An Eschatology of Pentecost and the Final Age of Man

The Search for Scriptural Blue Diamonds

Every truth learned from Scripture is precious and essential. Some truths hang right on the surface of the text and do not take much digging to lodge them loose. Other truths, however, such as the elusive blue diamond, are buried much deeper within the earth's strata, making them not only harder to extract but also rarer and more costly. Yet, the reward for peeling back the layers of Scriptural strata is most definitely worth the reward for all who will venture into its depths.

If you will grab your shovel and pickaxe, I'd like to take you down just a bit further, below the surface and into the eschatological crust of the text, as we hunt for the Biblical equivalent of blue diamonds. To understand this text, let us first consider what eschatology is and how this text is eschatological.

The Scriptural Account: Acts 2:1-12

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, "Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?"

The following table lists the various regions and peoples represented during this miraculous event:

Region/Group	Biblical Description
Parthians, Medes, and Elamites	Hearing in their own language
Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia	Residents hearing the mighty deeds of God
Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia	Witnesses to the Spirit's utterance
Egypt and districts of Libya	Visitors from the regions around Cyrene
Rome	Visitors, both Jews and proselytes
Cretans and Arabs	Speaking of the mighty deeds of God

Expanding the Definition of Eschatology

To build a coherent end-times theology, we will need a proper definition of what eschatology is. First, eschatology is not merely about the final climactic moments of human history. Instead, eschatology is about what life will look like during the final age of man. Eschatology is about how the history of planet earth will be brought under the rule and dominion of Jesus Christ in these last days we are living in.

That end-time age began when Jesus Christ rose from the dead and poured out His Spirit upon all flesh. In this way, eschatology has just as much to do with fulfilling the past as it does with the future. Thus, eschatology is trying to understand how all of the old forms and norms will find their ultimate realization and transformation in the new covenant that Christ has ushered in. To say that in shorthand: eschatology is how Christ ushers in His end-time Kingdom, now in part, one day in full.

Pentecost and the New Covenant

Pentecost comes from the Greek word πенτηкоστή, which means "the fiftieth" or "the fiftieth day," referring to the fact that the miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit happened fifty days after the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. It is crucial to understand that everything within the old covenant, all of the promises of God, all of the types and shadows, will either pass away under the rule of Christ or will soar to its climax in the rule of Christ. This transformative event signifies the beginning of the final age where the Spirit is given to all flesh.