BIG IDEA:
THE PROMISE AND FULFILLMENT OF BLESSINGS ASSOCIATED WITH REPENTANCE
INTRODUCTION:
James Nogalski: Joel 2:18 functions as the dramatic turning point of the book. Serious disagreement, however, exists regarding whether one should read 2:18 as a narrative description of God’s reaction to the repentance described in 2:12–17, as a continuation of the prayer of 2:12–17, or as a contingency statement, reporting what Yahweh might do should the people repent and Yahweh relent. It is clear to anyone who reads Joel that 2:18 begins something radically different.
John Barton: It is widely held that laments or pleas for help uttered in the Temple cultus were customarily followed by an oracle declaring that God had heard the lament, and that this explains the sudden transition from lament to assurance in some of the psalms. Thus, in Psalm 20, a prayer for the king to be blessed by YHWH in vv. 1–5 is followed in vv. 6–8 by a thanksgiving that YHWH will certainly do so: “Now I know that the LORD will help his anointed.” It is plausible to think that after the first part of the psalm a cultic official (priest or prophet) arose and uttered a favorable oracle in response to the intercession. Similarly, in Psalm 60 a lament about military defeat (vv. 1–5) is followed by a declaration that God will favor the people and give them dominion over their enemies. It seems likely that this pattern, lament followed by oracle of blessing, was well established in the Temple cult even in preexilic times.
Leslie Allen: After a short narrative introduction the first divine oracle comes in two parts, vv. 19, 20 and 24–27. It is split by a prophetic song of encouragement which applies God’s promises to the hearts of his hearers, and calls for a joyful response (vv. 21–23). Both the two-part oracle and the song present a glorious reversal of the grim situation of distress depicted in 1:4 – 2:17. Earlier motifs are deliberately taken up and put in a new setting of salvation. It is mainly the factually descriptive phraseology of 1:4–20 that is echoed, but elements from 2:3, 11, 17 are also repeated in these promises of victory and blessing.
Lloyd Ogilvie: Outline
- The Voice of Pity (2:18–20)
- A Word of Promise (2:21–24)
- Restoring the Years (2:25–27)
- The Outpouring of the Spirit (2:28–29)
- The Prophet in Your Skin Deliverance (2:30–32)
From 2:18 to the end of the book we find promises of prosperity and restoration for God’s people and judgment upon their enemies. . . Joel 2:18–27 has been characterized as an oracle of assurance, a promise that the petition offered has been heard and will be answered.
I. (:18-27) FULFILLMENT OF DELIVERANCE PROMISES BASED ON HISTORICAL REPENTANCE
A. (:18) Restoration of Divine Favor
“Then the Lord will be zealous for His land
And will have pity on His people.”
James Nogalski: This verse promises that Yahweh will respond positively to the repentance described in 2:12–17. While the prophet’s call to repentance affirms that the decision on how to respond to the people’s actions remains the prerogative of Yahweh himself, Yahweh’s promise in 2:18 reinforces the characterization of Yahweh as compassionate and willing to show mercy. The subsequent verses (2:19–27) explicate in more concrete terms what Yahweh intends to do if the people actually do repent. Nowhere in Joel, however, or in the Twelve, do the people actually follow through explicitly on this call to repentance until Zech 1:6.
Duane Garrett: The idiom for being “jealous for” something occurs several times in the sense of people being devoted to and defending the honor of Yahweh (e.g., Num 25:13). Here, as in Ezek 39:25; Zech 1:14 and 8:2, Yahweh is zealous for the nation in the sense that he identifies himself with it, protects it, and upholds the covenant. This quality especially emerges in the context of the nations’ abuse of Israel, as in Zech 1:14–15: “I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry [i.e., with Jerusalem], but they [i.e., the Gentiles] added to the calamity [i.e., by tormenting the Jews].” At the same time, Yahweh is motivated by pure compassion. Thus the two grounds for God’s work of salvation are his covenant bond with the people and his merciful nature.
Robert Chisholm: In response to this genuine repentance , the LORD was jealous for His land and took pity on His people. The Lord ‘s jealousy is His passionate loyalty toward what is His, a loyalty that prompts Him to lash out against anything that would destroy it (cf. Isa. 26:11; Ezek. 36:5-6; 38:19; Zech. 1:14; 8:2). The military protection described in Joel 2:20 is in view here.
B. (:19) Restoration of Material Prosperity
- Response to Repentance and Appeals to God’s Mercy
“The Lord will answer and say to His people”
Lloyd Ogilvie: Verse 19 states explicitly that the Lord has answered the prayer of His people. First, He promises to send grain, new wine, and oil—the trio of 1:10 which represents the sum of agricultural produce and was destroyed by the locust plague and the drought. Not only does He promise to send these staples again, but He assures the people that there will be sufficient quantity, that they will be “satisfied” or filled.
- Resources for Contented Living
“Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied in full with them”
- Reputation as the People of God
“And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.”
Duane Garrett: Yahweh proleptically decreed that he would undo the two curses of agricultural disaster (1:9–17) and humiliation among the Gentile powers (2:17; cf. Jer 51:51; Ezek 5:15; 22:4). This verse is proleptic in the sense that it only announces in brief what is explored in much more detail in the following verses. Restoring the grain, new wine, and oil reverses the calamity described in 1:10. Putting an end to their “reproach among the nations” implies an end to the military defeat, famine, and plague that had dogged them. It specifically looks for a restoration from exile.
C. (:20) Removal of Threatening Enemies
“But I will remove the northern [army / one] far from you,
And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,
And its vanguard into the eastern sea,
And its rear guard into the western sea.
And its stench will arise and its foul smell will come up,
For it has done great things.”
Duane Garrett: Whatever else one may make of the armies of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel, they are armies “from the far north” brought against Israel (38:15; 39:2). They are a vast horde that advances like a cloud (38:15–16) and schemes to assault Jerusalem and carry away plunder (38:10–14). They will fall in the slaughter of the day of the Lord. Birds and wild animals will eat their corpses, and the Israelites will be occupied for seven months with burying the dead and for seven years with burning the equipment. The burial ground will occupy “the valley of those who travel east toward the sea” and will be so extensive that it will block the passage through (39:1–20). . .
All in all, everything in this verse points toward a human army, apocalyptic in its power and significance, whose victories represent judgment upon Israel but whose destruction is a sign of eschatological salvation.
Thomas Constable: Instead of leading this army against Jerusalem (v. 11), the Lord would drive it from Judah. He would drive its soldiers into a parched and desolate land (Arabia?) and into the eastern (Dead) sea and the western (Mediterranean) sea (cf. Dan. 11:45). In other words, He would turn against them rather than leading them and scatter them rather than uniting them against Jerusalem. The smell of the dead carcasses of the many soldiers would fill the air because they had done many great things. In short, they had tried to overthrow God’s people (cf. the Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea). Masses of dead locusts also smell terrible, especially after dying in the sea and then being washed ashore.
James Nogalski: Rhetorically, this verse functions as part of Yahweh’s promise that reverses the curses of Joel 1:2 – 2:11 and provides internal evidence that the compiler of the book understood “locusts” of Joel as attacking nations. The invading nation in 1:6, which surely interprets the final locust plague of 1:4 as an attacking army, implies to the reader of Joel 1 that a nation entered the land. Joel 2:20 promises to remove the northern army from the land, a promise that makes little sense if the northerner is not the same as the nation in 1:6. Additionally, the language in the second half of 2:20 conceptualizes this army in near mythic terms so that its “face” will be driven to the Dead Sea and its “hind part” toward the Mediterranean. Metaphorically, the northern army will be cleaved in two and scattered into arid lands where its carcass will rot. The “northerner” is generally interpreted through the tradition of the enemy of the north, a tradition that plays a significant role in Jeremiah (see 1:13–15; 3:12, 18; 4:6; 6:1; etc.) as a cipher for Babylon. Most military attacks from Mesopotamia did not take a straight line from the east because of the desert separating Israel and Judah from Babylon or Assyria. Rather, Mesopotamian armies tended to follow the rivers of the Fertile Crescent, which means that they marched from the north into Israel and Judah.
Daniel Epp-Tiessen: God will employ a double-pronged strategy to destroy the northerner, first driving him into a desolate land, where the locust army will presumably starve because there is no vegetation (2:20). Then, in language reminiscent of how God ended the locust plague upon Egypt by driving the locusts into the sea (Exod 10:19), God promises to split the locust army in half, driving its vanguard into the Dead Sea and its rearguard into the Mediterranean. The carnage will be so massive that the stench of rotting bodies, either human or locust, will foul the air.
D. (:21-24) Rejoice in the Lord’s Blessings / Do Not Fear
James Nogalski: Each of these three calls contain similar structural elements: a command telling the people not to fear but to rejoice and be glad, followed by specific reasons introduced by the conjunction kî (“because, for”). . .
These paired commands provide cohesion across the calls to three different addressees, as does the fact that each of the three groups are exhorted for specific reasons. The prophet tells the land to rejoice because Yahweh has magnified his own actions. The prophet exhorts the beasts of the field not to fear because the pasturelands and the trees will soon be fertile again. And the children of Zion shall rejoice because Yahweh will restore the cycle of rain upon which the ecosystem depends.
John Goldingay: Joel takes up the implications of Yahweh’s promises. His bidding the ground not to be afraid in light of them is a standard prophetic encouragement to Israel. The ground has had reason to be afraid, and specifically to mourn, and celebration and gladness had disappeared from people’s worship because the ground did not produce the wherewithal for worship (1:10, 16). It is now encouraged to celebrate and rejoice instead of mourning. The ground celebrates by being colorful and by manifesting its produce, but the exhortation to celebrate has a metonymic aspect; Joel is also encouraging the community to celebrate and rejoice. Prophets commonly encourage kings or Israel itself not to be afraid; Joel indirectly encourages Judah by directly encouraging the natural world in this direction. In such biddings, the encouragement can be based on something that has been declared though not actually yet implemented (e.g., Isa. 41:13; 43:1), and so it is here. A promise from Yahweh changes the face of its recipients before they see its implementation. The specific event that is declared though not yet actual is described in a neat contrast with v. 20bβ. Yahweh is the one who is in a position to act big in what he does and to put down the pretender. Psalm 126:2–3 applies to Yahweh the language of acting big in what he does, in a context like the one Joel presupposes, when Judah needs Yahweh to act in this way again.
Joel addresses a parallel exhortation to the wild animals (v. 22), who have reason to be afraid because a locust epidemic deprives them of their food. They have been straining toward Yahweh because of the fire that has afflicted the wilderness meadows (1:19–20). Confidence can replace fear for them, too. The metonymy implicitly reappears in the comment about fruit trees. Human beings would not want the wild animals celebrating too much over the trees’ fruitfulness. That fruitfulness is indeed a reason for human celebration, especially given the symbolic significance of vine and fig tree.
At last the community is openly invited to celebrate and rejoice (v. 23). Of the verbs in v. 21a, the first was thus taken up in v. 22 and the other two reappear here. While epidemics are an occasional problem in Judah, drought is more common, so the basis of rejoicing here is the promise of the gift of rain. The first rain in October and November softens the ground after the summer drought and makes plowing and sowing possible. The crops come to fruition with the aid of the late rain in March and April, which counts as the beginning of the year if one treats Passover as “the beginning of months” and its month as the first month (Exod. 12:2). The main rain comes in between the first and the late rain; while these two play key roles, the reference to them may imply a merism: they also cover everything in between, which might also be denoted by the word “downpour.” Yahweh’s making the year work out as it should and as it needs to will be an expression of his faithfulness, the faithfulness that makes him act in passion to restore his people in a way that’s unrelated to what they deserve.
The happy result will be a superabundance of the three archetypal products of the harvest (v. 24; contrast 1:10 and compare 2:19).
- (:21) Encouragement Directed to the Land
“Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,
For the Lord has done great things.”
Duane Garrett: In Isaiah, however, the refrain “Do not fear” (using a Hebrew phrase identical or similar to that of Joel 2:21) is a signal that redemption has come. In Isa 40:9–11 the herald is to cry out to Zion, “Do not fear!” because Yahweh himself is coming to redeem and care for his people. In Isaiah 41 God reassures Israel that he has chosen them, reminds them that their God is no powerless idol, and tells them three times (Isa 41:10,13,14) not to fear. In 43:1 he tells Israel not to fear because he has called them by his own name, and in 43:5 he again reassures them that they need not fear because he will bring the people back from exile. In 44:2–3, much as in Joel 2:21–32, he encourages them not to fear because he will pour out water on the land and his Spirit on the people. In Isa 54:4 God tells Israel not to fear because he is about to remove their reproach among the nations. In short, the Book of Isaiah addresses many of the themes that appear in Joel, including the healing of the land, the triumph over their enemies, the end of Israel’s shame among the nations, the return from exile, and the gift of the Spirit. “Do not fear” is the refrain of reassurance that runs through them all. Joel’s command to the land not to fear similarly signals the promise of redemption.
- (:22) Encouragement Directed to the Beasts
“Do not fear, beasts of the field,
For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green,
For the tree has borne its fruit,
The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.”
- (:23) Encouragement Directed to the Israelites
“So rejoice, O sons of Zion,
And be glad in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the early rain for your vindication.
And He has poured down for you the rain,
The early and latter rain as before.”
Tchavdar Hadjiev: Three different words for rain are used in verse 23: abundant rain (gešem), early . . . rain (môreh) in the autumn and later rain (malqôš) in the spring; môreh is repeated twice so the fourfold mention of rain matches the four types of locusts in verse 25. . . The rain falling in its season functions as an integral part of the created order. God rolls back the forces of chaos and destruction and restores blessing and harmony to his world.
Duane Garrett: In trying to determine the correct translation of the phrase in question, “a teacher for righteousness” or “rains in righteousness,” two contradictory pieces of evidence stand out. The first is that the meaning “rains” perfectly suits the context, whereas “teacher” is discordant. Nothing in the immediate vicinity or in the wider context of the book supports the sudden appearance of a teacher here. In addition to these considerations, L. C. Allen points out that the phrase “he has given” supports the position that rains and not a teacher are meant. On the other hand, notwithstanding that “righteousness” in Hebrew implies vindication or even salvation, the idea of giving “rains for righteousness” sounds harsh if not incongruous. Also several ancient versions see in this phrase a reference to a teacher.
The ambiguity of the phrase is such that we must ask ourselves if we have a double entendre here. The surface or immediate meaning is that Yahweh will vindicate the Jews in the presence of the nations by sending rains to heal their land. At the same time, it seems, Joel used a wordplay to hint that the salvation of the nation would come from a teacher of righteousness.
Daniel Epp-Tiessen: Rain was typically in short supply in Canaan, so the references to abundant early and late rains are especially hopeful, indicating that God is restoring the annual rainfall cycle and ending the devastating drought (cf. 1:10, 12, 17-20; 2:3). The early rains that come in November and December, after six months of no rain, moisten and soften the soil so that grain can be seeded. The late rains in March and April are important for ensuring that the grain produces well and various fruits size up. The rain that God sends will result in abundant harvests so that threshing floors will be full of grain and vats overflow with new wine and olive oil (2:24), in contrast to the previously empty food storage facilities (1:17) and the lack of grain, wine, and oil (1:5, 9-13).
Trent Butler: The rain represents God’s gift of righteousness, his loyalty to the covenant, his faithfulness, and thus his goodness and kindness to Israel, his people. The rain also represents a vindication of Israel’s righteousness in repenting and turning back to God with fasting and prayer. It represents a gift in response to Israel’s renewed loyalty. The rain is righteous in the sense that just the right amount fell. The rain was faithful in coming and loyal in adhering to the standards by which rain is normally measured.
- (:24) Encouragement Realized in Abundant Harvests
“The threshing floors will be full of grain,
And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.”
James Nogalski: Joel 2:24 articulates its promise to Judah in a manner that verbally reverses the judgment pronounced against Ephraim/Israel in Hos 9:1–2:
Hosea 9:1–2 Joel 2:21–24
do not rejoice (śmḥ), Israel (9:1) rejoice (śmḥ, 2:21, 23)
nor exult (gîl, 9:1) exult (gîl, 2:21, 23)
Threshing floor (gōren) and vat Threshing floors (gōren) will be
(yeqeb) will not feed them (9:2) full of grain (2:24);
wine (tîrôš) will fail them the vats (yeqeb) will overflow with wine (tîrôš) and oil (2:24)
E. (:25-27) Reversal of Former Judgments
- (:25) Reversal of Devastation
“Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.”
Tchavdar Hadjiev: The four terms for locust from 1:4 are repeated here, creating an envelope around the first major part of the book.
- (:26) Reversal of Deprivation
“You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied
And praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
Then My people will never be put to shame.”
- (:27) Reversal of Disgrace
“Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the Lord your God, And there is no other;
And my people will never be put to shame.”
Lloyd Ogilvie: A further result of the new bounty is found in verse 27: the people will confidently know God, His presence, and His uniqueness. They will know that He is in their midst, effectively present with them, that He is their God, active on their behalf and the One to whom they owe allegiance. They will know that there is no other God, that He alone is worthy of their worship and praise. It is only as the people live in the light of this knowledge of God that they can truly fulfill His design that they be a light to the nations. . .
Verse 27 also provides a transition to the promises relating to the more distant future day of the Lord. The people will never again be put to shame, recalling the shame of foreign domination and the threatened conquest by the apocalyptic army. The more distant future is the subject of the rest of the Book of Joel.
James Nogalski: Rhetorically, the consequence of this fertility (2:19–26aα) leads to a heightening of the sense that the relationship between Yahweh and the people will be strengthened in 2:26aβ–27. The people will praise the name of Yahweh (2:26), will have their shame removed (2:26, 27), and will recognize Yahweh’s presence in their midst (2:27). These promises allude to canonical traditions using language that evokes echoes of the exodus (“Yahweh, your God who worked wonders with you”) and the first commandment of recognizing Yahweh as God (cf. Exod 20:1–3).
Tchavdar Hadjiev: Two aspects are emphasized in particular:
(1) the Lord is in the midst of Israel, that is, his redeeming presence is with his people;
(2) the Lord is God and there is no other, that is, he is unique and has no rival among the gods of the nations that mock Judah (cf. 2:17).
The motif of the knowledge of God plays a key role in the exodus narrative (Exod. 5:2; 6:3, 7; 7:5, 17; 8:10, 22; 9:14, 29; 10:2; 14:4, 18) and the recognition formula is frequently used in Ezekiel (34:30; 36:11, 38; 37:6, 13; 38:23; 39:6–7). Acts of judgment and salvation make the Lord known as Redeemer and Judge, and reveal his power, goodness and incomparable nature.
The mocking question of the foreign nations Where is their God? (2:17) has now been answered definitively. God is in the midst of his people Israel. The blessings he has poured upon them prove that. Abundance of rain brings plentiful crops and bountiful harvests. The forces of chaos have been rolled back and creation is restored to harmony and peace. Deprivation and humiliation are replaced with jubilation that ultimately leads to a deeper knowledge of God as Creator, Provider and Redeemer. The material and the spiritual are closely linked. Israel experience God in the course of history as a Lord who intervenes, alters circumstances and touches the everyday realities of their lives. That intervention is a testimony to the power and care of God, who has no rival and no equal.
John Goldingay: The people will thus acknowledge Yahweh’s presence (v. 27). Acknowledging him actually is the key to a good harvest and to security in relation to other nations, as Hosea argues. Yahweh’s caring for them in both these practical ways will be the vindication of him as the faithful one (cf. v. 23). It will provide an answer to the people who might ask, “Where is their God?” (v. 17). Matching the argument of Isa. 40–55 is the recognition that the problem of whether people acknowledge Yahweh is not merely a problem about other peoples; it is a problem about Israel itself. Yahweh’s marvelous provision will issue in its own recognition of Yahweh as the one who lives among them. He is Yahweh their God. The further declaration that there is no other again takes up Isa. 40–55 (e.g., 45:5). The end result—that people will acknowledge Yahweh in this way—makes a fitting close to a section (e.g., Ezek. 6:13; 7:27; 12:20; 13:23), though a repeat of the promise about shame rounds it off and also makes a fitting close (cf. Isa. 45:17); the two promises come together in Isa. 49:23. A further contribution to a fitting close is this last subsection’s double reference to “your God” and “my people,” the two sides to the committed relationship between Yahweh and Israel. The end result of God’s work of restoration will be an acknowledgment of Yahweh as the only God and a resealing of the relationship between “your God” and “my people.”
David Baker: Israel has been psychologically defeated by the natural attacks it suffered, with even its neighbors convinced that God abandoned them, because he is apparently nowhere to be found. Now Yahweh proclaims that Israel (“you”), and secondarily her neighbors, knows three things for a surety. This is a bold affirmation, unlike the uncertainty of knowing whether God would forgive noted previously (2:14). Yahweh has forgiven, God will restore, and they can know the following (2:27):
- He has not abandoned Israel, his people whom he for the first time calls by their name, “Israel.” He is still in her midst in power, as he was when the nation was first being born (cf. Num. 14:14).
- His relationship with them has not changed from the time he entered into a covenant relationship with them..
- In stark contrast to the apparently absent God for whom Israel’s neighbors sought to ridicule her, Yahweh is the only God there is; none other exists.
These three are sufficient reasons for Israel to forget any of her shame, not only now but forever. The ultimate ground for her confidence and hope does not ultimately lie within her and her identity, but in Yahweh, her eternally present God.
II. (:28-32) ESCHATOLOGICAL PROMISES IN ANTICIPATION OF NATIONAL REPENTANCE AND RESTORATION
Lloyd Ogilvie: The “afterward” of verse 28 is a signal that the gaze of Joel’s prophecy moves from the near future with its promise of agricultural restoration to the more distant future. Israel will experience new wonders “before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD” (2:31). Verses 28–32 portray three aspects of this distant future:
- a new experience of God’s Spirit (vv. 28–29),
- amazing signs in the heavens and earth (vv. 30–31),
- and the way of deliverance from the dangers of that time (v. 32).
Tchavdar Hadjiev: The story about the locust plague (1:2 – 2:27) now reaches its goal. In the future a new Day of the Lord will appear. The forces of chaos will be unleashed again and the whole world will writhe in confusion and pain. But those who have learned the lesson of the previous Day of the Lord, and as a result have come to know the Lord and trust in his goodness, will be safe. God will pour his life-giving spirit on them and will protect his true worshippers who have taken refuge on his holy mountain.
Anthony Gelston: This is the best-known and most important passage in the book. In the Hebrew Bible it is reckoned as a separate ch. 3, ch. 3 in the English Bible being ch. 4 in the Hebrew Bible. There is both continuity and discontinuity with the earlier and later parts of the book. The continuity is indicated most clearly by the continuing treatment of the “day of the LORD” theme, while the discontinuity is marked by the vague indications of time sequence in “afterward” in 2:28 and “in those days and at that time” in 3:1, both indicating events in a remoter future than the removal of the locust plague. Another marked difference from the earlier part of the book is that, whereas there the focus was on the judgment of Judah herself, in the later part it is Judah’s foreign attackers who undergo judgment, while Judah herself experiences divine salvation and restoration.
This passage itself comprises three sections. In 2:28–29 the theme is the universal outpouring of the spirit of God, resulting particularly in visions and prophecy. This is one of the relatively few passages in the OT where there is a direct link between prophecy and the spirit of God. It is reminiscent particularly of Num 11:16–17, 24–30, where seventy elders of Israel receive the spirit and prophesy, including two who had been designated but had not gone out to the tent with the others. When Joshua protested, Moses expressed the wish that all the people of God might receive his spirit and prophesy. In Joel this concept is extended even further to include not simply designated leaders but all levels of membership in the community, including specifically the slaves. The use of the expression “all flesh” carries at least a further implication that the outpouring of the spirit would not be restricted to the people of God but extend to all humankind, even if this is not explicitly drawn out in the prophecy itself.
2:30–31 predict natural portents as an indication of the imminence of the “day of the LORD.” This is traditional imagery, with overtones both of divine theophany and of judgment, although the sequel shows that the latter is the primary connotation here. 2:32 promises salvation to a certain group who will escape the coming judgment. They are defined as those who call on the name of the LORD, but the passage makes clear that they are also those whom God himself calls, and that the place where this community is to be found is Mt. Zion (i.e., the temple). The original intention of the prophecy is probably to indicate that a “remnant” of the chosen people will experience salvation rather than judgment at the “day of the LORD,” while the expression “everyone who calls on the name of the LORD” is clearly patient of a more universal interpretation.
A. (:28-29) Promise of the Outpouring of the Spirit
“It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and daughters will prophesy;
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”
Lloyd Ogilvie: “All flesh” in the Old Testament can indicate all of humanity (Gen. 6:12; Is. 40:5, 6) or even all of humanity and the animal kingdom (Gen. 6:17, 19; Ps. 136:25). However, in this context it is more likely that “all flesh” refers to all Israel. The term is clarified by the following subgroups. God is speaking reassurance to His frightened people in Jerusalem and refers to “your sons and your daughters,” “your old men,” “your young men,” “My menservants, and . . . My maidservants.” The possessive pronouns and the context of the promise indicate that Joel and his listeners would probably have understood this as a promise to Israel alone. Moreover, the lot of the other nations as described in chapter 3 would seem to exclude them from this promise. Even if we limit the promise to Israel, it still represents a radical expansion of the experience of God’s Spirit. . .
What would it mean for Israel that God’s Spirit would be poured out on each person? Three specific manifestations of the Spirit are given: People will prophesy, dream dreams, and see visions. These are not really three unrelated phenomena but are related manifestations of an immediate and close relationship with the Lord where He communicates His word and understanding to individuals, who then communicate it to others. Throughout the Old Testament we find God communicating His word through dreams: from Jacob (Gen. 28:12–15), Joseph and Pharaoh (Gen. 37:5–10; 40:1–41:40), Solomon (1 Kin. 3:5–15), to Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2). The prophets of the Old Testament sometimes experienced visions (Dan. 8:1; Hos. 12:10) as vehicles of God’s revelation, which then found their way into their speaking and writing to the people. Vision and prophecy are so closely linked that the writings of the prophets can be introduced as visions: “The vision of Isaiah” (Is. 1:1); “The vision of Obadiah” (Obad. 1:1); “The words of Amos. . . which he saw” (Amos 1:1, where the verb saw, ḥāzâ, has the same root as the word vision, ḥāzôn).
Time reference – Acts 2 at Pentecost = partial fulfillment
“this is that” – not referring to entire paragraph from Joel
Complete fulfillment right before Second Coming
Look at Is. 61 as quoted by Christ in Lk. 4:21
Promise of the Spirit associated with New Covenant
James Nogalski: Most see Joel 2:28–29 (3:1–2) as referring to the gift of prophetic knowledge, which helps to interpret the signs mentioned in 2:30–31 (3:3–4). Those following this perspective often reckon less with Joel 2:28–32 (3:1–5) as the extension of Joel 2:1–27 than with Joel 2:28–32 (3:1–5) as a text reflecting a Jewish perspective from the late postexilic period. According to this logic, a single inspired person will no longer play the prophetic role of Joel in chapters 1–2, but this role will include all those who belong to Yahweh’s people. The spirit will enable all who follow Yahweh to discern the signs of the coming day of Yahweh. For these scholars, the day of Yahweh—and one’s ability to endure it—is thus a question for every individual believer. For the writer of Joel 2:28–32 (3:1–5), then, the role of the prophet will cease as an appointed office or an official group because Yahweh’s salvific intention will be revealed to each person of the community.
B. (:30-31) Promise of Cosmic Signs before the Second Coming
“I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire and columns of smoke.
The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”
Has not happened yet; cf. 2:10
C. (:32) Promise of Deliverance to Those Who Repent and Call on the Lord
“And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Will be delivered;
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape,
As the Lord has said,
Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”
Robert Chisholm: On the day of Pentecost the Apostle Peter quoted Joel 2:28-32 in conjunction with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2:17-21). His introductory words (cf. Acts 2:16, “this is what was spoken by the Prophet Joel”) may seem to indicate that he considered Joel’s prophecy as being completely fulfilled on that occasion. However, it is apparent that the events of that day, though extraordinary, did not fully correspond to those predicted by Joel.
In attempting to solve this problem one must recognize that in the early chapters of Acts the kingdom was being offered to Israel once more. Peter admonished the people to repent so that they might receive the promised Spirit (cf. Acts 2:38-39 where he alludes to Joel 2:32). Shortly thereafter Peter anticipated “times of refreshing” and the return of Christ in response to national repentance (cf. Acts 10:19-21). Not until later did Peter come to understand more fully God’s program for the Gentiles in the present age (cf. Acts 10:44-48). When he observed the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost he rightly viewed it as the first stage in the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. Apparently he believed that the kingdom was then being offered to Israel and that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit signaled the coming of the Millennium. However, the complete fulfillment of the prophecy (with respect to both the extent of the Spirit’s work and the other details) was delayed because of Jewish unbelief.