| Isa 32:15 | until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high [LXX: ἕως ἂν ἐπέλθῃ ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς πνεῦμα ἀφʼ ὑψηλοῦ], and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. | Acts 1:8 | But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you [ἐπελθόντος τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς], |
| Isa 43:10-12 | “You are my witnesses,” [LXX: γένεσθέ μοι μάρτυρες,] declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God. | Acts 1:8 | and you will be my witnesses [καὶ ἔσεσθέ μου μάρτυρες] in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” |
| Isaiah 44:8 | Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses [LXX: μάρτυρες ὑμεῖς ἐστε]! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.” | Acts 1:8 | and you will be my witnesses [καὶ ἔσεσθέ μου μάρτυρες] in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” |
| Isa 49:6 | he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth [ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς].” | Acts 1:8 | and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth [καὶ ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς].” |
Parallels taken from Connecting Scripture New Testament, 214.
In the notes to the Connecting Scripture New Testament, Dennis Johnson, whose work on Acts (especially his The Message of Acts) I generally appreciate, says that by quoting these passages Jesus “corrected the apostle’s conception of the kingdom’s power and extent” and their “myopic focus on restoration for Israel.” If by this Johnson means that Jesus expanded their view of the restoration to include Gentiles, there is no argument. But if Johnson is indicating that Jesus was in some way denying a restoration for Israel, then I think he has erred in his understanding of Jesus’s use of the Old Testament here. In looking at the context of these Isaiah passages it becomes clear that Jesus was affirming the restoration of the kingdom for Israel and linking it Israel’s witness-bearing role to the nations.
In response to the apostle’s question, Jesus reiterated the coming of the Spirit: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” This wording aligns with the Greek translation of Isaiah 32:15. In that chapter the pouring out of the Spirit is connected to a king who would reign over Israel with justice, to a desolate land that is restored to fruitfulness, and to a people who live in peace. By evoking this passage, Jesus was reaffirming the restoration of Israel’s kingdom. But he also indicated that there will be some time between the pouring out of the Spirit and that restoration.
Jesus went on to say, “and you shall be my witnesses.” This statement alludes to Isaiah 43:10, 12. In this passage Yhwh gathers the nations and the peoples to present witnesses to their gods’ ability to exercise omniscient sovereignty as Yhwh does. The nations can produce no witnesses. Of Israel, however, Yhwh says, “You are my witnesses.” They are witnesses that Yhwh is the only God and that he is the only Savior. Here it is important to note that the apostles were all Jewish and that they were a band of twelve men (the end of Acts 1 makes a point of bringing the complement of the Apostles back to twelve). Though Acts records that many Jews rejected the Gospel, Acts also records Israel bearing witness to the Gentiles of the true God and savior.
In the remainder of Isaiah 43 God speaks of the coming Babylonian exile and of Israels redemption and return. Then in chapter 44 God speaks of pouring out his Spirit on Jacob his servant, that is on the nation of Israel. The result is that Israel will witness that there is no god besides Yhwh.
By alluding to these passages Jesus was affirming, not denying, that the kingdom would be restored to Israel. But he was also instructing the disciples that the restoration of the kingdom to Israel will happen in conjunction with Israel’s witness-bearing to the nations. God’s election of Israel was never (going all the way back to Genesis 12) for Israel’s own sake but always for the sake of God’s saving work among all peoples.
Jesus drove this point home by alluding to the Servant song in Isaiah 49.
And now, says the LORD, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him; for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and my God is my strength— he says, “It is not enough for you to be my servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.” [Isa 49:5–6,CSB]
Note that the restoration of Israel is a key part of this Servant song: “to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him.” But note also that Servant will not save Israel alone; he will be “[Yhwh’s] salvation to the ends of the earth.”
The apostles wondered if the soon pouring out of the Spirit meant the soon restoration of the kingdom to Israel. These allusions in Jesus’s answer affirms the that the kingdom will be restored to Israel, but it directs the apostles to the prior task of bearing witness to all peoples that Jesus is the only true God and Savior.
Leave a Reply