Joel and the Coming of the Holy Spirit

Joel writes about the great and terrible day of the Lord. Before this event would come, the Holy Spirit would be poured out. This would be a great sign that the people would know they were in the last days.

And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions

And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke,

the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon in to blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.(Joel 2:28-32)

Joel's prophecy is mentioned or alluded to several times in the New Testament and almost always in connect with very important eschatological events. Matthew 24:29, speaks of the darkening of the sun, moon and stars depicting the fall of the nation of Israel. 1 Corinthians 1:7, 8, alludes to the gifts that would confirm the saints until the "day of the Lord." 2 Peter 3, ties the day of the Lord to the end of the Jewish state, i.e. end of the old heaven and earth. Revelation 6:17, speaks of the arrival of the day of His wrath.

The most notable text which mentions the coming of the Holy Spirit is Acts 2:16-20, in which Peter directly quotes from Joel. He offers divine commentary on the meaning of the word, "afterward" showing that it would be fulfilled in the last days. In Particular, he speaks concerning the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues which the Apostles received (Acts 2:1-4) in fulfillment of the prophet's words.

But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams

and on my menservants and on my maidservants I will p[our out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.

I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath; Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord

And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.(Acts 2:16-20)

From the language, Peter indicates that the Holy Spirit would be poured out until the great and terrible day of the Lord. There is no intermediate stopping point for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit short of Jesus' return. Amillennialists for example, who see the gifts of the Spirit ending in the first century, do not seem to understand the implication of that view as it demands that the return of Christ occurred in the first century also. They are therefore inconsistent in their application of Joel's prophecy and the endtime. Their futurist eschatology is contradicted by their pneumatology, i.e. the eschatological role of the Spirit in the last days.

Premillennialists for the most part are more consistent in this point and hold out a future coming of Christ with a present day ongoing fulfillment of the gifts of the Spirit. Both views are misaligned with the Biblical text.

Peter, like Matthew affirms with Joel that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit continued until A.D> 70 at the fall of Jerusalem. "Matthew in connecting the prophecy with the overthrow of the Jewish temple, said it would be fulfilled in connection with that event and consummated all within that first century generation, Matthew 24:34.

Of equal importance is that Paul's teaching on tongue speaking shows that it was a sign, not for believers but for unbelieving Jews that they were under impending judgment.

In the law it is written; with men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; and yet, for all that they will not hear Me," says the Lord. Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.(1 Corinthians 14:21)

For with stammering lips and another tongue he will speak to this people, to whom he said, This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,' and, this is the refreshing'; yet they would not hear."(Isaiah 28:11, 12)

Israel refused to hear the message in the 8th century B.C., as were the unbelieving Jews in the days of Paul refused the gospel. Those who rejected the words of Christ were ripened for judgment in the last day, (John 12:48)

The contextual evidence of the prophecy and its first century fulfillment in the last days of Judah, shows that it has no relationship whatsoever to the modern state of Israel or to a future return of Christ.



Joel's prophecy of the coming of the Holy Spirit was a "sign o the times" in the first century.