Knowing The Word in the Minor Prophets: The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit, Joel 2:28-32; 3:17-18

The Rev Reagan W Cocke
Mar 20, 2018
2 min read

Jewish interpreters understood these passage in Joel as messianic prophecies. The apostle Peter and the early church understood these as being fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. They are verses of the hope and reality of the outpouring of God’s saving Spirit on his people.

2:28 “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, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

30 “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.

3:17 “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.

18 “And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim.