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.
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
After promising to pour out His Spirit, God announces something men will see: blood, fire and columns of smoke. When do these signs come, are they literal sights or pictures, and why does God show them at all?
The verse does not carry on the thought of the outpoured Spirit. One writer marks a break in the prophecy at this point.
But God had a new thing to give them. He would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. The young men and the old men of the people would have visions and dreams. Even on male and female servants this rain from heaven would come down. Verse 30 takes up the subject again from another angle, and does not follow on directly.
The same writer elsewhere marks the same break, and names what the day of the Lord falls on.
Then there is another testimony… The day of the Lord is on the northern army; the "day" is the judgment of the Lord. Verses 28, 29 go together; but verses 30, 31 are distinct from them, and refer to what takes place beforehand.
These signs are not the judgment itself.
In Joel 2:30 we learn that these things take place before the day of the Lord — before the execution of judgment. Many things come before that day. They are not even events on earth, but early steps in God's government.
Why send signs at all? One writer sees here a settled habit of God, and reads it back into daily Christian experience.
God will show His power in a remarkable outward way before He carries out the judgment. God always sends a testimony before the thing itself. He does not strike before He warns. It is so in His dealings with us every day. What Christian feels God's chastening before the Spirit of God has warned him? He gives us the chance to put ourselves right morally; and if we do not heed the teaching, then comes the sorrow. And so it is here. These wonders cannot help attracting the mind and attention of men. But men will not really heed them. They are deluded and hardened under God's judgment. They will turn a deaf ear to it all. So the great and terrible day of Jehovah will overtake them like a thief.
Peter quoted this passage on the day the Spirit came. Yet what verse 30 lists shows why it was not fulfilled that day.
Now this prophecy was not fulfilled at Pentecost. Peter did not quote it to show that it was fulfilled that day. He quoted it to show the scoffing Jews that this sudden miraculous power was nothing more than their own prophets had foretold as the effect of the Spirit's outpouring. There were no wonders in heaven, no blood, fire or smoke. So the apostle could not have meant that the prophecy was really fulfilled then.
Another writer looks at Peter's exact wording. The New Testament has a set phrase for a fulfilled prophecy, and Peter did not use it.
In so many passages in the New Testament we find the phrase "that it might be fulfilled." But when Peter uses the prophecy in Acts chapter 2, that phrase is missing. Instead we read that he said, "But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16). There is a great difference between this and an outright declaration that the passage was fulfilled.
Commentators differ on how to read the blood, fire and smoke. Kelly, quoted above, expects an outward display that men will see. Another writer reads them as pictures, drawing on how Revelation uses the same words.
So this is a figurative description. It is borrowed from Joel's magnificent prophecy about the events before the day of the Lord… These passages show the time and the circumstances. They also show the right way to read the figures used in Revelation. The time is before the coming of "the great and terrible day of the Lord." The circumstances are God's judgment of the nations. The interpretation of the figures is the overthrow of the powers of the earth by great social and political upheavals.
- Break. Verse 30 starts a fresh line of testimony; verses 28-29 belong together, and 30-31 stand apart from them.
- Before. The next verse dates the wonders: they come before the day of the Lord, before God carries out judgment.
- Warning. God does not strike before He warns. The signs give men time, just as the Spirit warns a Christian before chastening falls.
- Deaf. The wonders will grip men's attention, but men will not heed them, so the day still arrives on them like a thief.
- Unfinished. No blood, fire or smoke appeared at Pentecost. Peter never said Joel was fulfilled — only "this is that." The full accomplishment is still ahead.
The sun shall be changed to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come.
Joel puts two signs in the sky. A darkened sun and a moon like blood come before the day of the LORD. So when do these signs happen? Are they literal? And what is this "great and awesome day"?
Everything hangs on the small word "before." Joel first promises the Spirit poured out, then adds the wonders in the sky. One writer keeps the two apart, and puts both ahead of the day.
Then comes another testimony: wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke, the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood — all before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. The day of the Lord falls on the northern army; the "day" is the judgment of the Lord. Verses 28 and 29 belong together, but verses 30 and 31 are separate from them, and refer to what happens before.
The signs are not the judgment. They are the warning that comes first — and God works the same way with His own people today.
There will be a striking outward display of divine power before God carries out the judgment. God always sends a testimony before the thing itself. He does not strike before He warns. He deals with us the same way every day. What Christian is disciplined before the Spirit of God has first spoken to him?… These wonders are bound to catch people's attention, but they will not truly heed them. Deluded and hardened under God's judgment, they will turn a deaf ear to it all, and so the great and terrible day of Jehovah will overtake them like a thief.
Peter read this passage aloud on the day the Spirit came (Acts 2). His exact wording matters — and so does the word he never used.
It is strange that all these teachers use the word "fulfillment" about this prophecy… But the Holy Spirit did not use the word "fulfillment" at all. He avoided saying that on purpose. So many places in the New Testament carry the phrase "that it might be fulfilled." Yet when Acts 2 draws on this prophecy, that phrase is missing. Instead Peter says, "this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16). There is a great difference between that and a flat declaration that the passage was fulfilled.
Peter also chose where to stop reading. That stopping point splits Joel's prophecy in two.
Peter stops at the general statement of salvation, which holds true in every age. He deliberately holds back from quoting to the end, because that end applies only to the future, when the Lord returns to reign at Jerusalem.
Commentators differ here. Some take the signs at face value, expecting the heavens themselves to change.
In Joel the sun goes dark, and the moon turns to blood, before the day comes. And I take it that if the sea in its appointed place literally becomes like the blood of a dead man, then the moon literally turns to blood too.
Others read the same imagery as a picture of governments falling.
Of course this is not to be taken literally. Such an upheaval would destroy the universe completely, yet the world goes on long after these events. So it is a description in figures… These figures mean the overthrow of the powers of the earth through great social and political upheavals. The sun, the highest authority, goes dark, and the lesser powers, the moon and stars, are either shaken or completely overthrown.
The day means God's hand shown openly against evil on earth. So it cannot be the same event as Christ coming to gather His people to Himself.
Could there be a clearer example of the folly of treating the day of Jehovah, with its terrors for the earth, as the same thing as Christ's coming to take His own up on high?… The idea of His "day" always assumes a public display of His hand.
The same day that terrifies the nations rescues those who wait for God. Joel says so himself in the very next verse.
It is just as true that His return will bring salvation. The day is to be one of mercy as well as judgment: mercy to the remnant who wait for Him in a spirit of repentance, judgment to the nation… in Joel, there is deliverance for the remnant whom the Lord calls (Joel 2:32).
- Warning — "God always sends a testimony before the thing itself. He does not strike before He warns." The darkened sun is the notice, not the sentence.
- Before — verses 30 and 31 stand apart from the promise of the Spirit. Both come before the day. The signs mark the timing; they are not the day.
- Unfulfilled — Peter said "this is what was uttered," never "that it might be fulfilled." He also stopped mid-verse. The full event is still ahead.
- Debated — do sun and moon go dark for real, or do they picture earthly powers being overthrown? Commentators differ.
- Two-sided — the day is terrible for the world, merciful for those who call on the Lord. The warning comes first so that people will call before it lands.
And it shall be that whosoever shall call upon the name of Jehovah shall be saved for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as Jehovah hath said, and for the residue whom Jehovah shall call.
Joel closes his warning about the day of the Lord with an open door. The Lord saves anyone who calls on His name. The verse holds two things together. The promise is wide enough for "everyone who calls." Yet the deliverance sits in Zion, among a remnant God Himself calls. Much of the New Testament turns on how the two fit.
The word "everyone" is not decoration. It settles two things: how the blessing comes, and how far it reaches. That mattered in a system that had trained people to think in ranks.
"Whoever will call upon the name of Jehovah shall be delivered" shows that the blessing is by faith, and so by grace... all this is of great importance, because the Jewish system tended by its very nature to limit God and to make classes within the Jews. Only the family of Aaron could go into the sanctuary. Only Levites could touch the holy vessels safely. But this greatest blessing of God will go out with grace that makes no distinctions at all.
The verse has two callings in it, and they run in opposite directions. People call on the Lord; the Lord calls the remnant. One writer puts the order plainly.
Here we find that salvation, or deliverance, is in Zion for Israel in the last days. But it is connected with the call of God, and it will be made in a remnant. It will be there for all, for "whoever shall call on the name of the Lord," but the call of God has to come in to make it effective. He calls a remnant, and this remnant gets the benefit of the deliverance that is in Zion.
Joel names two places, and each one carries a meaning. The writers here quote an older translation. It reads "deliverance" and "the remnant" where the ESV has "those who escape" and "the survivors."
The city of Jerusalem remains the great and royal centre. Mount Zion appears again, the sign of grace for the kingdom which Jehovah will set up in that day.
At Pentecost Peter quoted Joel, but he broke off in the middle of this verse. That deliberate stop tells you the two halves belong to different times.
He stopped in the middle of a verse. "Whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Joel gives a reason for that, adding, "for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance... and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." Peter stops at the general statement of salvation, which is true in every age. But he holds back on purpose from quoting to the end. That end applies only to the future, when the Lord returns to reign at Jerusalem.
Paul takes the same clause in Romans 10 and builds his case for the nations on it. The wording God chose was already larger than its first setting.
The original immediate application was deliverance in Zion for a remnant; Joel 2:32. But God had supplied the blessing in words that let in the Gentile too when the time came. This way of grace of His was far more important than the Jewish privilege. It took for granted the testimony that made known the Lord on whom they were to call.
The writers hold both applications together. The "whoever" is true now. Joel's Zion clause still waits for the day of Israel's deliverance.
Joel says Jehovah — the name printed as "the LORD" in the verse above. Paul quotes the line and applies it to Jesus. That move is not a slip of the pen.
"Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Notice in passing one of the many incidental proofs of the Deity of Christ. This verse is quoted from Joel 2:32, where the reference is to Jehovah beyond doubt. In Romans 10 it is applied to the Lord Jesus. Then He is Jehovah! If He were not, He would not be qualified to be the Saviour of men.
A promise this wide raises a practical problem: nobody calls on a name they have never heard. That is why the promise puts preachers on the road.
How important then is the gospel, in which He is presented as Lord, so that faith may submit to Him... If men are to be saved they must hear the gospel and God must send it. With Him it all begins. God sends the preacher. The preacher delivers the message. Men hear of Christ and they believe in Him. Then they call upon the Lord and are saved.
- God calls first. The deliverance is real for all who call. But "the call of God has to come in to make it effective." He calls the remnant, and the remnant calls on Him.
- Grace, not rank. Deliverance comes by faith, and so by grace. That sweeps away the classes the old system had built.
- Everyone means everyone. The wording God chose let the nations in when the time came. That way of grace outweighs the earlier privilege.
- Jesus is the name. Joel says Jehovah, Paul applies it to Jesus — only He is qualified to save.
- Two halves, two days. Peter quoted the wide promise and stopped. The Zion clause still waits for the Lord's return to reign at Jerusalem.