<p>17:30 <i>Therefore, the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands men that they should all everywhere repent</i>- Paul seems to have seen in Christ's prophecy that the Gospel would be fully known world-wide in the last as being a specific, personal command to him (Mt. 24:14 = 2 Tim. 4:17).&nbsp;He saw prophecy as command more than solely prediction; and this is why prophecy has a degree of variation in how and when it is fulfilled. The words of Mk. 16:15,16 are clear: &quot;Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved&quot;. Commands to repent, all men, the Lord&rsquo;s resurrection... these ideas all recur in Acts 17:30, proving they are not solely relevant to those who first heard them; God now commands all men to repent, through our words. These words clearly don't apply to the first century only, for they are intended to be linked with Mt 24:14, which uses the same language about the preaching work of the very last days (even though the context may imply that as a community we will only be obedient to this command once egged on by major persecution). What all this means is that the great commission will be fulfilled in the last days. The connection with the great commission means that the Lord sent out the disciples in order to fulfil this aspect of the Olivet prophecy; but their failure to do the job fully meant that the prophecy had to be delayed and rescheduled in fulfilment. On account of the Lord&rsquo;s resurrection, God has commanded all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30,31)- again, a reference to the great commission. But God&rsquo;s command of men to repent is only through our preaching of that message. Matthew and Mark record how the apostles were <em>sent </em>to preach the Gospel and baptize, for the <em>forgiveness</em> of sins (cp. Acts 2:38). Luke records the Lord stating that the apostles knew that <em>forgiveness of sins</em> was to be preached from Jerusalem, and therefore they should be witnesses to this.</p>