Joel 2:28-32

III. THE PURPOSE OF REPENTANCE (cont-'d)
FUTURE BLESSINGS
(GOD PREPARING A NEW PEOPLE)

TEXT: Joel 2:28-32

28

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

29

and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.

30

And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

31

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh.

32

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered; for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those that escape, as Jehovah hath said, and among the remnant those whom Jehovah doth call.

QUERIES

a.

How will all flesh have the Spirit poured out upon them?

b.

When are we to look for a fulfillment of the wonders of blood and fire, and pillars of smoke?

c.

What does the prophet mean by saying that only those in mount Zion and Jerusalem will escape from the terrible day of the Lord be possible?

PARAPHRASE

And it will come to pass in the Messianic age, that I will no longer limit the blessings of the Holy Spirit to a specific race and to certain people within that race but I will pour out the blessings of my Spirit upon all races of people who believe in Me; the Spirit will come to old and young, to man-slaves and women-slaves alike and they will all proclaim that God has revealed Himself. At the end of this Messianic age will come the great and terrible day of the Lord but before that day comes I will demonstrate its coming over and over again by showing portents of its coming through terrifying wonders in the heavens and in the earth; wars, natural disasters and fearful phenomena in nature. And then it will come to pass that God's covenant promise made to Abraham will be vindicated and fulfilled for whosoever, whether he be Jew or Gentile, shall believe and obey Jehovah will be delivered from the great and terrible day of the Lord. In the new covenant city, where the Messianic presence of God dwells, will be found those who have escaped even as Jehovah has said, and the Messianic remnant are those whom Jehovah calls.

SUMMARY

With one dramatic sweep of the brush this prophet-artist has graphically portrayed the entire scope of the Messianic age from its beginning with the pouring out of the Spirit, to the working of God during this age in fearful phenomena calling men to repent, to the conclusion of the age at the great and terrible day of Jehovah.

COMMENT

Joel 2:28-29. AFTERWARD. I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT UPON ALL FLESH. SONS AND DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY. OLD MEN. YOUNG MEN. SERVANTS AND. HANDMAIDS. Although a veil of discontinuity obscures this whole section (Joel 2:28-32), the ideas in the prophecy are definite. It is the time element, the near and the distant blended into one picture, which is temporarily disconcerting.

The inspired pronouncement as to the fulfillment of this prophecy is the final authority. There can be no question that Joel's prophecy began to have its fulfillment on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2, for the inspired apostle declares it to be so. In the Old Dispensation particular members of the covenant people received special dispensations of the Spirit, but in the New, Messianic Dispensation, the Spirit would be poured out on people of all races, as many as would call upon the name of the Lord. Calling on the name of the Lord is, of course, synonymous with believing, repenting and obeying in baptism as is shown in Acts 22:16 when Paul was exhorted to call on His name by being baptized! In other words, Joel says that all who become Christian (who call upon the name of Jehovah) will receive the Spirit of God. Peter confirms it by saying Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For unto you is the promise and unto those who are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto Him. (Acts 2)

That this general giving of the Spirit to all believers was not to be accomplished until the establishment of the church is at once evident from the words in John 7:38 ... for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Peter's words in Acts 2 also confirm the fact that this outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh was to continue even to those afar off (the Gentiles), even as many as God would call.

Joel specifically states that the Spirit will come without limitation as to age, sex or race. The only limitation is that those who expect to receive it must call upon the name of the Lord (Joel 2:32). The outpouring of God's Spirit upon slaves (servants and handmaids) is something extraordinary for not a single case occurs in the entire O.T. of a slave receiving the Spirit or gift of prophecy. Even the Jewish expositors could not reconcile themselves to this announcement. The translators of the Septuagint substituted servants of God in place of slaves of men in this text.

That these who have called upon the name of the Lord and have received the Spirit of God would prophesy, dream dreams and see visions could mean either of two things or both. It undoubtedly means that some in the Messianic age would receive special gifts of the Spirit to prophesy or to receive direct, infallible revelations of God's will through dreams and visions, We know from the historical record of the New Testament that this is so. There were even some women who prophesied (Acts 21:9). But we believe the word prophesy is also used in a general sense to mean that all in the Messianic age who receive the gift of the Spirit will go everywhere preaching and teaching the revealed will of God (Acts 8:4). We do know from the figurative and hyperbolical usage of language in the Bible that it is not necessary to assume that when Joel says your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. thus all who receive the indwelling presence of the Spirit and become Christians will be given direct dream or vision revelations from God. All who become Christians will receive the Spirit, but only some of the sons and daughters would receive the special, miraculous gifts of prophecy, visions, dreams, etc. If we let the New Testament interpret the Old Testament we will know what Joel means.

The important point of this passage is often missed in an effort to dogmatize or theologize about miraculous gifts of the Spirit. The important point is that in the latter days that is, in the Messianic age the fulfillment of God's covenant promisesthe pouring out of His Spiritwould come to all people. It would no longer be a covenant restricted to a certain nation but to men of every tongue and tribe who would call upon Him in trustful obedience. God was going to do something unique in the Messianic age (Isaiah 43:19) and this would be the pouring out of the Spirit from on high (Isaiah 32:15)the creating of a new Spirit and a new heart within man (Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 18:31; Ezekiel 36:26 ff; Ezekiel 37:1-28 and Zechariah 12:10).

This outpouring of the Spirit of God, as Peter interprets it, ushers in the Messianic age. Furthermore, as Peter declares, all during this age, men of every race and station who call upon the name of the Lord will receive the indwelling Spirit. If we will but follow the inspired apostle's interpretation we will see that Joel's prophecy was not limited only to the special, miraculous gifts of the Spirit.

Joel 2:30-32 AND I WILL SHOW WONDERS IN THE HEAVENS AND IN THE EARTH. BEFORE THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE DAY OF JEHOVAH COMETH. AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL ON THE NAME OF JEHOVAH SHALL BE DELIVERED;. In highly figurative language Joel tells both the people of his day and all generations that during this entire Messianic age God will be showing wonders in the heavens and in the earth; blood and fire, and pillars of smoke. This, as is evident from the context, will be one of the means by which God will call men to repent in preparation for the great and terrible day of Jehovah. It is without question that these wonders are to transpire before that great and terrible day, so they must be before the second and final coming of Jesus Christ who comes on that terrible day to judge all who have not called upon the name of Jehovah. These wonders are both natural disasters and human holocausts. God certainly sent a warning upon an impenitent Jewish nation which had rejected the Messiah when He destroyed their city and their nation in 70 A.D. (cf. Matthew 24:1-28). God has also permitted nation after nation to be destroyed in blood, fire and smoke because of ungodliness. He has permitted the forces of the heavens (nature) to carry out His warning judgments upon the earth (cf. comments on Joel 2:1 ff).

Then at the end of the ages, the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come (Joel 2:31). God will call during the entire Christian age through Spirit filled men proclaiming His word and by sending terrifying wonders in the heavens and on the earth; and then suddenly, without warning the consummation of the ages.

For those who call upon the name of the Lord (Joel 2:32) this day of the Lord will be one of deliverance. Their faith and their works will be vindicated. They shall receive an eternal weight of glory when they are recognized and glorified by God Himself. But for those who do not call upon His name in faith and obedience shall be His perfect, divine wrath.

Keil and Delitzsch's statement here will help to clarify our interpretation:

For the signs in heaven and earth that are mentioned in Joel 2:30-31 were to take place before the coming of the terrible day of the Lord, which would dawn after the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon all flesh, and which came, as history teaches, upon the Jewish nation that had rejected its Saviour on the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and upon the Gentile world-power in the destruction of the Roman empire, and from that time forward breaks in constant succession upon one Gentile nation after another; until all the ungodly powers of this world shall be overthrown (cf. Ch. Joel 3:2). On account of this internal connection between the day of Jehovah and the outpouring of the Spirit upon the church of the Lord, Peter also quoted Joel 2:30-32 of this prophecy, for the purpose of impressing upon the hearts of all the hearers of his address the admonition, Save yourselves from this perverse generation (Acts 2:40), and also of pointing out the way of deliverance from the threatening judgment to all who were willing to be saved.

So Joel, blending the events of the Messianic age into one picture with the near and the distant painted like mountain peaks and ranges seen from a distance, does not portray for us the valleys of centuries of time between the mountain-top-events. This is what is called the shortened perspective of prophetic literature. It should caution us to pay more attention to what the prophets preach of the fundamentals of faith and practice and much less to what prophecy may seem to say about times and seasons.
In the Messianic age God intended to bless all who would answer His call in Christ Jesus with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. For it was in the New Testament dispensation that He set forth in Christ. a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. It is in Christ that men of all races have heard the word of truth, the gospel of. salvation, and have believed in him, and were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Yes, Ephesians, chapter one, is the completed revelation of that which Joel wrote in long ages past!

QUIZ

1.

When did the pouring out of the Spirit of God on all flesh take place? Is it still taking place?

2.

Does this promise of Joel mean that all Christians should expect to prophesy, receive revelations by dreams, and have visions? Why not?

3.

What and when are the wonders in heaven and on earth?

4.

How does God call the remnant?

5.

Why do we say it is not important that men should attempt to force these great mountain-top events into a rigid schedule of times and seasons?

6.

How is Ephesians I a completed revelation of this section of Joel?