Joel 2:28-32 Part 1

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Intro:

Well, today we take the big dive into Joel. It is actually, I believe, super providential that with Christmas Jake got to finish out his series on Ahmillennialism before we jumped any farther in Joel. Today we are going to deal with the text that Peter quotes on the day of Pentecostal and as we work our way through it you will hopefully see now how connected your view of the meaning and intent of these verses is with your understanding of eschatology but really more than just eschatology because that seems to imply just your view of the last things but really all of these points are woven together because they all form the tapestry of the redemptive plan that God is providently working out across all of history from His throne of sovereign rule in Heaven.
We are actually going to break this down into two parts, mainly so we don't have to be here for, you know, 90 minutes or so! We are going to ground ourselves in these verses in Joel today and set the stage for what they were intended to accomplish in the lives of those living before the coming of Christ before we jump off next time and see how it is that Peter connects these things then specifically to the first advent of our Lord.
Now, that being said though, there are still a couple of points here in this text that I will say that I am not ready to hang my hat on a particular interpretation yet and so while I will tell you where I lean I will also seek to provide some relevant alternatives that could also fit well with the text. We certainly wont cover all of the views because we don't have time and I think that most of you, if not all of you, are familiar enough now with the perspective that Jake and I are taking to these texts that you'll be able to sort some of these things out and even pursue your own study if the view that I am going to present is not satisfactory.
I start there maybe just to lay the foundation here that these aren't easy texts to parse our entirely, although, I do see an overall flow of thought and intent here that I actually find refreshingly simple because, in the view that I am going to present, even if you can’t pin down each and every line of prophecy to specific historical fulfillment, the intent and message of the prophecy stands magnificently clear, at least I think it does, and you cant even believe how refreshing it is to me, after being so hesitant to move into these minor prophets, to see these things with relative clarity now.
So lets take a moment to pray and then we will read our text and dive right in!
PRAY & READ
Now as I said, first we need to see what God is doing through Joel in his own day before we jump to the way that Peter picks up this text.
If you remember from our last time together I made the case that the people of Israel who were being called back to the land were going to experience something special. They weren't going to experience the full and glorious restoration of Israel, though that is what many expected. They were however, if they had learned the lessons that the exile had sought to teach them, going to experience something personally wonderful.

You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,

and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else.

And my people shall never again be put to shame.

These people who returned and were faithful to God were to experience the blessedness of being his people. They would find that His presence would be with them, they would know him as their Covenant God once again, their YHWH, and that for those who experienced this blessed presence of God there would never be any more shame. We saw that as a whole the people of Israel would experience shame again but that this promise of restoration meant that no matter what happened in Israels history from that point forward, those who were God’s would come to know the blessed peace of his presence.
We have seen though, in our message from Luke 2 on Simeon and Anna that though these dear saints indeed came to experience God’s presence in wonderful ways they also knew that these promises that had been given as they went into and came out of the exile were bigger than just their own personal experience of God. They had Messianic expectations, most notable they were waiting for the Son of David who would rise and take the throne of David and rule over His people in righteousness bringing salvation to the earth. Some understood these things to a greater degree than others but from the time of the return from exile until the moment that Simeon declared that the messiah had come the people waited!
And the passage that we see today is one of the passages that kept them waiting with great expectations of a coming Messianic ruler and kingdom!
Joel sets the stage here by saying:

And it shall come to pass afterward,

That is after this restoration to the land of the people. Something was going to take place at some point in time after God had restored the people to the land, something even bigger than the restoration to the land itself.
Now this phrase is not intended to convey that what Joel now talks about was to take place immediately after the previous events. We know that because Peter ties this to the events of Jesus’s first coming and the day of Pentecost and there were more than 400 years that would transpire between the people’s return to the land and the fulfilment of these things. And also because this phrase, as one commentator points out, is translated “in the course of time” in other places in the OT. As time moves forward from the restoration of the people to the land they are to live in the expectation of something yet to be fulfilled. Anticipation and expectation are the keys to these verses! They were intended to move the people to anxiously await something even greater! Expectation could really sum up all of the OT messianic promises!
And so Joel describes this highly anticipated event, he says:

I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

29  Even on the male and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

Now you need to know a little bit of your OT history for these verses to make a lot of sense, to know what it is that is being anticipated.
The main context for this comes from Numbers 11. There in the wilderness the people had begun once again to grumble before moses about the manana that God had given them for food, longing for meat. This event pushes poor moses to the breaking point, he feels responsible for all of the people, likely over a million of them, people who had lived for nearly 400 years as slaves, and now Moses is charged with guiding them through the desert as they followed God to the promised land. It was a big job!
And so God, in response to Moses, moves to provide Moses with help. The story begins in verse 16 and there we see Moses commanded to choose 70 men who were from the Elders of the people and God says that he will put some of His Spirit on these men so that they will be granted super natural ability to help Moses lead the people.
We read that the men gathered around the tent and that the Lord cam upon them and that they began to prophesy, but it says they didn't keep doing it, it was a sign that the Lord’s Spirit was now upon them. However, we find that in actuality only 68 men had gathered around the Tabernacle! Two men had remained in the camp and yet, never the less, it is reported to Moses that these two men were prophesying in the midst of the camp.
From there we read:

28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” 30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Now Joshua was Moses right hand man and he is concerned that here these men are prophesying and yet they didn't obey and come. Now there is probably more to dig into here but our concern is primarily in Moses’ response. Moses says that he wishes that all of the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord (that is YWHA) would put His Spirit on them.
That second part is the key piece. Remember we have to see the events that we read in scripture through the lens of the time in which they were recorded and for these people the presence of the Spirit of God in someones life was directly associated with the gift of prophecy. Its not hard to see why, when the Spirit was with someone they were given utterances directly from God.
Moses’ desire then is not specifically that all of God’s people would become prophets, but rather that there would come a time when God would put His Spirit on all of His people in the same way in which that Spirit resided with the prophets.
Now, we realize that, what is happening here is that Moses is actually functioning as a prophet at this moment. He is prophetically foreshadowing a moment that Joel now picks up and makes explicit reference to a moment when God would do something so wonderful, so amazing, that God would pour out His Spirit on all of His people, that He would be with them in much the same way as He had been with His prophets, prophets like Joel.
The language of dreams and visions also finds its root in the chapter immediately following, Numbers 12, there we see Moses’ brother and sister speak out against moses and as God brings resolution to that situation he speaks of speaking to prophets in dreams and visions.
Again, the key here is that there is an expectation developed of a time when God would abundantly pour out His Spirit on all of His people and I might add that this would not only signify an advancement in redemptive history but would also provide God’s people with supernatural power to serve Him.
Also we see here an allusion to the fact that God’s people, at this time, will consist not just of Jewish believers but of those from other nations. It is possible to read the “All flesh” here as all Jewish flesh, this is after all a prophecy to the nation of Israel and it does not do damage to the text to read it that way, however, because we have examples of other prophets like Isaiah and even Psalms that speak of the winding of the scope of redemption to nations outside of Israel and we have key among all the promise that through Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed, it is best to take all flesh to point to a time when this blessing spoken of will widen far beyond the boundaries of ethnic Israel!
God will pour out His spirit on all flesh. This is the first of the great messianic expectations that Joel lays before the people of God.
Joel then continues:

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

We have seen, before, the dual nature of the Day of the Lord before and here it is clearly seen again. While this coming day will bring an immeasurable blessing to God’s people, He will pour out His Spirit on all of His people, there is also an expectation of judgement on those who will not submit to His Lordship. We will touch on this passage more in our next time together and discuss its NT application by Peter in Acts 2, this is one place where I am not ready to hang my hat on exactly where and when these things are to be or have been fulfilled.
However, we can find here what the expectation was for the people who heard Joel speak these things. These allusions to wonders in the heavens and on earth are likely allusions, at the very least, to some of the plagues of the Egyptian exodus, but also may relate to how it was that Israel had seen God show up at times like Sinai when He descended on the mountain in fire and a dark cloud. This apocalyptic type language is language of God’s showing up now, not just for the blessing of His people but also in fearful judgement!
We see that this is an allusion to judgement because Joel specifically tells us that there will be those who escape, those who are saved from this judgement by calling on the Name of the Lord.
These were the two great expectations that these people had of what Joel here calls the Great and Awesome Day of the Lord. (This is why Joel is most notably knows as the prophet of the Day of the Lord, such an amazing description of that coming day!)
None other than John the Baptist brings these two aspects of this day together for us when he says in Matthew 3 that there was One who was coming after him who would baptise the people with “the Holy Spirit and with fire.” The Spirit and Judgement, and we can see that John had judgment in mind there, not some sort of charismatic outpouring of fire, because he immediately connects that fire with the winnowing fork of judgement.
The messiah would come to bless and fill His people with His Spirit, YES, but also to bring judgement on those who would not follow Him.
Lastly, just two points to note here before we wrap up and prepare for Acts 2.
First, note the universal nature of the salvation held out here, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” What ever it is that it taking place is expanding the horizon of redemption beyond the borders of Israel! It is a wonder that so many struggle then with the fact that as we enter into the NT we see the Kingdom expanding so rapidly beyond the ethnic boarders of the Jews. It is jarring, as Paul himself even notes in Romans 9-11 that so many Jews are rejecting their Messiah, but in light of these types of promises here in Joel I see no need to insert some sort of parenthesis into redemption history and say that God put His plans with Israel on pause while He now works out a similar but separate plan among the gentiles, we just don't see that kind of language or expectation anywhere in the OT, rather what we see are passages like this, that the coming of the Messiah would usher in a time when “anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved!”
And lastly here, note how Joel presents the dual reality of salvation that we must all hold on to, the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. Salvation Joel tells us is for all who call on the name of the Lord. There is a responsibility on the part of mankind that they call on the name of the Lord.
Commentator Duane Garrett notes here of this phrase:
Hosea, Joel 3. Promise of Salvation (2:32)

The phrase implies identifying Yahweh as one’s own God. This is not a prayer of desperation in a moment of crisis but the consistent identification with the God of Israel.

This is a conscious submission to and identification with the people of God and their Lord. This is what is required for salvation.
However, we also see that those who are saved are:

those whom the LORD calls.

among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

Again Duane Garrett notes:
Hosea, Joel 3. Promise of Salvation (2:32)

At the same time the saved are not simply those who call on the Lord but those whom the Lord calls. As Dillard states, “This verse is one of those sublime statements of Scripture which integrate in a single breath what has always been for theologians a paradox, that tension between moral responsibility and the sovereignty of God.” People must call on the Lord and identify with him if they are to experience his salvation; on the other hand, none can come to the Lord unless the Lord draws them

So then this is the expectation that is created for the faithful remnant of the earlier verses of Joel 2. That there was coming a day when the messianic promises of God would be realized, God would at that time pour out His Spirit on His people, all of His people from all nations and that they would be saved ultimately as a result of His calling. Not only that but that the Messiah would also come, not just to bless His people, but also with judgement for those who refused to submit to Him. This was one of the many promises that held dear old Simeon and Anna in the Temple day after Day anxiously awaiting the consummation of Israel, the fulfilment of these very promises!

Acts 2

So now lets jump forward and take a moment to look at Acts 2: Here we read Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost. We are actually just going to read over it here this morning and then we will spend our next time together unpacking these things in the NT. As we read hopefully you can maybe begin to sound some of these points that Peter makes off of what we have talked about today but also off of the concepts that Jake has sketched out for us over the last couple of months and see where we might be headed in our next time together. Again, note the significance that Peter doesn't see any pause needed in the redemptive history of God’s people there is a constant flow from Old to New and, this might be too leading but Ill say it anyway, note specifically where it is that Christ winds up at the end of Peter’s sermon!

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

17  “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams;

18  even on my male servants and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

19  And I will show wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below,

blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

20  the sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

21  And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,

“ ‘I saw the Lord always before me,

for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;

26  therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;

my flesh also will dwell in hope.

27  For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,

or let your Holy One see corruption.

28  You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

35  until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Conclusion

Now as we close though for today there are two main touch points of application that I want to leave us with.
The first is the absolute centrality of the message of the gospel! We see the entire message of the Gospel summed up in these promises that Joel lays before the people and in the expectations that they were intended to create.
We see the need for salvation. In Hebrew 10 we see that:

31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

That point is emphasized here as we see this awesome description of God showing up in judgement. These people in Joel’s day were well familiar with God’s judgment. They had see the decimation of the locust horde, they had seen the decimation of military conquest , and they had seen here this terrifying description now of their covenant God showing up as the skies are darkened, the moon turned to blood, smoke, fire. God does love His people, that is true, gloriously true, but God is also holy and righteous, and he will by no means clear the guilty who refuse to submit to Him. One of mankind's most condemning errors is to assume that God just loves us so much that He will sweep away everything bad that we have ever done because He just wants us so badly.
God shows great mercy as we see in this text, He does indeed move to call and save people, as we know today, through the death of His dear Son on the cross, He didn't simply sweep our sins away, He satisfied the punishment due for those sins at great cost to Himself, and He offers that salvation to those who call on the name of the Lord. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved! But that calling is a calling of humble submission, it looks to God and marvels at what He has done to redeem us and then with a heart filled with love for God says of God, I am yours, you are my Lord, I submit my life fully to your will and your ways.
This is the call of the Gospel, come to Christ, confess that you are a sinner deserving of this mighty wrath that we have seen pictured in this horrifying image of God and then fully submit your life to Him as you see there that Christ bore that wrath for us and now makes it possible for us to experience the flip side of these promises, a flip side that we will explore more in our next time together, the blessed promise of God’s own presence in our lives as we are filled with this mighty outpouring of His Holy Spirit and enabled through that filling to supernaturally serve Him all of our days on this earth.
The second point is exactly the same point we made the week before Christmas as we looked at the lives of SImeon and Anna. The Bible holds before us so many great and wonderful promises. It is so easy as people living in this world to live day to day applying ourselves to the tasks and business that presents itself to us each day getting totally lost and distracted by those things, the cares and concerns of this life and maybe, every once in a while, maybe on a Sunday morning like this, get reminded that there is something bigger out there, just to then get drawn back into the cares of this world a hour or so after church.
Don’t live like that, we have such glorious promises, such wonderful expectations, even now as we live on the other side of the fulfilment of many of these promises we are learning about in the OT we now have the privilege to live in the light of their fulfilment in Christ and yet to live still in longing and expectation as the coming of Christ only made even more abundantly clear the wonderful glory of what is yet before us! Let us not loose sight of these things but bring the ever present reality of those things to bear in each and every moment as we now seek to live our lived to the fullest for His glory!
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