Old Men Will Dream Dreams

Peter had the crowd's attention, and he wasn't about to let go. "Do not dismiss what you see here. It is the fulfillment of everything God has promised. The prophet Joel ((Acts 2:16,  Joel 2:28-32)) spoke of these 'last days', and gave you a sign that you would see God's spirit poured on everyone, man and woman, young and old, slave and free. That is what you are seeing today!"

The shock reverberated through the crowd. Every man and woman in the crowd knew that the day of the Lord was coming, and with it the Messiah. They knew the prophecies that had been given. They had meditated on these scriptures, prayed for their fulfillment, and yet in some sense they had never really imagined it. It was a great event, beyond what the human mind could grasp. To run into it on an ordinary day, while life went on as normal around them, seemed absurd.

At the same time, they didn't want to miss out on God's rescue ((Acts 2:21)). They had waited in captivity for nearly five hundred years, with eager expectation. If there was the slightest chance that these men and women had information about how they could be freed, they had to hear it.