TEXT [Commentary]

  II.   God’s Future Intentions (2:28–3:21)

A.   The Prospect: The Outpoured Spirit (2:28-32)

28 [*]“Then, after doing all those things,

I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

Your old men will dream dreams,

and your young men will see visions.

29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit

even on servants—men and women alike.

30 And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—

blood and fire and columns of smoke.

31 The sun will become dark,

and the moon will turn blood red

before that great and terrible[*] day of the LORD arrives.

32 But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD

will be saved,

for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape,

just as the LORD has said.

These will be among the survivors

whom the LORD has called.

NOTES

2:28 [3:1] Then, after doing all those things. The NLT links the familiar Hebrew introductory formula (wehayah ’akhare-ken) with “those things”—i.e., the preceding divine pronouncement concerning the renewed rain that will be instrumental in the land’s restored fertility (2:23). The formula itself is often used to initiate fresh prophetic oracles and speaks of an undetermined future. Context alone must be sought in order to determine whether the predicted events will occur in the near future (Exod 11:1) or as late as the eschatological era (Isa 1:26). Peter applies this passage to the inaugurated eschaton in his sermon on Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21).

all people. Lit., “all flesh.” Although this phrase could mean all people everywhere, the qualifications that follow show that Joel intended believing members of the covenant community.

sons and daughters . . . old men . . . young men. The various spiritual gifts are illustrative and not restricted to individual groups. Interestingly, the outpoured Spirit is rendered in the Targum, “my Holy Spirit.”

2:29 [3:2] I will pour out my Spirit. In the MT, Joel completes his all-embracing statement by repeating this phrase, with which he had begun his remarks in 2:28, at the end of this verse, thus forming a nice inclusio.

servants. Not only will age and sex not be a barrier to reception of the Spirit’s outpouring, but social status will not be a deterrent. Thus Allen (1976:99) remarks, “Distinctions of age, sex, and social class would be swept away in this common spiritual endowment.”

2:30 [3:3] wonders. The noun here (mopeth [TH4159, ZH4603]) is one of three common words employed to mark some extraordinary supernatural event. The other two are ’oth [TH226, ZH253] (sign) and pele’ [TH6382, ZH7099] (wonder). While these three nouns are used somewhat interchangeably to depict the miraculous, on occasion ’oth conveys the distinctive purpose of the miracle (Deut 4:34-35; Isa 7:11-16), pele’ the effect upon those who behold it (Exod 15:11; Ps 119:129), and mopeth the awesome happening (at times itself a portent of something dreadful yet to occur—Exod 4:21-23; Deut 28:43-46). Thus, what was to take place was designed to assure God’s covenant people of the Lord’s presence among them. Their wonderment would lead them to single-hearted faith in Yahweh as the only God with whom they had to deal.

heavens . . . earth. Crenshaw (1995:167) takes these two nouns to be a figure of speech (specifically, merism) for “everywhere.”

blood . . . fire . . . smoke. All three are imagery associated with warfare (Num 21:28; Josh 8:20-21; Ezek 38:21-22).

2:31 [3:4] sun . . . moon. Sun and moon are often linked together in a display of God’s supernatural activity (e.g., 3:15; Josh 10:12-13; Isa 13:10; Hab 3:11; Matt 24:29).

dark . . . blood red. Because the scene describes extraordinary activities, Joel may intend a full eclipse of the sun (cf. Amos 8:9).

great and terrible day of the LORD. The Day of the Lord theme grows in progressive intensity in Joel’s presentations. Announced as coming in 1:15 and present in 2:1, it is described as an awesome and terrible thing in 2:11 and as great and terrible here, with full details relating to events of that time to follow in 3:9-16.

2:32 [3:5] calls on the name of the LORD. Calling on the name of the Lord is used for approaching him with a heart full of faith and a mouth full of praise and worship (Gen 4:26; 12:8; Pss 99:6; 116:17; 145:18; Zeph 3:9; Rom 10:13).

will be saved. The verb yimmalet [TH4422, ZH4880] is used to denote “escape from danger” (1 Sam 19:10, 12, 17-18), especially from the divine judgment that awaits the wicked (Prov 11:21). This pronouncement anticipates the succeeding phrases: “some . . . will escape” and “among the survivors.” Joel’s prophecy of deliverance depends on calling on the Lord in faith and on the Lord’s calling of his people.

on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Joel’s perspective clearly embraces believing Israelites because Jerusalem is the site of God’s presence. This verse forms part of the OT teaching on Zion theology (see commentary on Obad 1:17-21).

just as the LORD has said. Joel may be referring to God’s promise given in 2:27 (cf. Obad 1:17).

survivors whom the LORD has called. Although the primary reference is to Israelite believers, the rendering of the NLT allows for a wider group of refugees, the escapees in Jerusalem forming part of a larger remnant called by the Lord. Therefore, this text could be called upon by the authors of the NT. “Christians became known as those who called on the Lord. Peter leaves no doubt that ‘calling on the name of the Lord’ meant call on the name of Jesus, the only name by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12; cf. Acts 4:9-12; 9:14, 21; 22:16; 1 Cor 1:2; 2 Tim 2:22). Paul argues that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, and that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom 10:12)” (Dillard 1992:298). The verse ends as it began—with a call. We, with all Joel’s hearers and readers, are called to call upon the Lord.

COMMENTARY [Text]

Looking beyond the promised restoration and blessing of a repentant people (2:18-27), Joel points out the reason why Israel could look forward to a day when it would never again be disgraced (2:27): The renewed pouring down of rain was to be a harbinger of the day when God would pour out his Holy Spirit upon all people. While in earlier times the Spirit came upon selected individuals in order to accomplish divinely sanctioned tasks (e.g., Gen 41:38; Num 11:25-26; 27:18; Deut 34:9; Judg 3:10; 11:29; etc.), now the Spirit would be given in full measure to all, regardless of age, sex, or social standing.

Despite the extensive spiritual activity, that future era will be marked by dreadful times. God will set extraordinary phenomena in the heavens and on the earth. It will be a time of great upheaval, with turmoil and unprecedented warfare among the human populace (cf. 3:15; Ezek 38–39; Zeph 1:14-18; Zech 14:1-5) and cataclysmic events (e.g., a solar eclipse, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes) in nature (cf. Rev 6:12-17). It will be a time of God’s outpoured wrath, inasmuch as blood (Exod 7:17; Rev 6:12-17; 14:14-20), fire (Exod 3:2-3), and smoke (Exod 19:16-18; Rev 15:8; 18:16-18) often speak of the superintending power of a holy God. That day is justly called the “great and terrible day of the Lord.” Unless God himself intervenes, none will survive.

The result of all this heightened activity will be the safe deliverance of all who call, in faith, upon God’s name. In that era God will be especially active. Both in Jerusalem, the dwelling place of his earthly presence, and among his dispersed people, God will call a godly remnant to himself.

The full section speaks not only of deliverance from the dangers of that time but of God’s soteriological working. The passage, which begins with an emphasis on the outpouring of the Spirit so as to transform the spiritual experience of all classes of people, ends on a high note with God’s particular work in calling a people for himself. Here, blended together in perfect balance, we see God’s mysterious election, the response in faith of his chosen people, and the working of the Spirit in the lives of individual believers.

It is no wonder, then, that the apostle Peter would be led to this text in his address on Pentecost (Acts 2), the occasion of the historical outworking of the promise of the outpoured Holy Spirit. Peter and the apostles saw in this event, which initiated the New Testament church, the beginning of those last days that would witness God’s Holy Spirit at work, not only among the Jewish remnant but among all who would believe. It would be a time of increased missionary activity. For whoever calls upon the Lord in believing faith will be saved (Rom 10:13). That age will be closed by tumultuous happenings in the natural and political realms and be closed by the return of Christ in glory (Luke 21:25-27; Acts 2:19-20; Phil 3:20-21; 1 Thess 5:1-10; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 6:12-17; 16:11-20; 19:11-21; see also the commentary on 2:12-14).

Pentecost thus stands as a fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy but does not exhaust it. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost fulfills Joel’s prophecy with regard to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the resultant Good News of salvation for all. It sets in motion the age of the Spirit (the last days), an era climaxed by a renewed and heightened spiritual activity (cf. Isa 42:1; 44:3-5; 59:21; Ezek 36:27) and the miraculous signs heralding the Day of the Lord and Messiah’s return. While some details of Joel’s prophecy may reach their culmination only in the time of Christ’s second coming, Pentecost guarantees that the full prophecy will indeed come to pass.[41]

Schematically the relationship of Joel’s prophecy to Pentecost and to the future can be outlined as follows:

Pentecost	renewed prophecy and the coming of the Holy Spirit
Present Age	the ministry of the Holy Spirit with the message of salvation
End of the Age	heightened spiritual activity, signs and wonders, closed by the Messiah’s return in judgment and the Day of the Lord
Second Advent	the consummation of all of Joel’s prophecy

Granted, then, that Peter used Joel’s prophecy in the way that it was intended and that it was fulfilled at Pentecost, yet without consummation, the further question remains as to the raison d’etre of Pentecost. Why Pentecost at all? What is the divine intention of Pentecost?

The answer to this question may lie in Pentecost’s relation to its Jewish prototype, the Feast of Weeks (or Festival of Harvest; Exod 34:22), which in time became known as Pentecost (2 Macc 12:32). This feast, falling on the fiftieth day (Lev 23:16) after the barley offering during the Passover celebration, commemorated the beginning of the celebration of firstfruits (cf. Num 28:26).

Without going into the rites and history of the feast itself, the theological significance may be noted as twofold: (1) the thanksgiving of a grateful people for the ingathering of the firstfruits of the grain harvest to God—to whom the harvest properly belonged, and from whom their daily provision came; and (2) a committal of heart that caused the thankful people to share God’s bounty with the poor and stranger in the land.

Pentecost was one of three major annual feasts for the Jewish nation, the other two being Passover (which was attached to the Festival of Unleavened Bread) and the Festival of Shelters (Deut 16:16). Each of these feasts held a special theological significance. Passover reminded the people of their divinely provided redemption. Pentecost symbolized the thankfulness of a people who were not only grateful for the firstfruits of the grain harvest but who looked forward with joy and anticipation to the culmination of the harvest season in the fall. The Festival of Shelters marked the climax of the religious year, when a thankful people entered fully into the anticipated promises, resting fully in the God who had supplied their needs.

Each of these feasts was designedly prophetic of the completed redemption that the Messiah would accomplish. Passover looked forward to the Messiah’s accomplished redemption, which was realized in Christ’s death and resurrection (1 Cor 5:7b; 15:3-4). The Festival of Shelters looks on to the final rest in that age when Messiah shall raise the fallen “shelter” of David (Amos 9:11; “house,” NLT) and reign as king among his people in a period of blessed peace and unsurpassed gladness (cf. Rom 11:25-32 with Rev 19:15-17). Pentecost marks the inception of the Christian church (Acts 2:11-17) and the inauguration of an era during which the souls of all people will be gathered in with great fullness through the gospel proclamation (cf. Rom 11:13-24; 1 Cor 15:20-23).

Like the Old Testament Pentecost, the New Testament Pentecost stands as a distinctive event and yet an earnest harbinger of that day when Messiah shall gather in the completed harvest from all the nations of earth and rule in power and glory among a regathered and grateful people. It is of singular interest, as well, that the promised Holy Spirit, who himself serves as the earnest of the believer’s full redemption (2 Cor 1:20-22; 5:5; Eph 1:13-14), should have come on the day that serves as the pledge of the full ingathering of God’s prophetic purposes!