“It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
Parallel Translations
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“It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
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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:
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(3-1) 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;
Cross-references (22)
Passages linked to Joel 2:28 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 2:16-21 But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood, and fire, and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
- Ezekiel 39:29 I won’t hide my face from them any more; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
- Isaiah 32:15 until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest.
- Acts 2:39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
- Acts 2:2-4 Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
- Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring:
- Zechariah 12:10 I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.
- Acts 11:15-18 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning. I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave to them the same gift as us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God?” When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life!”
- Proverbs 1:23 Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you.
- John 7:39 But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified.
- Acts 15:7-8 When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you that by my mouth the nations should hear the word of the Good News and believe. God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us.
- Acts 2:33 Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.
- Acts 10:44-47 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in other languages and magnifying God. Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just like us.”
- Luke 3:6 All flesh will see God’s salvation.’ ”
- Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Numbers 12:6 He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.
- Isaiah 40:5 Yahweh’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
- Isaiah 49:6 Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”
- Genesis 37:5-10 Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?”
- Isaiah 54:13 All your children will be taught by Yahweh; and your children’s peace will be great.
- Jeremiah 23:28 The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?” says Yahweh.
- Acts 21:9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain We have explained why the Prophet began with earthly…
We have explained why the Prophet began with earthly blessings. One may indeed think that this order is not regular; for Christ does not in vain remind us, that the kingdom of God ought to be first sought, and that other things shall be added in their place, (Matthew 6;) for food, and every thing that belongs to this frail life, are, as it were, additions to the spiritual life. But the Prophet designedly mentioned first the evidence of God’s favor in outward benefits; for we see how slow the perceptions of men are, and how slothful they are in seeking spiritual life. As, then, men rise to things above with so much difficulty, the Prophet makes use of the best helps; and we must indeed be dealt with as we usually deal with children. For as there is not so much discernment in them as to be influenced by reasons, we set before them what is suitable to their weak and simple comprehension; so the Prophet did; for he showed first that God would be kind to the Jews in food for the body, and having used this as a help, he then added, Afterwards I will pour my Spirit upon all flesh.
By these words the Prophet reminds us, that people act absurdly when they are satisfied with vanishing things, when they ask of God nothing more excellent than to be pampered like brute animals; for in what do the children of God differ from asses and dogs, except they aspire after spiritual life? The Prophet, then, after having set before them lower things, as though they were children, now brings before them a more solid doctrine, (for thus they were to be led,) and affords them a taste of the favor of God in its external signs. “Ascend, then, now,” he says, “to spiritual life: for the fountain is one and the same; though when earthly benefits occupy and engross your attention, ye no doubt pollute them. But God feeds you, not to fill and pamper you; for he would not have you to be like brute animals. Then know that your bodies are fed, and that God gives support to you, that ye may aspire after spiritual life; for he leads you to this as by the hand; be this then your object.” We now, then, understand why the Prophet did not at first speak of the spiritual grace of God; but he comes to it now. He began with temporal benefits, for it was needful that an untutored people should be thus led by degrees, that on account of their infirmity, sluggishness, and dullness, they might thus make better progress, until they understood that God would for this end be a Father to them.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain As they had visions and dreams in old time,…
As they had visions and dreams in old time, so shall they now have clearer revelations.
That is, in greater abundance, and more generally than in times past: and this was fulfilled under Christ, when as God’s graces, and his Spirit under the Gospel was abundantly given to the Church, Isa. 44:3; Acts 2:17; John 7:38, 39.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Joe 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward,…
Joe 2:28 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:
Ver. 28. And it shall come to pass afterwards] sc. In the days of the Messiah, which is called the "world to come," Heb 2:5, but especially after his ascension, see Joh 7:37 Act 2:17-21, where this prophecy was fulfilled, and this place taken for the first text preached on by the apostles, Joe 2:17, to the conversion of three thousand souls at one sermon. For together with the word there went forth a power, even that "spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind," Luk 7:21 2Ti 1:7, here promised to be poured out, not distilled only, {See Trapp on "Zec 12:10"} and that upon all flesh. Spirit upon flesh, the best thing upon the basest; yea, upon all flesh, without respect of persons or difference made of sex, age, or condition, provided that they know and acknowledge themselves to be but flesh, Gen 6:3, corrupt and carnal ( animas etiam incarnavimus, as St Bernard complaineth), and that whatsoever is of "the flesh is flesh," Joh 3:6 (for who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?) that whole man is in evil, and whole evil in man; neither can it be gotten out in any measure, till the heart be mollified and made tender as flesh, Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26-27, which cannot be done till men be taught of God, and drawn out of darkness into his marvellous light; till they be spiritualized and "transformed into the same image from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord," 2Co 3:18.
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And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy] This was fulfilled Act 2:17-21, as St Peter showeth. For the New Testament is but the Old unfolded and fulfilled, as was also typified in the two cherubims of the sanctuary, looking intently into the propitiatory, {Christ, Rom 3:25} but with their faces turned one towards another: Exo 25:20 Act 26:22. It was fulfilled, I say, in that visible descension of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles and the rest, Act 2:8; Act 2:15; Act 2:17; Act 10:44. So that this makes nothing at all for the enthusiasts’ raptures and dotages. The true offspring they are of those ancient Euchites or Messalanii, who, leaving their trades, gave themselves to much sleep, and called their dreams and phantasies prophecies (Funcc. Chronol., A.D. 371).
Your old men shall dream, &c., your young men shall see visions] i.e. God will no less open his will unto them than he did of old to the propbets by dreams and visions; for by the conduct of the Spirit they shall be led into all truth and holiness they shall be all a royal priesthood, 1Pe 2:5 Rev 1:6, "full of all goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another," Rom 15:14.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain It shall come to pass, most certainly this shall…
It shall come to pass, most certainly this shall be done, afterward; in the latter days, after the return out of Babylonish captivity, after the various troubles and salvations by which they may know that I am the Lord, their God in the midst of them, when those wondrous works shall be seconded by the most wonderful of all, the sending the Messiah, in his day and under his kingdom.
I will pour out my Spirit; in large abundant measures will I give my Holy Spirit, which the Messiah exalted shall send, Joh 16:7; in extraordinary power and gifts in the apostles and first preachers of the gospel, and in ordinary measure and graces to all believers, Eph 4:8-11.
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Upon all flesh; before these gifts were confined to a few people, to one particular nation, to a very small people; but now they shall be enlarged to all nations, Act 2:33; 10:45, to all that believe, all that are regenerate.
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: this was in part fulfilled according to the letter in the first days of the gospel; but this promise is rather of a comparative meaning, thus, By pouring out of the Holy Spirit on your sons and your daughters, they shall have as clear and full knowledge of the deep mysteries of God’s law as prophets beforetime had. The law and prophets were till John, and during this time the gifts of the Spirit were given in lesser measures, and of all men the prophets had greatest measures of the Spirit; but in these days, the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John.
Your old men shall dream dreams; no difference of age, to old men who had been long blind in the things of God the mysteries of grace shall be revealed, and these shall know as certainly and clearly as if God had extraordinarily revealed himself to them by dreams sent of God upon them.
Your young men shall see visions; many young men shall be as eminent in knowledge as if the things known were communicated by vision. In a word, all knowledge of God and his will shall abound among all ranks, sexes, and ages in the Messiah’s days, and not only equal, but surpass, all that formerly was by prophecy dreams, or visions.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain The promises of corn, and wine, and oil, in…
The promises of corn, and wine, and oil, in the foregoing verses, would be very acceptable to a wasted country; but here we are taught that we must not rest in those things. God has reserved some better things for us, and these verses have reference to those better things, both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory, with the happiness of true believers in both. We are here told,
I. How the kingdom of grace shall be introduced by a plentiful effusion of the Spirit, (Joe 2:28, Joe 2:29). We are not at a loss about the meaning of this promise, nor in doubt what it refers to and wherein it had its accomplishment, for the apostle Peter has given us an infallible explication and application of it, assuring us that when the Spirit was poured out upon the apostles, on the day of Pentecost (Act 2:1, etc.), that was the very thing which was spoken of here by the prophet Joel, Joe 2:16, Joe 2:17. That was the gift of the Spirit, which, according to this prediction, was to come, and we are not to look for any other, any more than for another accomplishment of the promise of the Messiah. Now, 1. The blessing itself here promised is the pouring out of the Spirit of God, his gifts, graces, and comforts, which the blessed Spirit is the author of. We often read in the Old Testament of the Spirit of the Lord coming by drops, as it were, upon the judges and prophets whom God raised up for extraordinary services; but now the Spirit shall be poured out plentifully in a full stream, as was promised with an eye to gospel-times, Isa 44:3. I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed. 2. The time fixed for this is afterwards; after the fulfilling of the foregoing promises this shall be fulfilled. St. Peter expounds this of the last days, the days of the Messiah, by whom the world was to have its last revelation of the divine will and grace in the last days of the Jewish church, a little before its dissolution. 3. The extent of this blessing, in respect of the persons on whom it shall be bestowed. The Spirit shall be poured out upon all flesh, not as hitherto upon Jews only, but upon Gentiles also; for in Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, Rom 10:11, Rom 10:12. Hitherto divine revelation was confined to the seed of Abraham, none but those of the land of Israel had the Spirit of prophecy; but, in the last days, all flesh shall see the glory of God (Isa 40:5) and shall come to worship before him, Isa 66:23. The Jews understand it of all flesh in the land of Israel, and Peter himself did not fully understand it as speaking of the Gentiles till he saw it accomplished in the descent of the Holy Ghost upon Cornelius and his friends, who were Gentiles (Act 10:44, Act 10:45), which was but a continuation of the same gift which was bestowed on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit shall be poured out upon all flesh, that is, upon all those whose hearts are made hearts of flesh, soft and tender, and so prepared to receive the impressions and influences of the Holy Ghost. Upon all flesh, that is, upon some of all sorts of men; the gifts of the Spirit shall not be so sparing, or so much confined, as they have been, but shall be more general and diffusive of themselves. (1.) The Spirit shall be poured out upon some of each sex. Not your sons only, but your daughters, shall prophesy; we read of four sisters in one family that were prophetesses, Act 21:9. Not the parents only, but the children, shall be filled with the Spirit, which intimates the continuance of this gift for some ages successively in the church. (2.) Upon some of each age: "Your old men, who are past their vigour and whose spirits begin to decay, your young men, who have yet but little acquaintance with and experience of divine things, shall yet dream dreams and see visions;" God will reveal himself by dreams and visions both to the young and old. (3.) Upon those of the meanest rank and condition, even upon the servants and the handmaids. The Jewish doctors say, Prophecy does not reside on any but such as are wise, valiant, and rich, not upon the soul of a poor man, or a man in sorrow. But in Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free, Gal 3:28. There were many that were called being servants (Co1 7:21), but that was no obstruction to their receiving the Holy Ghost. (4.) The effect of this blessing: They shall prophesy; they shall receive new discoveries of divine things, and that not for their own use only, but for the benefit of the church. They shall interpret scripture, and speak of things secret, distant, and future, which by the utmost sagacities of reason, and their natural powers, they could not have any insight into nor foresight of. By these extraordinary gifts the Christian church was first founded and set up, and the scriptures were written, and the ministry settled, by which, with the ordinary operations and influences of the Spirit, it was to be afterwards maintained and kept up.
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II. How the kingdom of glory shall be introduced by the universal change of nature, Joe 2:30, Joe 2:31. The pouring out of the Spirit will be very comfortable to the righteous; but let the unrighteous hear this, and tremble. There is a great and terrible day of the Lord coming, which shall be ushered in with wonders in heaven and earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke, the turning of the sun into darkness and the moon into blood. This is to have its full accomplishment (as the learned Dr. Pocock thinks) in the day of judgment, at the end of time, before which these signs will be performed in the letter of them, yet so that it was accomplished in part in the death of Christ (which is called the judgment of this world, when the earth quaked and the sun was darkened, and a great and terrible day it was), and more fully in the destruction of Jerusalem, which was a type and figure of the general judgment, and before which there were many amazing prodigies, besides the convulsions of states and kingdoms prophesied of under the figurative expressions of turning the sun into darkness and the moon into blood, and the wars and rumours of wars, and distress of nations, which our Saviour spoke of as the beginning of these sorrows, Mat 24:6, Mat 24:7. But before the last judgment there will be wonders indeed in heaven and earth, the dissolution of both, without a metaphor. The judgments of God upon a sinful world, and the frequent destruction of wicked kingdoms by fire and sword, are prefaces to and presages of the judgment of the world in the last day. Those on whom the Spirit is poured out shall foresee and foretel that great and terrible day of the Lord, and expound the wonders in heaven and earth that go before it; for, as to his first coming, so to his second, all the prophets did and do bear witness, Rev 10:7.
III. The safety and happiness of all true believers both in the first and second coming of Jesus Christ, Joe 2:32. This speaks of particular persons, for to them the New Testament has more respect, and less to kingdoms and nations, than the Old. Now observe here, 1. That there is a salvation wrought out. Though the day of the Lord will be great and terrible, yet in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance from the terror of it. It is the day of the Lord, the day of his judgment, who knows how to separate between the precious and the vile. In the everlasting gospel, which went from Zion, in the church of the first-born typified by Mount Zion, and which is the Jerusalem that is from above, there is deliverance; a way of escaping the wrath to come is found out and laid open. Christ is himself not only the Saviour, but the salvation; he is so to the ends of the earth. This deliverance, laid up for us in the covenant of grace, is in performance of the promises made to the fathers. There shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said. See Luk 1:72. Note, This is ground of comfort and hope to sinners, that, whatever danger there is in their case, there is also deliverance, deliverance for them, if it be not their own fault. And, if we would share in this deliverance, we must ourselves apply to the gospel - Zion, to God's Jerusalem. 2. That there is a remnant interested in this salvation, and for whom the deliverance is wrought. It is in that remnant (that is, among them) that the deliverance is, or in their souls and spirits; there are the earnests and evidences of it. Christ in you, the hope of glory. They are called a remnant, because they are but a few in comparison with the multitudes that are left to perish; a little remnant but a chosen one, a remnant according to the election of grace. And here we are told who they are that shall be delivered in the great day. (1.) Those that sincerely call upon God: Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, whether Jew or Gentile (for the apostle so expounds it, Rom 10:13, where he lays this down as the great rule of the gospel by which we must all be judged), shall be delivered. This calling on God supposes knowledge of him, faith in him, desire towards him, dependence on him, and, as an evidence of the sincerity of all this, a conscientious obedience to him; for, without that, crying Lord, Lord, will not stand us in any stead. Note, It is the praying remnant that shall be the saved remnant. And it will aggravate the ruin of those who perish that they might have been saved on such easy terms. (2.) Those that are effectually called to God. The deliverance is sure to the remnant whom the Lord shall call, not only with the common call of the gospel, with which many are called that are not chosen, but with a special call into the fellowship of Jesus Christ, whom the Lord predestinates, or prepares, so the Chaldee. St. Peter borrows this phrase, Act 2:39. Note, Those only shall be delivered in the great day that are now effectually called from sin to God, from self to Christ, from things below to things above.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And it shall come to pass afterward,.... After the…
And it shall come to pass afterward,.... After the teacher of righteousness has been sent, and a plentiful rain of the Gospel has been let down in the land of Judea, in the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ and his apostles, and such a comfortable enjoyment of the blessings of grace in it, and the knowledge of God by it; and after the wonderful work of redemption wrought by Christ. R. Jeshua in Aben Ezra and Jarchi both say this prophecy refers to time to come; and Kimchi observes, that the phrase is the same with "in the last days"; and so the Apostle Peter quotes it, Act 2:17; a phrase, as the above writer observes, which always signifies the days of the Messiah, to which he applies these words; and so do other Jewish writers, both ancient and modern (o); and there is no doubt with us Christians that they belong to the times of Christ and his apostles, since they are by an inspired writer said to be fulfilled in those times, Act 2:16; here some begin a new chapter;
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; not on such whose hearts are made tender as flesh, according to Eze 36:26; as Jarchi; for the Spirit must be given first to make the heart such; nor only upon men in the land of Israel, a place fit to prophesy in, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; but upon all men, as this phrase frequently signifies; see Isa 40:5; that is, all sorts of men, Jews and Gentiles, men of all nations; and such there were on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured down upon the apostles, and the grace of the Spirit was given to many of all nations; though that was only the beginning of the fulfilment of this prophecy, which quickly had a further accomplishment in the Gentile world; and denotes the abundance of the gifts of the Spirit, both extraordinary and ordinary, and of his grace, and the blessings of it, bestowed on them;
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and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; as Agabus, Barnabas, Simeon, &c. and the four daughters of Philip the evangelist, Act 11:28;
your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; as Ananias, Peter, Paul, John, and others, some in their elder, some in their younger years, Act 9:10; though prophecy, dreams, and visions, being the usual ways of conveying knowledge, here signify that the knowledge of men in Gospel times should be equal to, yea, exceed, whatever was communicated to men in the highest degree in former times: John the Baptist was greater than any of the prophets, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than he, Luk 7:28.
(o) Zohar in Numb. fol. 99. 2. Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 15. fol. 219. 2. Debarim Rabba, sect. 6. fol. 242. 2. Abarbinel, Mashmia Jeshua, fol. 9. 3. R. Isaac, Chizzuk Emunah, par. 1. p. 51.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Afterward - After the return out of Babylon, after…
Afterward - After the return out of Babylon, after the various troubles and salvations by which these may know that I am the Lord. I will pour - In extraordinary gifts on the first preachers of the gospel, and in various graces to all believers. Upon all flesh - Before these gifts were confined to one particular nation; but now they shall be enlarged to all nations, and all that believe. Shall prophesy - This was in part fulfilled according to the letter in the first days of the gospel; but the promise means farther, by pouring out of the spirit on your sons and your daughters, they shall have as full a knowledge of the mysteries of God's law, as prophets before time had. Shalt dream dreams - This also was literally fulfilled in the apostles days. But it may mean farther, the knowledge of God and his will, shall abound among all ranks, sexes and ages in the Messiah's days, and not only equal, but surpass all that formerly was by prophesy, dreams, or visions.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 28. Shall come to pass afterward] אחרי כן…
Verse 28. Shall come to pass afterward] אחרי כן acharey ken, "after this;" the same, says Kimchi, as in the latter days, which always refers to the days of the Messiah; and thus this prophecy is to be interpreted: and we have the testimony of St. Peter, Ac 2:17, that this prophecy relates to that mighty effusion of the Holy Spirit which took place after the day of pentecost. Nor is there any evidence that such an effusion took place, nor such effects were produced, from the days of this prophet till the day of pentecost. And the Spirit was poured out then upon all flesh, that is, on people of different countries, speaking the languages of almost all the people of the earth; which intimated that these were the first-fruits of the conversion of all the nations of the world. For there was scarcely a tongue in the universe that was not to be found among the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Jews, Cappadocians, people of Pontus, of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Rome, Crete, and Arabia, who were residents at Jerusalem at that time; and on whom this mighty gift was poured out, each hearing and apprehending the truths of the Gospel, in his own language wherein he was born. Thus we have Divine authority for saying, that was the fulfilment of this prophecy by Joel. And the mighty and rapid spread of the Gospel of Christ in the present day, by means of the translation of the Scriptures into almost all the regular languages of the world, and the sending missionaries to all nations, who preach the Gospel in those tongues, are farther proofs that the great promise is in the fullest progress to be speedily fulfilled, even in the utmost sense of the words.
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy] Shall preach-exhort, pray, and instruct, so as to benefit the Church.
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Your old men shall dream dreams] Have my will represented to them in this way, as the others by direct inspiration.
Your young men shall see visions] Have true representations of Divine things made upon their imaginations by the power of God; that they shall have as full an evidence of them as they could have of any thing that came to the mind through the medium of the senses.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Joe 2:28-29. And it shall come to pass afterward…
Joe 2:28-29. And it shall come to pass afterward — Some versions begin the third chapter with this verse; and indeed the subject which is begun here is of so different a nature from what goes before, that it seems evident a new chapter ought to be begun here. The Jewish Rabbi Kimchi says here, that the expression afterward signifies the same as in the latter days, Isa 2:2, and that whenever the words occur, they denote the times of the Messiah; and therefore he refers this prophecy to his days, and makes it descriptive of the event which is foretold Isa 11:9, The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. This is unquestionably the true meaning of it, and thus it is explained by St. Peter, Act 2:17. “And though the things here prophesied of were not to happen till several ages afterward, yet was the prophecy highly proper to encourage the minds of the pious Jews; as it was an assurance to them that, let them be brought ever so low by this or any other calamity, yet God would preserve them a people, till all the promises made to their forefathers should be actually accomplished; and especially till the Messiah should come, under whom the knowledge of God should spread itself among all the nations of the earth, and the gifts of the Spirit of God should be poured out in a much more abundant manner than ever they were before:” see Chandler. I will pour out my Spirit — In extraordinary gifts on the first preachers of the gospel, and in various graces on all believers; upon all flesh — Upon believing Gentiles, as well as believing Jews. In former times those gifts were confined to one particular nation, but now they shall be extended to those of all nations that will apply unto God for them through faith in the Messiah. The plentiful effusion of the Holy Spirit is often represented by the prophets as the peculiar character of the gospel state, and is elsewhere compared to the pouring out of waters upon the thirsty ground, and thereby rendering it fruitful: see the passages referred to in the margin, and compare them with Joh 7:39. That this prophecy was in a great measure fulfilled in the days of the apostles and first messengers of the Lord Jesus, we have abundant proof from the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles of the New Testament. We need not, however, confine this prophecy to those early times, but, since many prophecies have gradual completions, we may understand this as implying that there shall be another remarkable effusion of the Holy Spirit upon the Jews, in order to their conversion in the latter times of the world. This exposition, which is favoured by some expressions in this prophecy, renders its connection with the contents of the following chapter more manifest. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy — The gift of prophecy was bestowed upon some women under the Old Testament, as upon Miriam, Exo 15:20; upon Deborah, Jdg 4:14; and Huldah, 2Ki 22:14.
But this gift was more frequently conferred upon that sex in the times of the New Testament. Thus we read of four daughters of Philip the Evangelist who prophesied, Act 21:9; and church history affords us several other instances; such as Perpetua and Felicitas, who were martyrs for the Christian faith; Potamiena, mentioned by Eusebius, lib. 4. cap. 5, and others. Your old men shall dream dreams — Divine dreams, either imparting unto them the knowledge of future events, or discovering to them the will of God in other respects. By this method God often made known his will to the patriarchs and prophets, impressing their minds, while they were asleep, with the things he intended to communicate; sometimes directly, without any parabolical representation, which was a pure dream; as to Solomon and others: sometimes under representations and images, which might be a vision and dream mixed, as in the case of Pharaoh, Joseph, Daniel, and others. Your young men shall see visions — In visions, distinguished from dreams, the inspired person was awake, but his external senses being bound up, and, as it were, laid in a trance, (see Num 24:4,) he had a distinct knowledge of the things revealed to him, and that sometimes accompanied with external representations: such was that vision of St. Peter’s, mentioned Act 10:11. And in this way St. John seems to have received all his revelations. From visions being applied to young men, and dreams to old men, some have observed that the imagination is stronger in those that are young than in the old; so that their senses need not be bound up with sleep, in order to make them capable of receiving heavenly visions. Also upon the servants and upon the handmaids — Even persons of the lowest condition shall be made partakers of the saving graces of the Holy Spirit, and in many instances also of his extraordinary gifts. The poor have the gospel preached to them, and all the blessings of the gospel, whether ordinary or extraordinary, are as free for the poor as the rich, and are more commonly desired and received by them than by the rich.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And it shall come to pass afterward - After…
And it shall come to pass afterward - After the punishment of the Jews through the Pagan, and their deliverance; after the Coming of the Teacher of righteousness, was to follow the outpouring of the Spirit of God.
I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh - o: “This which He says, “on all flesh,” admits of no exception of nations or persons. For before Jesus was glorified, He had poured His Spirit only on the sons of Zion, and out of that nation only were there prophets and wise men. But after He was glorified by His Resurrection and Ascension, He made no difference of Jews and Gentiles, but willed that remission of sins should be preached to all alike.”
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All flesh - is the name of all mankind. So in the time of the flood, it is said “all flesh had corrupted his way: the end of all flesh is come before Me.” Moses asks, “who of all flesh hath heard the voice of the Lord God, as we have, and lived?” So in Job; “in whose Hand is the breath of all flesh of man.” If He set His heart upon man, if He gather to Himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh shall perish together. And David; “Thou that hearest prayer, to Thee shall all flesh come; let all flesh bless His Holy Name forever and ever” Gen 6:12-13; Deu 5:26; Job 12:10; Job 34:14-15; Psa 65:2; Psa 145:21. In like way speak Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah Isa 40:5-6; Isa 49:26; Isa 66:16, Isa 66:23-24; Jer 25:31; Jer 32:27; Jer 45:5; Eze 20:48; Eze 21:4-5; Zec 2:13. The words “all flesh” are in the Pentateuch, and in one place in Daniel, used, in a yet wider sense, of everything which has life (Gen 6:17, Gen 6:19; Gen 7:15-16, Gen 7:21; Gen 8:17; Gen 9:11, Gen 9:15-17; Lev 17:14; Num 18:15; Dan 4:12; probably Psa 136:25); but, in no one case, in any narrower sense.
It does not include every individual in the race, but it includes the whole race, and individuals throughout it, in every nation, sex, condition, “Jew or Gentile, Greek or Barbarian,” i. e., educated or uneducated, rich or poor, bond or free, male or female. As “all” were to be “one in Christ Jesus” Gal 3:28, so on all was to be poured the Holy Spirit, the Bond who was to bind all in one. He names our nature from that which is the lowest in it, “the flesh,” with the same condescension with which it is said, “The Word was made flesh” , from where we speak of the “Incarnation” of our Blessed Lord, i. e., “His taking on Him our Flesh.” He humbled Himself to take our flesh; He came, as our Physician, to heal our flesh, the seat of our concupisceuce. So also God the Holy Spirit vouchsafes to dwell in our flesh, to sanctify it and to heal it. He, whom God saith He will pour out on all flesh, is the Spirit of God, and God. He does not say that He will pour out graces, or gifts, ordinary or extraordinary, influences, communications, or the like.
He says, “I will pour out My Spirit;” as Paul says, “know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” 1Co 3:16. “Ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” Rom 8:9-10. It is said indeed, “on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit,” but the gift of the Holy Spirit was the Holy Spirit Himself, as it had been just said, “the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word” Act 10:44-45. It is said, “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given us” Rom 5:5; but the “Holy Spirit” is first “given,” and He poureth out into the soul “the love of God.” As God the Word, when He took human nature, came into it personally, so that “the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in it” Col 2:9; so, really, although not personally, “doth the Holy Spirit, and so the whole Trinity, enter into our mind by sanctification, and dwelleth in it as in His throne.”
No created being, no Angel, nor Archangel could dwell in the soul. : “God Alone can be poured out into the soul, so as to possess it, enlighten it, teach, kindle, bend, move it as He wills,” sanctify, satiate, fill it. And “as God is really present with the blessed, when He sheweth to them His Essence by the beatific vision and light of glory, and communicates it to them, to enjoy and possess; so He, the Same, is also in the holy soul, and thus diffuseth it in His grace, love, and other divine gifts.” At the moment of justification, “the Holy Spirit and so the whole Holy Trinity entereth the soul at His temple, sanctifying and as it were dedicating and consecrating it to Himself, and at the same moment of time, although in the order of nature subsequently, He communicates to it His love and grace. Such is the meaning of, “We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.” This is the highest union of God with the holy soul; and greater than this can none be given to any creature, for by it we become “partakers of the divine Nature,” as Peter saith 2Pe 1:4. See here, O Christian, the dignity of the holiness whereunto thou art called and with all zeal follow after, preserve, enlarge it.
This His Spirit, God says, “I will pour,” i. e., give largely, as though He would empty out Him who is Infinite, so that there should be no measure of His giving, save our capacity of receiving. So He says of converted Israel, “I have poured out My Spirit upon the house of Israel” Eze 39:29, and, “I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication” Zec 12:10.
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy - This cannot limit what he has said, that God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. He gives instances of that out-pouring, in those miraculous gifts, which were at the first to be the tokens and evidence of His inward presence. These gifts were at the first bestowed on the Jews only. The highest were reserved altogether for them. Jews only were employed as Apostles and Evangelists; Jews only wrote, by inspiration of God, the “oracles of God,” as the source of the faith of the whole world. : “The Apostles were sons of Israel; the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the other women who abode at the same time and prayed with the Apostles, were daughters. Luke mentions, “All these were persevering with one accord in prayer with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and His brethren.” These sons and daughters of the Sons of Zion, having received the Spirit, prophesied, i. e., in divers tongues they spoke of the heavenly mysteries.”
In the narrower sense of “foretelling the future, the Apostles, the Blessed Virgin Luk 1:48, Zacharias (Luk 1:67 ff), and Anna Luk 2:36, Luk 2:38, Elizabeth Luk 1:42-45, the virgin daughters of Philip Act 21:9, Agabus Act 11:28; Act 21:10-11, John in the Apocalypse,” Simeon Luk 2:27-35, and Paul also oftentimes Act 20:29-30; 2Th 2:3-12; 2Ti 3:1, 2Ti 3:4; 1Ti 4:1 prophesied. At Antioch, there were certain “prophets” Act 13:1; and “the Holy Spirit in every city witnessed, saying, that bonds and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem” Act 20:23. “But it is superfluous,” adds Theodoret after giving some instances, “to set myself to prove the truth of the prophecy. For down to our times also hath this gift been preserved, and there are among the saints, people who have the eye of the mind clear, who foreknow and foretell many of the things which are about to be.” So the death of Julian the Apostate, who fell, as it seemed, by a chance wound in war with the Persians was foreseen and foretold ; and Cyprian foretold the day of his own martyrdom and the close of Decian persecution, which ended through the death of the Emperor in a rash advance over a morass, when victory was gained . The stream of prophecy has been traced down through more than four centuries from the Birth of the Redeemer. One of the Bishops of the Council of Nice was gifted with a prophetic spirit .
Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions - “God often attempers Himself and His oracles to the condition of people, and appears to each, as suits his state” Act 11:28; Act 21:10-11. It may then be, that to old men while sleeping by reason of age, He appeared most commonly in dreams; to young men, while watching, in visions. But it is so common in Hebrew, that each part of the verse should be filled up from the other, that perhaps the prophet only means, that their old and young should have dreams and see visions, and both from God. Nor are these the highest of God’s revelations; as He says, that to the prophet He would “make” Himself known in a vision and would “speak in a dream,” but to Moses “mouth to mouth; even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold Num 12:6, Num 12:8.
The Apostles also saw waking visions, as Peter at Joppa (Act 10:10 ff; Act 11:5 ff); (and that so frequently, that when the Angel delivered him, he thought that it was one of his accustomed visions Act 12:9,) and Paul after his conversion, and calling him to Macedonia; and the Lord appeared unto him in vision at Corinth, revealing to him the conversions which should be worked there, and at Jerusalem foretelling to him the witness he should bear to Him at Rome. In the ship, the Angel of the Lord foretold to him his own safety, and that God had given him all who sailed with him Act 9:12; Act 16:6-7, Act 16:9; Act 18:9; Act 19:21; Act 23:11; Act 27:24. Ananias Act 9:10 and Cornelius Act 10:3 also received revelations through visions. But all these were only revelations of single truths or facts. Of a higher sort seems to be that revelation, whereby our Lord revealed to Paul Himself and His Gospel which Paul was to preach, and “the wisdom of God,” and the glories of the world to come, and the conversion of the Gentiles; and when he was “caught up to the third heaven, and abundance of revelations were vouchsafed to him” Gal 1:12, Gal 1:16; 1Co 2:7; Eph 3:3; 2Co 12:1-7.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain After. From this verse to the end the prophet…
After. From this verse to the end the prophet speaks of the times succeeding the captivity, and more especially of the propagation of the gospel. The enemies of God’s people shall be destroyed, (chap. iii. 1.) which seems to refer to Cambyses, Ezechiel xxxviii. (Calmet) --- My spirit. This plainly foretells the coming of the Holy Ghost, Acts ii. (Worthington) --- The Jews never had such a multitude of prophets after the captivity as the Church had, 1 Corinthians xiv. 24. What relates to them was only a shadow of what would befall true believers.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Hereafter, on “the Lay of the Lord” the Enemies…
SECTION II
Hereafter, on “the Lay of the Lord” the Enemies of Israel shall be destroyed, while the Lord reigns in Zion guarding and blessing it.
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Joe_2:28-32.
[In the Hebrew text and in Schmoller, these verses form Chap. III., while Chap. III. of E. V. is numbered Chap. IV We prefer to keep the order of the E. V.—F.]
The promise, which up to this point has reference to the present and the near future, now takes a higher and wider range. It brings into view the day of the Lord, the result of the coming of which shall be, on the one hand, the overthrow of the world-power, and on the other, the full blessedness of God’s people, through his dwelling in the midst of them. Joe_2:28-32 may be regarded as the introduction to the closing chapter, which describes the fulfillment of the promise. The grand events, which are the harbingers of the coming of the day of the Lord, are described. Zion is pointed out as the only place of safety; but even amid the terrors of that day, God’s people will have no reason to fear. The third chapter describes the judgments to be inflicted upon the enemies of God’s people, while the latter shall receive the richest blessings from the Lord, who sits enthroned on Zion.
28 And it shall come to pass afterward,34
That I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
And your sons and daughters shall prophesy;
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions;
29 Even35 upon the men servants and the maid servants,
In those days, will I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will give signs36 in heaven and on earth,
Blood, and fire, and columns of smoke;
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
32 And it shall come to pass that whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance,
As Jehovah hath said;
Even among the remnant37 whom Jehovah shall call.
EXEGETICAL
Joe_2:28. And it shall come to pass, etc. What is here said of a general outpouring of the Spirit, while connected with the foregoing promise, holds out to Israel the prospect of a grander dispensation of divine grace and of richer blessings than those promised in the preceding chapter. God will manifest Himself in such a manner as He has never done before. But this outpouring of the Spirit is viewed by the prophet as connected with the great day of the Lord, and as a sign of its coming. But he thus views it only because he sees in that day, a day of judgment on Israel’s enemies, and a day of salvation to Israel, through God’s dwelling in Zion. If Joe_2:28-29 be considered as containing a new promise, Joe_2:30 would begin a new subject, which would be contrary to the tenor of the prophet’s discourse, as it is evident that these verses are closely connected.
Joe_2:28. Afterward,i. e., after what had been before announced in Joe_2:23; it is more indefinite than the last days, although, in general, the meaning is the same. Joel apparently imagines that the events which he here describes, will happen in no very distant future. שָפַך, to pour, primarily refers to rain, or a heavy shower of rain; it here denotes the communicating of something from above, and in great abundance. This last idea is illustrated in the extent of the gift,—to “all flesh,” and the nature of the gift,—the spirit of prophecy in various forms. הבָּשָׁר־רוּחַ. In contrast with God, to whom the רוּח belongs, κατ. ἐξ., man appears as בָשָר “flesh” This term designates man not simply as a being in want of this “Spirit,” but also as one naturally fitted to receive it, just as the dry ground is fitted to receive the rain.—All flesh. How is this general expression to be understood? It is clear from what follows that there is no limitation of sex, age, or condition, and that not merely particular individuals, but that all are to share in this divine gift,—a fulfillment of the wish of Moses (Num_11:29). The connection and the train of thought require us to extend the “all” to mankind generally.—Shall prophesy. This is explained by “prophesying,” “dreaming dreams,” “seeing visions.” In this enumeration the most important thing comes first, i. e., the proper prophetic function or power. נָבָא means, not simply to predict future events, but generally to announce the revelations of God. The whole people will be the vehicle through which these highest spiritual utterances will be made, and as all barriers will be then broken down, woman is named by the side of man. To this prophesying are conjoined, in a sort of secondary way, other modes of divine manifestation, “dreams,” “visions.” As there is to be no difference of sex, so there is to be none of age, in regard to the sharing of this spirit. Even those who would seem to be unfitted for it shall receive it—“old men and children.” Why, it may be asked, shall “old men dream dreams?” Because they are better fitted for “dreams,” just as young men, or children are for “visions,” though the reverse of this would seem to be more natural. But the condition of things predicted by the prophet would be every way extraordinary.—And the servants. This is added as something very singular, וּגַם “and even.” Nay, something unheard of shall then happen, namely, that slaves as well as freemen shall partake of this Spirit. In other words, this social distinction shall then be abolished. The Jewish interpreters could scarcely comprehend how this could be, and hence the Sept. make the servants and hand-maidens, “God’s,” ἐπί τοὺ̀ς δούλους καὶ τὰς δούλας μου; so too Act_2:16.
Joe_2:30. I will show wonders. What shall be the form of these phenomena of nature? It is idle to try to answer the question. They are evidently such as had never before been seen, though they may somewhat resemble the plagues of Egypt. There will be “blood” and “fire,” and “pillars of smoke.” The color of blood appears in the moon; both sun and moon are obscured; and there are signs of a hiding of the face of God who rules in heaven, and consequently of his anger. These signs will be of a nature to awaken terror, and all the more, as the day approaches, for it would seem from Joe_2:28-30, that there will be hardly an interval between the sign and the day. Its menacing aspect becomes so much the more prominent inasmuch as God will then manifest Himself, not merely in a general way, but as bringing on a special crisis. The obscuration of the stars is often mentioned in connection with the day of judgment (Eze_32:7; Amo_8:9; Mat_24:29; Mar_13:24; Luk_21:25). Before the day of the Lord come. Hence these appearances are signs of the coming of this day. Its actual coming and its importance are set forth in Joel 3; here it is described only in a general way. Joe_2:32 goes on to state that for Zion it will bring neither judgment nor destruction. Here its tempest will cease. But there is, at the same time, an implied exhortation to comply with the condition of safety.
Joe_2:32. And it shall come to pass,—whom the Lord shall call. To call on the name of Jehovah is to confess Him, to worship Him who has revealed, and is revealing Himself to Israel. Whosoever,כֹּל with a special emphasis, to teach that the day of the Lord will not bring destruction to all, though it may have that look. There will be complete deliverance to those who call on the name of the Lord, and to none else. The reason is given, because in Mt. Zion is “deliverance.” As Jehovah had said. This seems to point to some positive prophetic promise. This divine promise of safety to all who call on the name of the Lord, based on the promise concerning Zion and Jerusalem, shows how closely related were these two places. They are set forth as the place where the Lord dwelt in his sanctuary with his people, and where his name is known. The calling on the Lord is wholly confined to Zion and Jerusalem, though it would be of no avail to any one to be in Zion unless he called on the Lord. Deliverance. Many take this term in a concrete and collective sense, i. e., “the delivered,” but the other is the more natural interpretation. The remnant, or “the escaped;” there shall be among them those whom the Lord calls. שָׂרִיד is one who has escaped from the field of battle, or one who has been saved from the fate of most others, and so implying that the number is small. This “remnant” is evidently to be added as a new class to those before mentioned as delivered by calling on the name of the Lord, the idea being that they had been overtaken by the calamity, and though delivered, their escape had been a very narrow one, and hence noticed as the result of the Lord’s special and merciful call. Who are they? Not those already in Zion and Jerusalem; but those who were called to come there, i. e., not to these localities merely, but to communion with the God who, calls and who is enthroned in Zion. This manifestly means that some of those who would be properly liable to the judgment, would escape it and share in the salvation promised to Zion. Who are they? Not the inhabitants of Judah living outside the walls of Jerusalem;—a sense of the words entirely too limited and local. Besides, Zion and Jerusalem must be taken as including all the inhabitants of Judah wherever resident. It may, perhaps, be inferred from Joel 3 that they are the Israelites scattered among the nations, whom the Lord promises (Joe_3:16) to bring again. Yet they can scarcely be described as the “remnant,” or the “escaped,” since their deliverance is the very object of the judgment which falls upon the heathen world. Why not understand by the “remnant,” the heathen? They are both far off, and liable to the judgment. It would still be true that while the heathen world in general will be the object of the judgment in the day of the Lord, some of them will escape through the mercy of Jehovah. This is certainly only a faint indication of the calling of the Gentiles. This last fact is not distinctly announced, the heathen as such not having been as yet named. There is a close resemblance between Joe_2:32 and Oba_1:17, so that if the latter was the earlier prophet, we might suppose that his words had been modified by Joel. Obadiah says. “there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau,” in the day of the Lord. Joel also says, that this day shall be one of judgment to all outside of Zion, for all the heathen. But he does not mean that none of them shall escape, for he admits it to be possible that Jehovah might call some of them. Joel thus takes a step in advance of Obadiah, and indicates, though it may be obscurely, the work that should be done by later prophets.
[Pusey: Joe_2:28. All flesh is the name for all mankind. The words all flesh are in the Pentateuch, and in one place in Daniel, used in a yet wider sense, of everything which has life; but, in no one case, in any narrower sense. It does not include every individual in the race, but it includes the whole race, and individuals throughout it, in every nation, sex, or condition, Jew or Gentile, Greek or Barbarian, i. e., educated or uneducated, rich or poor, bond or free, male or female. On all was to be poured the Holy Spirit.
Joe_2:29. St. Peter, in declaring that these words began to be fulfilled in the day of Pentecost, quotes them with two lesser differences: “I will pour out of my Spirit and upon My servants and My handmaidens.” The words declare something in addition, but do not alter the meaning, and so St. Peter quotes them as they lay in the Greek, which, probably, was the language known by most of the mixed multitude to whom he spake. The words “My Spirit,” express the largeness and fullness of the gift. The words “of my Spirit,” express, in part, that He who is infinite cannot be contained by us who are finite. The words “the servants,” mark the outward condition. The words “my servants,” declare that there should be no difference between bond and free.
Joe_2:32. Call upon the name of the Lord. To call on the name of the Lord is to worship Him as He is, depending upon Him. The name of the Lord expresses his true Being, that which He is. For the name rendered, The Lord, expresses that He is and that He alone is, the self-same the unchangeable; the name rendered God is not the special name of God.—F.]
[Wünsche: Joe_2:28. My Spirit. The Spirit of God is the divine analogue of the spirit of man. It is the true life principle of men; the source of physical life in the world of nature, of spiritual life in the sphere of religion, of all goodness, truth, rectitude, and beauty. Whatever the human mind thinks, feels, wills, fashions, in regard to any one of these objects is, in one sense, an outflow of the Divine Spirit. The prayer that ascends to heaven from a devout heart, the self consecration, the holy enthusiasm which distinguished the prophets, and fitted them to proclaim to the people God’s judgment and his mercy,—all these are expressions and gifts of the Divine Spirit, All flesh. The word is used in Heb. to denote the totality of living being on earth, beasts and men (Gen_6:13; Gen_7:15, etc.); and then in a more limited sense, for the human race. The connection shows that, here, it is taken in the latter sense. Credner, however, gives it the wider meaning so as to include the irrational animals, and refers in confirmation of his view to the prediction of Isa_9:6-9, concerning the “wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid,” etc. But this friendly union of wild and tame animals is not represented by the prophet as the result of men’s enlarged knowledge of God. Man alone is the image of God; he alone is a fit organ of the Divine Spirit; he alone has the capacity to receive the gift here described, which, therefore, cannot be extended to the lower forms of animal life.
Joe_2:32. As Jehovah hath said. There is no reference here to a lost prophecy (Meier); nor to an older writing of Joel (Ewald); nor to Obadiah (Keil). The meaning simply is that Joel, the person speaking, had a divine revelation of the fact, that where God’s throne is, there his true worshippers shall also be. Shall call. The word has a pregnant sense, conveying the idea that the “deliverance” depends not on the worshippers of God alone, but also upon God himself. Only those whom the Lord calls or chooses, and who call upon or choose Him shall be saved. Most of the older and later expositors take “call” in a predestinative sense. The Chald. has quos dominus destinat.—F.]
THEOLOGICAL
1. From the very first the prophets point to a great decisive Hereafter. In their being able to do this lay their strength. Living in the present, their eyes were ever turned to the future, or rather the end, the consummation of all things. Hence the power of their exhortations and promises to their contemporaries. Their influence would have been very frail and feeble, if they had not had a firm faith in a future, when the salvation of God should be fully realized.
2. Outpouring of the Spirit of God upon all flesh. It is evident from the context that the prophet himself did not suppose that this “outpouring” would extend beyond the people of Israel. This was its field (Joe_2:27). Here God will reveal Himself; here in the day of the Lord the judgment will take place, here all nations shall be gathered. The whole of Joel 3 shows that the prophet considered the heathen world as the enemy of God’s people. He does not put the heathen on the same footing with Israel, but on the contrary he directs attention exclusively to the high position of Israel as God’s people. It presupposes the conversion of the heathen, and their reception among God’s people. As he nowhere predicts such a conversion, his promise of an outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh cannot here include the heathen; even if we refer the phrase “whom the Lord shall call,” to a selection of the heathen, it is all the more evident that the “all flesh” cannot include them. For the calling of individual heathen could not have the same prominence that would belong to the out-pouring of the Spirit on the whole heathen world. Joel might have assumed that some called out of the heathen world would partake of the blessing given to Israel. To Israel the promise was of something not only great but new, namely, the impartation of the Spirit to persons of all ages and conditions. Pouring out as a symbol of this impartation was never before used to denote the gift of the Spirit. Thus far only individuals in particular localities had received it. The gift was, indeed, a necessary result of the covenant relation in which Jehovah stood to Israel, but hitherto his Spirit had come only on individuals, fitting them to become divine messengers. Such a limitation, however, did not accord with the true idea of God’s people, which implies that they should all be partakers of his Spirit. This should he fully realized in the future. Every barrier shall be broken down, and the reception of this Spirit shall be limited neither by age, sex, nor condition. It would come in the form of prophetic dreams and visions, giving those who received it a deeper insight into divine things, and make them organs of divine revelation.
This promise, as given by the prophet, is twofold. On the one hand, it will thus be seen that Jehovah is in the midst of Israel. On the other hand, this general outpouring of the Spirit will be a preparatory warning of the coming of the day of the Lord. That day will be one of immediate and decisive manifestation of God, and its approach will be heralded by new and startling events fitted to excite in the minds of men eager expectation, and to rouse them to seek salvation before it was too late. These warnings may consist of extraordinary phenomena in the world of nature, or of similar phenomena in the sphere of mind. From the spirituality of the religion of Jehovah we might expect that occurrences of the latter class would predominate. Perhaps we may go farther and say that the object of these remarkable events, of this prophesying, of these dreams and visions, is the day of the Lord itself. It is clear that by this general outpouring of the Spirit the way would be prepared for such a result of the day of the Lord as must redound to the glory of Israel. Since Jehovah thus recognizes Israel as his people, by making them all individually organs of his revelation, He must, while blessing them, resist and punish their enemies. This double aspect of the day of the Lord, as one of judgment, and of redemption, is here very distinctly declared. The deliverance of individuals will not come to them as a matter of course. If they escape the terrors of that day, and share in the salvation of God’s people, it can only be by their complying with the conditions on which it is secured.
When shall this promise of a general outpouring of the Spirit be fulfilled? From the phrase “after this,” the prophet seems to have regarded it as connected with the promise given in the earlier part of the chapter. But it does not follow that he looked upon it as near at hand. The prophets often connect promises relating to the present, very closely with those pertaining to the far distant future. In this respect Joel and the later prophets agree. The latter represent the gift of the Spirit in its fullness to the covenant people, as a prominent feature of the Messianic age, or of the New Covenant. Jer_32:15; Jer 56:13; Eze_36:26; Zec_12:10. Hence we should, perhaps, designate this prophecy as in a general way Messianic, though Joel does not speak directly of the Messiah, and we should look for its fulfillment after the advent of Messiah. Thus St. Peter (Act_2:17) saw its accomplishment in the miracle of Pentecost. He expressly refers the אַחְַרֵי־כֵן—ἐν ταις ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις, to the Messianic age. He distinctly recognizes the Messiah as the mediator through whom this rich and general bestowment of the Spirit should come. Like the prophet, he understood the “all flesh,” to mean, in the first instance, the covenant people, though he declares that the promise extended also to those who were “afar off.” Joel only intimates that the latter will escape, but does not say, in so many words, that the Spirit will be given to them. Peter evidently regarded—as Joel did—this outpouring of the Spirit as a sign of the Day of the Lord, i. e., in the New Testament sense of the term, as a day of Parousia, and so quotes Joe_2:28-32. As he saw one part of the prediction accomplished, he naturally looked for the fulfillment of the other. There can be no doubt that the Apostles, at least for a time, thought that the Παρουσία, or the Coming of the Lord, was nigh at hand, and such prophecies as the one before us, would tend to confirm them in that expectation. On the day of Pentecost, Peter saw the Spirit poured out, not indeed on “all flesh,” even in the limited sense of all Israel, but he was sure that the promise of it embraced the whole covenant people, and so he opens to all the prospect of the gift, on condition of repentance.
But though the wonders of Pentecost were the first and literal fulfillment of this prophecy, they by no means exhausted its moaning. The only effect of the outpouring of the Spirit recognized by Joel, is the prophetic, and on this memorable day, it certainly appeared in an ecstatic form. But we need only to look into the Epistles of St. Paul to discover that the influence of the πνεῦμα ἁγιον which Christ gives is not exhausted by such results; on the contrary, the grandest effect of it is the regeneration of the whole man. This deeper, ethico-religious conception of the gift of the Spirit, founded on the declarations of the later prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, is certainly the New Testament one. Joel’s idea of the close connection between the outpouring of the Spirit and “the day,” is in one sense a mistaken one, since the “outpouring” came, but not the “day,” yet in another view it is perfectly correct. The two are most nearly related. With Messiah have come the ἒσχαται ἡμέραι; and the gift of the Spirit is, and will continue to be, a sign of the Day of the Lord, a proof that God is in the midst of his people, and will give them the victory over all their enemies.—Finally, we must not overlook the limits of the field of the Spirit’s operations as described by Hosea. He, indeed, considered Israel alone as God’s people, and that on Israel alone would the Spirit be poured out. But as we know from the New Testament that Christ’s disciples are not limited to Israel, neither are God’s people, so we are sure that this outpouring of the Spirit is confined to them, i. e., to the spiritual Israel, to all who, by faith, are made one with Christ. All such partake of the Holy Ghost.
[In this somewhat prolix and verbose dissertation, the author confounds two quite distinct questions, namely, What is the real meaning of the prophecy—whom does it embrace,—and when and how will it be completely fulfilled? and How far did Joel comprehend the real purport of the prophetic promises, which he was inspired to utter? This last question it is impossible to answer, because Joel has left no explanation of his prediction. We have nothing but the prophecy itself. Therefore we have no means of determining whether he took the “all flesh,” as meaning simply Israel, or in its wider sense. After all, the question is one of no practical importance. The grand inquiry is. What is the meaning of the prophecy?—F.
Wünsche: Credner is clearly wrong when he says that Peter made a false application of this prophecy. No man can deny that on the day of Pentecost, the prediction of Joel began to be accomplished. We say designedly, “began to be accomplished,” for although the Christian Church has been growing in divine knowledge, and has been working for the common good of all sexes, ages, and classes, more than eighteen hundred years since that day, the prophecy is not yet fulfilled. There are predictions, which have found their fulfillment in particular historical events; and there are others which embrace the entire field of humanity, and Joel’s belongs to this latter class. Its complete accomplishment will be the history of the kingdom of God on earth, down to the end of time.—F.]
3. Let us now consider what the prophet teaches in regard to the condition of deliverance, in this “terrible day of the Lord.” It is not sharing in those extraordinary influences of the Spirit, whose results are involuntary, but “calling on the name of the Lord,” a free act, which every one who pleases can perform. There is something to be done by each individual for himself, and all are exhorted to do it. Spiritual gifts do not necessarily involve spiritual regeneration. So we find to have been the case in New Testament history, with the miraculous χαρίσματα, which at first predominated, but gradually disappeared, giving place to a more natural and tranquil, a purer and deeper spiritual life. The condition of deliverance is stated in Joe_2:32, and all are exhorted to fulfill it. External membership with the people of Israel will not, of itself, secure salvation; but the condition is one so simple and easy, so really within the power of every one, that the verse has more the aspect of a promise than an exhortation. There is no real need that any one should be afraid of the coming of the “terrible day.” Its terrors may be escaped by simply calling on the Lord in Zion and Jerusalem, the place of worship. Therefore no one need ask, Where shall I find the Lord on whom I must call? for the Lord Himself has named the place of his abode.
This alone is necessary, “to call on the Lord.” To do this, it is not absolutely requisite that one should belong to Israel. This is plainly taught by the words just quoted. Hence Paul bases upon them the equal rights of Jews and Gentiles? But does this exposition suit the context, in which the prophet so expressly connects the deliverance with Zion and Jerusalem? If we look carefully into the matter, we shall find that it does. Zion is the place where God has revealed Himself. Without such a revelation as that made in Zion, neither calling on the Lord, nor salvation, would have been possible. Zion then (not in the local sense) is the seat and centre of salvation; because here God has manifested Himself. Paul knew that a Greek, simply as such, could not call upon the Lord, since he did not even know the Lord who had revealed Himself in Israel. Those who would call upon Him, as Paul teaches, must believe in Him, and this implies that He had been preached to them, and this was done by those who made known to the heathen the God who has manifested Himself in Zion. Paul denies that conformity to the Jewish law is a condition of salvation. All this shows the Apostle’s deep insight into the real meaning of Scripture. His heart beat for those afar off; he feels, and discovers instinctively, that the barriers which had separated Jew and Gentile were broken down by the very prophetic word which made salvation dependent on one thing alone, a thing within the reach equally of the Gentile and the Jew. He evidently took the words “whosoever shall call,” etc., in a sense large enough to embrace the whole Gentile world. On exegetical grounds, as we have seen, we are authorized though not compelled to give them this breadth of meaning. In the last clause of Joe_2:32 the phrase occurs, “whom the Lord shall call,” and it conveys the idea that salvation is not a matter of right, but of grace alone. With regard to all who are afar off this divine call is the cause of deliverance. If they had not been thus called they must certainly have perished, so that they owe their escape solely to the gracious call of God. But it is at the same time clearly implied that this call becomes effective and saving only when the man himself turns to the Lord.
HOMILETICAL
Joe_2:28. Afterward. A prophetic word of profound meaning. When? The prophets themselves did not know. Yet these promises were, for the present, a light shining in a dark place. But what kings and prophets of old desired to see and saw not, we see, who live in the times of fulfillment. To us the Afterward has become Now. To many, it is only a Once, a Formerly. They forget that the fulfillment of these prophetic words never grows old, but has a perpetual Now, which it becomes us to comprehend and improve until the Lord comes. For as that Afterward has become a Now, in Him in whom all the promises are yea and amen, so He still points us to a more distant Afterward, when there will be nothing new in distinction from the old, except as sight is distinguished from faith, and the end from the beginning.
I will pour out my Spirit. True fellowship with God implies the participation of the Spirit of God. So long as this privilege is confined to individual communion with God, on the part of men, it must be simply an object of desire and hope, notwithstanding the means used to extend it. Blessed privilege of the New Covenant, that in Christ every one may receive the Spirit of God. All special privileges are done away; all separating walls are broken down. The lowest as well as the loftiest can now aspire to be taught by the Spirit of God, and so to become a co-worker with God. How wonderful the condescension and the grace of God! (See Gal_3:28.) How plain is it that the religion of the Old Testament, though itself far from attaining this end, foreshadowed it, and revealed the way to it.
[Henry: God hath reserved some better things for us, the kingdom of grace, and the kingdom of glory, and the happiness of true believers in both. We often read in the Old Testament of the Spirit of the Lord coming like drops, as it were, upon the judges and prophets whom God raised up for extraordinary services, but now, the Spirit shall be poured out plentifully, in a full stream.
Pusey: God alone can be poured out into the soul, so as to possess it, enlighten it, teach, kindle, bend, move it as He wills, sanctify, satiate, fill it. The prophetic word circles round to that wherewith it began, the all-containing promise of the large outpouring of the Spirit of God; and that, upon those whom the carnal Jews at all times would least expect to receive it. It began with including the heathen; it instances individual gifts, and then it ends by resting on the slaves. The order of the words is significant. He begins I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and then in order to leave the mind resting on these same great words, He inverts the order and ends, and upon the servants, etc. It leaves the thoughts resting on the great words “I will pour out my Spirit.”
Robinson: A Christian even now, animated and influenced by the Holy Ghost is a wonderful being, as superior to the rest of mankind, as man is superior to the beasts of the field. But what will he be then? There have been mighty men amongst us, a Milton, a Boyle, a Newton in a former age, and some in the present, who, with the highest gifts of genius, have been endowed with eminent gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit; but who shall say in that future dispensation, to what heights of wisdom and knowledge and power man may be advanced? Every discovery in science, every progressive improvement, such as the present age has developed, are prophecies and earnests of that glorious time here promised.—F.]
Joe_2:30. Show wonders. The New Covenant has brought salvation, but it also brings sifting judgments corresponding to the greatness of this salvation. The question now is, how men will deal with it; and most certain is it that God will remove everything opposed to Him and his kingdom. Hence, with the salvation in Christ, there was need of this last separating judgment. Great displays of God’s grace and great judgments often go together, the latter preparing the way for the former. So was it in Jerusalem. Those who despised the kindly tongues of flame on the day of Pentecost, had blood, fire, and vapor of smoke as the symbols of destruction. So is it now. Those who quench the Spirit, despise prophesyings, and give themselves up to the flesh and the world will find “that day” all the more terrible, and that their damnation slumbereth not. The best thing is to be always ready for that day of God. If we delay until it actually comes, it may be too late.
[Henry: The judgments of God upon a sinful world, and the frequent destruction of wicked kingdoms by fire and sword, are prefaces to and presages of the judgment of the world in the last day.
Pusey: Each revelation of God prepares the way for another, until that last revelation of his love and of his wrath in the great day.—F.]
Joe_2:32. Whosoever calleth. Happy they who are found watching and praying when the Lord comes. We may escape the judgment, therefore we should not despair. All that is necessary is believing prayer to God. For every one who confesses God, He will confess. But such escape we must earnestly seek for ourselves. The coming of Christ has two aspects; to the godless, it will be a day of condemnation and wrath: to believers, a day of redemption and refreshing. In Zion and Jerusalem., i. e., in the God who is there revealed, is redemption. He who believes in Christ is in Zion, for he confesses Him as the God of Zion. To Him belongs the glory of our salvation. Examine thyself to see thy real condition. The ability to stand in the judgment will come, not from any outward excellence, nor even from gracious privileges or preëminence. The remnant. God desires not to destroy, but to save. Hence his constant and gracious call to all who are afar off, to come and be saved. Even the heathen, who belong not to his chosen people, can obtain salvation. Not indeed unless He calls them; but if He does call and they yield to it through his grace, they share in the gifts of his people. Art thou among the called ones of God? Hast thou heard his call? Thou mayest be called and yet perish at last. Many are called, few chosen. God calls all, but He, in turn, will be called upon in faith.
[Henry: This is ground of comfort and hope to sinners, that whatever danger there is in their case, there is also deliverance for them, if it be not their own fault. And if we would share in this deliverance we must apply ourselves to the Gospel Zion, to God’s Jerusalem. It is the praying remnant that shall be the saved remnant. And it will aggravate the ruin of those who perish, that they might have been saved on such easy terms. Those only shall be delivered in the great day that are now effectually called from sin to God, from self to Christ, from things below to things above.
Scott: The Gospel calls men in general to partake of its blessings, and of that salvation which is revealed and placed in the Church; and “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord” Jesus, as the Son of God and the Saviour of sinners, shall be delivered from the wrath to come. This is the happy case of that remnant of every age and people whom the Lord calls by his regenerating Spirit; all things shall work together for their good; they may look forward with comfort for the day, when nature shall expire in convulsions, assured that then their eternal redemption shall be perfected.—F.]
Footnotes:
[34]Joe_2:28.—“Afterward.” אַחֲרֵיִ־כֵן is clearly identical with the formula used by the later prophets. בְּאַחֲרִית ,הִיָּמִים “the last days.”
[35]Joe_2:29.—“Even.” The “also” of E. V. hardly expresses the emphasis of גַם.
[36]Joe_2:30—“Signs.” מוֹפְתֵים denotes not “signs,” but rather prodigies, miraculous signs of coming events.
[37]Joe_2:32. “Remnant.” פְלֵיטָה properly means “deliverance, escape.” Here the abst. is used for the cone. Schmoller and Wünsche render “the escaped.”
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain afterward--"in the last days" (Isa 2:2) under Messiah after…
afterward--"in the last days" (Isa 2:2) under Messiah after the invasion and deliverance of Israel from the northern army. Having heretofore stated the outward blessings, he now raises their minds to the expectation of extraordinary spiritual blessings, which constitute the true restoration of God's people (Isa 44:3). Fulfilled in earnest (Act 2:17) on Pentecost; among the Jews and the subsequent election of a people among the Gentiles; hereafter more fully at the restoration of Israel (Isa 54:13; Jer 31:9, Jer 31:34; Eze 39:29; Zac 12:10) and the consequent conversion of the whole world (Isa 2:2; Isa 11:9; Isa 66:18-23; Mic 5:7; Rom 11:12, Rom 11:15). As the Jews have been the seedmen of the elect Church gathered out of Jews and Gentiles, the first Gospel preachers being Jews from Jerusalem, so they shall be the harvest men of the coming world-wide Church, to be set up at Messiah's appearing. That the promise is not restricted to the first Pentecost appears from Peter's own words: "The promise is (not only) unto you and to your children, (but also) to all that are afar off (both in space and in time), even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Act 2:39). So here "upon all flesh."
I will pour out--under the new covenant: not merely, let fall drops, as under the Old Testament (Joh 7:39).
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my spirit--the Spirit "proceeding from the Father and the Son," and at the same time one with the Father and the Son (compare Isa 11:2).
sons . . . daughters . . . old . . . young--not merely on a privileged few (Num 11:29) as the prophets of the Old Testament, but men of all ages and ranks. See Act 21:9; Co1 11:5, as to "daughters," that is, women, prophesying.
dreams . . . visions-- (Act 9:10; Act 16:9). The "dreams" are attributed to the "old men," as more in accordance with their years; "visions" to the "young men," as adapted to their more lively minds. The three modes whereby God revealed His will under the Old Testament (Num 12:6), "prophecy, dreams, and visions," are here made the symbol of the full manifestation of Himself to all His people, not only in miraculous gifts to some, but by His indwelling Spirit to all in the New Testament (Joh 14:21, Joh 14:23; Joh 15:15). In Act 16:9; Act 18:9, the term used is "vision," though in the night, not a dream. No other dream is mentioned in the New Testament save those given to Joseph in the very beginning of the New Testament, before the full Gospel had come; and to the wife of Pilate, a Gentile (Mat 1:20; Mat 2:13; Mat 27:19). "Prophesying" in the New Testament is applied to all speaking under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and not merely to foretelling events. All true Christians are "priests" and "ministers" of our God (Isa 61:6), and have the Spirit (Eze 36:26-27). Besides this, probably, a special gift of prophecy and miracle-working is to be given at or before Messiah's coming again.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Spiritual gifts to be bestowed in a more distant…
Spiritual gifts to be bestowed in a more distant future, Joe_2:28-32 (Hebrew chap. 3).
This section takes us to a more distant future; how far is not stated. In addition to the temporal blessings promised for the immediate future (Joe_2:19-27), higher spiritual blessings are awaiting the people. The Spirit will be poured out upon them, so that the spiritual perception of all will be clarified and intensified (28, 29); and being in a new fellowship with Jehovah they have nothing more to fear. The day of Jehovah will come, inaugurated by extraordinary phenomena in nature (30, 31), but those who through the outpouring of the Spirit have become true children of God shall escape (32).
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28. Afterward — After the realization of the temporal prosperity. Not the expression used by other prophets (Isa_2:2; Mic_4:1). Joel seems to point to a date nearer than that suggested by the other expression, but he also leaves the exact time indefinite.
I will pour out — “Shaphakh does not mean merely to give in drops, but to pour out in great abundance” (Calvin).
My spirit — The spirit is the life principle in man, the invisible power to which all external actions must be traced. In a similar way all the visible manifestations of Jehovah, whatever the sphere, are caused by the Spirit of Jehovah: creation (Gen_1:2; Job_33:4); the endowment of Israel’s heroes with warlike energy and administrative power (Jdg_3:10; Jdg_11:29; compare Journal of Biblical Literature, xix, 1:140ff., and xxiii, Joe_1:13 ff.). It is, however, especially in the sphere of the ethical, the religious, and the spiritual that the Spirit is active. The Spirit produces the prophetic power in its lower and higher forms (1Sa_10:6; 1Sa_10:10; 1Sa_19:20; Isa_61:1, etc.); it inspires the high ethical and spiritual ideas and ideals of the prophets. Thus far the Spirit had been the possession of only a select few; in the afterward the limitation will be done away with. Moses had expressed the wish (Num_11:29), “Would that all Jehovah’s people were prophets, that Jehovah would put his Spirit upon them!” Of the realization of this wish in the future Joel is now convinced.
Upon all flesh — A phrase used by the Hebrews sometimes in a wider sense, including all living creatures, both man and beast (Gen_6:13; Gen_7:15; Gen_9:11; Gen_9:15); at other times in a narrower sense, of mankind alone (Jer_25:31; Psa_65:2); here only mankind, since animals nowhere appear as recipients of the Divine Spirit and the following clause seems to exclude them. It is a further question, however, whether all mankind is included or whether the promise is to be limited to Israel. Keil argues for the former, yet it is more probable, judging from the context, that the prophet has in mind Israel only. The specifications of 28, 29 point in that direction, and the expectation of the destruction of all nations (chapter 3) decides the point in favor of Israel alone (compare Act_10:45). But while the outpouring is to be confined to Israel, within the nation no one is to be excluded; all are to become active organs of the divine revelation.
Shall prophesy… shall dream dreams… shall see visions — No distinction will be made of sex, age, or position, but the prophet distinguishes between different methods in which the revelation is to be received and the prophetic gift to be exercised. He does not mean, however, that each of the methods is peculiar to the age with which it is connected. That the Spirit manifests itself to the weakened mind of the old man in dreams of the night, to the lively fancy of the youth and maiden in sights during the day — that is, true visions — and to the soul of the child, less able to resist, merely as a divine influence — cannot be proved from the Bible. Visions and dreams are two forms in which prophetic revelation is imparted (Num_12:6). All that the prophet means with the specification is that “their sons, daughters, old persons, and youth would receive the Spirit of Jehovah with all its various gifts.”
Prophesy — They will be able to do the work which in the past was limited to the prophets, they are to become “organs of divine revelations,” to make known to those outside of Israel the will of God. (For an excellent discussion of the inspiration and activity of the Hebrew prophets see Hastings’s Dictionary of the Bible, article “Prophecy and Prophets.”)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 28. afterward] After the bestowal of the material prosperity…
28. afterward] After the bestowal of the material prosperity promised in Joe_2:23-26.
pour out] i.e. send forth, not in scant measure, but abundantly: the measure of spiritual illumination, which was normally restricted to prophets or other favoured individuals, will be extended to all. The prophets regularly, in their visions of the future, look forward to an age when Israel will both enjoy the undisturbed possession of material benefits, and also be morally and spiritually regenerate: see e.g. Isa_29:18-24; Isa_30:23-25; Isa_32:1-8 (the change of character, which is to mark the ideal Israel of the future), Isa_32:15-18, Isa_33:5-6; Isa_33:24, Isa. 55:13, 14; Jer_31:12-14; Jer_31:33-34. For the gift of the spirit in particular, comp. Isa_32:15; Isa_44:3; Isa_59:21; Eze_36:27; Eze_39:29; Zec_12:10.
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my spirit] The ‘spirit’ in man is the principle of life, upon which consciousness and intelligence depend, and which imparts activity to the inert ‘flesh’ (see e.g. Gen_2:7; Isa_31:3; Isa_42:5; Eze_37:5; Eze_37:9-14; Psa_146:4): and the ‘spirit’ of God is analogously (in the O.T.) the conscious vital force peculiar to God, which, as proceeding from Him, is the power which creates and sustains the life of created beings (Gen_1:2; Job_33:4; Psa_104:30), and to the operation of which are attributed extraordinary faculties and activities of man, as well as supernatural spiritual gifts (see e.g. Gen_41:38; Exo_31:3; Num_11:17; Jdg_11:29; 1Sa_11:6; 1Sa_16:13; Mic_3:8; Isa_11:2; Isa_63:11; Psa_51:11; Hag_2:5; Neh_9:20; and compare the passages quoted at the end of the last note). The spirit of God is mentioned, as the source, in particular, of prophetic power (whether in its lower or higher forms) in Num_11:25-26; Num_11:29; 1Sa_10:6; 1Sa_10:10; 2Sa_23:2; Hos_9:7; Isa_42:1; Isa_59:21; Isa_61:1; Zec_7:12; Neh_9:30. Similarly here: Joel anticipates a time when the aspiration of Moses (Num_11:29) will be realized.
all flesh] The expression is used (a) sometimes in a wider sense to denote all living beings, including both mankind and animals, as Gen_6:17; Gen_6:19; (b) sometimes in a narrower sense, of mankind alone, as Isa_40:5; Isa_49:26. Here it is used in the second sense: but the prophet, as the context shews, has in reality only Israel in his mind; other nations are pictured by him as destroyed (Joe_3:2; Joe_3:9 ff.). Comp. the surprise expressed in Act_10:45 at the Spirit being poured out upon the Gentiles.
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, &c.] Joel poetically specializes the operation of the spirit, in such a manner that it manifests itself differently in different classes of the people. The distinction is not to be understood with prosaic literalness any more than it is to be inferred from Isa_11:12 (see the Heb.) that Isaiah expected only the men of Israel, and the women of Judah, to return from exile.
prophesy] i.e. will have insight into Divine truth, and will be moved to express it, in the manner which is at present confined to such as specially bear the name of prophets. The term is of course not to be misunderstood, as if it referred merely to predictions relating to the future: the reference is in general to inspired instruction in moral and religious truth. Two special modes of consciousness in which Divine truths frequently presented themselves to the prophet (Num_12:6) are then particularized, the dream and the vision: in illustration of the former, see Deu_13:2, Jer_23:25; Jer_23:32; Jer_27:9; Jer_29:8 (in these passages the dream is spoken of in terms of disparagement, on account of its liability to become a source of self-deception); for the latter, see on Amo_1:1; Amo_7:1.
young men] how, it may be asked, do the “young men” differ from the “sons,” just before? Probably as older and more independent; it is the term often employed to denote the young, able-bodied warriors of Israel (2Ki_8:12; Jer_11:22; Jer_18:21).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (28) I will pour out my spirit upon all…
(28) I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.—Holy Scripture is itself the interpreter of this most weighty promise. St. Peter’s quotation and application of it in the Acts is its commentary. “Afterward “—LXX., after these things becomes in the apostle’s mouth—“in the last days”—i.e., in the Christian dispensation, when, after the punishment of the Jews by the heathen, their king came—“my Spirit”—St. Peter renders “of my spirit,” after the LXX., indicating the gifts and influences of the Holy Ghost—“upon all flesh”—i.e., without distinction of race or person—“they of the circumcision were astonished because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.” The outward manifestation of these gifts, as shown on the Day of Pentecost, in accordance with this prediction, was gradually withdrawn from the Church; the reality remains.
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The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 28, 29. And it shall come to pass…
Vers. 28, 29. And it shall come to pass afterward (acharekhen). This intimates the time when the promised blessing is to be bestowed, and must be read in the light of New Testament exposition; for Peter, in quoting the words, (Act_2:17, etc.) varies the prophet"s note of time by substituting an explanatory phrase, viz. en taiv escataiv hmeraiv , "in the last days an expression which, as is acknowledged, refers to the days of the Messiah or the last days of the old dispensation. The apostle thus defines more closely the somewhat indefinite expression of the Hebrew. After this specification of the time, he proceeds to state the blessing to be bestowed. I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. The word shaphak, employed by the prophet to express the outpouring of the Spirit, implies the bestowal of the gift in great abundance, as Calvin clearly pointed out: "For shaphak," he says, "does not mean merely to give in drops, but to pour out in great abundance. But God did net pour out the Holy Spirit so abundantly or copiously under the Law, as he has since the manifestation of Christ." The Spirit was indeed communicated in Old Testament times, but that communication was restricted in two ways in quantity, and in the number of recipients; the former was comparatively scanty and the latter few, whereas the word here applied to its communication implies a rich supply, like a copious rainfall. After the specification of the time, and the mention of the blessing, with its implied plentifulness, comes its wide diffusion, or general distribution flesh," or "all mankind," as the Hebrew expression denotes; and that without regard to age, or sex, or state. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. Sons and daughters without distinction of sex; old men and young men without reference to age; servants and handmaids without regard to social position. Thus it is with the Spirit of God as with the Son of God, of whom the apostle says, "There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all." The blessing of salvation through the Son of God and by the Spirit of God is wide as the world in its offer, and free to all who accept it without national distinction, for there is neither Jew nor Greek; without social distinction, for there is neither bond nor free; without sexual distinction, for there is neither male nor female; without ceremonial distinction, for there is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision; without intellectual or educational distinction, for the barbarian and even the Scythian, the lowest type of barbarian, are free to share the blessing. The regain before the "servants" and "handmaids," rendered in the citation by Peter, not as in the LXX by a simple kai , but by kai ge , and in the Authorized Version "and also," is an emphatic addition to the previous enumeration, equivalent to "nay more" and implying something extraordinary and unexpected, that not only the weaker sex, but the meanest of both sexes, were to participate in the blessing. "Not a single case," says Keil, "occurs in the whole of the Old Testament of a slave receiving the gift of prophecy." The mode in which spiritual communication is
(1) according to some is that of visions to the young, whose fancy is more vigorous; that of dreams to the old, in the decadence of their mental powers; while to the sons and daughters the gift is prophesying. Others more correctly
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(2) understand prophecy as the general term for speaking under the Spirit"s influence or instructing by Divine inspiration; while the two forms of prophetic revelation are dreams when the mental "faculties are suspended by natural causes," and visions or trances when "suspended by supernatural causes," the communication in either case being supernatural. This prediction began to be fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost.
Vers. 28, 29. The outpouring of the Spirit.
We have the authority of St. Peter for applying this prediction to the Messianic dispensation. Joel"s mind was lifted up by the happy prospect in the immediate future for his countrymen, and, as was so often the case, his prophetic gaze pierced the dense mists of futurity, and he beheld "the wonder that should be.
I THE PERIOD OF THE GIFT. It is not intended to teach that the bestowal of the Holy Spirit was deferred, and reserved for the Messianic age. Yet no believer in the New Testament can doubt that the Day of Pentecost witnessed an unprecedented outpouring of Divine energy and grace, in itself the herald and the promise of a constant perennial effusion of blessing upon all the Church of the ascended Redeemer.
II THE NATURE OF THE GIFT. It was an invisible, impalpable grace; its operation took place in spiritual natures. The Spirit of God bestowed those special gifts of inspiration, of faith, of healings, of tongues, which were peculiar to the first age of the Church. The same Spirit conferred the gifts of teaching and administration, which have tended to the edification and increase of the body of Christ. But the choicest and richest of spiritual gifts have ever been those of character and principle, of disposition and habit, which have made the Church the true representative upon earth of its ascended Lord. Of these gifts the chief is love.
III THE ABUNDANCE OF THE GIFT. The promise is not of scanty drops, but of copious showers. The great Giver delights to give generously, royally, gloriously.
IV THE RECIPIENTS OF THE GIFTS. The most marvellous part of this magnificent prophecy is the language in which is described the comprehensiveness of the Church of the Lord Jesus.
1. Among these recipients of spiritual grace are men and women. "Your sons and your daughters." In Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female.
2. Old and young are alike included among the seers of visions and the dreamers of dreams; for upon every enlightened soul shall stream the light which is not of this world, and which reveals eternal realities.
3. Upon bond and upon free the graces of the Spirit are shed without distinction. Servants and handmaids are participators in the Spirit; for all are free in Christ Jesus.
4. To make this universality explicit, it is expressly said that the outpouring, shall be upon "all flesh," i.e. upon all humanity. Beyond a prospect like this, the vision of inspired prophets could not extend; the grace of the infinite Giver could not be vaster and more comprehensive. T.
HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND Vers. 28, 29. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
These words were to have their fulfilment after the purpose expressed in the twenty-third verse had been accomplished. The marginal translation there is the more correct. Joel called upon the children of Zion to rejoice in the Lord, because he was about to send "a Teacher of righteousness." This was he of whom Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews, said, "We know that thou art a Teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles which thou doest, except God be with him." We must look, therefore, for the fulfilment of the prophecy in our text after the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter was right in recognizing it in the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Church at Pentecost. (Act_2:16-21) But the baptism of the Spirit is recurrent. The Church has known many a Pentecost. It is within our reach now, and we all sorely need it.
I THE EFFECTS OF THE EFFUSION OF THE HOLY GHOST may be briefly suggested, so far as they are alluded to in our text. Amongst them may be mentioned the following.
1. Belief in the supernatural. "Visions" and "dreams" were the means of Divine revelation. We read of them in the history of Joseph, Daniel, Ezekiel, and others, mentioned in the Old Testament. Under the new dispensation Peter had visions of angels; Paul saw the angel of the Lord more than once; Stephen beheld Jesus standing at the right hand of God; John gazed on the glories of the New Jerusalem, and rejoiced in visions of his Lord. If such special manifestations are no longer given, spiritual realities around us are not the less confidently believed in by men baptized with the Holy Ghost. What are laughed at by the world as dreams and visions are actual truths and obvious phenomena in Christian experience. Spiritual truths are spiritually discerned.
2. Fearless enunciation of Divine truth. "Prophecy" is used in two senses in Scripture. As the faculty of foretelling future events, it was prevalent in the Christian Church. Agabus, and the daughters of Philip the evangelist, were not alone in their gifts. Even now coming events cast their shadows before on the sensitive souls of believers, whose answered prayers are the beginnings of the Divine purposes. But if we take the phrase in its more ordinary acceptation, there can be no doubt that the baptism of the Spirit gives courage and power for utterance of Divine truth. This the apostles realized. Feeble and trembling before Pentecost, they shook the world by their bold preaching after it.
3. The extension of the covenant. "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh" can only mean the inclusion of the Gentiles in the covenant blessings. And it was the fact that to them also was given the Holy Ghost, which broke down the prejudices of the apostles and led them to the inclusion of these in the Christian Church. God put no difference between Jew and Gentile, nor does he now.
4. The exaltation of the lowliest. The "servants" and the "handmaids," in other words, the male and female slaves, were not to be excluded. God was no respecter of persons. Onesimus, the fugitive slave, was as true a convert as his master, Philemon.
II THE ATTITUDE OF SOUL NECESSARY TO THE RECEPTION OF THIS BLESSING, This we may learn from a comparison of the passage with the actual experience of the apostles.
1. The Church should feel profoundly convinced of her weakness. As afflictions brought down the Jews, so the departure of their Lord saddened and disheartened the apostles. They had no strength, and they knew it. Therefore they could only tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted." "My strength is made perfect in weakness.
2. The Church should cherish strong confidence in the power of God. All that puts natural causes in the place of the Divine energy which is in them, weakens this faith. As the earth is dependent on the rains, and "lives because heaven weeps over it," so is the Church dependent on the outpouring of the Spirit from on high. According to our faith so it will be unto us.
3. The Church must bestir herself to believing and importunate prayer. Compare the Lord"s parable of the importunate widow. Recall the promise, "Ask, and ye shall receive," etc. Above all, trust to this explicit declaration, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? A.R.
Vers. 28-32. The gospel age.
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh," etc. Peter quotes this passage, but not with literal accuracy. Divine inspiration secures not uniformity of phraseology, but uniformity in facts and principles. We are authorized in regarding the passage as pointing to the gospel age; or, as Peter says, to the last days. The days of the Messiah are indeed the last days of the world. The passage teaches four things in relation to these last days: this gospel age as connected
I WITH AN EXTRAORDINARY EFFUSION OF THE SPIRIT. "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." Flesh here stands for humanity. Under the gospel dispensation, the influence of the Spirit would be:
1. Universal, not limited to sex. "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Not limited to age. "Your young men shall see visions; your old men shall dream dreams." The redemptive influences of the gospel are like the rolling atmosphere and the shining sun universal in their aspect.
2. Illuminating. It would bring the light of God"s thoughts upon the soul. They "saw visions and dreamed dreams and prophesied." That is, men under its influence would receive and reflect God"s eternal truths.
II WITH PRODIGIOUS REVOLUTIONS. "I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke." These words may perhaps be properly regarded as a highly poetic representation of that revolution in governments, Churches, and all other human institutions which would inevitably follow the working out of the Divine ideas and spiritual influences of these last days. (Isa_13:10 Isa_34:4) When Christianity enters with all its renovating power the individual soul, what a revolution! What wonders in heaven, what signs on earth, what blood, fire, and vapour of smoke! It is so also when it enters a community; then it shakes the heavens and the earth of social and political life.
III WITH A TERRIBLE DAY. Peter calls it a notable day. The primary reference in all probability is to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. It was indeed a terrible day (see Josephus; see also first edition of "Genius of the Gospel," p. 606). But there is another terrible day still before us, a day of which the destruction of Jerusalem is but a faint shadow and type the day of general judgment the day when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise. What a day will that day be of judgment, day of wonders," etc.!
IV WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF SALVATION TO ALL. "Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered;" or, as Peter has it, "shall be saved saved from the thraldom, the guilt, the damnation, of sin. "Whosoever thank God for this "whosoever"! D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And it shall come to pass afterward, that I…
Joe_2:28
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh.
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The new Gospel era
The prophet had encouraged the nation to repentance by announcing the temporal blessings which would be consequent thereon. They would get the former rain, they would get the latter rain. The floors would be filled with wheat, and the fats would overflow with wine and oil. Desolation would vanish, plenty would return. This was the lower sphere of benediction consequent upon their repentance. Now the prophet mentions the higher blessing to follow,--the spiritual, of which the temporal was but a type.
I. That the new Gospel era would be characterised by a copious outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joe_2:28).
1. The time. Afterward. In those days. To what time does this refer? To the days of the prophet? To the era of the law? Or, to the time when the promised Messiah should come? This outpouring of the Spirit seems to be connected by the prophet with the secular prosperity of which he had been speaking. He probably did not know the time to which his words had reference; but if it was in the future it was as real to his faith as the present to his sight. This promise no doubt had reference to the Messianic age, though Joel may not have been cognizant of the fact. It was not fulfilled at Bethlehem, nor in Gethsemane, nor at Calvary, nor at Olivet. It was still afterward. It was partially accomplished at Pentecost (Act_2:17), though there was concealed in it a deeper meaning than even Pentecost could impart, the entire significance of which we are as yet ignorant. We live in this afterward of time, and know its meaning, as did not the prophets of old; but the afterward of the kingdom of heaven has yet to evolve the universal reign of the Spirit of God.
2. The author. I will pour. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit was to be of Divine origin. It is the alone prerogative of the Eternal God to bestow the Spirit upon mankind. Joel did not connect the gift of the Spirit in any way with himself, or with any agency he could command. Nor did Peter on the day of Pentecost. Prophets and apostles, however distinguished they may have been, were not the authors but the channels of spiritual energy. Man cannot give the Holy Spirit to his fellow-man. Thoughtful books cannot bestow it; organisation cannot impart it. This is the testimony of Scripture; this is in conformity with human experience, and with the moral inability of man to originate good. Hence we must go to God for it. We must wait His time. We must comply with the moral conditions necessary to its reception. We must give Him the praise and glory of its advent in any measure. All true spiritual emotion is from above.
3. The extent. I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh The Divine Spirit was to be poured out without distinction of age, sex, country, or genius. It should be given to universal man. It would not be confined to the covenant nation. The poor, the slave, the unlearned--all should receive this gift. It would be poured out; not drop by drop, but as a mighty shower; even as copiously as the rain after the prayer of Elijah. The gift of the Spirit is not limited by any restraint upon the Divine ability to give. It is not limited by time. Sin cannot stay it, for grace abounds much more than sin. Then why is not spiritual influence more potently with us?
4. The effect. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. This does not limit the universal application of the promise, but simply gives examples of those who shall realise it, and the effect it will have upon them. In the early ages of the church, the miraculous gifts of the spirit were imparted; but they have ceased, and, instead, we have illuminatio of soul, a beauteous insight into the truth of God, bright visions of destiny: for these are the things which now accompany and evince the presence of the Holy Ghost.
II. That the new Gospel era would be characterised by the most alarming temporal commotions. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke, etc. God gives successive revelations of Himself; revelations of the spirit of mercy, and also of the spirit of judgment. The phenomena here named are physical in their nature, but have a deep moral significance. The great events of Christianity have been signalised by phenomena in the material universe. The guiding of the star at the birth of Christ. The darkness of the sun at the Crucifixion. The wind and fire at Pentecost. Nature is in sympathy with the great plans of God. The progress of truth occasions many wondrous phenomena. It darkens many suns. It turns many moons into blood. It is in conflict with dark prejudice, with wilful error, with the carnal mind, with sinful passion, with old custom, with proud philosophy; hence the moral commotion intimated in the text, and illustrated by the history of Christ. But all these commotions will be penetrated and mitigated by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, will yield ultimate quietude when the voice of God shall be heard, and the peace of the Divine reign finally established.
III. That the new Gospel era would be characterised by a merciful arrangement for the salvation of all earnest suppliants. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered, etc.
1. Salvation in the time of peril. The Gospel era shall provide safety for human souls amidst the awful calamities which shall then befall the world.
2. Salvation in the time of despair.
3. Salvation on easy conditions. There might be mystery in the darkened sun, but not about the salvation to be had. It is to be had from God by prayer.
Lessons:--
1. That God is the author of all true reviving influence.
2. That the gift of the Holy Spirit is co-extensive with the range of universal life.
3. That in the Gospel era the Divine Spirit is richly manifest.
4. That while we must anticipate times of moral commotion, we must also expect times when the redemptive purpose shall be more fully manifest. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The nature of the great spiritual change which we anticipate
This prophecy was not finally fulfilled upon the day of Pentecost. The effusion of the Spirit on that day must be regarded as typical of the final outpouring of the Spirit in the last ages of the world.
1. The necessity of an effusion of the Divine Spirit in order to accomplish the change that is needed. There never can be such a transformation, as the principles of Christianity show to be required by the condition of the world, except by a mighty and resistless agency on the hearts of men by the Holy Spirit of God.
The necessity of this effusion will appear if you consider--
1. The absolute and perfect failure of all agency apart from Him, which hitherto has been employed by man.
2. The precise and essential nature of the change which is anticipated and desired. It is not a change in the external aspect of things, it is a change of principle; it is a change of motives; it is the transformation of all opposition on the part of man towards the government of God, and interests of eternity.
3. The appropriation to the Divine Spirit of the various offices which are assigned to Him in the economy of redemption. It is the Spirit who quickens, who converts the soul, who urges to faith, who instructs, guides, consoles, seals, etc.
4. The ascription to the Spirit of the great change in the latter day which we are led to anticipate throughout the whole structure of the prophetic writings. Whoever looks for the renovation of future times, and the amelioration of the state of man, to any agent short of the one to which we now ascribe it, is most grievously mistaken, and does most impiously blaspheme.
II. The mode in which the effusion of the Divine spirit will be conducted.
1. The effusion of the Divine Spirit will he preceded by remark able and extensive providential changes in human society. With regard to the precise instrumentality employed, few would venture on distinct assertion. Possibly much public agitation and national convulsion may he necessary.
2. It will be immediately associated with the propagation of the Word of God, and the use of importunate prayer.
3. The effusion of the Divine Spirit will be imparted with great and extraordinary rapidity. Hitherto there has been but a slow impartation of spiritual influence. Two topics need consideration.
(1) Whether the era of the final effusion of the Spirit will be introduced by miraculous agency.
(2) At what time may the effusion be expected.
III. The effects which the effusion of the spirit will produce. On the Church--removing its ignorance, and healing its divisions: sanctifying its members. On the world--it shall then be given to God. (James Parsons.)
Prosperity and the Spirit
Upon the promises of physical blessing there follows another of the outpouring of the Spirit: the prophecy by which Joel became the prophet of Pentecost, and through which his book is best known among Christians. The order of events makes us pause to question: does Joel mean to imply that physical prosperity must precede spiritual fulness? It would be unfair to assert that he does, without remembering what he understands by the physical blessings. To Joel these are the token that God has returned to His people. The drought and the famine produced by the locusts were signs of His anger and of His divorce of the land. The proofs that He has relented and taken Israel back into a spiritual relation to Himself, can, therefore, from Joels point of view, only be given by the healing of the peoples wounds. In plenteous rains and full harvests Goal sets His seal to mans penitence. Rain and harvest are not merely physical benefits, but religious sacraments: signs that God has returned to His people, and that His zeal is again stirred on their behalf (Joe_1:18). This haste be made clear before there can be talk of any higher blessing. God has to return to His people and to show His love for them before He pours forth His Spirit upon them.. . . From Joels standpoint physical blessings may have been as religious as spiritual, but we must go further, and assert that for Joels anticipation of the baptism of the Spirit by a return of prosperity, there is an ethical reason, and one which is permanently valid in history. A certain degree of prosperity, and even of comfort, is an indispensable condition of that universal and lavish exercise of the religious faculties, which Joel pictures under the pouring forth of Gods Spirit. The history of prophecy itself furnishes us with proofs of this. And has it been otherwise in the history of Christianity? An acute historian observes that every religious revival in England has happened upon a basis of comparative prosperity. (G. Adam Smith, D. D.)
The manifestation of the Holy Ghost
Joel appears to move in the circle of moral convictions, and of eschatelogical hopes. He has been called the prophet of the manifestation of the Holy Ghost.
I. A prediction of the coming of the Holy Ghost.
1. I will pour out. These words suggest the abundance of the gift.
2. The effusion was to be Of My Spirit, that is, the Holy Ghost.
II. The extent of that manifestation.
1. Upon all flesh. This means upon all mankind. Giving the idea of an universal religion.
2. The gift is said to descend upon all flesh, naming that which is lowest in our nature.
3. The outpouring only began on the day of Pentecost.
4. This outpouring will continue to flow on as long as the world lasts. See three effects of the Spirits presence and operation in the souls of men, which are of the
Greatest practical moment--
1. His presence has given a greater malignity to sin, m that, through His indwelling, sin is now brought so near to the Holy God; because the light which the Spirit imparts robs sin of the excuse of ignorance. And because sin is now committed, in spite of that new power to resist it which is bestowed by the presence of the Holy Ghost.
2. The presence of the Spirit, with His fruits and gifts, carries with it a higher standard and ideal than that of the old covenant.
3. The presence of the Spirit should impart fervour to all devotional exercises. (Sunday in Church.)
The promise of the Spirit
We, as well as the people of nineteen centuries ago, have an interest in the prophecy of Joel. Whithersoever the quickening influences of the Spirit of God shall come, there shall be spiritual life. And is not this the real want of the age? The term revival is frequently mentioned in these days.
I. What is a revival? It is the renewal in effect and continuation of what took place under the preaching of the Word at Pentecost, when thousands of spiritually ignorant and perishing men were first quickened. Religion is a life, even the life of God in the soul. Without spiritual vitality there can be no real personal religion. Spiritual life is kindled in the soul by the Spirit of God. The first indications of this life are generally, not invariably, alarm. Its first act is faith. This life requires nourishment, and that is supplied chiefly by the Word of God and prayer. It has its inward growth and its outward manifestations. The spiritual life may be likened to an exotic. Revivals, or what is equivalent to them, are in separate departments of life found to be universally and indispensably needed. The Reformation in Germany was a gigantic revival. About 1743, within two or three years, thirty or forty thousand souls were born into the family of heaven. Numbers object, to extended religious manifestations, because of the excitement which sometimes attends them. Some measure of excitement is, however, in the nature of things, inseparable from a time of awakening, either of one or of many. Many object to seasons of revival, because of the suddenness with which some conversions are effected: but there are various operations of the Spirit. A revival is just the gracious sovereign putting forth of Divine power on a great scale, to effect largely what in ordinary times takes place in one here and there through a community.
II. What are the signs that a revival is needed by us? Weakness and fainting in some, and death in others. What is Christian life in its essence? It is the implanted, earnest, ever-expanding taste for and aspiration after the living God, reconciled in Christ, as ones all in all. It is that this state may become the state of every one of us, we need a revival.
III. What are the hindrances to a revival among us? Their name is legion.
1. Hindrances in the Church. Unbelief is the sin which most easily besets us. It is the common crying sin of the Church. We are straitened in our own faith and hope. Dis union. Conformity to the world.
2. Hindrances in the world. Ignorance, indifference, infidelity, intemperance.
IV. What are the means by which we and others might receive a revival? Earnest, scriptural, impressive preaching. Earnest, instant, individual, and social prayer. Domestic discipline, instruction, and family worship. If we are to be Christians at all, we must be growing Christians. There is no such thing as standing still in the Divine life. Life is a battlefield on which the Christian soldier is either gaining ground or losing it. (James Stirling Muir.)
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit essential to a revival of religion
I. The animating prediction. Note the object promised, it was the Spirit. The term Spirit is used to denote His miraculous and gracious influences. The Spirit is a person. The influences of the Spirit may be considered as miraculous and as common. The former were peculiar to the apostolic age, the latter must be regarded as the privilege of believers in every period of time. Observe the persons who shall receive the Spirit. It will be poured out upon all flesh. This embraces the whole human race. Observe the season when this prediction will be verified. The last days, i.e., this entire present dispensation, the final economy of mercy to the world.
II. The glorious effects connected with the dispensation of the spirit. Notice the blessings of the Spirit, as seen in the apostles--they were qualified by it for their work. And as it respects the revival of religion, the Gospel is attended with extraordinary success.
III. The means by which this Divine influence may be more eminently enjoyed by us in the present day.
1. By a more decided and elevated tone of piety in the members of our churches.
2. By consecrating much time to devotion.
3. By a distinguished zeal in the promotion of those institutions which advance Immanuels cause.
4. By increasing harmony and affection among the disciples of Christ. Love to the brethren is the peculiar excellence of Christianity, the badge of discipleship, and the glory of religion. (W. Yates.)
The promise of the Spirit
This is the great Old Testament promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit; the first in order of time, the first in degree of importance. In the earlier Scriptures we find occasional allusions to the work of the Spirit. The prophecy of Joel contains the first utterance upon this great subject. Joel is thought by some to be the oldest of the Hebrew prophets who wrote. The structure of this prophecy is very simple. In the first we find Gods judgments upon His people. Their obtaining mercy. The punishment of their enemies. In the remainder of the book we have--
1. The call to repentance.
2. The promise of blessing.
3. The judgment of the ungodly.
Of the promise of the Spirit, which is the culminating point in the announcement of blessing, we have the warrant of St. Peter for saying that it received a fulfilment on the day of Pentecost. The expression pour out cannot be applied literally to a Divine person. It is symbolical, and adopted from the promise of rain in verse 23. The Lord Jesus, during His ministry, took up the promise, and both expanded and renewed it. There was, however, a condition upon the fulfilment of which the gift of the Spirit was contingent. The glorification of Jesus was to precede the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. It was to be the peculiar office of the Spirit to testify of, and glorify Christ, by taking of the things of Christ, and showing them to His people. But while we see in Pentecost a fulfilment of the prophecy, we may ask whether the Old Testament promise was exhausted upon the day of Pentecost. Certainly it was not. The prophecy is asserted by St. Peter to be co-extensive with the Divine calling, to run side by side with that calling so long as it shall continue, to belong therefore to the whole Christian dispensation. The last days is the New Testament term descriptive of the entire interval between the first and second advents. There are certain special and peculiar manifestations of the Spirit. God at times vouchsafes a gracious outpouring both upon the Church and the world. Have we any ground for expecting any such remarkable visitation in the present day? In examining the structure of the prophecy of Joel, we note the following sequences:
(1) The call to repentance, addressed to the professing people of God,
(2) The promise of blessing, culminating in the promise of the Spirit.
(3) The announcements of judgments to be inflicted upon the enemies of God and His Church. This sequence of events took place in connection with Pentecost.
There was then--
(1) The universal preaching of repentance to the Jewish nation.
(2) The outpouring of the Spirit.
(3) The infliction of signal vengeance upon those who proved themselves to be the deadly enemies of the true Church of God.
Are there any events of a similar kind taking place at the present time? It has been too much the habit with Christians to rest satisfied with a very partial and moderate fulfilment of the promise of the Spirit. It is scriptural to indulge the expectation of such a holy revival. It is desirable that such fulfilment should take place. It is possible, may I not say probable, that such blessed results may be accomplished. But in what way are we to act, so that we may reasonably expect the blessing?
1. Remove the hindrances which stand in the way of such outpouring of the Spirit. The unholiness which exists in the Church of God. Ignorance and misapprehension regarding the work of the Spirit, and the nature of religious revival. The personal responsibility of all Christians in relation to the extension of the Redeemers kingdom is not felt as it should be.
2. Adopt the means by which a religious revival may be promoted. The faithful preaching of the Divine Word. Real, hearty, believing, united, and persevering prayer. (Emilius Bayley.)
The Holy Spirit promised
The development of the redemptive scheme is by a succession of stages. Each stage is an advance upon the preceding. The finger of prophecy as well as of providence points forward. The eyes of the heathen were turned lack ward. Their golden age was past. Not so the Jews. So Christianity is a religion of expectancy. Though in the final stage of the worlds development, we are far from the end of that stage. The remedial agencies are working, but the remedy is not yet wrought. We have a sufficient revelation, but we have not yet fathomed it. We have a fixed though not a finished faith. Christianity is aspiring, hopeful, confident. The Holy Spirit made known, through Joel, that in the ages to come there would be established, through His own abundant and universal effusion, a new order of things unspeakably more glorious and happy than anything hitherto known.
I. The extent of the blessing. Extent both in the sense of amplitude and degree. The promise is to all, without distinction of age, sex, nationality, or degree. The Spirit of God had been in the world before the last days began, but, in no such plenitude and power as after His effusion. The words pour out imply abundance and richness. The three usual forms of special Divine revelation known to the Hebrews,--prophecy, visions, dreams,--indicate the fulness of the blessing; and the inclusion of all classes, down to slaves, shows the extent of the blessing. Nor is the prophecy confined to the Hebrew nation. On the Gentiles as well as the Jews was the Spirit poured out. The true doctrine as to the extent of the Holy Spirits operation may be thus summarised.
1. The expression all flesh is to be taken literally, including not only all the nations of the earth, but every individual of every nation. Not that the Holy Spirit has the same direct influence upon all. That is not possible, since the means and instruments through which He works are not at hand to the same degree in all. Much of his work in the more favoured nations is in behalf of the less favoured. This is true of individuals also. Man is part spirit, and is capable of receiving and recognising the monitions of the Father Spirit. No soul of man, not even the darkest and most degraded, is neglected by the Holy Spirit. However dull it may be, still there is a con science, a Divine spark, and that is responsive to the breath of the Divine Spirit. In numberless ways does the Spirit make Himself felt all the way from childhood to age. And at times the Spirit makes special appeals.
2. To what extent, in the sense of degree, is the Spirit given? Thus far no response on the part of man has been supposed. The Spirit comes to him self-moved, not because man wants Him, but because He wants man. It is His aim to persuade man to open his heart to receive Him. But man is free, and can open it or bar it closer. With what measure of fulness and blessing does the Spirit come? The language of prophecy leads us to expect great things. The fountain is inexhaustible and the supply abundant. Fulness of possession is the only natural limit of the promises blessing. As a matter of fact the Spirit does fill every soul just so fast and far as He is permitted. It does not follow that, if all were to receive Him to the fullest extent possible, they would have Him in the same measure, or possess the same spiritual power. That depends upon their capacity and ability. Nor does fulness of the Spirit necessarily imply the possession of miraculous power. That power may depend on the possession of peculiar natural gifts.
II. The nature of the blessing.
1. The gift of the Spirit is a gift of enlightenment. The natural man, however highly endowed, fails to under stand the things of the Spirit. To them his mind is dark; but when the Spirit comes into a soul, light comes with Him.
2. It is a gift of purification. The Scripture emblems of the purifying power of the Holy Ghost are water and fire. One cleanses by washing away, the other by burning up impurities. Light let into a dungeon does not remove its foulness; no more does illumination purify the heart; the Holy Ghost not only enlightens but cleanses. He is water to wash away the impurities of sin, fire to burn up the dross of nature.
3. It is a gift of power. At Jerusalem the disciples were endued with power from on high. The Holy Spirit in a man makes him an engine of power. He is strong to endure, for God is with him. He is bold in speech, efficient in action, prevalent in prayer. Illustrate by St. Paul, Luther, Nettleton, Finney, Moody, etc.
4. It is a gift of joy. Illustrated in the ecstasies of the early disciples. There is a joy in the Holy Ghost. (Sermons by Monday Club.)
The outpouring of the Spirit the property and security of the Church of God
I. The subjects of this especial mercy. It is a word from the God of all grace to that people, and touching their increase, who profess to be the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood. Their increase are designated as all flesh, your sons and your daughters, your old men, your young men, the servants, the handmaids. All that are afar off. With this limitation, As many as the Lord our God shaft call.
II. The mercy itself which is promised. The Spirit is the Holy Ghost, the third person in the ever-blessed and glorious Trinity. The effusion, or pouring out, which is here promised, is the communication of His precious influences, for spiritual life, health, comfort, strength, love, wisdom unto salvation. The similitude is taken from abundant and fertilising showers.
III. The primary displays of its reception are to be noticed. Sons and daughters prophesy, etc. See Act_13:12. Admonitions against the abuse of these special gifts is found in 1Co_12:7; 1Co_14:22.
IV. The permanent power and presence involved in this promise. The power of the infinite Jehovah is involved in His perpetual presence with His people. The accomplishment of this promise constitutes the character, and demonstrates the existence, of the true Church of the living God, wheresoever it is to be found upon earth: and the permanent power and presence therein involved ensures the existence and increase of that Church. (William Borrows, M. A.)
Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
Dreaming dreams and seeing visions
The age is against us. The youth of the world with its buoyancy has given place to the fin de siecle, the old age of the weary Titan, with its spiritual fatigue. You feel this everywhere. It is not only in our hard, analytic views of nature that we feel this death of dreams; all life is alike. The young man to-day will find the world no way congenial to the dreamer; it will only be through a thick fog that he will see his visions. Take city life. How visionless all life seems to you, covered inch deep with dust, and that not of the cleanest. There is not much space for poetry in the model lodging-house, or furnished apartments. A hive of industry the city may be, but dreams and visions are no part of its output. Turn to the factory. In old times mans work was itself a dream. The factory system has killed all that. To-day in every sphere of life the young man will find a subtle penetrating realism banishing all visions, a fog that can be felt chilling down every enthusiasm. Nevertheless, the prophet Joel was right: dreams and visions are the very salt for all life, its one reality. All life will ultimately be weighed by this one thing,--the ideals to which men stood true in spite of every difficulty. Take the life of a nation. The study of that life is history. Look then at Greece, Rome, Israel, or any other nation, and you will find that its dreams and visions are the all in a nations history which does not die. History is, in fact, but the science of regulated enthusiasms and their results. Hope makes history a progress instead of a cycle. The deathless element in English life and history does not find its way into our text books. Its real gold is those priceless ideas of liberty, law, and true individuality, which have been the lode-star of her destinies. The most certain verdict of history is this: when a nation once loses its dreams and visions, its end has come. That which is true of the nation is no less true of the individual. The value of every man must ultimately be reckoned by the only changeless standard of value--the dreams and visions that were his. We must be careful not to narrow down the currency of heaven to realisations only. The history of religion, in fact, is but the record of how the enthusiasms of some enthusiast have permeated and changed the lives of men. Buddhism, Mohammedanism, Jesuitism, are all the slowly stiffening result of mighty dreams. Urge every young man to be an idealist. Do not be ashamed to have your enthusiasms. The true idealist never lives in cloudland; he ever seeks to have his home amid the stern realities of life. He seeks to lift the real up to the ideal. Take the roughest blocks, and be a seer, like Michael Angelo; see in them what God sees, the possibilities of higher things. It is the idealism of Jesus that is the salvation of the world. You can be an idealist even in business. Take your dreams and visions into life as a citizen; into your politics; into your home; into the Church. (Herbert B. Workman.)
A quickened imagination
Joel dips into the far future and sees the downcoming of the Holy Ghost. So clear is his vision that he minutely notes the effects of this marvellous effusion. But the signs we expect him to enumerate he misses. Not a word about a whiter heart and a nobler life, about miraculous power, or irresistible speech. All these he ignores; it is the unexpected and apparently the secondary and unimportant effects that fasten his attention. To him the outstanding feature of the days of the Holy Ghost is a quickened imagination--a power to dream dreams and see visions. If man be compared to a house, there is the cellar which is dark and self-contained, representing the appetites and impulses, there is the ground floor with the windows of taste and smell looking out upon the immediate neighbourhood, there is the upper storey whose windows of seeing and hearing command a wider prospect, and there is the highest storey with the window of the imagination opening out into the vast unseen. When this house becomes the temple of the Holy Ghost all the rooms are beautified and all the windows cleansed; but to the prophet the window that gleams the brightest is the roof window, the faculty that is stirred the deepest is the imagination. The old men had been dwelling in the lower rooms all the days of their lives, and during all the long years the upper stories had been all but forgotten. The windows of the imagination are darkened by dust and curtained by cobwebs. When the Spirit comes there is cleansing enough, but on account of the long neglect the window will never become translucent again. The objects seen through will be vague and shadowy. The old men only dream dreams. The dreaminess comes from the neglect. But the young men led by curiosity and romance have explored all the rooms from the roof to the basement. All the windows have been put to use, even if the use has not always been the noblest; and under the influence of the Spirit they become clear as crystal, through which are seen definite and luminous the realities of the unseen. The young men see visions. Their imagination is unspoiled by worldliness and neglect. But in old and young the action of the Spirit is the same, only in the one it revives the embers, and in the other it fans the flame. It is strange that the prophet should have singled out the imagination, for the coming of the Spirit is as the coming of the spring. Everything in its track is born again. The spring causes a tide of life to rush through all creation, and all but burst everything. The buds burst into blossom, the hard crust of the earth bursts into green, and the birds burst forth into song. All nature is roused into an extraordinary activity. When God comes into a mans soul it is the same; every faculty is stirred, every power is quickened, the heart is tenderer, the mind is clearer, the senses are keener, the body is healthier; a wondrous tide of life rushes through the whole man. The Spirit comes as a mighty wind, and as all the multitudinous leaves of a tree are swayed by the wind, so are all the faculties of a man swayed by the Spirit. But stirred as are all the souls activities it is the extraordinary activity of the imagination that catches the eye of the prophet. But why this strange selection? The choice is strange because it is right, and daring because it is according to the mind of God. He singles out the imagination because when Gods Spirit descends on men His principal work is to make them realise the spiritual world; and the realisation of the spiritual world is the task of the imagination. All around us there is a world of matter and motion, with its hills and plains, minerals and forests, towns and streets and factories. We see it with our eyes, and are familiar with its features and movements. But vast as this world is, it pales into insignificance beside the great unseen world that is above and around and within us, a world that outleaps all measurement and outruns all duration, more real than the solid earth, more permanent than the everlasting hills; the home of God and Jesus, of angels innumerable and the spirits of just men made perfect, to be seen by no eyes of flesh, seen alone by the eye of the soul--the imagination. (Thos. Phillips.)
Seeing God in dreams
You may say of a dream that it is nocturnal fantasia, or that it is the absurd combination of waking thoughts; but God has honoured the dream by making it the avenue through which He has marched upon the human soul, decided the fate of nations, and changed the course of the worlds history. Does God appear in our day, and reveal Himself through dreams?
1. The Scriptures are so full of revelation from God that if we get no communication from Him in dreams, we ought, nevertheless, to be satisfied.
2. All dreams have an important meaning. They prove that the soul is comparatively independent of the body.
3. The vast majority of dreams are merely the result of disturbed physical conditions, and are not a supernatural message. A great many dreams are merely narcotic disturbance. Do not mistake narcotic disturbance for Divine revelation.
4. Our dreams are apt to be merely the echo of our daytime thoughts. The scholars dream is a philosophic echo. The poets dream is a rhythmic echo. It is, however, capable of proof that God does sometimes in our day appear to people in dreams. All dreams that make you better are from God. It is possible to prove that God does appear in dreams to warn, to convert, to save men. Illustrate: John Newtons dreams. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
The properties of the Gospel dispensation
This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter, as described in Act_2:1-47., nine centuries afterwards. By the Gospel dispensation we mean the Church. The Christian dispensation was to be a spiritual dispensation. The older was a religion of form. It represented truth. It was a school of object-lessons, a kind of kindergarten. It was a system of forms so perfect as to command the admiration of all ages to the present time. The kingdom the prophet foresaw would be set up would not be dependent on these earthly forces--authority, wealth, intelligence--but upon something far beyond and above. The Spirit of God was to be its energy, its potent force. This spiritual outpouring had its power in these facts--
1. It communicated God to us.
2. It associates God with us.
3. It develops God in us.
Observe the development of power when there is this pouring out of the Spirit. A prophesying power; and a witnessing power. We have also brought out in this prophecy the fact of freedom following the outpouring of the Spirit. Freedom from the guilt of sin. Freedom from the bondage of sin. Freedom from all fear because of sin. And we are told that this outpouring of the Spirit would be accompanied with great convulsions, mighty signs. So it proved. In view of our privileges as partakers of the Spirit, what is our duty? We should seek more and more of this outpouring, and we should seek to bear witness everywhere to the truths it reveals to us. (C. H. Tiffany, D. D.)
The Gospel dispensation
This passage exhibits the leading features of Christianity.
I. The gospel dispensation was to be characterised by spirituality. I will pour out My Spirit.
1. Formerly the Spirit dwelt with man.
2. Whereas formerly the Spirit dwelt with men, now He dwells in them, There is a sense in which the Spirit was not given to men before the day of Pentecost. This sense is explained in Joh_14:15-17. Jesus was the first human being in whom the Spirit abode
II. The Gospel dispensation was to be characterised by liberty. In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance.
1. The Gospel finds us in chains.
(1) In bondage under the tyranny of sin.
(2) He also trembles under the tyranny of death.
(3) The terrors of hell are upon him.
2. But the Gospel bursts our bonds in sunder. The believer is justified by the merits of Christ.
III. The Gospel dispensation was to be characterised by power. I will show wonders, etc.
1. Here are marvellous spiritual signs. Prophecy, as prediction and as preaching. Visions. At the inauguration of Christianity there were apparitions. Throughout the dispensation there have been spiritual revelations. Dreams.
2. Here also are stupendous physical wonders. Some of these were associated with the great transactions on Calvary. Some were associated with the complementary transactions upon Zion. These wonders show that Omnipotence is behind the truth.
IV. The Gospel dispensation was to be characterised by expansiveness.
1. Its salvation is universally free.
2. The conditions of this salvation are level to all capacities.
3. The expansiveness of the Gospel triumphs over conventionalities. Both the social and the national. (J. Alexander Macdonald.)
The coming conflict
No gift of God is intended to remain a gift only. Gifts are means to serve other ends. The rain is a gift, but it is a means toward the harvest. The gift of the Spirit suggests a harvest for which that precious rain of God descended. The gifts are bestowed in anticipation of the hour when they will be needed. The responsibility is not the responsibility of possession merely, but the responsibility of anticipation. The hour comes when the tests of God will be applied. How very real the vision of the great conflict is in the prophets eyes. It is as real and as vivid in its reality as the plague of locusts, He has no doubt that it will take place. He has no doubt about its issue. The power which makes certain the issue, and gives security to the combatants has been vouchsafed. The gift of the Spirit is the gift of safety. The principle of spiritual life is independent of time. There are things which we can prepare for better when we know the hour; but in the things of the Spirit it is better to prepare not knowing the day nor the hour; for the readiness is the readiness of a spiritual quality which cannot be attained in a moment, nor yet by a fixed hour. The spiritual principle in the words of the prophet is, that every gift of the Spirit must be followed by some decisive conflict--in which all the forces which are allied with the Spirit are thrown into antagonism with all that are hostile to the Spirit. Was it not so after the day of Pentecost? The gift of the Spirit was the revelation of the kingdom of the Spirit. But what war followed! It is thus that the order of God succeeds itself. His first gift is love. His second is illumination. His last is conflict. In the Gospels, the gift of earths bounties comes first. Christ feeds the multitude. The gift of vision in the darkness follows. He reveals himself in the darkness on the sea. The third stage is achievement, or readiness to face the conflict. To the disciple ready to venture the raging waves He says, Come. God never calls men to trial but He first prepares them by a gift of power and illumination. In other words, the fresh baptism of the Spirit is to prepare for the baptism of fire. Fire purges in the truest sense; water cleanses. Fire penetrates to the very heart of things; water may leave much that is corrupt to decay and to destroy. I am no friend of working through mere terrors, but we may remind ourselves that the questions which are stirring around us are just those which are calculated to test in the most complete and thorough way the foundations and structure of society as we now know it. Take the condition of Theology, the tenets of Socialism, the reconstructions demanded by evolutionary theories. But we know enough in current literature and current thought to satisfy ourselves that we need not be shaken in mind or troubled should some fiery trial try us. May we not say that the trial begins in the mind of every man who tries to apply the teaching of Christ his Lord in all loyal simplicity to the facts of life and duty? Who may abide? Who can come forth bright and purged from this flaming baptism that is in store for the men and women of this generation? Would not the answer be, he alone can sustain that ordeal who has been prepared in the fire for the fire; he alone can stand in the day when all things are shaken whose character and spirit are built up of those very things which cannot be shaken? Better fall into His consuming fire that in that flame all evil, self--all folly and weakness may be burned up, than wait unpurged for the day which shall burn like an oven. When He baptized us with the Holy Ghost and with fire, did He not baptize us to sacrifice, even the sacrifice of our bodies and souls, a living sacrifice to Him? He who, led by the Spirit, makes his life a sacrifice, and passes through the fire feeling it for very loves sake to be no fire--need not fear the day of the Lord, for on such the fire of the fierce trial of the world has no power. (Bishop Boyd Carpenter.)
The seer
The preacher need not fear the taunt that he is an other-worldly man, a dreamer, a visionary. He may accept it with satisfaction, for it is true. His main concern lies in the realm of the unseen. He does business in deep waters. He stands face to face with the eternal. The Japanese cherish a tradition concerning Sho-Kaku. They say that, even when a lad, he loved to wander among the beech-trees, and up the green slopes of the mountain, where his solitary musings brought him such gentleness that he never hurt any living thing, and such purity that the tropical rains could not wet the web of wistaria fibres which clothed him! Such virtue and merit became his that at length the material world became quite subject to him. He could walk upon the water, fly through the air, see into the future, and heal the diseases of his friends. Then he was commanded to undertake a more difficult achievement, and, as a means towards success in it, to ascend the summit of Mount Omine in Yamato. He neither doubted nor delayed, but hewed for himself a path to the far-away mountain top; and when at last he reached it, standing on the bare space of jasper, no larger than a threshing-floor, polished smooth with many storms, he beheld a weird sight. There stood a huge white skeleton, grasping in its bony hand a great untarnished sword. An inward voice bade him, if he would triumph in the mighty enterprises marked out for him, to secure that glittering weapon. Yet it was no easy task. He grasped the sword, but the dead hand clung to it; he tried to wrench away the whitened bones, but they were as riveted iron, until he bethought himself of the spells of the spirit, and as he uttered them the skeleton limbs relaxed slowly, and the sword dropped, so that he could seize and brandish it triumphantly in the light of the setting sun. The eastern legend enshrines a truth of universal application. The men who have been most despised as visionaries, as dreamers of dreams, as other-worldly men, have done more to shape this world than have their more practical critics.
I. The preacher must have a vision of Deity. A man who has had no personal experience of the presence and power of God cannot possibly impress others with the august and intense reality of things eternal. In the journal of an old Puritan Divine were found these words: Resolved that, when I address a large meeting, I shall remember that God is there, and that will make it small. Resolved that, when I address a small meeting, I shall remember that God is there, and that will make it great. It is said that, when Chrysostom was composing his sermons he was wont to fancy that the communion rails around the pulpit were crowded with listening angels. It was a splendid inspiration. But the truth is grander still. Dr. Gordon dreamed that, when he preached, the Christ sat in the pew. It is verily so. The preacher needs such a vision of Deity as will fill his whole horizon with the grandeur of the Divine, and assure him, in the hours of loneliness and listlessness, of the stupendous fact that God is his Witness and Co-worker.
II. The preacher must have a vision of humanity.
1. He needs a vision of the sinfulness of men.
2. He must have a vision of the inner life of men. He must know that the most careless of his hearers is not really so callous as he seems. Every man, in his secret and silent moments, has thoughts of God, and sin, and eternity, that will not be silenced. And no man who has had a true vision of humanity will take it for granted that any man is absolutely without some prickings of conscience with regard to personal sin. He will carry Christ to every soul that is aching and longing after Him.
3. He needs a vision of the possibilities of men. The preacher is like Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop. You remember how she discovered the sin in which the old man had become absorbed in the dreadful city. So she took him by the hand and led him away from it all, out into the green fields, and away to a happier, purer life. It is the privilege of the man of God to take men by the hand, and lead them out of the murky atmosphere of their sins into the purity and sublimity of the Divine salvation, Christ saves from the nethermost depth to the uttermost height.
III. The preacher must have a vision of eternity. This will add solemnity to all his work. He cannot afford to trifle. The biographer of Archbishop Leighton tells us that, in the days when it was the custom of the presbytery to inquire if all the preachers bad preached to the times, Leighton acknowledged on one occasion that he had not. He was asked why. Surely, he replied, if all these brethren have preached to the times, one poor brother may be allowed to preach for eternity! Napoleon, we are told, found an artist engrossed in his painting. What are you doing that for? the Emperor asked. For immortality! the artist proudly replied. How long will your canvas last? inquired Napoleon. It will last for at least a thousand years, sire! answered the man. Aha! responded the Emperor, we have now an artists conception of immortality! We have a loftier ideal than that. The preacher deals face to face with the intensities of eternity. He has a vision of the glories of heaven, and he toils that he may allure to brighter worlds, and lead the way. He has a vision of bell, and he is prepared to labour day and night that he may save his fellow-men from such a fearful doom. Harrison Ainsworth has drawn, in Solomon Eagle, a picture of the passionate earnestness that becomes an enthusiast who believes his fellows to be doomed, and would warn them of their peril. Lord Lytton has drawn a similar character in Olinthus, who, on the night on which Pompeii was destroyed, hurried from place to place entreating men to repent. Are we as anxious about men, asked Dr. Dale, as our fathers were? On any theory of eschatology there is a dark and menacing future for those who have been brought face to face with Christ in this life, and have refused to receive His salvation, and to submit to His authority. I do not ask whether the element of fear has a great place in our preaching, but whether it has a great place in our hearts, whether we ourselves are afraid of what will come to men who do not believe in Christ, whether we, whether our people, are filled with an agonising earnestness for their salvation. (F. W. Boreham.)
The dreams of youth
The thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts. Pity the one who has no dreams, for it means he has no ideals, and if youth has no ideals manhood will be very commonplace. We have no patience with those who cynically sneer at the visions of youth and dash cold water upon all early hope and ardour, prophesying with a cynical assumption of wisdom an inevitable disappointment, a bitter disillusioning
I. Dreams of prosperity. This may seem to be the basest of all the dreams that youth can cherish, and if it simply means a dream of gain to follow gain till the dreamer can take his place among the wealthy, and secure that which money can purchase, it is not a vision to be encouraged. But there is a limited sense in which the dream of prosperity is not unworthy. If a young fellow starting his business career recognises that there are at least three possible courses open to him-
(1) To take always the line of least resistance, and thus to be classed with the great crowd that is to be rated at a current market value for the particular type of labour of which he is capable; or
(2) so to devote himself to the details and affairs of his special calling as to make himself of more value than the average employee, and thus to secure a better financial return for his services, a larger respect from his comrades in toil, and the inward satisfaction of something attempted, something done; or
(3) to so further devote himself to his toil as by the concentration of all his energies, the insight of a quicker intelligence, the application of brains to the problems of commerce, and the possession of the rare gift of recognising an opportunity, coupled with the courage to seize it, he may rise to the front rank of the army of commerce; then I say that the settled determination to take according to his ability either the second or third of these courses, and the dream of legitimate prosperity resulting therefrom, is by no means to be condemned or discouraged. But, young men, let me say to you two things, and do you give them careful thought.
(1) In the pursuit of business success many perils are to be encountered; keep a sensitive conscience, and do not purchase gain at the price of guilt. And
(2) Keep in mind the fact that no amount of business success alone can ever be regarded as leading to a complete and worthy life in the sight of God. The world passeth away, and the desire thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
II. Dreams of service. Probably some of you cherish dreams that do not revolve around self-interest. You want to live so that, amid the forces that make the conditions of life easier for humanity at large, your life and influence may find a place. The details of your dream may vary, whilst the aim of it may be the same. If in any sense this be your dream, it is a glorious one. Let me confirm you therein by recalling the wise words that tell us that he that serves his fellow-men receives honour from God.
III. Dreams of reform. Society must be remodelled; a saner idea of life must be presented to the people; the value of the worker must be recognised; the inalienable right of every individual to the means of subsistence taught, and the lavish waste of the non-producer, the parasite upon the body corporate, sturdily, and if need be forcefully, restrained. By all means recognise the current evils of the day, and, according to your knowledge and opportunity, work for the betterment of all. But at the same time do not let your recognition of wrong lead you to unfair and unjust conclusions; do not indulge in hasty generalisations; do not condemn where no condemnation is deserved, and try honestly to grasp all the facts that go to form the problem in its completeness. Any school-boy will tell you that no problem can be correctly solved if, in your attempted solution, you disregard essential factors. Nor forget that if we could secure to-morrow the equal advantage and opportunity for all that we so desire, the inequalities of to-day would be repeated within a generation. Then to you I say, Do not put away as idle these fair dreams, but rather learn how they may end in realisation. Spend your energies in resisting abuses, in working for all schemes of worthy reform, but do not forget that the sinfulness of the human heart will militate against their success, and that the heart finds renewal in the power that comes from Calvary, and in that alone.
IV. Dreams of character. For of this I am confident, that in your dreams you have fair visions of a life controlled by loftiest principle, and by highest ideals, not only of that which you are to do, but also of that which you are to be. It is the noble and almost instinctive hatred of the unreal, the sham and the merely conventional, that makes many a young man so severe and uncompromising a critic of the conduct of others; he makes no allowances, for he does not see that honesty requires that any should be made. As years pass our judgments become kindlier. But this is not the point just now; rather this, that the young man has a splendid ideal of character, a sense of non-attainment, and a dream of future realisation. Herein we wish him God-speed; woe to the man who dares to discourage this hope. Only listen while I give you this from the experience of men of all ages. Character is of slow growth; it is the product of a long process, the issue of much stern conflict. The saint is grown, not made, and the stronger and more valuable growths are always slew; an oak takes many years to mature. As you advance in attainment your ideal will advance in its requirements, so that it will ever be, Not as though I had already attained; but of this be sure, every year shall bring the richer graces, the kindlier tempers, the fuller satisfaction of the Christlike character, and you shall realise that these dreams of your youth were not only dreams, but also prophecies. (J. W. Butcher.)
Visions of God
(with Joe_2:8; Hab_2:2; Isa_6:5):--This is one of the first results of the pentecostal baptism. The young men, the hardened and practical members of the community who look at everything from a commonsense and business standpoint, shall see visions. It will not make them visionary. They will find in their vision of God the secret of purity and strength and fidelity. But where shall we see visions? Not by gazing, into the heavens, but by reading our Bibles. So the prophet Habakkuk says, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables. This is the great purpose of the Bible. The daily paper opens a window into the world around us, and we see the craft and cunning, the violence and deceit, the strifes and jealousies of men. But the Bible opens a window into heaven, and reveals to us, the love and goodness and power of God. Have you seen the vision? It is so plain that he who reads may run. Nay, you must not run past it. That is the sin of this hurrying pleasure-loving age. Men will not give themselves time to take in the vision of life. But he who reads will have to run. There will be no loitering then. The vision will fire your soul with such Divine enthusiasm that you will run off to make known what you have seen. Have you seen the vision? The prophet adds, though it tarry, wait for it! Yes, indeed, for you are of no use in the world until you have seen it. It is the men who have seen God that are a blessing to others. Esau lacked this vision, and it led him to sell his birthright. The birthright meant spiritual blessing. That is why Esau is called a profane man. The bargain he struck was not only a foolish one; it was a profane one. He sold his birthright because he despised it. But when you have seen God and the opened heaven, your birthright, i.e., your right through the atoning sacrifice to become a son of God and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven, outweighs all the pleasures of sin, and it becomes easy for you to keep first things first. It was this which made Joseph so steadfast. In his youth God gave him dreams; they were not the result of indigestion, but visions of the night. His father had already given him as a special token of his love a coat of many colours. It was notsurely a mere piece of favouritism. The coat was the outward sign of that supremacy which the dreams indicated, and which probably had already been made known to Jacob. Jacob knew the misery that had resulted in the home of his childhood, where the judgment of God choosing the younger before the elder had not been accepted by Isaac his father, and mother and son stooped to falsehood and trickery in order to bring about the counsels of God. So Jacob determined that in his household Gods purpose should be known and accepted from the first, and he gave to Joseph this robe of honour. The garment stood then for two things, for royalty and purity. Joseph had his visions, because he was a kingly soul, and of a pure heart. And the effect of these visions is seen all through his future life. That is the necessary result of the vision of God. It dwarfs everything else. It reduces to their true proportions the circumstances of daily life. God never changes. God is working His purpose out. The man who trusts in God will never be confounded. The pit, the slave market, the prison cell may lie before us, but these are only for a time. In the long run Gods blessing prevails even in this topsy-turvy world, and the blessing of the Lord it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it. But the first result of the vision of God is an overwhelming sense of sin. This is the distinguishing characteristic of the men who have seen God. There is about them a depth, a solemnity, a reverence, a brokenness of soul. Yes, though the immediate effect is an overwhelming sense of sin, you will not be left crushed and overcome. Isaiah received the sacrament of cleansing, the live coal from the altar. To John came the reassuring touch and the strengthening word, Fear not, I am He. Christ knows how to bring His servants over from the despair that comes from the knowledge of self into the rest of faith that comes from the knowledge of God. There is no remedy for our sinfulness in ourselves. No, the transformation is wrought not by the discovery of any saving merit or qualification in ourselves, but by a clearer revelation of Jesus Christ. A new view of Jesus, a fresh vision of God, is the secret of all blessing. This made Jacob the supplanter a prince with God, this gave Joshua the victory over Jericho and the king thereof and the mighty men of valour; this enabled Elisha to go in and out throughout Israel as a holy man of God, never faint-hearted, never discouraged, never at a loss, able even when shut in by the Syrians on every side to use the reckoning of faith and reply to his terrified servant, Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Yes, patience, courage, cheerfulness, strength, all belong to the men who see God. (F. S. Webster, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Upon these promises of physical blessing there follows another…
2. THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT
Joe_2:28-32
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Upon these promises of physical blessing there follows another of the pouring forth of the Spirit: the prophecy by which Joel became the Prophet of Pentecost, and through which his book is best known among Christians.
When fertility has been restored to the land, the seasons again run their normal courses, and the people eat their food and be full-"It shall come to pass after these things, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh". The order of events makes us pause to question: does Joel mean to imply that physical prosperity must precede spiritual fullness? It would be unfair to assert that he does, without remembering what he understands by the physical blessings. To Joel these are the token that God has returned to His people. The drought and the famine produced by the locusts were signs of His anger and of His divorce of the land. The proofs that He has relented, and taken Israel back into a spiritual relation to Himself, can, therefore, from Joels point of view, only be given by the healing of the peoples wounds. In plenteous rains and full harvests God sets His seal to mans penitence. Rain and harvest are not merely physical benefits, but religious sacraments: signs that God has returned to His people, and that His zeal is again stirred on their behalf. {Joe_1:18} This has to be made clear before there can be talk of any higher blessing. God has to return to His people and to show His love for them before He pours forth His Spirit upon them. That is what Joel intends by the order he pursues, and not that a certain stage of physical comfort is indispensable to a high degree of spiritual feeling and experience. The early and latter rains, the fullness of corn, wine, and oil, are as purely religious to Joel, though not so highly religious, as the phenomena of the Spirit in men.
But though that be an adequate answer to our question so far as Joel himself is concerned, it does not exhaust the question with regard to history in general. From Joels own standpoint physical blessings may have been as religious as spiritual; but we must go further, and assert that for Joels anticipation of the baptism of the Spirit by a return of prosperity there is an ethical reason and one which is permanently valid in history. A certain degree of prosperity, and even of comfort, is an indispensable condition of that universal and lavish exercise of the religious faculties, which Joel pictures under the pouring forth of Gods Spirit.
The history of prophecy itself furnishes us with proofs of this. When did prophecy most flourish in Israel? When had the Spirit of God most freedom in developing the intellectual and moral nature of Israel? Not when the nation was struggling with the conquest and settlement of the land, not when it was engaged with the embarrassments and privations of the Syrian wars; but an Amos, a Hosea, an Isaiah came forth at the end of the long, peaceful, and prosperous reigns of Jeroboam II and Uzziah. The intellectual strength and liberty of the great Prophet of the Exile, his deep insight into Gods purposes and his large view of the future, had not been possible without the security and comparative prosperity of the Jews in Babylon, from among whom he wrote. In Haggai and Zechariah, on the other hand, who worked in the hunger-bitten colony of returned exiles, there was no such fullness of the Spirit. Prophecy, we saw, was then starved by the poverty and meanness of the national life from which it rose. All this is very explicable. When men are stunned by such a calamity as Joel describes, or when they are engrossed by the daily struggle with bitter enemies and a succession of bad seasons, they may feel the need of penitence and be able to speak with decision upon the practical duty of the moment, to a degree not attainable in better days, but they lack the leisure, the freedom, and the resources amid which their various faculties of mind and soul can alone respond to the Spirit influence.
Has it been otherwise in the history of Christianity? Our Lord Himself found His first disciples, not in a hungry and ragged community, but amid the prosperity and opulence of Galilee. They left all to follow Him and achieved their ministry, in poverty and persecution, but they brought to that ministry the force of minds and bodies trained in a very fertile land and by a prosperous commerce. Paul, in his apostolate, sustained himself by the labor of his hands, but he was the child of a rich civilization and the citizen of a great empire. The Reformation was preceded by the Renaissance, and on the Continent of Europe drew its forces, not from the enslaved and impoverished populations of Italy and Southern Austria, but from the large civic and commercial centers of Germany. An acute historian, in his recent lectures on the "Economic Interpretation of History," observes that every religious revival in England has happened upon a basis of comparative prosperity. He has proved "the opulence of Norfolk during the epoch of Lollardy," and pointed out that "the Puritan movement was essentially and originally one of the middle classes, of the traders in towns and of the farmers in the country"; that the religious state of the Church of England was never so low as among the servile and beggarly clergy of the seventeenth and part of the eighteenth centuries; that the Nonconformist bodies who kept religion alive during this period were closely identified with the leading movements of trade and finance; and that even Wesleys great revival of religion among the laboring classes of England took place at a time when prices were far lower than in the previous century, wages had slightly risen and "most laborers were small occupiers; there was therefore in the comparative plenty of the time an opening for a religious movement among the poor, and Wesley was equal to the occasion." He might have added that the great missionary movement of the nineteenth century is contemporaneous with the enormous advance of our commerce and our empire.
On the whole, then, the witness of history is uniform. Poverty and persecution, "famine, nakedness, peril, and sword," put a keenness upon the spirit of religion, while luxury rots its very fibers; but a stable basis of prosperity is indispensable to every social and religious reform, and Gods Spirit finds fullest course in communities of a certain degree of civilization and of freedom from sordidness.
We may draw from this an impressive lesson for our own day. Joel predicts that, upon the new prosperity of his land, the lowest classes of society shall be permeated by the spirit of prophecy. Is it not part of the secret of the failure of Christianity to enlist large portions of our population, that the basis of their life is so sordid and insecure? Have we not yet to learn from the Hebrew prophets that some amount of freedom in a people and some amount of health are indispensable to a revival of religion? Lives which are strained and starved, lives which are passed in rank discomfort and under grinding poverty, without the possibility of the independence of the individual or of the sacredness of the home, cannot be religious except in the most rudimentary sense of the word. For the revival of energetic religion among such lives we must wait for a better distribution, not of wealth, but of the bare means of comfort, leisure, and security. When, to our penitence and our striving, God restores the years which the locust has eaten, when the social plagues of rich mens selfishness and the poverty of the very poor are lifted from us, then may we look for the fulfillment of Joels prediction-"even upon all the slaves and upon the handmaidens will I pour out My Spirit in those days."
The economic problem, therefore, has also its place in the warfare for the kingdom of God.
"And it shall be that after such things, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions: And even upon all the slaves and the handmaidens in those days will I pour out My Spirit. And I will set signs in heaven and on earth, Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall he turned to darkness, And the moon to blood, Before the coming of the Day of Jehovah, the great and the awful. And it shall be that every one who calls on the name of Jehovah shall be saved: For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be a remnant, as Jehovah hath spoken, And among the fugitives those whom Jehovah calleth."
This prophecy divides into two parts-the outpouring of the Spirit, and the appearance of the terrible Day of the Lord.
The Spirit of God is to be poured "on all flesh," says the prophet. By this term, which is sometimes applied to all things that breathe, and sometimes to mankind as a whole, Joel means Israel only: the heathen are to be destroyed, Nor did Peter, when he quoted the passage at the Day of Pentecost, mean anything more. He spoke to Jews and proselytes: "for the promise is to you and your children, and to them that are afar off": it was not till afterwards that he discovered that the Holy Ghost was granted to the Gentiles, and then he was unready for the revelation and surprised by it. {Act_10:45} But within Joels Israel the operation of the Spirit was to be at once thorough and universal. All classes would be affected, and affected so that the simplest and rudest would become prophets.
The limitation was therefore not without its advantages. In the earlier stages of all religions it is impossible to be both extensive and intensive. With a few exceptions, the Israel of Joels time was a narrow and exclusive body, hating and hated by other peoples. Behind the Law it kept itself strictly aloof. But without doing so, Israel could hardly have survived or prepared itself at that time for its influence on the world. Heathenism threatened it from all sides with the most insidious of infections; and there awaited it in the near future a still more subtle and powerful means of disintegration. In the wake of Alexanders expeditions, Hellenism poured across all the East; There was not a community nor a religion, save Israels, which was not Hellenised. That Israel remained Israel, in spite of Greek arms and the Greek mind, was due to the legalism of Ezra and Nehemiah, and to what we call the narrow enthusiasm of Joel. The hearts which kept their passion so confined felt all the deeper for its limits. They would be satisfied with nothing less than the inspiration of every Israelite, the fulfillment of the prayer of Moses: "Would to God that all Jehovahs people were prophets!" And of itself this carries Joels prediction to a wider fulfillment. A nation of prophets is meant for the world. But even the best of men do not see the full force of the truth God gives to them, nor follow it even to its immediate consequences. Few of the prophets did so, and at first none of the apostles. Joel does not hesitate to say that the heathen shall be destroyed. He does not think of Israels mission as foretold by the Second Isaiah; nor of "Malachis" vision of the heathen waiting upon Jehovah. But in the near future of Israel there was waiting another prophet to carry Joels doctrine to its full effect upon the world, to rescue the gospel of Gods grace from the narrowness of legalism and the awful pressure of Apocalypse, and by the parable of Jonah, the type of the prophet nation, to show to Israel that God had granted to the Gentiles also repentance unto life.
That it was the lurid clouds of Apocalypse which thus hemmed in our prophets view, is clear from the next verses. They bring the terrible manifestations of Gods wrath in nature very closely upon the lavish outpouring of the Spirit: "the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood, the great and terrible Day of the Lord." Apocalypse must always paralyze the missionary energies of religion. Who can think of converting the world when the world is about to be convulsed? There is only time for a remnant to be saved.
But when we get rid of Apocalypse, as the Book of Jonah does, then we have time and space opened up again, and the essential forces of such a prophecy of the Spirit as Joel has given us burst their national and temporary confines, and are seen to be applicable to all mankind.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Joe_2:28-32. Afterward] These outward things are only a type…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Joe_2:28-32. Afterward] These outward things are only a type of spiritual gifts, a prospect of richer blessings; and a grander dispensation is held out, a dispensation remarkable for the Holy Spirit, as its sign and substance. This gift shall be poured out in copious and refreshing showers upon all flesh, Jew and Gentile (Act_10:44; Act_11:17), upon servants and handmaids, the most degraded and despised (Act_2:18). As the result, sons and daughters shall prophesy; dreams to the old and visions to the young; all shall know Divine things clearly.
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Joe_2:30-31.] These manifestations, full of joy to believers, will be menacing to unbelievers. This day of the Lord will be attended by convulsions on earth, prognostications in heaven; to God’s children, to all who call upon him, it will be a day of redemption; but these will be a remnant only. Seek to belong to it (Act_2:40).
HOMILETICS
THE NEW DISPENSATION.—Joe_2:28-32
By a natural transition the prophet rises from the temporal to the spiritual, from showers of rain to the outpouring of the Spirit. One blessing “first” (Joe_2:23), then “afterward” (Joe_2:28) a second and greater blessing. The words have special reference to the new dispensation, the dispensation of the Spirit. There are three distinct features connected together: the outpouring of the Spirit, the judgment upon the ungodly world, and the salvation of a faithful few.
I. The outpouring of the Spirit. “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” The outward blessings were typical of extraordinary spiritual blessings. Joel felt the need of spiritual influence, and believed that it would bring true enlightenment. We have not only a supernatural prediction, but a gleam of his own pure spiritual life.
1. The extent of the communications. “Upon all flesh.” It was not to be confined within the narrow bounds of Judea, not limited to one, but extended to all races. It was to be given to the pious and to those deemed incapable of spiritual life.
(1) Without distinction of sex. “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” Not only parents, but children would receive this gift. Four sisters in one family were prophetesses (Act_21:9) The young are capable of Divine teaching, and God has promised to continue his presence and propagate his word from one generation to another. “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.”
(2) Without distinction of age. “Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” God adapts his grace to the condition of men. The inexperienced and the infirm; extremes in life may possess it.
(3) Without distinction of rank. “And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids.” This was something unexpected and had never been seen before. “Even the slaves,” bondsmen and bondswomen, are to share in the gift. The lowest are exalted, and the gospel breaks the fetters of slavery. “Prophecy,” said the Jews, “doth not reside except on the wise, and mighty, and rich;” but the poor have the gospel preached unto them. In Christ “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one.”
2. The form of the communications. “Shall prophesy, dream dreams, and see visions.” These were the three modes by which God revealed his will to men in the O. T. days (Num_12:6). They are physical rather than spiritual; do not necessarily involve renovation of moral nature, but are made the symbols of fuller manifestation of miraculous gifts to some, and the outpouring of the Spirit to all. Yet taking into account the effects of this outpouring, we have reason to find a spiritual meaning. The Spirit would burst through every barrier and quicken the energies of life in all classes. Men would have the power to see and apply the truth of God to the facts of human life, past, present, and future. Spiritual light would not be confined to a select few. Dreams and visions should be given to others, and the mysteries of salvation be proclaimed to all nations. By these gifts the Church is founded, the ministry taught, and the Scriptures expounded in all ages. “Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.”
II. The dreadful judgment. Judgment is connected with the outpouring of the Spirit. When God comes in the majesty of his power heaven and earth quakes. “Each revelation of God prepares the way for another,” says an author, “until that last revelation of his love and of his wrath in the great day.” “I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth.”
1. In the earth. “Blood and fire, and pillars of smoke.” Blood and fire were manifest in the plagues of Egypt, and smoke ascended like the smoke of a smelting-furnace in the descent of Jehovah on Sinai (Exo_19:18). Pillars of cloud roll up from burning towns in times of war (Isa_9:17).
2. In the heavens. “The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood.” The darkening and extinction of the lights of heaven are often mentioned as harbingers of approaching judgment (Isa_13:10; Jer_4:23; Eze_32:1-8; Mat_24:29). The language may be figurative to a certain extent; but strange phenomena in the physical creation have been observed to precede great catastrophes of the moral world. In the judgment on Jerusalem, Josephus tells of physical prodigies, massacres and conflagrations. Humboldt cites cases of remarkable obscuration of the sun, in very eventful years. But whether we understand the words naturally or symbolically, they teach that the judgment day does not come without warning.
1. Foreseen by God’s people. These signs have no terror for them. They call upon God, and find in Him that refuge of which Mount Zion was only a type.
2. Heeded by the penitent. For among those who do not pray to God, some shall be called from their sins to find peace and security in him. “The remnant whom the Lord shall call.”
3. Neglected by the ungodly. Understood and improved by right-minded persons; unheeded and often despised by enemies of God. Thus there is a gradual process of separation among men, a ripening for “the great and terrible day of the Lord.” “Watch ye therefore and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luk_21:36).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Joe_2:29. Pour out my Spirit. Pour out like a rain-fall, or water-fall. The Spirit was not entirely wanting in the nation before this; but the prediction indicates—
1. A greater measure. Not merely drop by drop, but pour out in greater abundance.
2. A wider extent. Not confined to members of the covenant nation, but upon “all flesh.” This a great contrast to Gen_6:3. “This word ‘flesh’ (bâsâr), as contrasted with ‘the spirit,’ denotes human nature so sunk in bondage to its lower elements as to be incapable of spiritual life. But according to Joel, even this impenetrable ‘flesh’ is to be penetrated by the Divine Spirit; even the ‘natural man’ is to be transformed into ‘a spiritual man;’ even the incorrigible are to be recovered to obedience” [Cox].
In those days. This special truth connected with one special time, concerning which he knows little. The prophets sought diligently to know this time (1Pe_1:10). Apostles evidently studied the prophet Joel; but how reluctant was Peter to learn, and how astonished beyond degree that God would pour out his Spirit upon the Gentiles. “It needed,” says one, “an express revelation and direct command before he could be persuaded that all flesh meant more than Jewish flesh. So, often all our lives through, we have words in our mouths, and read and hear them, and yet their true, full meaning never strikes us. The truth is familiar to us, it is daily confessed and repeated by rote, but has never reached our hearts; then perhaps at length something wakens us up, and henceforward the truth is a living reality, influencing and moulding our lives” (Joe_2:30-31). Physical phenomena serve—
1. To awaken men’s minds from lethargy. They quicken attention and put them into attitudes of fear and expectation. Thus they urge repentance, and provide space for it to those who are induced to profit by them.
2. To prepare God’s people for approaching trouble. They stimulate prayer, hope, and effort. In deliverance from Egypt (Deu_6:22); in the destruction of Jerusalem (Mat_24:29); and before the final judgment, God displays signs and wonders to the joy of his people and the terror of his enemies.
Joe_2:31. The terrible day.
1. Great in its nature. The last day. The end of time and the beginning of eternity.
2. Great in its design. To give to all their due. Great things will be done. Men judged, angels ranked, and all accounts settled.
3. Great in its bearings. Great to believers, terrible to unbelievers. Men separated and sent to their own place.
Call upon the name of the Lord. “Implies right faith to call upon him as he is; right trust in him, leaning upon him; right devotion, calling upon him as he has appointed; right life, ourselves who call upon him being, or becoming, by his grace what he wills” [Pusey].
Joe_2:28-31. The gospel dispensation is characterized—
1. By spirituality.
2. By liberty.
3. By power.
4. By expansiveness [Pulpit Analyst].
Shall be saved.
1. The danger. The word delivered means safety by escape. “Those who should be saved,” i.e. those who were escaping from perils imminent and terrible (Act_2:47). The condition of the Church is often desperate; but that of the sinner is more desperate.
2. The Saviour. “The Lord.” None other than Jesus. “For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Act_4:12; Act_2:36).
3. The encouragement.
(1) Whosoever, Jew or Gentile. “Thank God for that whosoever,” said an aged person, “for it includes me.”
(2) As the Lord hath said. God has promised to save all that call upon him (Rom_10:13).
4. The result. Those who are delivered are only a “remnant,” a part of the whole. History and Scripture confirm these words. In the flood and destruction of the cities of the plain; in the entrance into Canaan and the return from captivity; in the first preaching of the gospel and the destruction of Jerusalem, a remnant only was saved. One is tempted to ask with the disciples, “Are there few to be saved?” but the answer is, that has nothing to do with you. “Strive ye.”
The remnant saved. I. The blessing given. Salvation. Not merely promised, but actually given and cheerfully enjoyed, not in word, but in deed. Human beings redeemed and human nature renewed. II. The source from whence it comes. “In mount Zion and in Jerusalem,” i.e. from God himself who dwelt and was worshipped in these places. The Church is the place of safety, and where God may be most easily found. III. The method by which it is secured.
1. God calls men to him.
2. Men call upon God in prayer. One description is a counterpart of the other; both go together, one is the human, and the other the Divine side of salvation. Deliverance depends not upon the worshippers alone, but upon God also. Those only are saved whom God calls to himself, and who call upon or choose him to be their God. It is all of grace. God must first call by his grace; then we obey his call, and call upon him; and he has said, “Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me.” God accounts our salvation his own glory. “The promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Joe_2:28-32. So large a promise naturally awakens inquiry. We ask, “When was it or will it be fulfilled?” Joel expected and saw a fulfilment of it in his day. The people saw God in the ordinances of the sanctuary, but not in the fields and laws of Nature. The beneficent order of Nature was interrupted. This was taken as a judgment, and led to repentance and recognition of God. Were not the same conditions repeated in St Peter’s time with the like results? The Jews came up to the temple to worship, but failed to see “God manifest in the flesh.” Judgment came upon them. They awoke to a consciousness of their sin, repented, and turned unto the Lord. The Spirit came down upon them, and this new accession of life was a judgment to the men of that generation, trying what manner of spirit they were of, revealing the evil spirit by which they were animated, who opposed themselves to the power and grace of God. None the less may we say, “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel,” in every new crisis of the religious life, in a man, in the race, or in the world. In all ages the same sequence recurs—sin, judgment, repentance, a new spirit, and in this new spirit a new test and criterion to which men are brought, and by which they are either approved or condemned [Samuel Cox].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain Cf. Act 2:17 which gives a specific interpretation of…
afterward
Cf. Act 2:17 which gives a specific interpretation of "afterward" (Heb. acherith= "latter," "last"). "Afterward" in Joel Joe 2:28 means "in the last days" (Greek - ἔσχατος), and has a partial and continuous fulfilment during the "last days" which began with the first advent of Christ Heb 1:2 but the greater fulfilment awaits the "last days" as applied to Israel. (See Scofield "Act 2:17"), for phrase, "the last days." See Scofield "Act 2:17".
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues the speech he began in Joel 2:25, promising good things for the people of Israel.
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It will come about afterward that I
"This is what I will do after that: I"
I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh
Yahweh speaks of the Spirit as if he were speaking of water. AT" "I will give my Spirit generously to all flesh" (See: Metaphor)
all flesh
Here "flesh" represents people. AT: "all people" (See: Synecdoche)
translationWords
Holy Spirit
flesh
prophet
dream
vision
servant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:28–3:21 In the more distant future, God would restore…
2:28–3:21 In the more distant future, God would restore his people’s spiritual lives, pour out his Spirit on all people who respond to him in faith, and render judgment on the peoples and nations that refuse to acknowledge his lordship.
2:28-32 The prophet looked beyond his time to the future day of the Lord, when God would pour out his Spirit in ways never before seen and would perform signs and wonders for all humanity to see. The apostle Peter quoted this passage as being fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21).
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2:28-29 I will pour out my Spirit upon all people: In Israel, the empowering gift of God’s Spirit had previously been given only to select individuals such as judges (Judg 3:10; 15:14), priests (2 Chr 24:20), kings (1 Sam 10:10), and prophets (Isa 61:1). A time was coming when the Spirit would be given to every one of God’s people, regardless of gender, age, or social position. In fulfillment of Moses’ wish that every Israelite might be a prophet (Num 11:29), all would prophesy and see visions. In Acts 2:1-47, Peter expanded this promise to include people from all over the known world who were gathered in Jerusalem, regardless of their ethnicity (Acts 2:39; see also Gal 3:28).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.