The Role of Visions in Acts
Introduction
The critical text from Acts for this paper is Acts 2:14-18. The focus will be on the relationship of visions to the outpouring of the Spirit on all people. In the book of Acts, God used visions to facilitate the Spirit’s mission. Since Acts 2:17 makes dreams and visions part of the Spirit's work, it is important to look at the part that visions played in the book of Acts. By examining the texts in the book of Acts, one will see the interaction between the visions and evangelism. Therefore, the primary role of visions in the book of Acts was to facilitate the evangelization of all nations.
Understanding Acts 2:14-18
The Relationship to Overall Flow of Acts
Peter’s application of Joel’s prophecy to the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost is central to the flow of Acts. Joel said that God would pour out His Spirit on “all people” (Acts 2:17, [New International Version]). Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would empower “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The language in Acts 1:8 includes all people from the ethnic and geographical perspectives and provides a chronological outline for the Spirit’s inclusion of all people.[1] Therefore, Acts 2:14-18 is in the strongest current of the flow of the book of Acts.
Now the obligation is to connect the function of visions to the expanse of the Spirit to the ends of the earth. To do that, one must examine the occurrences of visions in the book of Acts to see what the purposes of those visions were. The term ὅραμα appears 12 times and only in the book of Acts in this form. The plural form, ὅρασις, is only used once in the book of Acts (2:17), but it is used four other places in the book of Acts (Rev 4:3 (2), Rev 9:17). Taking a look at those occurrences in the book of Acts, brings into focus a clear picture of how the Holy Spirit intended to use visions in the context of the Spirit being poured out on all people.
How Did Peter’s Audience Understand Visions?
Peter’s Jewish audience would have understood dreams and visions through the experience of holy people in the Old Testament. That would have been their only theological frame of reference. There were notable dreams and visions in the Old Testament. God revealed His will to Joseph in dreams (Gen 37:5, 9). God revealed things to Daniel in visions (Dan 7:2). Therefore, they would have understood that dreams and visions were means by which God gave supernatural revelation. What they may not have understood is the content of the revelation that God would give through visions in the context of the Holy Spirit’s missiological purpose in Acts. Rather than revealing future events, the visions were going to be revelations for supernatural evangelism.
The lexical definition of visions. Visions carry the idea of seeing something with the eye. However, in the context of Acts 2:17, it has the added implication of “vision in a transcendent mode.”[2] Visions in the supernatural sense of Acts 2:17 are to see something spiritually but just as real as if one saw something naturally (Acts 10:3). `
The Lexical definition of dreams. Dreams mean “to have visions in dreams Ac 2:17.”[3] Based on the language here, spiritual dreams are not that much different that spiritual visions. In the case of dreams, they are a place where visions occur.
One might ask, why emphasize just the term vision(s) when Peter mentioned dreams as well? The terms ἐνυπνιάζομαι and ἐνύπνιον appear only in this verse in Acts. Based on those words, there is no data to examine throughout the rest of the book of Acts. However, Barrett wrote, “Seeing visions and dreaming dreams are in synonymous rather than antithetical parallelism: young and old (the order in Joel reversed) alike will receive supernatural revelations.”[4]Therefore, the use of vision(s) will be used as inclusive of both terms. If we understand Acts 2:17 as synonymous parallelism and understand dreams as a place where visions can occur, that would explain why the term dreams does not reappear in Acts.
Why Visions?
Visions Are to Facilitate and All Flesh Outpouring
Peter applied Joel 2:28-32 to the events on the Day of Pentecost. “Peter regards Joel’s prophecy as applying to the last days, and claims that his hearers are not living in the last days. God’s final act of salvation has begun.”[5] The salvation through the Spirit that Yahweh promised would come, and “the evidence will be seen in prophecy and visions.”[6] While prophecies are an important part of the equation, the emphasis here will be on visions. The question is, what role did visions play in facilitating the expanse of the spirit on all flesh?
Visions and geography. As we pointed out earlier, “the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), and “all people” (Acts 2:17) refer to the same thing. One must also consider Acts 1:8 and 2:17 as the continuation of the language of Luke 24:47.[7]There is a debate among scholars as to what “the ends of the earth” refers. One view is that Rome was very important to the Lukan narrative in Acts and is the end of the earth in a representative way.[8] In other words, it marks the beginning of the ends of the earth. It was the gateway that brought the gospel to the United States of America.
Geography was implied in the vision in Acts 9. The Lord told Ananias that Saul would preach to the people of Israel (Jerusalem, 9:13) and to the Gentiles. Gentile geography was implied necessarily along with Gentile ethnicity. But if Acts 9 is not clear enough of a text to connect vision and geography, Act s16 is. In a vision, a man from Macedonia appeared to Paul and asked him to come help (Acts 16:9). Through a vision, the Spirit of Jesus told Paul and company where to go preach.
Visions and ἔθνος. Not only did God use visions to expand the kingdom of God geographically, but He also used visions to specify his intentions to include gentiles in the New Covenant. God named Gentiles in the vision about Paul in Acts 9. But the ultimate Gentile vision occurs in Acts 10. Cornelius, an uncircumcised Gentile, saw a vision of an angel clearly about three in the afternoon (Acts 10:3). The angel told Cornelius where to find Peter. Then on the other end, God began to work on Peter by showing him the same vision of unclean beast three times. Peter finally came to realize through a supernatural series of events that the vision meant that God wanted Gentiles to be saved (Acts 10:27-28, 34). Without Peter having the vision, the kingdom’s expansion to the uncircumcised would likely not have happened.
Visions and gender. The Pentecostal promise “is gender inclusive: your sons and your daughters (2:17); servants—both male and female (2:18).”[9] And there is a connection to visions and the role of women in the advance of an all flesh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Acts 16 describes the advance of the kingdom into new territory where women were the catalyst of the revival. Although, it was a man in the vision that ask for help in Philippi, Macedonia (Acts 16:9), it was a women’s prayer meeting and a woman named Lydia that were the first converts (Acts 16:13-15). And when Paul and Silas got out of prison, they headed straight to Lydia’s house where the brothers and sisters were (Acts 16:40). Why did Paul and Silas not meet the believers at the jailer’s house? Why were the believers gathered at Lydia’s house? This seems to indicate that Lydia was a prominent figure in the early days of the Philippian church.
Visions and the Contemporary Church
What does what the book of Acts have to say about visions have to do with the contemporary church? Does the Holy Spirit intend to actively work through today’s church by giving them visions to produce supernatural evangelism? Indeed, He does. The Holy Spirit still desires to be actively involved in His evangelistic mission in the world. Today’s church should be so Spirit-led that God could direct us supernaturally through visions. The Spirit wants to become personally involved in the Church’s evangelistic efforts. After all, evangelism is the Missio Dei, not the mission of the Church. It is the job of the church to join together with the Spirit’s mission. And how marvelous would it be if visions, as they were intended in Acts, became more active in the church? The culture and society may get to the point where the church requires the Spirit’s active participation in this way.
Because the Spirit used visions as His means of directing conversion and evangelism, the church should limit the way it uses the term vision. One certainly should not be using visions as a means to get people to donate to their ministries. Pastors and other religious leaders should not use visions as a means of producing fear in Christians so that they can control. These and other abuses of vision are certainly at work in the contemporary church. Less abuse would occur if Charismatics were more careful about putting biblical parameters on our language and practices.
Conclusion
While visions were not the only means by which the gospel spread to the ends of the earth, it was certainly one of the powerful means. The visions that occurred in the book of Acts were missiological. The church needs to reclaim the biblical language and purpose of visions. A careful look at the book of Acts would clarify our vision for the Spirit’s mission to indwell all flesh. The church’s effectiveness depends on the supernatural participation of the Holy Spirit. We cannot do the Spirit's work alone. He must aid us with all of His gifts. In cultures that are increasingly hostile against the church, we need supernatural evangelism in the form of missiological visions.
Bibliography
Arndt, William F., F. Wilbur Gingrich, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Barrett, C. K. Acts 1-14. vol. 1. The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Edinburg, T&T Clark, 1994.
Fernando, Ajith. The NIV Commentary: Acts. Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1998.
Marshall, I Howard. Acts: An Introduction and Commentary. vol. 5. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IVP Academics, 1980.
Moore, Thomas. “‘To the Ends of the Earth’: The Geographical and Ethnic Universalism of Acts 1:8 in Light Isaianic Influence on Luke.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40, no. 3 (1997). 389-99.http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.regent.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=220c7793-53e9-49d9-af1f-e33e45fc4bae%40pdc-v-sessmgr01
Parsons, Mikeal C. Acts. Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008.
[1] Ajith Fernando, The NIV Application Commentary Series: Acts, (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1998), 52.
[2] William F. Arndt, F. Wilbur Gingrich, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 718-9.
[3] Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon, 342.
[4] C. K. Barrett, Acts 1-14, vol. 1, The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (Edinburg: T&T Clark, 1994), PDF, 137.
[5] I. Howard Marshal, Acts: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 5, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IVP Academics, 1980), 77.
[6] Ibid., 78.
[7] Thomas Moore, “‘To the Ends of the Earth’: The Geographical and Ethnic Universalism of Acts 1:8 in Light Isaianic Influence on Luke,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40, no. 3 (1997), 396. http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.regent.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=220c7793-53e9-49d9-af1f-e33e45fc4bae%40pdc-v-sessmgr01
[8] Ibid., 396-7.
[9] Mikeal C. Parsons, Acts, Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), PDF, 42.
