Joel 2:28-32. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on May 28, 2017.
Today we will look at another Old Testament passage in which God promised that there would come a day when His Holy Spirit would be given to His people wholesale, as they say. Of course, Peter quotes from this passage in Acts 2:17-21, to demonstrate that the passage was indeed talking about the events of the upper room.
As we look at this passage, I pray that you will be encouraged and prompted to action. This is not a day for taking it easy, and seeking our own desires and comfort. This is a day when destinies can be changed, a day that is before “it's too late.” So let’s look at the promises from God’s Word.
This chapter opens with a warning to the people of Israel of God’s judgment upon them by an army that would be coming. In verses 12-17 there is a call to repentance. They need to turn away from their sin and back towards the ways of the Lord. Then verses 18-27 speak of a restoration that would happen to them. In some ways it is presented as conditional upon their repentance. However, in other ways, it is declared as definite for those who belong to God. This leaves room for what actually happened in the decades following Jesus and his apostles. Israel as a whole came under the judgment of God and saw their nation and capital destroyed by Rome. Yet, in the midst of this, God poured out refreshing restoration upon those who put their faith in Jesus. So this sets up the part of the chapter that we will be focusing on, vs. 28-32.
As Joel declares the restoration that will be experienced by God’s people, he prophesies that God will pour out His Holy Spirit upon His people. Thus this pouring out of the Holy Spirit is a part of the restoration. Sin has separated God’s people from Him. But the work of Jesus makes way for a daily experience of the Holy Spirit for every believer. As we said last week, the idea of the Holy Spirit coming upon people is not foreign to the Old Testament. We find it everywhere. However, it might be described best in this way. In the Old Testament God’s Spirit came upon certain people, at certain times, for certain works. But, in this passage, we are promised a time when God will give His Spirit without such restraints.
Two aspects stick out about this and the first is that there will be no distinctions. The Holy Spirit will be poured out upon “all flesh.” Thus we get a series of opposites that are intended to reinforce this point. The Spirit will be poured out on sons and daughters, old men and young men, and men servants and maid servants (male and female). Age and gender distinctions will not prohibit people from receiving the Holy Spirit. Other places in the New Testament also add slave and free, Jew and Greek, and circumcised and uncircumcised. The baptism of the Holy Spirit would be a common experience of all of God’s people.
The second aspect is what the effect of the Spirit will be. Essentially Joel says that they will prophesy. Though the Holy Spirit would be constantly present, this does not mean that they will be constantly prophesying. Rather, God would speak through anyone at any time as He wills. It is our job to be so in step with the Holy Spirit that we will recognize true prophecy versus the false. Not all people will prophesy. There are other gifts of the Holy Spirit that are not mentioned here but are pointed out in the New Testament. Joel mentions dreams and visions. However, we should see these as two methods by which God gives His revelation to prophets. A dream is God speaking to us through a dream while we are asleep. A vision, on the other hand, is more like a trance. A person is awake and yet begins to have a “day dream” that is influenced by the Spirit of God. Other methods are mentioned in the Bible of which having an angelic visitation is seen in both Testaments. Now it is one thing to have a dream from the Lord and quite another to recognize it and also understand it. We must be daily communing with God in prayer and in reading His Word. This puts us in tune with what the Spirit of God is saying and helps us to recognize when He speaks to us. Even when God moves upon us to give a prophecy, we should not assume that we now have the right to “make this happen” out of sheer will. It is our job to be open to the Lord. Some people have been led astray because they feel the pressure to have “a word from the Lord” all the time. God may not have a new word. He may simply want us to focus on what He has already said and be faithful. There is also a prevalent problem for people who have been involved with heavy drug use. These can so damage our brains that we have a tendency towards weird dreams or dreams that have supernatural elements to them. Such a person needs to exercise extreme caution and seek godly mentors who can give them unbiased advice. As a community, God’s people need to be open to these things and not afraid of them. Yet, we should be open to them in a mature way that recognizes that not all that feels spiritual is really from the Lord. Those who do not have the gift of prophesy still have the Promised Holy Spirit by which they can recognize for themselves if the Spirit is indeed speaking through a particular person.
In verses 30-32 the promise of restoration and pouring out of the Spirit is counterbalanced with the promise of judgment. Only this time the phrase “Day of the Lord” is used. The Day of the Lord is used in the prophetic books as a technical term that points to a day when God will judge all the nations of the earth and institute His millennial kingdom. Thus we are moving beyond a judgment upon Israel only. Joel sees a day when God will judge all nations, but before that, He will pour out His Spirit. The Day of the Lord is always a joyful time for those who are God’s faithful servants. But, it is a fearful day full of woe for those who are not His faithful servants.
So we two things that are coincident and previous to the Day of the Lord: the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and Signs and Wonders both in heaven and on earth. The amazing or jaw dropping events would make it clear that God is keeping His promises. Now the signs in the heavens, or celestial signs, are not a reference to astrology. There is no sense that the sun, moon, or stars can affect mankind’s destiny or God’s actions. Rather, God uses them to clue humans into the fact that He is doing what He said He would. Thus they are attention getters that point us to God. In this passage it mentions the sun being turned into darkness and the moon into blood. Some have pointed out that this is more than likely speaking of a solar eclipse (dark sun) and a lunar eclipse (some can be blood red). Now the historical testimony from the disciples of Jesus, and secular, non-Christian sources such as Josephus, tell us about weird things happening in the sky and on the earth. Several things worth noting are the strange star that the Magi of the East recognized as pointing to the Messianic King of Israel being born. Also, when Jesus was on the cross there was a darkness that lasted far longer than the longest solar eclipse (around 8 minutes). We are also told of an earthly wonder of the earthquake during the death of Jesus. This earthquake struck Jerusalem and tore the 4” thick curtain that was in the temple from top to bottom. All these things are intended to get the attention of people who are thinking that things are “business as usual.” They cause you to stop and think twice about what God is actually doing. To those who would not listen to Jesus and his disciples, some might be persuaded by such signs. The writings of John in The Revelation seem to point to more signs in the heaven and on earth that will occur before and during the Second Coming of Jesus.
Now in one sense the Day of the Lord cannot be avoided. It will come upon the earth and all the nations at a particular time that God has set, but not revealed to us. However, we can avoid the Day of the Lord as individuals if we put our faith in Jesus and follow Him. Though it is a “Great and Terrifying” day to those who are under God’s judgment, those who have cried out to God will be saved from it (vs. 32). For about 2,000 years God has been saving those who hear the bad news of judgment and the good news of Jesus, and then cry out to Him. The fate of the repentant will be deliverance. Thus the passage ends with a promise of deliverance for God’s people who are described as, “those who call on the name of the Lord,” and “the remnant whom the Lord calls.”
It is instructive to look at what Israel went through in the first century AD. God had been faithful to send His Word to them over a long period of time. This culminated with an outpouring of amazing grace in the person of Jesus and His apostles. This powerful witness was then followed by judgment in which the wicked and their governments were removed. But the saints were left unscathed by God’s judgment. So we will see this same process globally. When Israel was judged by God, He then sent His people to all the nations of the earth to proclaim the truth. This mighty witness by God’s people will one day come to an end as God pours out His judgment on the whole earth, not just Israel. If you are a believer, you are a part of this powerful witness that God is giving to the nations. The long period of grace is in order for people to have time to respond and large groups of the world to respond. But, the Day of the Lord is rapidly approaching. Each day we are one step closer. So Christian, we must be about our Father’s business rather than feeding our flesh with all that it desires, if we are to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.” To those who are not Christians, recognize that God desires to give you the good promise of His Holy Spirit daily in your life. Don’t reject God’s offer of His love and presence in your life. Instead, put your faith in Jesus and come follow Him!