but this is that which was spoken through the prophet Joel,
A crowd in Jerusalem has just heard the disciples speak in languages they never learned, and some of the listeners say the men are drunk. Peter answers by pointing to the prophet Joel — and what he meant by pointing there has been debated ever since.
Peter deals first with the sneer, and only then with the sign. The hour of the day was enough to answer the charge.
"Full of new wine," the mockers had said — an easy answer, as they thought, to the strange and startling sight they were watching. But the charge was easy to disprove, and its folly clear. The time of day should have kept the accusers quiet — it was only the third hour. Men were not used to being overcome with wine by nine o'clock in the morning. The disciples were not drunk with wine. They were filled with the Spirit.
Peter's exact words matter. These writers quote an older version — "This is that which was spoken" — where the ESV has "uttered." Peter names what kind of event this is; he does not say Joel's prophecy is finished.
The point he insists on was this — the wonder in front of them in Jerusalem was one their own prophets should have prepared them for. "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." He does not say that it was the fulfilment of the prophet. Men, theologians, have said so, but not the Spirit of God. The apostle only says, "This is that which was spoken." That was its character. How far it was to be carried out then is another matter. It was not the excitement of nature by wine, but the heart filled with the Spirit of God, acting in His own power and in all classes.
Read in its own book, Joel's promise follows Israel's restoration to their land. That setting is what keeps Pentecost from being the whole story.
"And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh"... God speaks here of the time when He shall have re-established the Jews in their land, for He says, "My people shall never be ashamed"... This is after the blessing of the people, so that they may enjoy it. But when the day of Pentecost is there, Peter says, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel," Acts 2:16. Yet the Holy Spirit came on only a small number, because the nation had not received Christ.
God kept the door open to Israel through the early chapters of Acts. How much of Joel's picture came true turned on their answer.
Students of Scripture have often noticed how patiently God bore with the Jews through the first seven chapters of Acts. Until Stephen's death, we might say, the Lord was ready to return to the repentant nation. Sadly, the nation was not ready to have Him, and so God's purposes went on to their fulfilment for the Church. If they had received the truth as a nation, Joel's prophecy would have been fulfilled in full. As it was, that fulfilment, for Israel, waits for a future day.
"All flesh" is the widest phrase in Joel's promise. The many languages the apostles spoke were the first sign of its reach.
"All flesh" here, we think, stands in contrast to Israel only. And Peter's heart at that moment must have been full of this. The last words he had heard from the Lord's lips as He ascended to heaven were "to the ends of the earth." He was filled with the Holy Spirit, who had come to bear witness to the world. Filled, gifted and inspired by the Holy Spirit, the apostles spoke — not the language of the Jew only, but many different tongues. The blessing was for all... All flesh does not necessarily mean every individual, but that all nations are in view.
Peter stops partway through Joel's prophecy. One writer sets this beside the Lord's own reading of Isaiah, where He stopped in the same way.
Peter's first use of the prophecy in Joel is similar to the Lord's use of Isaiah 61 in Luke 4. There He stopped at "to preach the acceptable year of the Lord"; the time for the "day of vengeance" had not come. So here, Peter ends with the words, "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved," because this was the end of his ministry.
- Not that — Peter answers the mockery first. Nobody is drunk at nine in the morning. The crowd was watching hearts filled with the Spirit of God.
- This is that — Peter names the character of the event, not its completion. He never calls Joel's prophecy finished. This is the kind of thing Joel described.
- That is later — Joel's "afterward" belongs to a restored Israel in their land, so his full picture still waits.
- Only a few — the Spirit came on a small company, because the nation had not received Christ. Had Israel received the truth, Joel's words would have run their full course.
- But for all — Peter stops at the promise that everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved. "All flesh" means all nations, so a narrow beginning carries the widest promise.
And it shall be in the last days, saith God, [that] I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your elders shall dream with dreams;
Peter's first act as a preacher is to reach for an old prophecy. Joel had described this scene centuries earlier. But how does the day of Pentecost relate to Joel's words? Commentators still ask whether Peter announced that the prophecy had arrived, or something more careful.
Peter's exact wording matters. He does not claim the prophecy had run its course; he says the scene in front of them matched what Joel described.
Notice the point he presses. The wonder in front of them in Jerusalem was one their own prophets should have prepared them for. "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." He does not say that it was the fulfilment of the prophet. Men, religious teachers, have said so, but not the Spirit of God. The apostle only says, "This is that which was spoken." That was its character. How much of it was carried out then is another question. This was not nature stirred up by wine. It was the heart filled with the Spirit of God, acting in His own power and in every class of people.
The same care shows in where Peter breaks off. Joel's sentence continues, but Peter leaves the rest unsaid.
He stops in the middle of a verse... Peter stops at the general statement of salvation, which is true for every age. He deliberately holds back from quoting the end, which belongs only to the future, when the Lord returns to reign at Jerusalem. The Apostle was guided by God. Who on earth at that moment, apart from the Holy Spirit, knew what was about to happen, or the character of the work that must come before Israel's blessing?
Joel wrote "afterward." Peter says "in the last days."
If you look at Joel it is clearly this: "And it shall come to pass afterwards." That means after God has restored Israel, and set them in blessing in their land, and they own Messiah. Then they get the Spirit... "and afterward I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." Now here Peter changes the word "afterward" and puts in "the last days," and so takes in a distinct testimony.
Commentators differ over how far Joel's words were then met. Some place the full accomplishment still ahead:
For the Jew these are the last days, and they run on to the millennium... And the fulfilment of Joel's prophecy about the pouring out of the Spirit will come after the church is removed, and before those days close.
Isaiah, Ezekiel and Joel all wrote about the Spirit being poured out. Joel's words reach further than the other two.
Isaiah and Ezekiel predict it, but they tie it to the last days, and to a blessing God would give Israel. On this matter their view as prophets stopped at the borders of the nation. Joel is different. His range of vision takes in all flesh... God was about to go beyond the narrow bounds of Judaism and to minister blessing to Gentiles. So saving grace would be known by some of all flesh, not only by some of Israel's race.
The phrase itself is wider than one nation, and it points to a blessing still to come.
Indeed, the prophet's words here reached beyond what that day accomplished. "All flesh" cannot rightly be limited to Israel. God was soon going to bring Gentiles to the name of Christ, and He will bless the nations in the future kingdom.
The blessing Joel promised was something new, and it reached even the lowest ranks of the people.
But there was a new thing God would give them. He would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. The young men and the old men of the people would have visions and dreams. Even on the male and female servants this rain from heaven would fall.
Dreams and visions are not decoration in the promise; they are the method.
It is to be noted that in the last days when God pours out His Spirit on all flesh the sons and daughters will prophesy, and the young men shall see visions, and the old men shall dream dreams. This will be the way that God will make known His mind in those days.
So what should Christians expect today? One writer warns against a common mistake.
In this time of grace the Holy Spirit is here. He belongs by right to every individual Christian and to the Church of God. It is ours to walk in the Spirit and to be filled with Him. Many are unclear about this. They see that the spiritual condition of the Church as a whole is low, and they grieve over it. But they think the only cure is another outpouring or baptism of the Spirit. This is not the case, however sincere they may be. The real need is more simple faith in the mighty fact that the Holy Spirit is present on earth. Let us use the power we have, and God will honour the effort.
- Promise. Peter answers the mockery by pointing to Joel. What the crowd saw was the Spirit poured out, not wine at work.
- Precision. He says "this is that," not "this is fulfilled," and stops mid-verse — leaving unquoted what belongs to a future day.
- Timing. Peter turns Joel's "afterward" into "in the last days." Commentators differ on how much came then and how much still waits.
- Reach. "All flesh" reaches past Israel — sons and daughters, young and old, male and female servants alike.
- Possession. The Spirit given at Pentecost is still here. The call is not to seek another outpouring but to use the power we already have.