Joel 2:30–31

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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).