Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 2:19

"And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:" — Acts 2:19 (ASV)

Verses 19-20. I will show wonders. Literally, "I will give signs" (Greek: dwsw terata). The word in Hebrew, mophethim, properly means prodigies: wonderful occurrences, miracles worked by God or His messengers (Exodus 4:21; Exodus 7:3, 9; Exodus 11:9; Deuteronomy 4:34, etc.). It is the common word to denote a miracle in the Old Testament. Here, however, it means a portentous appearance, a prodigy, a remarkable occurrence. It is commonly joined in the New Testament with the word signs, as in "signs and wonders" (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22; John 4:48).

In these places, it does not necessarily mean miracles, but unusual and remarkable appearances. Here, its meaning is fixed to great and striking changes in the sky, the sun, moon, etc. The Hebrew text is, I will give signs in the heaven, and upon the earth. Peter has quoted it according to the sense, and not according to the letter. The Septuagint here is a literal translation of the Hebrew, and this is one of the instances where the New Testament writers did not quote from either.

Much of the difficulty in interpreting these verses consists in fixing the proper meaning of the expression, "that great and notable day of the Lord." If it is limited to the day of Pentecost, it is certain that no such events occurred at that time. However, it is believed there is no propriety in confining it to that time.

The description here pertains to "the last days" (Acts 2:17), that is, to the whole of that period, however long, which was known by the prophets as the last times. That period might extend through many centuries, and during that period all these events would take place.

The day of the Lord is the day when God will manifest Himself in a unique manner; a day when He will be so strikingly seen in His wonders and His judgments that it may be called His day. Thus it is applied to the day of judgment, as the day of the Son of Man; the day in which He will be the great attractive object and will be signally glorified (Luke 17:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; Philippians 1:6; 2 Peter 3:12).

If, as I suppose, "that notable day of the Lord" here denotes that future time when God will manifest Himself in judgment, then we are not to suppose that Peter meant to say that these "wonders" would take place on the day of Pentecost, or had their fulfillment then; but would occur during that indefinite period called "the last days," the days of the Messiah, and BEFORE that period was closed by the great day of the Lord.

The gift of tongues was a partial fulfillment of the general prophecy pertaining to those times. And as the prophecy was thus partially fulfilled, it was a pledge that it would be entirely fulfilled; and thus a foundation was laid for the necessity of repentance and for calling on the Lord in order to be saved.

Blood. Blood is commonly used as an emblem of slaughter or of battle.

Fire. Fire is also an image of war, or the conflagration of towns and dwellings in time of war.

Vapour of smoke. The word vapour (Greek: atmiv) commonly means an exhalation from the earth, etc., easily moved from one place to another. Here, however (in the Hebrew of Joel), it means rising columns, or pillars of smoke. This is another image of the calamities of war: the smoke rising from burning towns.

It has almost always been customary in war to burn the towns of an enemy and to render him as helpless as possible. Hence, the calamities denoted here are those represented by such scenes. To what particular scenes there is reference here, it may now be impossible to say.

It may be remarked, however, that scenes of this kind occurred before the destruction of Jerusalem, and there is a striking resemblance between the description in Joel and that by which our Savior foretells the destruction of Jerusalem. (See Barnes on Matthew 24:21-24).