And it shall come to pass afterwards [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.
Joel's promise comes after a picture of Israel restored, their land renewed and their shame removed. It opens with one word of sequence: "afterward." On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and pointed to these lines. So every reader faces one question — was this fulfilled then, or is it still ahead?
The word that opens the verse fixes its place in a sequence. One writer follows the order step by step, and notes that Peter quoted the verse with a different phrase:
If you look at Joel it is clearly this: "And it shall come to pass afterward" — after God has restored Israel, and set them in blessing in their land, and they acknowledge Messiah, then they get the Spirit... The Lord will do great things for them. He will restore them in blessing, He will be jealous for His land, and will pity His people, so that they will never be ashamed. They will know that God is Jehovah, and "afterward I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh." Here Peter changes the word "afterward" to "the last days," and so takes in a different testimony.
Up to this point the chapter has promised Israel blessing in the land. Here the subject changes:
"And it shall come to pass afterward." Here is where we find the clear break. Verses 28 and 29 stand quite apart from what went before. This is blessing of a higher order, flowing from the love of God, but plainly in a spiritual way.
The earlier promises give back what Israel lost. This one gives something they never had.
But this was not all. This was earthly blessing — Israel set up again in the blessing of earlier days, on the ground of grace, which would keep them from losing it. But there was a new thing to be given to them: God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh.
The phrase marks the end of a limit:
Here, in Joel, it is the Spirit poured out upon all flesh, to manifest the presence of God, and the blessing that rests upon all men, and is no longer confined to the Jews.
That two-word phrase is why this prophecy, and no other, fit what happened at Pentecost:
While several places foretell the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Israel (Isaiah 32:15; 44:3; Ezekiel 39:29), only Joel includes the Gentiles, and he does it in the term "all flesh." And since the Church was to be made up of souls from Jews and Gentiles, made one new man in Christ, only the words of Joel's prophecy explained what men had seen that morning.
The list of people covered is wide, and one writer notes what it rules out:
We only need to note that it was on all — young and old, male and female servants. There is no trace of a clergy or of any group it was limited to; the words say the opposite. Nor was it only the apostles then: there were a hundred and twenty people there, and women among them.
What Peter said, and what he did not say, matters:
But notice: the apostle did not say that this scripture was fulfilled. He says, "This is what was uttered through the prophet Joel," and so it is. The promise was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He did not say that what happened then was the fulfilment of the prophecy — men have assumed that, and it has led to great misunderstanding of scripture and a lowering of Christianity — but he showed that it was of that nature.
The many languages heard that morning matched the reach the verse describes:
The judgment of God had inflicted these various tongues upon them, and completely broken up the ambitious project of joining together to establish an unity of their own through the tower of Babel. But the grace of God went out exactly where His judgment had placed them.
Commentators differ on how much of Joel took place that day. Some call it a partial fulfilment. Others say the full accomplishment is still ahead.
One writer separates two things that are easy to confuse:
We must distinguish between the pouring out of God's Spirit — however mighty and gracious an effect of divine power it is — and the Holy Spirit sent down in person to live in believers... there was a privilege far higher than these — the gift of the Spirit to live in us in person, just as our Saviour said.
The verse also raises a practical question: should a Christian look for dreams and visions?
We consider that Joel 2:28 had a partial fulfillment at Pentecost. Its final accomplishment is still to be looked for in the history of God's ancient people. God can speak to people now by dreams or by a vision in the night. But we consider that the true and proper way for a child of God to be guided is by the Word and Spirit of God. It is very unsafe ground to be guided only by dreams or by the impressions of a man's mind.
- Afterward — the promise comes after Israel's restoration; that order is part of its meaning.
- Higher — earlier promises restore Israel's former days; the Spirit is a new gift, of a higher order.
- Wider — "all flesh" ends the limit to one nation; Joel alone brings in the Gentiles.
- Deeper — sons, daughters, servants and handmaids: no clergy, no limited class, women included.
- Different — Peter said this is what Joel spoke of, not that it was fulfilled; the Spirit poured out is not the same as the Spirit living in believers now.
Yea, even upon the bondmen and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.
Joel's promise ends with the people no one would have listed first: household servants, both men and women. Who is this outpouring for, when does it come, and how does it fit the day of Pentecost, where Peter quoted these words?
Verses 28 and 29 open a fresh section of the prophecy. Commentators mark the change as one of kind, not just of topic.
"And it shall come to pass afterward." It is here we find the distinct break... Verses 28 and 29 are quite apart from what went before. It is blessing of a higher order, flowing from the love of God, but clearly in a spiritual way.
The blessing before this point was earthly. What comes now is new.
But this was not all. This was earthly blessing — Israel set up again in the blessing of former days, on the ground of grace, which would keep them from losing it. But God had a new thing to give them. God 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 servants and the handmaids this rain from heaven would come down.
The point of naming servants and handmaids is that nothing is held back for a privileged group. When the promise began to be made good at Pentecost, the list itself was the argument.
It is worth noticing the first verse of Acts 2, because there is a general idea that only the twelve apostles were present. In fact there were a hundred and twenty there, and not the apostles only.
Other prophets promised the Spirit to Israel. Joel's words alone reach past the nation.
This was the language of Joel. Peter quoted it on the day of Pentecost to show that what took place had been foretold — not that the prophecy was fulfilled. He does not say that. He introduces it as "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." Several passages predict the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Israel (Isaiah 32:15; 44:3; Ezekiel 39:29). But in Joel alone are the Gentiles included, and that in the words "all flesh."
Peter's wording is careful, and writers here press that care against the common assumption that Pentecost exhausted the prophecy.
But notice, the apostle did not say that this scripture was fulfilled. He says, "It is that thing which was spoken by the prophet Joel;" and so it is. What was promised was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He did not say that what happened that day was the fulfilment of the prophecy. Men have assumed that, and so they have badly misunderstood scripture and lowered Christianity. He showed rather that the event was of that nature.
The judgments Joel ties to this outpouring did not follow in the book of Acts. One writer traces the reason to the state of the nation.
The gift of the Spirit in the day of Acts 2, according to this prophecy, was not followed by those judgments... Why? Israel was not then obedient. These judgments will be in favour of Israel. They will fall on the head of the oppressor, and close the day of Israel's tribulation... The nation was then unbelieving. It refused the testimony of the Spirit given at that time, even to the point of killing Stephen. So it was not delivered and not established.
Another writer calls it a start that was stopped. The fulfilment began at Pentecost, and its progress "was interrupted by Jerusalem's final, definite rejection of the Gospel" (W. Trotter).
The promise is not just a future thing. Believers draw on it now.
In Old Testament days the Spirit was promised, as for instance in Joel 2:28-29. We who believe, whether Jews or Gentiles, receive the Spirit today. So by faith we anticipate the blessing that will be fully enjoyed in the millennial day.
- Pour — Verses 28–29 break from the earthly blessings before them. They open a higher order of blessing, flowing from the love of God.
- Down — The Spirit reaches as far as servants and handmaids. At Pentecost He came on a hundred and twenty people, not on the apostles only.
- Out — "All flesh" reaches past Israel. Of the prophets who promise the Spirit, Joel alone takes in the Gentiles.
- Partly — Peter says "this is that," not "this is fulfilled." Pentecost matched the nature of the prophecy. How much was fulfilled then is another question.
- Not yet — The judgments Joel ties to the outpouring never came, because the nation refused the testimony. Believers today receive the Spirit and so anticipate by faith what will be enjoyed in full.