Whenever a crowd gathers in Acts, a believer takes the opportunity of preaching to it. Here is Peter, who a little earlier had denied Christ, now fearlessly and preaching the gospel with crystal clarity. The day of Pentecost is the day in the church calendar when many churches would preach on the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit is not the focus of Peter’s address, rather, Jesus is. Peter speaks only of the Spirit in relation to Jesus.
Pentecost (meaning “fifty”) was one of the three great festivals of Judaism, known as the Festival of Weeks in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 16:9–12). It was celebrated 50 days after the beginning of barley harvest, a time to give thanks to God for the completion of the harvest. Later, it came to commemorate the giving of the law to Moses at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1). The festival was all about fulfilment, completion, and finality. It is most fitting then that the Holy Spirit should be poured out on the church at this festival. His coming is the evidence that Christ has risen and ascended to God’s right hand; His work is now complete.
With the final separation of Jesus from His disciples, now numbering 120 (Acts 1:15), one would have expected gloom to set in. But no, we find the Christians going about their business. They return to Jerusalem where Jesus told them they were to wait for the gift of God (Acts 1:4) and they set themselves to pray earnestly (v. 14).
The opening two verses connect the reader to Luke 1:1–4, and just as in Luke, they are addressed to Theophilus. Acts takes up where the gospel of Luke left off, that is, with the resurrection of Jesus.
Luke is the author of both the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles. Today’s verses provide the bridge between the two volumes.
I want to conclude this book on Proverbs, a remarkable book of wisdom, with a warning. Let’s take a deeper look at Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel who wrote most of Proverbs.
In this portrait of a remarkable woman, Proverbs 31:30 provides the key to her noble character and activities: all she does flows out from who she is-″a woman who fears the Lord″. Charm can be a covering and outer beauty can come and go; for this woman, however, no matter her age or mood, reverence for God will be the persistent, lifelong motivating factor in life.
The book of Proverbs concludes with this beautifully constructed acrostic poem, in which each verse begins with the succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
This final section of Proverbs is attributed to King Lemuel. We don’t know much about who Lemuel was and where he reigned. Lemuel, which means ″belonging to God″, is mentioned only once in the Bible, though some scholars believe it was a pen name for another king, possibly Solomon or Hezekiah.