Joel 2:28
And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Joel 2:28-32
We don’t know anything about Joel other than he was the son of Pethuel. In his writings, he doesn’t give us any indication of the time when he lived so it is impossible to date his writings. His ministry was directed at the southern kingdom of Judah where he delivered a message of warning and a call to repentance. Throughout his writings, the theme of coming judgment is prevalent as he calls Judah to repent such as:
“Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
Alas for that day!
For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty” (Joel 1:14-15).
The book of Joel is only three chapters but he gives us a prophecy concerning the Day of the Lord at the end of chapter two. This prophecy is preceded by another prophecy where God tells Joel that Israel will one day be blessed again and live in peace:
“You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.
Then you will know that I am in Israel,
that I am the Lord your God,
and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed” (Joel 2:26-27).
Once this peace has been given to Israel, then:
“And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28-29).
Some of this prophecy began to be fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost and the rest of it will be fulfilled during the end-times. On the Day of Pentecost, we saw the Holy Spirit be “poured out” on all people. First, the Holy Spirt came on the apostles:
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:1-4).
Recall that right after this, Peter goes out to speak to the crowds that had gathered for the Passover and gives his first sermon. He quotes Joel 2:28-32 in its entirety to begin his sermon linking Joel’s prophecy to what was happening at that very moment.
But Joel’s prophecy begins by saying that God will pour out the Holy Spirt “on all people.” This seems to indicate that not only Jews will receive the Holy Spirit but people of all nations. We see the beginning of the fulfillment of this part of the prophecy when the Holy Spirit comes on the first Gentiles at Cornelius’s house:
“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God” (Acts 10:44-46).
Peter seemed to be in the thick of things when the Holy Spirit was moving throughout Jerusalem in those early days after Jesus ascended into heaven. Peter makes a profound statement later in his first letter:
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit” (1 Pet 3:18).
Peter says that the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. Paul says the same thing but then he also adds to that:
“But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Rom 8:10-11).
The Holy Spirit has the power to raise Jesus from the dead. And that same Holy Spirit lives in us if we have placed our faith in Jesus. The same Holy Spirit that lived in Peter and Cornelius lives in us. The same one that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us.
Because we have the Spirit, we have an obligation and a blessing. The obligation:
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Rom 8:12-13).
Because we have the Spirit, we are obligated to live according to it. We are to put to death all the misdeeds that our human bodies want to do. We must make our bodies obedient to the Spirit so that the same power of God that raised Jesus from the grave can be seen within us. But we have a blessing as well:
“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God… Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Rom 8:14, 17).
Because we have the Spirit, we are children of God. We are adopted into the family of God and we are co-heirs of God’s kingdom along with Jesus our Savior. We will share in the glory of Jesus. That’s an amazing blessing indeed!
Christ in the Old Testament 
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