“Repent you therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ who has been appointed for you, even Jesus, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, of which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets that have been from of old.”
Now comes the familiar call to repent. They must have a change of heart and mind. They must ‘turn again', turning to God's way and to the Saviour from sin, turning from sin and from their own way (Isaiah 53:6). They must seek the prince of life. They must respond to Jesus the Messiah. Such repentance and faith are parallel ideas.
Then their sins will be blotted out (Psalms 51:1; Psalms 51:9; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 44:2). And then will come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, followed by the coming again of Messiah Himself Whom the heavens have necessarily received until the times of the restoration of all things, that time of restoration spoken of by His holy prophets from ancient times. As a result of faith in His Name they will be made whole (Acts 3:16).
We should note that repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin. The person whose faith in God is opened up and made real cannot but repent. When a person becomes aware of God they can do no other than ‘repent', changing their hearts and minds and wills about sin and about God. Job was evidence of this. He said. ‘I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you, wherefore I hate myself and I repent in dust and ashes' (Job 42:5-6). He did not try or struggle to repent. He saw God and he had no choice. The same was true of Isaiah in Isaiah 6:1-7. He too saw God and had no choice but to repent. Indeed every man who by faith sees Him will be driven to repentance, that is why Peter has made Him known. Once these men became aware of God as He is, and Jesus Christ as he is, repentance will be the inevitable result. Peter was trusting God that this would be true here as it had been for Job and Isaiah. All he could do was present and interpret the facts, and face them up to Jesus. Then he looked for God to work on his hearers hearts and make them know the truth about Himself and about Him. His call was therefore that on recognising that truth they would respond. Repentance is simply faith responding. Becoming aware of God and believing, they are to turn to God from their sins, yielding to His Kingly Rule and walking in His ways.
Note here the mention of ‘times and seasons' which they can know about (contrast Acts 1:7). The first is the ‘seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord'. This speaks of all the good things that can be known by experiencing His indwelling presence and blessing. The Apostles had known them from when they first knew the Lord. They had experienced them anew through Pentecost. The woman of Samaria had know them from when she had first believed (John 4). The whole church from when it was first indwelt and made one at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). They could be known by Peter's hearers once they repented and their sins were blotted out. For they were there in the presence and work of the Holy Spirit.
The word for ‘refreshing' (anapsukseows) means to ‘revive, refresh'. This spiritual refreshing was symbolised in the prophets by the picture of rain pouring down and bringing life and fruitfulness and of rivers of lifegiving water (e.g. Isaiah 32:1-4; Isaiah 32:15-18; Isaiah 44:1-5; Isaiah 55:10-13; Ezekiel 36:25-26; Ezekiel 47:1-12; Psalms 36:8; Psalms 46:4). It was symbolised in terms of receiving a refreshing drink in the hottest and dryest of conditions (Isaiah 55:1-3). It was symbolised by the shadow of a great rock in a hot and weary land (Isaiah 32:1-4). It was a picture used by Jesus Himself when offering spiritual life (John 3:5-6; John 4:10-14; John 7:37-39). It is the result of the ‘washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit' (Titus 3:5).
The basic idea is found in Exodus 8:15 where Pharaoh saw that there was a ‘respite' (anapsuksis), a breathing space, from the plague of frogs. In Exodus 23:12 the verb is used of the resident alien being ‘refreshed' on the Sabbath. In 1 Samuel 16:23 Saul was ‘refreshed' at the playing of David's harp so that the evil spirit left him for a while. In Psalms 39:13 the Psalmist prays that he may ‘recover strength, be refreshed' before he goes hence to be no more. Note the contrast of this last with these new ‘seasons of refreshing which will result in the ‘times of the restoration of all things'.
These ‘seasons of refreshing' will be followed by the ‘times of the restoration of all things'. This will be the times when all is put right, when Eden will be restored (Isaiah 11:4-9; Isaiah 33:21; Revelation 22:1-5), when there will be a new heaven and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 66:22-24; Revelation 21:1-7), when the everlasting kingdom will be established. This everlasting kingdom was portrayed in earthly terms in Isaiah 11:1-9; Ezekiel 37:21-28; Zechariah 14:16-21 because any others would not have been understood. But we must read not the outward shell, but the inner heart. The New Testament knows of only one kingdom, the everlasting kingdom.
For the use of the verb ‘to restore, turn again' on which the noun ‘restoration' is based, in places in the Old Testament which relate to the restoration see Jeremiah 16:15; Jeremiah 24:6; Jeremiah 50:19; Ezekiel 16:55; Hosea 11:11.
Then will come again their appointed Messiah. He will come in blessing if they have become His people, and in judgment on all who have rejected Him, just as the prophets have declared. First the seasons of refreshing, and then the times of restoration. Those who benefit from the one will enjoy the other.
Some see the ‘seasons of refreshing' as being synonymous with ‘the times of the restoration of all things', but the whole point of Peter's message is that what Christ has brought through His Holy Spirit is available now. The Kingly Rule of God is already here. We can enjoy eternal life (the life of the age to come) now, and then later in its fullness (John 5:24-29). We can come under His Kingly Rule now, and enjoy it in its fullness in eternity. We can have refreshing now, and full restoration later.
‘His holy prophets that have been from of old.' Compare Luke 1:70.