
• Daily Wisdom 239: Proverbs 11:22
• Daily Wisdom 238: Proverbs 11:21
• 6041
• Special Christmas Post
• Daily Wisdom 237: Proverbs 11:20
• Daily Wisdom 236: Proverbs 11:19
• Daily Wisdom 235: Proverbs 11:18
• Daily Wisdom 234: Proverbs 11:17
• Daily Wisdom 233: Proverbs 11:16
• Daily Wisdom 232: Proverbs 11:15
• Daily Wisdom 231: Proverbs 11:14
• Daily Wisdom 230: Proverbs 11:13
• 12 Days of Logos
• Daily Wisdom 229: Proverbs 11:12
• Daily Wisdom 228: Proverbs 11:10-11
• Daily Wisdom 227: Proverbs 11:9
• Another PPH blog post about my new book,
• Daily Wisdom 226: Proverbs 11:8
• Daily Wisdom 225: Proverbs 11:7
• Daily Wisdom 224: Proverbs 11:6
• Daily Wisdom 223: Proverbs 11:5
• Daily Wisdom 222: Proverbs 11:4
• Daily Wisdom 221: Proverbs 11:3
• My take on “My Tribute (To God be the Glory)” by Andrae Crouch
• Daily Wisdom 220: Proverbs 11:2
• Apostolic Study Bible and Logos Bible Software
• PPH sale includes my new book “The Holy Spirit.”
• Daily Wisdom 219: Proverbs 11:1
• Daily Wisdom 218: Proverbs 10:32
• Daily Wisdom 217: Proverbs 10:31
• Daily Wisdom 216: Proverbs 10:30
• Daily Wisdom 215: Proverbs 10:29
• Daily Wisdom 214: Proverbs 10:28
• Thanks to the Pentecostal Publishing House!
• Daily Wisdom 213: Proverbs 10:27
• Daily Wisdom 212: Proverbs 10:26
• Daily Wisdom 211: Proverbs 10:25
• Daily Wisdom 210: Proverbs 10:24
• Daily Wisdom 209: Proverbs 10:23
• Daily Wisdom 208: Proverbs 10:22
• Daily Wisdom 207: Proverbs 10:21
• Daily Wisdom 206: Proverbs 10:20
• Daily Wisdom 205: Proverbs 10:19
• A blog dedicated to the Holy Spirit
• A Light in Darkness: Stories of Grief and Loss
• Daily Wisdom 204: Proverbs 10:18
• Daily Wisdom 203: Proverbs 10:17
• Daily Wisdom 202: Proverbs 10:16
• Daily Wisdom 201: Proverbs 10:15
• Daily Wisdom 200: Proverbs 10:14
• Logos Bible Software: The software I use for research and writing
• Stirred by God
• Daily Wisdom 199: Proverbs 10:13
• Daily Wisdom 198: Proverbs 10:12
• Daily Wisdom 197: Proverbs 10:11
• Daily Wisdom 196: Proverbs 10:10
• Daily Wisdom 195: Proverbs 10:9
• David K. Bernard reminds us of the importance of voting
• Daily Wisdom 194: Proverbs 10:8
• Daily Wisdom 193: Proverbs 10:7
• Daily Wisdom 192: Proverbs 10:6
• Daily Wisdom 191: Proverbs 10:5
• Daily Wisdom 190: Proverbs 10:4
• New Books Available from the Pentecostal Publishing House
• Daily Wisdom 189: Proverbs 10:3
• Daily Wisdom 188: Proverbs 10:2
• Daily Wisdom 187: Proverbs 10:1
• Daily Wisdom 186: Proverbs 10
• Daily Wisdom 185: Proverbs 9:18
• “Leave the Oxen and Run”
• Daily Wisdom 184: Proverbs 9:17
• Daily Wisdom 183: Proverbs 9:16
• “A Light in Darkness: Stories of Grief and Loss”
• Review of “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary” on Pentecostal Publishing Blog
• Daily Wisdom 182: Proverbs 9:15
• Daily Wisdom 181: Proverbs 9:14
• Our seventh wedding anniversary!
• Pentecostal Publishing House
• Daily Wisdom 180: Proverbs 9:13
• Daily Wisdom 179: Proverbs 9:12
• Daily Wisdom 178: Proverbs 9:11
• Daily Wisdom 177: Proverbs 9:10
• Daily Wisdom 176: Proverbs 9:9
• Amazon Best Sellers List!
• Direct link to Kindle download of “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• An easier way to view my interview with Kaleb Saucer
• Video interview on “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Daily Wisdom 174: Proverbs 9:7
• Daily Wisdom 173: Proverbs 9:3-6
• Preview “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Daily Wisdom 172: Proverbs 9:2
• Daily Wisdom 171: Proverbs 9:1
• Daily Wisdom 170: Proverbs 8:36
• “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary” now available from Amazon and Apple!
• Daily Wisdom 169: Proverbs 8:35
• Daily Wisdom 168: Proverbs 8:34
• Daily Wisdom 167: Proverbs 8:33
• Terry Baughman reviews “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary” is now available at pentecostalpublishing.com!
• Daily Wisdom 166: Proverbs 8:32
• Daily Wisdom 165: Proverbs 8:22-31
• Daily Wisdom 164: Proverbs 8:21
• How to buy my new book “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Daily Wisdom 163: Proverbs 8:20
• David K. Bernard comments on “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Daily Wisdom 162: Proverbs 8:19
• Daily Wisdom 161: Proverbs 8:18
• The book is in!
• Daily Wisdom 160: Proverbs 8:17
• Daily Wisdom 159: Proverbs 8:15-16
• Stan Gleason reviews “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Interview with Kaleb Saucer
• Daily Wisdom 158: Proverbs 8:14
• Daily Wisdom 157: Proverbs 8:13
• Daily Wisdom 156: Proverbs 8:12
• Daily Wisdom 155: Proverbs 8:11
• Daily Wisdom 154: Proverbs 8:10
• Daily Wisdom 153: Proverbs 8:9
• Daily Wisdom 152: Proverbs 8:8
• Daily Wisdom 151: Proverbs 8:7
• Good news on the new book project!
• Daily Wisdom 150: Proverbs 8:6
• Daily Wisdom 149: Proverbs 8:5
• Daily Wisdom 148: Proverbs 8:1-4
• Daily Wisdom 147: Proverbs 7:27
• Daily Wisdom 146: Proverbs 7:26
• Daily Wisdom 145: Proverbs 7:24-25
• Daily Wisdom 144: Proverbs 7:23
• Daily Wisdom 143: Proverbs 7:22
• Daily Wisdom 142: Proverbs 7:21
• Daily Wisdom 141: Proverbs 7:19-20
• Daily Wisdom 140: Proverbs 7:16-18
• Daily Wisdom 138: Proverbs 7:15
• Daily Wisdom 138: Proverbs 7:14
• Daily Wisdom 137: Proverbs 7:13
• Daily Wisdom 136: Proverbs 7:11-12
• Daily Wisdom 135: Proverbs 7:10
• Daily Wisdom 134: Proverbs 7:9
• Daily Wisdom 133: Proverbs 7:8
• Daily Wisdom 132: Proverbs 7:6-7
• Daily Wisdom 131: Proverbs 7:5
• Daily Wisdom 130: Proverbs 7:4
• Hope Anchors the Soul
• Daily Wisdom 129: Proverbs 7:3
• Daily Wisdom 128: Proverbs 7:1-2
• Daily Wisdom 127: Proverbs 6:34-35
• Daily Wisdom 126: Proverbs 6:33
• Daily Wisdom 125: Proverbs 6:32
• Daily Wisdom 124: Proverbs 6:30-31
• Daily Wisdom 123: Proverbs 6:27-29
• Daily Wisdom 122: Proverbs 6:26
• Daily Wisdom 121: Proverbs 6:25
• Daily Wisdom 120: Proverbs 6:24
• Daily Wisdom 119: Proverbs 6:23
• Daily Wisdom 118: Proverbs 6:22
• Daily Wisdom 117: Proverbs 6:21
• Daily Wisdom 116: Proverbs 6:20
• Daily Wisdom 115: Proverbs 6:19
• Daily Wisdom 114: Proverbs 6:18
• Daily Wisdom 113: Proverbs 6:17
• Daily Wisdom 112: Proverbs 6:16-19
• Seven years ago today . . .
• Daily Wisdom 111: Proverbs 6:14-15
• Daily Wisdom 110: Proverbs 6:13
• Daily Wisdom 109: Proverbs 6:12
• Congratulations to Urshan College and Urshan Graduate School of Theology!
• Daily Wisdom 108: Proverbs 6:10-11
• Daily Wisdom 107: Proverbs 6:9
• Daily Wisdom 106: Proverbs 6:8
• Daily Wisdom 105: Proverbs 6:7
• Daily Wisdom 104: Proverbs 6:6
• Daily Wisdom 103: Proverbs 6:1-5
• Daily Wisdom 102: Proverbs 5:23
• Daily Wisdom 101: Proverbs 5:22
• Daily Wisdom 100: Proverbs 5:21
• Two statements concerning the deity of Jesus in Acts 16
• Daily Wisdom 99: Proverbs 5:20
• God put a rainbow in the sky🎶
• Daily Wisdom 98: Proverbs 5:19
• Daily Wisdom 97: Proverbs 5:18
• Daily Wisdom 96: Proverbs 5:16-17
• Daily Wisdom 95: Proverbs 5:15
• Daily Wisdom 94: Proverbs 5:12-14
• Daily Wisdom 93: Proverbs 5:9-11
• Daily Wisdom 92: Proverbs 5:6-8
• Daily Wisdom 91: Proverbs 5:5
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 30
• Daily Wisdom 90: Proverbs 5:4
• Daily Wisdom 89: Proverbs 5:3
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 29
• Daily Wisdom 88: Proverbs 5:2
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 28
• Daily Wisdom 87: Proverbs 5:1
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 27
• Daily Wisdom 86: Proverbs 4:27
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 26
• Daily Wisdom 85: Proverbs 4:26
• Daily Wisdom 84: Proverbs 4:25
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 25
• Daily Wisdom 83: Proverbs 4:24
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 24
• Daily Wisdom 82: Proverbs 4:23
• Daily Wisdom 81: Proverbs 4:22
• Daily Wisdom 80: Proverbs 4:21
• Daily Wisdom 79: Proverbs 4:20
• Daily Wisdom 78: Proverbs 4:19
• Daily Wisdom 77: Proverbs 4:17-18
• Daily Wisdom 76: Proverbs 4:16
• Daily Wisdom 75: Proverbs 4:15
• Daily Wisdom 74: Proverbs 4:14
• Daily Wisdom 73: Proverbs 4:13
• Daily Wisdom 72: Proverbs 4:12
• Daily Wisdom 71: Proverbs 4:11
• Daily Wisdom 70: Proverbs 4:10
• Daily Wisdom 69: Proverbs 4:9
• Daily Wisdom 68: Proverbs 4:8
• Daily Wisdom 67: Proverbs 4:7
• Spirit filled voices … Spirit inspired words!
• Spirit filled voices … Spirit inspired words
• Daily Wisdom 66: Proverbs 4:6
• Daily Wisdom 65: Proverbs 4:4-5
• Daily Wisdom 64: Proverbs 4:3
• Daily Wisdom 63: Proverbs 4:1-2
• Update on “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Daily Wisdom 62: Proverbs 3:35
• Daily Wisdom 61: Proverbs 3:34
• Daily Wisdom 60: Proverbs 3:33
• Daily Wisdom 59: Proverbs 3:32
• Daily Wisdom 58: Proverbs 3:31
• Daily Wisdom 57: Proverbs 3:30
• Daily Wisdom 56: Proverbs 3:29
• Daily Wisdom 55: Proverbs 3:28
• Daily Wisdom 54: Proverbs 3:27
• Daily Wisdom 53: Proverbs 3:21-26
• Daily Wisdom 52: Proverbs 3:20
• Daily Wisdom 51: Proverbs 3:19
• Daily Wisdom 50: Proverbs 3:18
• Daily Wisdom 49: Proverbs 3:17
• Writing Update
• Daily Wisdom 48: Proverbs 3:15-16
• Daily Wisdom 47: Proverbs 3:14
• Daily Wisdom 46: Proverbs 3:13
• Daily Wisdom 45: Proverbs 3:11-12
• Daily Wisdom 44: Proverbs 3:9-10
• Daily Wisdom 43: Proverbs 3:8
• Daily Wisdom 42: Proverbs 3:7
• Daily Wisdom 41: Proverbs 3:6
• Daily Wisdom 40: Proverbs 3:5
• Daily Wisdom 39: Proverbs 3:4
• Daily Wisdom 38: Proverbs 3:3
• Daily Wisdom 37: Proverbs 3:2
• Daily Wisdom 36: Proverbs 3:1
• Daily Wisdom 35: Proverbs 2:20-22
• Daily Wisdom 34: Proverbs 2:18-19
• Daily Wisdom 33: Proverbs 2:17
• Daily Wisdom 32: Proverbs 2:15-16
• Daily Wisdom 31: Proverbs 2:14
• Daily Wisdom 30: Proverbs 2:13
• Daily Wisdom 29: Proverbs 2:12
• Daily Wisdom 28: Proverbs 2:11
• Daily Wisdom 27: Proverbs 2:10-22
• Daily Wisdom 26: Proverbs 2:9
• Daily Wisdom 25: Proverbs 2:8
• Daily Wisdom 24: Proverbs 2:7
• Daily Wisdom 23: Proverbs 2:6
• Daily Wisdom 22: Proverbs 2:1-5
• Wisdom 21
• Wisdom 20
• Wisdom 19
• Wisdom 18
• Wisdom 17 [and a brief excerpt from my upcoming volume on the Holy Spirit].
• Daily Wisdom 15
• Wisdom 16
• Daily Wisdom 14
• Daily Wisdom 13
• Daily Wisdom 12
• A good idea for use when socially distanced.
• Helpful information.
• Daily Wisdom 11
• Daily Wisdom 10
• His Eye is on the Sparrow
• Daily Wisdom 9
• Daily Wisdom 8
• Daily Wisdom 7
• Daily Wisdom 6
• Daily Wisdom 5
• Daily Wisdom 4
• Daily Wisdom 3
• Daily Wisdom 2
• Daily Wisdom 1
• Devotion 23: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 22: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 21: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 20: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 19: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 18: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 17: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Good News from the Pentecostal Publishing House
• Devotion 16: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 15: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 14: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 13: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 12: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 11: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 10: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 9: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 8: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 7: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 6: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 5: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 4: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 3: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 2: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 1: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Should we write in our Bibles?
• A tree of ice.
• “As the deer pants for the water brooks …” (Psalm 42:1).
• Today we awaken to this …
• A book rediscovered.
• A “Watch Night Service” Memory
• A New Year’s Resolution
• My response to a critique of my article “Marriage without a Helpmate?”
• A bit of time in Branson…
• A small family reunion …
• The Grand Finale
• You already know some Hebrew
• Hope for the Last Days
• Catching up on writing assignments
• There’s Something About That Name
• Seventy-three years ago today …
• Answering questions from a member of the Church of Christ
• Oneness insight on Colossians 2:2-3
• I awaken to the beginning…
• From Atlantic City to Indianapolis: Two UPCI General Conference Messages
• Our trip to Jonesboro, Arkansas.
• Retired … but still working?
• Video: The Holy Spirit in Romans, Lesson 3
• The Holy Spirit in Romans, Lesson 3
• Video: The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans, Lesson 2
• The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans, Second Lesson
• Video: The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans, First Lesson
• The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans
• Video: More about the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts
• North American Youth Congress 2019
• More about the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts
• Our study of the Holy Spirit continues …
• Video: The Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts
• The Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts: Study Guide
• Video: Looking Ahead to Pentecost
• Looking Ahead to Pentecost: Study Guide
• Video: The Holy Spirit in the New Testament before Pentecost
• The Holy Spirit in the Lives of People before the Day of Pentecost
• Video: An Introduction to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament
• An Introduction to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament: Study Guide
• The Holy Spirit in the New Testament
• A little bit of Hammond organ and Leslie speaker
• Making it easier to find my books.
• Video: The Book of Daniel, Second Lesson
• Video: The Book of Daniel, First Lesson
• Last Things
• The Book of Daniel
• First highlight … first note.
• Sandwiched in, but safe.
• Tickets for Gaither Family Fest 2019 – 3 Day Ticket, May 24, 25, 26
• One of my greatest regrets.
• Video: An Hour on Spiritual Gifts with the Hyphens
• Video: Susan Segraves shares her story.
• Talking with the Hyphens
• A Parable about Gifts
• A video with a few words about spiritual gifts.
• The Seven Motivators
• What? No regalia?
• A first time for everything …
• Holy Spirit manuscript finished.
• No More Questions. Video.
• No More Questions. PowerPoint Easter 2019
• No More Questions.
• From the Day of Pentecost Onward
• A chapter finished, another to begin.
• An important component of writing.
• An arm lost . . . a dream fulfilled.
• Goodbye, Howdershell. Hello, Wentzville.
• Yahweh, Jehovah, and Jesus
• A tender conscience
• Redesigned website.
• Terry Gunn plays “ Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”
• More on Psalm 110:1 and baptism
• Psalm 110:1 and Acts 2:38
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 12B Video
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 12A Video
• Daniel Segraves’ update on The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic View on Pneumatology
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 12
• The Messiah in the Psalms and Second Peter and Jude now available as ebook downloads from Amazon, iBook and PPH
• Oneness Pentecostalism and Dispensationalism
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 11 Video
• My daily prayers …
• Bringing back memories …
• A word from Daniel Segraves
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 11
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 10 Video
• Progress on “The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology”
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 10
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 9 Video
• Now available in the Spanish language …
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 9
• Another word on Jephthah and his daughter
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 8 Video
• Two new books now available as iBook downloads
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 8
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 7 Video
• The first snowman of our married lives.
• Two new books available on Amazon Kindle!
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 7
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 6 Video
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 6
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 5 Video
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 5
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 4 Video
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 4
• A delightful conversation with Bishop Billy McCool
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 3 Video
• A Spectacular Night Time View of the Eiffel Tower During Our Visit to France in August 2018.
• Daniel Segraves plays “Is Your All on the Altar?”
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 3
• Daniel Segraves plays “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”
• Daniel Segraves Plays “Silent Night.”
• Daniel Segraves at the Piano
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 2 Video
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 2
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 1 Video
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 1
• Another new lesson submitted: Hope for the Last Days: As in the days
• New Lesson Submitted: In Like Manner
• Changes in teaching videos and updates on coming lessons
• The Spirit of the Lord in the Minor Prophets Video
• The Spirit of the Lord in the Minor Prophets
• A discovery from 30 years ago
• Logos Bible Software … I like it!
• Congratulations to the Urshan System
• I thank God for sparing my life.
• A word of wisdom from one doctor to another
• No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus
• Logos Bible Software 8
• “My Spirit” in the Book of the Twelve: Apostolic Pneumatology
• “My Spirit” in Isaiah and Ezekiel: Apostolic Pneumatology
• The Spirit of the LORD in Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Micah: Apostolic Pneumatology
• The Spirit of the LORD in Isaiah: Apostolic Pneumatology
• The Spirit of the LORD in I and II Kings: Apostolic Pneumatology
• The Spirit comes and goes in Samuel: Apostolic Pneumatology
• The Spirit of the LORD in Judges: Apostolic Pneumatology
• A surprising discovery in Joshua: Apostolic Pneumatology
• Anticipation of Pentecost in Numbers: Apostolic Pneumatology
• Balaam, his donkey, and Apostolic pneumatology
• A decision on the Apostolic pneumatology project
• Today’s report on the Apostolic pneumatology project.
• At work on “The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology.”
• The Miracle of the Bierschenk Girls
• Five years of wedded bliss!
• A general conference memory
• Also at this general conference
• New at this general conference: Andrew D. Urshan: A Theological Biography
• A new book idea . . .
• An Amazing Story of Redemption
• Another Look at “Delivering Up the Kingdom”
• Bishop Timothy Dugas
• Aboard Air France
• Our last breakfast in France
• A rainy day in Paris . . .
• Our last day in Paris
• Strolling around Paris . . .
• Our Visit to France
• Andrew David Urshan Memorial
• Andrew David Urshan Memorial
• Matthew 28:19 and Granville Sharp’s Sixth Rule
• The Living Word
• Thoughts on John 17:5
• New Birth: Purpose Institute
• Let Us Make Man
• This is That: An Examination of Peter’s Use of Joel from the Perspective of Canonical-Compositional Hermeneutics
• Apostolic Hermeneutics: Things Hard to be Understood
• A Further Response to Calvin Beisner
• A Response to Calvin Beisner’s Explanation of Acts 2:38
• Predestination?
• Binding and Loosing
• Speaking in Tongues: Evidence or Sign?
• The Bible of the New Testament Church
• My Father, the Poet
• The First Day of Retirement
• Fourth lesson in a series of four
• Third Lesson in a Series of Four
• Writing UPCI Literature
• Whatever Happened to Gifts of Language, Prophecy, and Healing? | Christianity Today
• Romans 14
• Romans 13
• Romans 12
• Romans 6:1-19
• Romans 4 and 5
• Romans 3; 4:1-8
• Romans 2
• Romans 1:16-32
• How to Locate My Books on Romans
• Romans 1:1-17
• Another exploration of the book of Romans
• Andrew D. Urshan: A Theological Biography Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 12 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 12
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 10 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 11 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 11
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 10
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 9 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms 9 PowerPoint Handout
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 9
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 8 Video
• Looking Forward Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 8
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 7 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 7
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 6 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 6
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 5 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 5
• Book signing tonight! I will be at the PPH display tonight at 6 pm to sign copies of my new book, Looking Forward: A Clear View of Biblical Prophecy. See you there!
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 4 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 4
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 4 PowerPoint Slides
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 3
• The Messiah in the Psalms Video 3
• The Messiah in the Psalms Video 2
• The Messiah in the Psalms 2
• Looking Forward Now Available on 3 apps: iBook, Kindle, Nook, and other news
• Looking Forward available as an iBook and on Nook as well as Kindle
• New Book: Looking Forward
• The Messiah in the Psalms Video 1
• The Messiah in the Psalms
• How to buy books I have written.
• Andrew D. Urshan: A Theological Biography
• Sabbatical Begins Today
• Reflections on More than Thirty-Five Years of Teaching
• Three Things to Know Today … and to Remember Every Day to Come!
• Down from His Glory
• Divine Flesh Video
• Proverbs 24:12[3]
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 10 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 10
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 9 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 9
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 8 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 8
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 7 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 7
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 6 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 6 Study Guide
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 5 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places, Lesson 5
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Video 4
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 4
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Video 3
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 3
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Video 2
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places 2
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Video 1
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places, Lesson 1
• Proverbs Lesson 11 video
• Proverbs Lesson 10 Video
• Proverbs Lesson 11
• Proverbs Lesson 10
• Proverbs Lesson 9 Video
• Proverbs Lesson 9
• Proverbs Lesson 8
• Proverbs Lesson 8
• Proverbs Lesson 7 Video
• Proverbs Lesson 7
• Proverbs Lesson 6 video
• Proverbs Lesson 5 Video
• Proverbs Lesson 6
• Proverbs Lesson 5
• Proverbs Lesson 4
• Proverbs Lesson 3
• Proverbs Lesson 2
• Proverbs Lesson 1
• Back to Blogging!

The title of this paper is not intended to suggest that Scripture cannot be understood. It does acknowledge, however, that Peter was right when he said that Paul wrote some things that are hard to understand and that there are “untaught and unstable people [who] twist [these things] to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:16). Several ideas arise from this verse: (1) Paul’s letters are Scripture; (2) it is spiritually dangerous to be “untaught” and “unstable”; (3) some things Paul wrote are hard to understand, apparently even for those who are taught and stable. This does not mean they cannot be understood. Peter’s following words suggest that with spiritual alertness understanding is possible, and this understanding will result in growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (See 2 Peter 3:17-18.)

Peter’s reference to growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ connects with important statements on biblical interpretation made by Jesus Himself. To the disciples on the Emmaus road, Jesus said, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:25). Jesus began “at Moses and all the Prophets” and expounded “to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). Later, when Jesus vanished from the sight of the disciples as they were sharing a meal, they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32). These disciples understood the Hebrew Scriptures only when Jesus explained the Scriptures in terms of what they said about Him.[1]

Similarly, Jesus opened the understanding of the larger group of gathered disciples. He enabled them to comprehend the Scriptures, saying, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me. Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:44, 46-47).

These words, which Jesus spoke just before His ascension, tell us that the essential story of redemption is found in the Old Testament before it is ever found in the New Testament. Indeed, there are details about Christ’s life and work recorded in the Old Testament that never found their way into the New Testament.

The release of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909 had a profound influence on the hermeneutics adopted by many early twentieth century Pentecostals. Although Scofield had no empathy for the Pentecostal movement, his “dispensationalism with its intense emphasis on futuristic eschatology had a strong appeal to them.”[2] It was typical for Pentecostals to believe that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a sign that the Second Coming was just around the corner. They embraced an eschatological focus, and Scofield’s neatly mapped out eschatology provided them a ready template.

It was immediately necessary, however, for Pentecostals to modify Scofieldian dispensationalism, because although the “system . . . provides a convenient method of organizing biblical history and teaches that it is possible to fit the full range of prophetic Scripture into something like a complicated puzzle,”[3] it also asserted “that the gifts of the Spirit, especially what has been called ‘the sensational gifts’ or ‘sign gifts’ (healing, faith, working of miracles, and tongues), were confined to the apostolic age.”[4] Although cessationism was rejected by Pentecostals, “the dispensational understanding of the church, as well as its eschatology, has influenced pentecostal theology.”[5]

Not only did Scofield confine the supernatural dimension of Pentecost to the first century. He also saw the church as a mystery not anticipated in the Hebrew Scriptures.[6] But if there is a disconnect between the church and the Old Testament, the value of the Old Testament for the church is minimized. How are we to view the fact that the New Testament quotes, paraphrases, or alludes to the Old Testament nearly 800 times, especially when these references to the Old Testament are often in the category of fulfillment motifs? In a textbook used in many Pentecostal Bible schools during the mid-20th century, the author claimed, “Except that blessing was promised to the Gentiles . . . the church was unknown to the prophets.”[7] In view of Peter’s declaration that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was “what was spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16, NKJV), it is doubtful that the denial of any meaningful connection between Joel and Pentecost will be satisfying to Pentecostals.[8]

Implicit in Jesus’ explanation of the Hebrew Scriptures is that they are rich in Christology, soteriology (doctrine of salvation), pneumatology (doctrine of the Holy Spirit), and ecclesiology (doctrine of the church). A reading of the New Testament indicates that the apostles and others involved in writing Scripture understood and fleshed out these themes. An examination of Paul’s use of Scripture demonstrates this point.

Paul and the Mystery of Christ

For Scofieldian dispensationalism, these words of Paul mean that there is no anticipation of the church in the Old Testament:

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles – if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power (Ephesians 3:1-7).

The phrase “which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed” is taken to mean that there was no revelation of the church in the Hebrew Scriptures.[9] Ultradispensationalism goes so far as to say that there was no revelation of the church before Paul.[10]

A thorough reading of Paul indicates, however, that these views are incorrect. Rather than disavowing any revelation of the church prior to his, Paul’s point is that he enjoyed a fuller understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures than that of the original writers of those Scriptures. For the consideration of hermeneutics, this validates the idea that the part must be interpreted in view of the whole. Paul could understand only from his situation, or from his hermeneutical horizon, but his horizon was wider than that of the writers of the Hebrew Scriptures, not only because he possessed something never possessed by any but the final writers of the Hebrew Scriptures – the entire Hebrew canon – but also because his horizon included the knowledge that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah and a fullness of the Holy Spirit never enjoyed by those who lived before the era of the New Covenant (Acts 9:17). But his horizon extended even beyond this to include the portion of the New Testament that was written during his lifetime.

The revelation to which Paul referred in Ephesians 3 was not something given by God to Paul apart from the Hebrew Scriptures. In other words, this revelation was not something diverse from and superior to Scripture. It was not something that was unanticipated in Scripture. We know this because Paul’s ministry, from the very beginning, is rich in the use of the Hebrew Scriptures to proclaim Christ as the promised Messiah and the work being done by Christ in the church as the fulfillment of Hebrew prophecy. The revelation was not, therefore, something radically new; it was a perspective on the Hebrew Scriptures not fully enjoyed by those who wrote them or by those who interpreted them prior to the era of the New Covenant.

It is perhaps no surprise that dispensationalism denies any anticipation of the church in the Hebrew Scriptures; that is the nature of the system. But even F. F. Bruce, in his comments on Eph 3:5, asserts that although the Hebrew Scriptures anticipated blessing of God upon the Gentiles, the fact that this “blessing of the Gentiles would involve the obliteration of the old line of demarcation which separated them from Jews and the incorporation of Gentile believers together with Jewish believers” was something that “had not been foreseen.”[11] A. Skevington Wood, however, sees the revelation as a matter of degree: “Although the blessing of the Gentiles through the people of God was revealed in the OT from Genesis 12:3 onward, it was not proclaimed so fully or so extensively as under the new dispensation.”[12]

These views do not, however, address the possibility that the mystery described by Paul was indeed found in the Hebrew Scriptures, but that the reason it was “not made known to the sons of men” (Eph 3:5) was that the limited horizon available prior to the era of the New Testament prohibited the fuller understanding now available to Paul as well as to all of the holy apostles and prophets. That this is at least a possibility is evident not only from Paul’s Christological use of the Hebrew Scriptures but also from his ecclesiological use of the Old Testament. Again, the point may be that his revelation was not something new but that it was a wider and deeper grasp of what had already been revealed in Scripture. Otherwise, we would expect Paul to make no appeal to the Hebrew Scriptures in his declaration of the gospel, including the union of Gentiles and Jews into one body. But this is not the case. Paul roots his teaching exclusively in the Scriptures.

Paul declared that what he believed was that which was written in the Law and the Prophets (Acts 24:14). He had done nothing offensive against the law of the Jews or the temple (Acts 25:8). He was called before Agrippa “for the hope of the promise made by God to [the] fathers” (Acts 26:6). In a very clear appeal to the Hebrew Scriptures for his message, including the inclusion of Gentiles equally with the Jews, Paul told Agrippa that he said nothing other than those things “which the prophets and Moses said would come—that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:22-23). Rather than claiming innovation for his message, Paul insisted that he said nothing new.[13] After arriving in Rome, Paul told the Jewish community there that he had done nothing against the Jewish people or the fathers (Acts 28:17). Instead, he was bound “for the hope of Israel” (Acts 28:20). He “explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets” (Acts 28:23).

When he wrote to the believers at Rome, a church that included Jews and Gentiles, Paul declared that the gospel of God was that “which he promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures” (Rom 1:1-2). The Law and the Prophets witness to the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ “to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference” (Rom 3:21-22). The letter to the Romans is a church letter; Paul establishes the equality of Jews and Gentiles in the church from the Hebrew Scriptures. The fact that Abraham was justified before circumcision was for the purpose of demonstrating that Gentiles, not only Jews, are the recipients of imputed righteousness (Rom 4:11). Abraham is equally the father of believing Gentiles as well as of believing Jews (Rom 4:16-18). Hosea and Isaiah both anticipated the inclusion of believing Gentiles (Rom 9:24-29). Even Moses wrote about the righteousness of faith wherein there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile (Rom 10:5-12), as did Joel (Rom 10:13).[14] In an extended appeal to the Hebrew Scriptures to demonstrate the inclusion of Gentiles, Paul indicates that this inclusion “confirm[s] the promises made to the fathers” (Rom 15:8-12, 21). As he concludes the letter, Paul writes that the gospel he preaches—which is identical with “the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began”—is made known to all nations “by the prophetic Scriptures” (Rom 16:25-26). This can only mean that the message he preached in the churches was firmly rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul explained that he spoke “the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages” (1 Cor 2:7). But this mystery was anticipated in the Hebrew Scriptures (1 Cor 2:9). It had now been revealed to Paul “through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes the deep things of God” (1 Cor 2:10). The story of Israel’s journey through the wilderness was written for the benefit of the church (1 Cor 10:6, 11). The essential gospel message is “according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4).

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul explains that those who read the Hebrew Scriptures while rejecting Christ are hindered by a veil; their minds are blinded (2 Cor 3:14). Isaiah prophesied of the church age, the “day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). Ezekiel anticipated the way God would dwell in the church (2 Cor 6:16). Even the Pentateuch called for the church to be holy (2 Cor 6:17-18). That these Hebrew Scriptures belong to the church is quite clear when Paul immediately follows these references with these words: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor 7:1).

In his letter to the believers in Galatia, Paul declared that the Hebrew Scriptures foresaw “that God would justify the Gentiles by faith” (Gal 3:8a). By doing so, the Scripture “preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand” (Gal 3:8b). In receiving “the blessing of Abraham,” Gentiles are also receiving “the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal 3:14). When “the Scripture . . . confine[s] all under sin,” Gentiles are included along with Jews, so “that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (Gal 3:22). Thus, “there is neither Jew nor Greek . . . for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). To be Christ’s is to be Abraham’s seed “and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29). If Gentiles in the church are heirs of a biblical promise, it is difficult to say that the Old Testament in no way anticipated the church.

To the Ephesians, Paul wrote that God had made known to him “the mystery of His will” which involved the “gather[ing] together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in him” (Eph 1:9-10). We come now to Paul’s discussion of the revelation of “the mystery . . . which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Eph 3:3-6). In view of all that precedes this canonically, it is difficult to read this to mean that the Hebrew Scriptures include nothing about the Gentiles becoming fellow heirs.[15] Indeed, Paul in the very next chapter quotes Ps 68:18 to explain the gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to the church (Eph 4:7-14). We can certainly question whether the author of Ps 16 or even the final composer of the Psalter understood Ps 68:18 as a reference to the ascension gift ministries, but Paul’s horizon was broader than theirs. He lived in the era of fulfillment and of the Spirit, an era that released the text of the Hebrew Scriptures to a dimension of fullness unavailable to those with a limited horizon. This does not mean that the author of Ps 68 or the composer of the Psalter were wrong; it means that there was a depth of meaning in the text that awaited fulfillment to be fully released. Since Paul uses the psalm this way in the same letter where he discusses the revelation of mystery, it is apparent that he does not mean that the mystery is not based on Scripture. He even sees Gen 2:24, a statement that in isolation seems to refer only to the marriage relationship, as “a great mystery” that “concern[s] Christ and the church” (Eph 5:31-32).

Again in his letter to the Colossians, Paul discusses “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints” (Col 1:26). This is the same mystery Paul has in view in his letter to the Ephesians; it concerns “the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). But again Paul refers to the Hebrew Scriptures as the source of this mystery. Specifically, he sees the regulations concerning food, drink, festivals, new moons, and sabbaths—all integral to the Law of Moses—as being “shadow[s] of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Col 2:16-17).

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul describes the church as “the house of God . . . the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). It would seem strange to think that such a high evaluation would be made of an institution that has no place in the Hebrew Scriptures.

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul declares that the Holy Scriptures—the Hebrew Scriptures that Timothy has known from childhood—“are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 3:15). It is precisely these Scriptures which are “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17). If the Hebrew Scriptures are profitable for church doctrine, for the reproof, correction, and instruction of church members, and if they are capable of bringing a man of God who is in the church to completion, they surely are not bereft of any reference to the church. Before closing his letter, Paul appeals to Timothy for “the books, especially the parchments” (2 Tim 4:13). No doubt these parchments were Old Testament Scriptures written on leather scrolls.16 If the Hebrew Scriptures contained nothing specific to the church, one wonders why Paul wished to have them as desperately as he wished to have his cloak.

Interpretations of Ephesians 3:5 that focus only on exegesis of the immediate context miss the influence on understanding available from the broader horizon of the use of the Hebrew Scriptures in the New Testament and specifically from Paul’s consistent Christological and ecclesiological use of the Old Testament.

Conclusion

Paul’s use of the Old Testament demonstrates the validity of the approach to understanding characterized by the hermeneutical circle. Because his horizon has been widened by his personal encounter with Jesus Christ, because he enjoys the fullness of the Spirit, and because he has access to the entire Hebrew canon, he reads the Hebrew Scriptures in a way they could not be read by those who rejected Christ or by those to whom only portions of the text were available. This was not unique to Paul. As he affirmed, the revelation of the mystery of Christ “has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets” (Eph 3:5). His approach to the interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures is mirrored by all of the New Testament writers.[17]

Theoretically, it may be possible to say that we are in a better position to understand both the Old and New Testaments than were the writers of either testament, because our horizon includes the perspective of the New Testament writers on the Old Testament, a horizon unavailable to the writers of the Old Testament, and because we have access to a wholeness or fullness of written revelation, including the New Testament, that the writers of the New Testament never enjoyed. Our horizon is widened not only by the complete canon, but also by the fullness of the Spirit and by the effect of the history of Christian interpretation and the impact of Scripture on the church.

Our apostolic heritage includes an approach to the interpretation of Scripture that is quite different from the hermeneutics adopted by those who limit the supernatural dimension of the Christian life to the first century and who separate the two testaments so radically that there is no ecclesiology – with its attendant pneumatology – in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is agreed by many, including non-Pentecostals, that the Old Testament is rich in Christology. It should be recognized, however, that where Christ is found, so is the Holy Spirit, and so is the anticipation of the church, which comes into being when Christ pours out the Holy Spirit upon waiting believers, whether Jew or Gentile.

Discussion of exegesis, authorial intent, context, reader response, genre, and the entire range of hermeneutical concern has its place, but will fall short if Scripture is not approached as it was by the first century apostles and others who wrote Scripture. This includes their belief that all Scripture, including the Hebrew Scriptures, belonged to the church. Until the end of the first century, no Christian in the apostolic era had access to the entire New Testament. For about fifteen years after the Day of Pentecost, New Testament Scripture did not exist. When it did begin to develop, it was in bits and pieces and scattered widely over the geographical expanse of spreading Christianity. There were no printing presses constantly collating freshly written Scripture to assure that all New Testament believers were kept up to date on the latest revelations.

How, then, did first century Christians believe and understand the gospel, and what was their authoritative source for its declaration? As Paul pointed out to Timothy, this was the function of the Hebrew Scriptures Timothy had known from his childhood:

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:14-17, NKJV).

Since the writers of the New Testament so fully embraced the Hebrew Scriptures as their source for the doctrine of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, and since they believed it was profitable for a full range of teaching, including the reproof, correction, and instruction of New Testament Christians, bringing the people of God to completion and thoroughly equipping them for all they needed to do, it should be no surprise to find the New Testament standing in complete solidarity with the Old Testament. The way this works out may sometimes be hard to understand, as Peter indicated, but the reward is worth the effort. Oneness Pentecostals, of all people, should rejoice in the opportunity to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This growth will not come from minimizing the value of the Old Testament. It will result from reading the Hebrew Scriptures as the Scriptures of the church, feasting on the richness of their testimony to Christ, partaking of the fullness of the Holy Spirit promised therein, and celebrating the fulfilled fellowship of the gathered believers (i.e., the ekklēsia, the church) thus anticipated.

Endnotes

1 Luke 24:33-35.
2 F. L. Arrington, “Dispensationalism,” in The New Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (eds. Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. van der Maas; rev. and exp. ed.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Zondervan, 2002), 585.
3 Arrington, “Dispensationalism,” 585.
4 Arrington, “Dispensationalism,” 585.
5 Arrington, “Dispensationalism,” 585. Ryrie acknowledges that “ecclesiology . . . is the touchstone of dispensationalism” (Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today [Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1965], 132).
6 It has long been noted that dispensationalism sees the church as a parenthesis, bearing no relationship to what preceded it or to what will follow it in God’s plan. (See Clarence B. Bass, Backgrounds to Dispensationalism: Its Historical Genesis and Ecclesiastical Implications[Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1960], 26, 28, 43, 129.) For normative dispensationalism, the church and Israel are “completely distinct.” The church “was not revealed in the Old Testament,” and God has two purposes, “one for the church and one for Israel” (Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism [Chicago: Moody Press, 1995], 174).
7 Frank M. Boyd, Ages and Dispensations (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1955), 53-54. See also Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today, 134, n. 4, where Ryrie quotes James M. Stifler’s interpretation of Ephesians 3:5 as denying “that there was any revelation at all of the mystery in that former time . . . .”
8 In its comments on Joel 2:28, the New Scofield Reference Bible disassociates Joel’s prophecy from any fulfillment on the Day of Pentecost: “Peter did not state that Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. The details of Joel 2:30-32 (cp. Acts 2:19-20) were not realized at that time. Peter quoted Joel’s prediction as an illustration of what was taking place in his day, and as a guarantee that God would yet completely fulfill all that Joel had prophesied. The time of that fulfillment is stated here (“afterward,” cp. Hos. 3:5), i.e. in the latter days when Israel turns to the Lord” (E. Schuyler English, ed., The New Scofield Study Bible [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1967], 1045).
9 Scofield’s comment on Ephesians 3:5-10 includes the claim that “the church is not once mentioned in Old Testament prophecy” (C. I. Scofield, Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth . Cited 2 December 2004). Online: http://www.raptureme.com/resource/scofield/s1.htm. Although this view has been softened by adherents of Progressive Dispensationalism (See, e.g., Robert L. Saucy, “The Church as the Mystery of God,” Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church: The Search for Definition (ed. Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bock; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 127-155), those who embrace Scofieldian dispensationalism continue to insist that “no revelation of this mystery was given in the Old Testament but that this mystery was revealed for the first time in the New Testament” (Harold W. Hoehner, “Ephesians,” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty (ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck; New Testament edition; Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Book, 1983), 629.
10 See G. R. Lewis, “Ultradispensationalism,” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Walter A. Elwell, ed.; Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1984), 1120-21.
11 F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians: The New International Commentary on the New Testament (ed. Gordon D. Fee; Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984), 314.
12 A. Skevington Wood, “Ephesians,” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 1 (ed. Frank. E. Gaebelein; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978), 45.
13 See also Acts 26:27.
14 See also Rom 10:19-21.
15 The New Scofield Study Bible comments on Eph 3:6: “That Gentiles were to be saved was no mystery . . . . The mystery ‘hidden in God’ was the divine purpose to make of Jew and Gentile a wholly new thing—‘the church, which is His [Christ’s] body,’ . . . and in which the earthly distinction of Jew and Gentile disappears . . . .” (C. I. Scofield, ed., The New Scofield Study Bible: New King James Version [Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989], 1437, n. 2). But we have seen several places where Paul appeals to the Hebrew Scriptures to establish this very point.
16 Ralph Earle, “2 Timothy,” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 1(ed. Frank. E. Gaebelein; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978), 415.
17 For example, Peter sees the establishment of the church on Pentecost as the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (Acts 2:16-21). James sees the inclusion of Gentiles in the church as having been anticipated by Amos (Acts 15:13-18). The author of Hebrews weaves texts from the Hebrew Scriptures throughout the letter to indicate that Christology and ecclesiology are rooted in the Old Testament.

• He was led as a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7).
• Back to school ….
• Introducing my second volume on Psalms to an adult Sunday school class.
• My mother, Agnes Segraves, would have been 100 years old today.
• Second volume of The Messiah in the Psalms is now available in Kindle format.
• Do you know the meaning of your name?
• What does a Calvinist say after falling down the stairs?
• A Wonderful Gift for Babies.
• Let Us Make Man [Revisited]
• My 115 year old Christmas gift.
• Update on Book Signing this Wednesday, December 3, 2025 at 10 a.m.
• Have Thine Own Way
• Book signing event coming up December 3, 2025
• Thanks for visiting my book signing event!
• Will I see you at 9:15 tonight?
• UPCI GENERAL CONFERENCE 2025
• New book available in both paperback and eBook formats.
• New book now available at pentecostalpublishing.com
• At last, Psalms volume 2 has arrived!
• All that Thrills My Soul
• Closer by the moment!
• Back to my roots.
• Nearing the finish line.
• The Hermeneutical Circle and Canonical-Compositional Hermeneutics
• It has taken me only about 2,555 days ….
• Your greatest power.
• The Role of Tongues in Praying in the Spirit
• How videos are produced at the UPCI headquarters.
• Is speaking in tongues the evidence or the sign of baptism with the Holy Spirit?
• Sixty years of ministry.
• How consumerism redefines our values.
• Jesus taught hermeneutics.
• Pneumatology at Urshan Graduate School of Theology
• Purpose Institute and Bible Project
• Israel and Paul’s great sorrow and continual grief.
• Goodbye World, Goodbye!
• The first purchase for our new home.
• Good News!
• With gratitude ….
• All done!
• Almost there ….
• A New Year and a New Era for Logos Bible Software
• Marching on …
• Psalm 92 and Old Age
• Here’s what has happened in recent weeks.
• Somewhere …
• A glance toward the future from a very old psalm: Psalm 90
• Does Psalm 89 include an internal contradiction?
• Psalm 88 … Is There Any Hope?
• Is Psalm 87 a Pentecostal psalm?
• Now, on to Psalm 87
• Celebrating our first date!
• At last, Psalm 85 is finished.
• Videos on YouTube
• The Christology of John: In the Beginning [video]
• The Christology of John: In the Beginning
• Interesting and little known information about the New King James Version.
• Checking out the $130,000 Shigeru Kaiwai.
• Daniel and Susan Segraves on the Nancy Grandquist Podcast
• A Surprising Discovery of a Blog Written by David K. Bernard and Something I Didn’t Know About Myself.
• Messiah in the Psalms, Lesson Three, Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places
• Messiah in the Psalms, Lesson Two, Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places
• Messiah in the Psalms: Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places, Lesson One
• Pentecost Sunday at The Sanctury UPC
• Tomorrow…Pentecost Sunday
• Urshan University
• Living a Holy Life
• Here’s a sign for you …
• Good news from Urshan Graduate School of Theology!
• Presentation at the Urshan Graduate School of Theology Symposium
• Morning Has Broken
• An Unusual Post
• Urshan Symposium of Apostolic Pentecostal Scholars
• Learning Biblical Aramaic
• Substantial Savings Until December 31, 2023
• Getting Up to Date on the Psalms Project
• Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem
• Hamas [חמס]
• Curriculum Vitae
• Letting Our Hair Down: Another Look at I Corinthians 11:2-16 [A]
• Another Look at I Corinthians 11:10: A Plea for Caution
• Upcoming Urshan Symposium of Apostolic Pentecostal Scholars
• First-Century Jewish Christology
• First-Century Jewish Christology
• First Century Jewish Christology
• First Century Jewish Christianity
• First Century Jewish Christology
• 15% discount on my books until July 14, 2023
• “The sick … shall recover” (Mark 16:18).
• The Arkansas District Camp Meeting is scheduled for July 11-14, 2023.
• Oneness Pentecostalism: Race, Gender, and Culture
• Bits and Pieces ….
• The Messiah in the Psalms
• Psalm 83 and the future of volumes 2 and 3 of The Messiah in the Psalms
• Psalm 82 and its 2389 words.
• Psalm 81 … it took a while, but now it’s finished!
• Finding the time to do the important thing.
• I will utter dark sayings of old (Psalm 78:2).
• Back to school ….
• No Respecter of Persons
• Writing well.
• Is Thy Heart Right With God?
• A visit to the seminary classroom via the Book of Proverbs
• The Ten Commandments
• We arrive in Orlando!
• Celebrating Our Ninth Anniversary!
• God Chose a Day of Rest
• “The New Birth,” Second Session, Purpose Institute
• Finally, the thesis.
• The Encyclopedia Britannica and Baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ
• The Pneumatology of the Minor Prophets
• “The New Birth” offered by Purpose Institute
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 13
• My Journey from Theory to Thesis
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 12
• Standing on Holy Ground …
• The joy of meeting old friends by surprise!
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 11
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 10
• Charity Gayle
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 9
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 8
• The Most Important Question: What Shall We Do?
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 7
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 6
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 5
• The Addiction of Sin: Lesson 4
• Sin as an Addiction: Lesson 3
• Sin as an Addiction: Lesson 2
• The Addiction of Sin
• Thoughts about the Use of the King James Version
• To Know the Son is to Know the Father
• The Use of the Hebrew Scriptures in the New Testament: An Introduction to Canonical-Compositional Hermeneutics
• What I’ve been doing in the writing ministry since 2017
• “I Bowed on My Knees and Cried Holy”
• Draw Me Nearer: A good theme for 2022
• The day I wore suspenders to school
• How has God directed your steps in the early days of 2022?
• Who will direct your steps in 2022?
• A Pentecostal Church in Chin State Burned Down by the Burmese Army | Persecution
• Education in Transition: From Judaism to Christianity
• My Seventy-Sixth Birthday: October 29, 2022
• Daily Wisdom 353: Proverbs 15:21
• Daily Wisdom 352: Proverbs 15:20
• Daily Wisdom 351: Proverbs 15:19
• Daily Wisdom 350: Proverbs 15:18
• Thanks for stopping by to check out my twenty-first book!
• Book Signing Today at the UPCI 2021 General Conference
• Daily Wisdom 349: Proverbs 15:17
• Daily Wisdom 348: Proverbs 15:16
• Book signing at 2021 UPCI general conference
• Daily Wisdom 347: Proverbs 15:15
• Daily Wisdom 346: Proverbs 15:14
• Daily Wisdom 345: Proverbs 15:13
• Our eighth anniversary!
• Daily Wisdom 344: Proverbs 15:12
• Daily Wisdom 343: Proverbs 15:11
• Daily Wisdom 342: Proverbs 15:10
• Daily Wisdom 341: Proverbs 15:8-9
• Daily Wisdom 340: Proverbs 15:7
• Daily Wisdom 339: Proverbs 15:6
• Daily Wisdom 338: Proverbs 15:5
• Daily Wisdom 337: Proverbs 15:4
• Daily Wisdom 336: Proverbs 15:3
• Daily Wisdom 335: Proverbs 15:2
• Daily Wisdom 334: Proverbs 15:1
• Invitation to participate in the Pentecostal Publishing House Blog
• Daily Wisdom 333: Proverbs 14:35
• Daily Wisdom 332: Proverbs 14:34
• Daily Wisdom 331: Proverbs 14:33
• Daily Wisdom 330: Proverbs 14:32
• Daily Wisdom 329: Proverbs 14:31
• Daily Wisdom 328: Proverbs 14:30
• Daily Wisdom 327: Proverbs 14:29
• Daily Wisdom 326: Proverbs 14:28
• Daily Wisdom 325: Proverbs 14:26-27
• Daily Wisdom 324: Proverbs 14:25
• Daily Wisdom 323: Proverbs 14:24
• Daily Wisdom 322: Proverbs 14:23
• Daily Wisdom 321: Proverbs 14:22
• A bit of insight on Acts 22:16
• Daily Wisdom 320: Proverbs 14:20-21
• Daily Wisdom 319: Proverbs 14:19
• Daily Wisdom 318: Proverbs 14:18
• Daily Wisdom 317: Proverbs 14:17
• Daily Wisdom 316: Proverbs 14:16
• Daily Wisdom 315: Proverbs 14:15
• Daily Wisdom 314: Proverbs 14:14
• Daily Wisdom 313: Proverbs 14:13
• Daily Wisdom 312: Proverbs 14:12
• Daily Wisdom 311: Proverbs 14:11
• Daily Wisdom 310: Proverbs 14:10
• Daily Wisdom 309: Proverbs 14:9
• Daily Wisdom 308: Proverbs 14:8
• Daily Wisdom 307: Proverbs 14:7
• Daily Wisdom 306: Proverbs 14:6
• Daily Wisdom 305: Proverbs 14:5
• A brief lesson on apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
• Daily Wisdom 304: Proverbs 14:4
• Daily Wisdom 303: Proverbs 14:3
• Daily Wisdom 302: Proverbs 14:2
• The Roots of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers in the Book of Psalms
• Follow-Up on Massachusetts-Rhode Island Summer Summit
• Session 3: Bible Lesson for Friday, July 15, 2021 Massachusetts – Rhode Island Summer Summit
• Session 2: Bible Lesson for Thursday, July 15, 2021 Massachusetts – Rhode Island Summer Summit
• Session 1: Bible Lesson for Wednesday, July 14, 2021 Massachusetts – Rhode Island Summer Summit
• An Invitation to Teach at the Upcoming Massachusetts – Rhode Island District Summer Summit
• Daily Wisdom 301: Proverbs 14:1
• The Day of Pentecost at Life Church
• Daily Wisdom 300: Proverbs 13:25
• Daily Wisdom 299: Proverbs 13:24
• Daily Wisdom 298: Proverbs 13:23
• Daily Wisdom 297: Proverbs 13:22
• Daily Wisdom 296: Proverbs 13:21
• Daily Wisdom 295: Proverbs 13:20
• Daily Wisdom 294: Proverbs 13:19
• Daily Wisdom 293: Proverbs 13:18
• Daily Wisdom 292: Proverbs 13:17
• Daily Wisdom 291: Proverbs 13:16
• Daily Wisdom 290: Proverbs 13:15
• Daily Wisdom 289: Proverbs 13:14
• Daily Wisdom 288: Proverbs 13:13
• Daily Wisdom 287: Proverbs 13:12
• Daily Wisdom 286: Proverbs 13:11
• Daily Wisdom 285: Proverbs 13:10
• Daily Wisdom 284: Proverbs 13:9
• Daily Wisdom 283: Proverbs 13:8
• Daily Wisdom 282: Proverbs 13:7
• Daily Wisdom 281: Proverbs 13:6
• Back to the classroom!
• Video: The Holy Spirit in Galatians 6
• The Holy Spirit in Galatians 6
• Daily Wisdom 280: Proverbs 13:5
• Daily Wisdom 279: Proverbs 13:4
• Daily Wisdom 278: Proverbs 13:3
• Video: The Holy Spirit in Galatians 5
• The Holy Spirit in Galatians 5-6
• Daily Wisdom 277: Proverbs 13:2
• Daily Wisdom 276: Proverbs 13:1
• Video: The Holy Spirit in Galatians 1-4
• The Holy Spirit in Galatians
• Video: The Holy Spirit in II Corinthians
• The Holy Spirit in II Corinthians
• Daily Wisdom 275: Proverbs 12:28
• Daily Wisdom 274: Proverbs 12:27
• Daily Wisdom 273: Proverbs 12:26
• Daily Wisdom 272: Proverbs 12:25
• Daily Wisdom 271: Proverbs 12:24
• Daily Wisdom 270: Proverbs 12:23
• Daily Wisdom 269: Proverbs 12:22
• Daily Wisdom 268: Proverbs 12:21
• Excellent and thought-provoking post by Dr. Robin Johnston
• Interesting comment on Acts 22:16
• Daily Wisdom 267: Proverbs 12:20
• Daily Wisdom 266: Proverbs 12:19
• Daily Wisdom 265: Proverbs 12:18
• Daily Wisdom 264: Proverbs 12:17
• Daily Wisdom 263: Proverbs 12:16
• Daily Wisdom 262: Proverbs 12:15
• A return to the classroom
• Daily Wisdom 261: Proverbs 12:14
• Daily Wisdom 260: Proverbs 12:13
• Daily Wisdom 259: Proverbs 12:12
• The Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 12-14
• The Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 12-14
• Daily Wisdom 258: Proverbs 12:11
• My students . . . my peers.
• Daily Wisdom 257: Proverbs 12:10
• A big discovery!
• Daily Wisdom 256: Proverbs 12:9
• Daily Wisdom 255: Proverbs 12:8
• The Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 2:1-5, 10-16; 3:16; 6:11, 19; 7:40; 12:1
• The Holy Spirit in I Corinthians 2:1-5, 10-16; 3:16; 6:11, 19; 7:40; 12:1
• Daily Wisdom 254: Proverbs 12:7
• Logos 9 Discount Ends February 1, 2021
• Daily Wisdom 253: Proverbs 12:6
• 777 views!
• Daily Wisdom 252: Proverbs 12:5
• The Holy Spirit in Romans 15:13, 16, 18-19, 30
• Daily Wisdom 251: Proverbs 12:4
• The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans 15:13, 16, 18-19, 30
• Daily Wisdom 250: Proverbs 12:3
• Daily Wisdom 249: Proverbs 12:2
• Daily Wisdom 248: Proverbs 12:1
• Daily Wisdom 247: Proverbs 11:31
• The Holy Spirit in Romans 8:26-27; 9:1; 14:17
• The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans 8:27; 9:1-3; 14:17; 15:13, 16, 18-19, 30
• Daily Wisdom 246: Proverbs 11:30
• Daily Wisdom 245: Proverbs 11:29
• Daily Wisdom 244: Proverbs 11:28
• The Holy Spirit in Romans 8:18-27
• The Holy Spirit in Romans 8:18-27
• Daily Wisdom 243: Proverbs 11:27
• Stories from my life: My call to preach the gospel
• Daily Wisdom 242: Proverbs 11:26
• Daily Wisdom 241: Proverbs 11:24-25
• Stories from my life
• Daily Wisdom 240: Proverbs 11:23
• Daily Wisdom 239: Proverbs 11:22
• Daily Wisdom 238: Proverbs 11:21
• 6041
• Special Christmas Post
• Daily Wisdom 237: Proverbs 11:20
• Daily Wisdom 236: Proverbs 11:19
• Daily Wisdom 235: Proverbs 11:18
• Daily Wisdom 234: Proverbs 11:17
• Daily Wisdom 233: Proverbs 11:16
• Daily Wisdom 232: Proverbs 11:15
• Daily Wisdom 231: Proverbs 11:14
• Daily Wisdom 230: Proverbs 11:13
• 12 Days of Logos
• Daily Wisdom 229: Proverbs 11:12
• Daily Wisdom 228: Proverbs 11:10-11
• Daily Wisdom 227: Proverbs 11:9
• Another PPH blog post about my new book,
• Daily Wisdom 226: Proverbs 11:8
• Daily Wisdom 225: Proverbs 11:7
• Daily Wisdom 224: Proverbs 11:6
• Daily Wisdom 223: Proverbs 11:5
• Daily Wisdom 222: Proverbs 11:4
• Daily Wisdom 221: Proverbs 11:3
• My take on “My Tribute (To God be the Glory)” by Andrae Crouch
• Daily Wisdom 220: Proverbs 11:2
• Apostolic Study Bible and Logos Bible Software
• PPH sale includes my new book “The Holy Spirit.”
• Daily Wisdom 219: Proverbs 11:1
• Daily Wisdom 218: Proverbs 10:32
• Daily Wisdom 217: Proverbs 10:31
• Daily Wisdom 216: Proverbs 10:30
• Daily Wisdom 215: Proverbs 10:29
• Daily Wisdom 214: Proverbs 10:28
• Thanks to the Pentecostal Publishing House!
• Daily Wisdom 213: Proverbs 10:27
• Daily Wisdom 212: Proverbs 10:26
• Daily Wisdom 211: Proverbs 10:25
• Daily Wisdom 210: Proverbs 10:24
• Daily Wisdom 209: Proverbs 10:23
• Daily Wisdom 208: Proverbs 10:22
• Daily Wisdom 207: Proverbs 10:21
• Daily Wisdom 206: Proverbs 10:20
• Daily Wisdom 205: Proverbs 10:19
• A blog dedicated to the Holy Spirit
• A Light in Darkness: Stories of Grief and Loss
• Daily Wisdom 204: Proverbs 10:18
• Daily Wisdom 203: Proverbs 10:17
• Daily Wisdom 202: Proverbs 10:16
• Daily Wisdom 201: Proverbs 10:15
• Daily Wisdom 200: Proverbs 10:14
• Logos Bible Software: The software I use for research and writing
• Stirred by God
• Daily Wisdom 199: Proverbs 10:13
• Daily Wisdom 198: Proverbs 10:12
• Daily Wisdom 197: Proverbs 10:11
• Daily Wisdom 196: Proverbs 10:10
• Daily Wisdom 195: Proverbs 10:9
• David K. Bernard reminds us of the importance of voting
• Daily Wisdom 194: Proverbs 10:8
• Daily Wisdom 193: Proverbs 10:7
• Daily Wisdom 192: Proverbs 10:6
• Daily Wisdom 191: Proverbs 10:5
• Daily Wisdom 190: Proverbs 10:4
• New Books Available from the Pentecostal Publishing House
• Daily Wisdom 189: Proverbs 10:3
• Daily Wisdom 188: Proverbs 10:2
• Daily Wisdom 187: Proverbs 10:1
• Daily Wisdom 186: Proverbs 10
• Daily Wisdom 185: Proverbs 9:18
• “Leave the Oxen and Run”
• Daily Wisdom 184: Proverbs 9:17
• Daily Wisdom 183: Proverbs 9:16
• “A Light in Darkness: Stories of Grief and Loss”
• Review of “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary” on Pentecostal Publishing Blog
• Daily Wisdom 182: Proverbs 9:15
• Daily Wisdom 181: Proverbs 9:14
• Our seventh wedding anniversary!
• Pentecostal Publishing House
• Daily Wisdom 180: Proverbs 9:13
• Daily Wisdom 179: Proverbs 9:12
• Daily Wisdom 178: Proverbs 9:11
• Daily Wisdom 177: Proverbs 9:10
• Daily Wisdom 176: Proverbs 9:9
• Amazon Best Sellers List!
• Direct link to Kindle download of “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• An easier way to view my interview with Kaleb Saucer
• Video interview on “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Daily Wisdom 174: Proverbs 9:7
• Daily Wisdom 173: Proverbs 9:3-6
• Preview “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Daily Wisdom 172: Proverbs 9:2
• Daily Wisdom 171: Proverbs 9:1
• Daily Wisdom 170: Proverbs 8:36
• “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary” now available from Amazon and Apple!
• Daily Wisdom 169: Proverbs 8:35
• Daily Wisdom 168: Proverbs 8:34
• Daily Wisdom 167: Proverbs 8:33
• Terry Baughman reviews “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary” is now available at pentecostalpublishing.com!
• Daily Wisdom 166: Proverbs 8:32
• Daily Wisdom 165: Proverbs 8:22-31
• Daily Wisdom 164: Proverbs 8:21
• How to buy my new book “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Daily Wisdom 163: Proverbs 8:20
• David K. Bernard comments on “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Daily Wisdom 162: Proverbs 8:19
• Daily Wisdom 161: Proverbs 8:18
• The book is in!
• Daily Wisdom 160: Proverbs 8:17
• Daily Wisdom 159: Proverbs 8:15-16
• Stan Gleason reviews “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Interview with Kaleb Saucer
• Daily Wisdom 158: Proverbs 8:14
• Daily Wisdom 157: Proverbs 8:13
• Daily Wisdom 156: Proverbs 8:12
• Daily Wisdom 155: Proverbs 8:11
• Daily Wisdom 154: Proverbs 8:10
• Daily Wisdom 153: Proverbs 8:9
• Daily Wisdom 152: Proverbs 8:8
• Daily Wisdom 151: Proverbs 8:7
• Good news on the new book project!
• Daily Wisdom 150: Proverbs 8:6
• Daily Wisdom 149: Proverbs 8:5
• Daily Wisdom 148: Proverbs 8:1-4
• Daily Wisdom 147: Proverbs 7:27
• Daily Wisdom 146: Proverbs 7:26
• Daily Wisdom 145: Proverbs 7:24-25
• Daily Wisdom 144: Proverbs 7:23
• Daily Wisdom 143: Proverbs 7:22
• Daily Wisdom 142: Proverbs 7:21
• Daily Wisdom 141: Proverbs 7:19-20
• Daily Wisdom 140: Proverbs 7:16-18
• Daily Wisdom 138: Proverbs 7:15
• Daily Wisdom 138: Proverbs 7:14
• Daily Wisdom 137: Proverbs 7:13
• Daily Wisdom 136: Proverbs 7:11-12
• Daily Wisdom 135: Proverbs 7:10
• Daily Wisdom 134: Proverbs 7:9
• Daily Wisdom 133: Proverbs 7:8
• Daily Wisdom 132: Proverbs 7:6-7
• Daily Wisdom 131: Proverbs 7:5
• Daily Wisdom 130: Proverbs 7:4
• Hope Anchors the Soul
• Daily Wisdom 129: Proverbs 7:3
• Daily Wisdom 128: Proverbs 7:1-2
• Daily Wisdom 127: Proverbs 6:34-35
• Daily Wisdom 126: Proverbs 6:33
• Daily Wisdom 125: Proverbs 6:32
• Daily Wisdom 124: Proverbs 6:30-31
• Daily Wisdom 123: Proverbs 6:27-29
• Daily Wisdom 122: Proverbs 6:26
• Daily Wisdom 121: Proverbs 6:25
• Daily Wisdom 120: Proverbs 6:24
• Daily Wisdom 119: Proverbs 6:23
• Daily Wisdom 118: Proverbs 6:22
• Daily Wisdom 117: Proverbs 6:21
• Daily Wisdom 116: Proverbs 6:20
• Daily Wisdom 115: Proverbs 6:19
• Daily Wisdom 114: Proverbs 6:18
• Daily Wisdom 113: Proverbs 6:17
• Daily Wisdom 112: Proverbs 6:16-19
• Seven years ago today . . .
• Daily Wisdom 111: Proverbs 6:14-15
• Daily Wisdom 110: Proverbs 6:13
• Daily Wisdom 109: Proverbs 6:12
• Congratulations to Urshan College and Urshan Graduate School of Theology!
• Daily Wisdom 108: Proverbs 6:10-11
• Daily Wisdom 107: Proverbs 6:9
• Daily Wisdom 106: Proverbs 6:8
• Daily Wisdom 105: Proverbs 6:7
• Daily Wisdom 104: Proverbs 6:6
• Daily Wisdom 103: Proverbs 6:1-5
• Daily Wisdom 102: Proverbs 5:23
• Daily Wisdom 101: Proverbs 5:22
• Daily Wisdom 100: Proverbs 5:21
• Two statements concerning the deity of Jesus in Acts 16
• Daily Wisdom 99: Proverbs 5:20
• God put a rainbow in the sky🎶
• Daily Wisdom 98: Proverbs 5:19
• Daily Wisdom 97: Proverbs 5:18
• Daily Wisdom 96: Proverbs 5:16-17
• Daily Wisdom 95: Proverbs 5:15
• Daily Wisdom 94: Proverbs 5:12-14
• Daily Wisdom 93: Proverbs 5:9-11
• Daily Wisdom 92: Proverbs 5:6-8
• Daily Wisdom 91: Proverbs 5:5
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 30
• Daily Wisdom 90: Proverbs 5:4
• Daily Wisdom 89: Proverbs 5:3
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 29
• Daily Wisdom 88: Proverbs 5:2
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 28
• Daily Wisdom 87: Proverbs 5:1
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 27
• Daily Wisdom 86: Proverbs 4:27
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 26
• Daily Wisdom 85: Proverbs 4:26
• Daily Wisdom 84: Proverbs 4:25
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 25
• Daily Wisdom 83: Proverbs 4:24
• If God Loves Me, Why Am I Hurting? 24
• Daily Wisdom 82: Proverbs 4:23
• Daily Wisdom 81: Proverbs 4:22
• Daily Wisdom 80: Proverbs 4:21
• Daily Wisdom 79: Proverbs 4:20
• Daily Wisdom 78: Proverbs 4:19
• Daily Wisdom 77: Proverbs 4:17-18
• Daily Wisdom 76: Proverbs 4:16
• Daily Wisdom 75: Proverbs 4:15
• Daily Wisdom 74: Proverbs 4:14
• Daily Wisdom 73: Proverbs 4:13
• Daily Wisdom 72: Proverbs 4:12
• Daily Wisdom 71: Proverbs 4:11
• Daily Wisdom 70: Proverbs 4:10
• Daily Wisdom 69: Proverbs 4:9
• Daily Wisdom 68: Proverbs 4:8
• Daily Wisdom 67: Proverbs 4:7
• Spirit filled voices … Spirit inspired words!
• Spirit filled voices … Spirit inspired words
• Daily Wisdom 66: Proverbs 4:6
• Daily Wisdom 65: Proverbs 4:4-5
• Daily Wisdom 64: Proverbs 4:3
• Daily Wisdom 63: Proverbs 4:1-2
• Update on “The Holy Spirit: A Commentary”
• Daily Wisdom 62: Proverbs 3:35
• Daily Wisdom 61: Proverbs 3:34
• Daily Wisdom 60: Proverbs 3:33
• Daily Wisdom 59: Proverbs 3:32
• Daily Wisdom 58: Proverbs 3:31
• Daily Wisdom 57: Proverbs 3:30
• Daily Wisdom 56: Proverbs 3:29
• Daily Wisdom 55: Proverbs 3:28
• Daily Wisdom 54: Proverbs 3:27
• Daily Wisdom 53: Proverbs 3:21-26
• Daily Wisdom 52: Proverbs 3:20
• Daily Wisdom 51: Proverbs 3:19
• Daily Wisdom 50: Proverbs 3:18
• Daily Wisdom 49: Proverbs 3:17
• Writing Update
• Daily Wisdom 48: Proverbs 3:15-16
• Daily Wisdom 47: Proverbs 3:14
• Daily Wisdom 46: Proverbs 3:13
• Daily Wisdom 45: Proverbs 3:11-12
• Daily Wisdom 44: Proverbs 3:9-10
• Daily Wisdom 43: Proverbs 3:8
• Daily Wisdom 42: Proverbs 3:7
• Daily Wisdom 41: Proverbs 3:6
• Daily Wisdom 40: Proverbs 3:5
• Daily Wisdom 39: Proverbs 3:4
• Daily Wisdom 38: Proverbs 3:3
• Daily Wisdom 37: Proverbs 3:2
• Daily Wisdom 36: Proverbs 3:1
• Daily Wisdom 35: Proverbs 2:20-22
• Daily Wisdom 34: Proverbs 2:18-19
• Daily Wisdom 33: Proverbs 2:17
• Daily Wisdom 32: Proverbs 2:15-16
• Daily Wisdom 31: Proverbs 2:14
• Daily Wisdom 30: Proverbs 2:13
• Daily Wisdom 29: Proverbs 2:12
• Daily Wisdom 28: Proverbs 2:11
• Daily Wisdom 27: Proverbs 2:10-22
• Daily Wisdom 26: Proverbs 2:9
• Daily Wisdom 25: Proverbs 2:8
• Daily Wisdom 24: Proverbs 2:7
• Daily Wisdom 23: Proverbs 2:6
• Daily Wisdom 22: Proverbs 2:1-5
• Wisdom 21
• Wisdom 20
• Wisdom 19
• Wisdom 18
• Wisdom 17 [and a brief excerpt from my upcoming volume on the Holy Spirit].
• Daily Wisdom 15
• Wisdom 16
• Daily Wisdom 14
• Daily Wisdom 13
• Daily Wisdom 12
• A good idea for use when socially distanced.
• Helpful information.
• Daily Wisdom 11
• Daily Wisdom 10
• His Eye is on the Sparrow
• Daily Wisdom 9
• Daily Wisdom 8
• Daily Wisdom 7
• Daily Wisdom 6
• Daily Wisdom 5
• Daily Wisdom 4
• Daily Wisdom 3
• Daily Wisdom 2
• Daily Wisdom 1
• Devotion 23: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 22: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 21: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 20: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 19: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 18: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 17: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Good News from the Pentecostal Publishing House
• Devotion 16: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 15: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 14: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 13: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 12: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 11: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 10: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 9: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 8: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 7: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 6: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 5: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 4: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 3: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 2: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Devotion 1: If God loves me, why am I hurting?
• Should we write in our Bibles?
• A tree of ice.
• “As the deer pants for the water brooks …” (Psalm 42:1).
• Today we awaken to this …
• A book rediscovered.
• A “Watch Night Service” Memory
• A New Year’s Resolution
• My response to a critique of my article “Marriage without a Helpmate?”
• A bit of time in Branson…
• A small family reunion …
• The Grand Finale
• You already know some Hebrew
• Hope for the Last Days
• Catching up on writing assignments
• There’s Something About That Name
• Seventy-three years ago today …
• Answering questions from a member of the Church of Christ
• Oneness insight on Colossians 2:2-3
• I awaken to the beginning…
• From Atlantic City to Indianapolis: Two UPCI General Conference Messages
• Our trip to Jonesboro, Arkansas.
• Retired … but still working?
• Video: The Holy Spirit in Romans, Lesson 3
• The Holy Spirit in Romans, Lesson 3
• Video: The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans, Lesson 2
• The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans, Second Lesson
• Video: The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans, First Lesson
• The Holy Spirit in the Book of Romans
• Video: More about the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts
• North American Youth Congress 2019
• More about the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts
• Our study of the Holy Spirit continues …
• Video: The Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts
• The Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts: Study Guide
• Video: Looking Ahead to Pentecost
• Looking Ahead to Pentecost: Study Guide
• Video: The Holy Spirit in the New Testament before Pentecost
• The Holy Spirit in the Lives of People before the Day of Pentecost
• Video: An Introduction to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament
• An Introduction to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament: Study Guide
• The Holy Spirit in the New Testament
• A little bit of Hammond organ and Leslie speaker
• Making it easier to find my books.
• Video: The Book of Daniel, Second Lesson
• Video: The Book of Daniel, First Lesson
• Last Things
• The Book of Daniel
• First highlight … first note.
• Sandwiched in, but safe.
• Tickets for Gaither Family Fest 2019 – 3 Day Ticket, May 24, 25, 26
• One of my greatest regrets.
• Video: An Hour on Spiritual Gifts with the Hyphens
• Video: Susan Segraves shares her story.
• Talking with the Hyphens
• A Parable about Gifts
• A video with a few words about spiritual gifts.
• The Seven Motivators
• What? No regalia?
• A first time for everything …
• Holy Spirit manuscript finished.
• No More Questions. Video.
• No More Questions. PowerPoint Easter 2019
• No More Questions.
• From the Day of Pentecost Onward
• A chapter finished, another to begin.
• An important component of writing.
• An arm lost . . . a dream fulfilled.
• Goodbye, Howdershell. Hello, Wentzville.
• Yahweh, Jehovah, and Jesus
• A tender conscience
• Redesigned website.
• Terry Gunn plays “ Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”
• More on Psalm 110:1 and baptism
• Psalm 110:1 and Acts 2:38
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 12B Video
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 12A Video
• Daniel Segraves’ update on The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic View on Pneumatology
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 12
• The Messiah in the Psalms and Second Peter and Jude now available as ebook downloads from Amazon, iBook and PPH
• Oneness Pentecostalism and Dispensationalism
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 11 Video
• My daily prayers …
• Bringing back memories …
• A word from Daniel Segraves
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 11
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 10 Video
• Progress on “The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology”
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 10
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 9 Video
• Now available in the Spanish language …
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 9
• Another word on Jephthah and his daughter
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 8 Video
• Two new books now available as iBook downloads
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 8
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 7 Video
• The first snowman of our married lives.
• Two new books available on Amazon Kindle!
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 7
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 6 Video
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 6
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 5 Video
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 5
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 4 Video
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 4
• A delightful conversation with Bishop Billy McCool
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 3 Video
• A Spectacular Night Time View of the Eiffel Tower During Our Visit to France in August 2018.
• Daniel Segraves plays “Is Your All on the Altar?”
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 3
• Daniel Segraves plays “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”
• Daniel Segraves Plays “Silent Night.”
• Daniel Segraves at the Piano
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 2 Video
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 2
• The Holy Spirit, Lesson 1 Video
• The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology, Lesson 1
• Another new lesson submitted: Hope for the Last Days: As in the days
• New Lesson Submitted: In Like Manner
• Changes in teaching videos and updates on coming lessons
• The Spirit of the Lord in the Minor Prophets Video
• The Spirit of the Lord in the Minor Prophets
• A discovery from 30 years ago
• Logos Bible Software … I like it!
• Congratulations to the Urshan System
• I thank God for sparing my life.
• A word of wisdom from one doctor to another
• No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus
• Logos Bible Software 8
• “My Spirit” in the Book of the Twelve: Apostolic Pneumatology
• “My Spirit” in Isaiah and Ezekiel: Apostolic Pneumatology
• The Spirit of the LORD in Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Micah: Apostolic Pneumatology
• The Spirit of the LORD in Isaiah: Apostolic Pneumatology
• The Spirit of the LORD in I and II Kings: Apostolic Pneumatology
• The Spirit comes and goes in Samuel: Apostolic Pneumatology
• The Spirit of the LORD in Judges: Apostolic Pneumatology
• A surprising discovery in Joshua: Apostolic Pneumatology
• Anticipation of Pentecost in Numbers: Apostolic Pneumatology
• Balaam, his donkey, and Apostolic pneumatology
• A decision on the Apostolic pneumatology project
• Today’s report on the Apostolic pneumatology project.
• At work on “The Holy Spirit: An Apostolic Perspective on Pneumatology.”
• The Miracle of the Bierschenk Girls
• Five years of wedded bliss!
• A general conference memory
• Also at this general conference
• New at this general conference: Andrew D. Urshan: A Theological Biography
• A new book idea . . .
• An Amazing Story of Redemption
• Another Look at “Delivering Up the Kingdom”
• Bishop Timothy Dugas
• Aboard Air France
• Our last breakfast in France
• A rainy day in Paris . . .
• Our last day in Paris
• Strolling around Paris . . .
• Our Visit to France
• Andrew David Urshan Memorial
• Andrew David Urshan Memorial
• Matthew 28:19 and Granville Sharp’s Sixth Rule
• The Living Word
• Thoughts on John 17:5
• New Birth: Purpose Institute
• Let Us Make Man
• This is That: An Examination of Peter’s Use of Joel from the Perspective of Canonical-Compositional Hermeneutics
• Apostolic Hermeneutics: Things Hard to be Understood
• A Further Response to Calvin Beisner
• A Response to Calvin Beisner’s Explanation of Acts 2:38
• Predestination?
• Binding and Loosing
• Speaking in Tongues: Evidence or Sign?
• The Bible of the New Testament Church
• My Father, the Poet
• The First Day of Retirement
• Fourth lesson in a series of four
• Third Lesson in a Series of Four
• Writing UPCI Literature
• Whatever Happened to Gifts of Language, Prophecy, and Healing? | Christianity Today
• Romans 14
• Romans 13
• Romans 12
• Romans 6:1-19
• Romans 4 and 5
• Romans 3; 4:1-8
• Romans 2
• Romans 1:16-32
• How to Locate My Books on Romans
• Romans 1:1-17
• Another exploration of the book of Romans
• Andrew D. Urshan: A Theological Biography Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 12 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 12
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 10 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 11 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 11
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 10
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 9 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms 9 PowerPoint Handout
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 9
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 8 Video
• Looking Forward Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 8
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 7 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 7
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 6 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 6
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 5 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 5
• Book signing tonight! I will be at the PPH display tonight at 6 pm to sign copies of my new book, Looking Forward: A Clear View of Biblical Prophecy. See you there!
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 4 Video
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 4
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 4 PowerPoint Slides
• The Messiah in the Psalms Lesson 3
• The Messiah in the Psalms Video 3
• The Messiah in the Psalms Video 2
• The Messiah in the Psalms 2
• Looking Forward Now Available on 3 apps: iBook, Kindle, Nook, and other news
• Looking Forward available as an iBook and on Nook as well as Kindle
• New Book: Looking Forward
• The Messiah in the Psalms Video 1
• The Messiah in the Psalms
• How to buy books I have written.
• Andrew D. Urshan: A Theological Biography
• Sabbatical Begins Today
• Reflections on More than Thirty-Five Years of Teaching
• Three Things to Know Today … and to Remember Every Day to Come!
• Down from His Glory
• Divine Flesh Video
• Proverbs 24:12[3]
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 10 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 10
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 9 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 9
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 8 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 8
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 7 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 7
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 6 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 6 Study Guide
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 5 Video
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places, Lesson 5
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Video 4
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 4
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Video 3
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Lesson 3
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Video 2
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places 2
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places Video 1
• Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places, Lesson 1
• Proverbs Lesson 11 video
• Proverbs Lesson 10 Video
• Proverbs Lesson 11
• Proverbs Lesson 10
• Proverbs Lesson 9 Video
• Proverbs Lesson 9
• Proverbs Lesson 8
• Proverbs Lesson 8
• Proverbs Lesson 7 Video
• Proverbs Lesson 7
• Proverbs Lesson 6 video
• Proverbs Lesson 5 Video
• Proverbs Lesson 6
• Proverbs Lesson 5
• Proverbs Lesson 4
• Proverbs Lesson 3
• Proverbs Lesson 2
• Proverbs Lesson 1
• Back to Blogging!