¹⁹“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; ²⁰and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, ²¹whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. ²²Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. ²³And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.”

The covenant people of Israel are clearly in focus as Peter continues his second recorded sermon, shortly after the ascension of Christ. Combining both messages, we have the first commentaries on the event of the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. And repentance was the proper application, because Israel needed to correct her sin of rejecting God, as it was manifestly demonstrated in the crucifixion of God’s Messiah, “the Christ appointed for you.” Ignoring all their hypocritical show of religious activity and vacuous piety, Peter calls them to “return” to God. This would either incite to angry belligerence those heavily invested in the decadent religious façade (as we shall see shortly) or bring abject and humble confession of sin and repentance (evidenced by the church’s continued growth).

The return of Israel to genuine faith in God is the point of Peter’s message; that is clear from Peter’s reference to the ascension of Christ, “whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of things,” about which the prophets spoke. This is understood to include the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that God would bless all people through the descendants of the patriarch (see Gen. 12:1–3). That, according to the prophets, will require the descendants of Abraham, namely the people of Israel, to return from their sinning ways. Peter is speaking to all Israel about that restoration.

Peter is making the offer right now: if Israel as a nation would repent and return to the Lord, the “times of refreshing” would come, the “period of restoration” would take place. As we shall see, Israel as a nation refuses, and therefore, the times and events that Joel wrote about would be placed on hold.

Whether Israel as a nation turns to God or not, “every soul” is responsible for his or her own response (vs. 23). This principle has been preached by “all the prophets,” corporate as well as individual responsibility. While Israel en masse will reject their God, many individuals will accept and believe.

Father, I have accepted and believed the message of Jesus Christ whom You sent.