Time of Refreshing

A friend of mine was reading Acts Chapter 3, and he asked what we thought of the concept of refresh or "time of refreshing" from verse 19:

“ Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19)

Here are my thoughts:

In this passage, the word translated as Repent is the word metanoeo, which literally means to think differently (reconsider or repent) {It’s sister is metanoia, which means compunction for guilt (repentance or a reversal) which leads to forgiveness {more on that in my post an offering of forgiveness})}

Return, is the word epistepho, and means to be converted (turned around).

Refresh is the word anapsuxis. It means a recovery of breath, revival.

What I get is this: Peter is saying they are like dead people. Their thinking is twisted by sin. So much so, that they cried for the death of the very Messiah they had been waiting for. He is telling people they are dead in sin and need to turn from death and convert their thinking (repent) to receive life: a recovery of breath (refreshing) from God!

He says a “time of refreshing,” so it is not like one kid at the beach who drowned and got life breathed back into him, but like a tsunami drowned hundreds of thousands of people and they all get life breathed back into them. It is a picture of revival!

Blot out/wipe out is the word exaleipo. It literally means to obliterate: erase so it does not exist. Like a nuke-bomb on sin.

And why would God revive people and obliterate their sin? So Jesus can come back and claim a pure Bride. (Everything is, afterall, about His Glory).

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What does revival look like? What is our response to being refreshed by God?

If all those drowned people got brought back to life they would probably be dancing and singing and celebrating! They would probably re-evaluate what is most important in life and they would probably tell absolutely every person they knew they had been dead and were brought back to life. That kind of excitement is contagious.

Spiritually speaking, anyone who comes to Christ is one of those people.

Usually when the Church thinks of revival, it thinks of people who are already Christ-followers who have just gotten tired, but I think this specific passage is talking to spiritually dead people.

For the Christian, I think of the 23rd Psalm. “He restores my soul” The journey is long and hard sometimes and we get weary or discouraged.. The word for restore is Shuwb. It fits what we might visualize as being refreshed from our English speaking way of thinking: rescued from weariness - being returned to a state of spiritual vigor - restored; whereas the passage in Acts uses a word that means to be made alive from being dead.

Again, what is our response to that? Do we just lie in the green pastures and sip of the cool, still waters while God pampers us with His affection? Or do we absolutely soak Him in and respond in worship because our cups are filled to overflowing with Love from and for Him? I think when He restores us we want to dance and sing and tell everyone how good He is all over again. That is what He taught me (2007) when He gave me my version of music for this Psalm.

Final thought: Psalm 33 says ‘the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him and who hope for His Lovingkindness… He will rescue them..Our hearts rejoice in His Holy Name.’

Fear here does not mean to cower in a corner. It means to be in awe of His Awesomeness and humble in spirit with respect for His Supremacy over all things. And He will rescue, restore, refresh- and in response our hearts will brim over in Joy.