Joel 2:28-29, 32
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 it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
Joel’s prophecy arrives in the aftermath of a devastating locust plague that has stripped the land, and the people are called to repentance. Into this crisis, God speaks a promise of restoration. Not only will the land be renewed and the years of the locusts restored (Joel 2:25), but God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh. Sons and daughters, old and young, servants and free. The boundaries that had always defined access to the Spirit would be dissolved. This was an eschatological promise, pointing beyond Joel’s own generation to a day of divine visitation that would change everything.
The fulfilment of Joel 2:28-32 is inseparable from Jesus Christ. John 7:37-39 records Jesus standing at the Feast of Tabernacles and crying out: If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink… out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John explains: This He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him would receive. The Spirit flows from and through the person of Jesus. The promise of the Spirit is a promise tied to Christ.
The Holy Spirit, the Helper, was sent in Jesus Christ’s name (John 14:26), testifies of Him (John 15:26), and glorifies Him (John 16:14). The Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, proceeding from the Father through the Son. Jesus told His disciples that: Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you (John 16:7). The outpouring of the Spirit is bound to the completion of Christ’s redemptive work.
In Acts 2, when the Spirit descended on the gathered disciples, Peter stood up and declared: This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel (Acts 2:16). Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear (Acts 2:33). Pentecost is not a separate event from the Gospel; it is the Gospel’s fruit. The Spirit is the gift of the ascended Christ to His Church.
Joel’s promise that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved (Joel 2:32) becomes in Peter’s sermon the invitation to call on the name of Jesus. The universal scope of Joel’s all flesh begins its fulfilment at Pentecost with Jews from every nation and continues through Paul’s mission to the Gentiles.
The Spirit who was poured out at Pentecost is the same Spirit who indwells every Christian today (Romans 8:9). We are not waiting for the Spirit; the Spirit is already present, already at work, already testifying that we are children of God. The last days that began at Pentecost are the days in which we currently live. The prophetic, empowered, Spirit-filled community of Acts 2 is the normative vision for the Church in every generation, including ours.
Joel’s vision of sons and daughters prophesying, old and young receiving revelation, dismantles every elitist or exclusionary view of who gets to participate in God’s mission. The Spirit is given to all flesh. Every member of the Body of Christ is a Spirit-bearer, called to witness, to love, to speak, and to serve.
Prayer points:
- Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and take time to acknowledge and welcome the Spirit’s presence in your life.
- Ask God to break down the boundaries that sometimes limit who is included in Spirit-empowered ministry.
- Intercede for those who have not yet called on the name of the Lord, that the outpoured Spirit would convict, draw, and save all who cry out to Jesus.
