We’re testing Peter’s claim that all the prophets spoke about his days, his generation. According to the inmillennial prophetic model, these were the “last days” of the Mosaic age.1 We verified that Moses (here and here), Samuel, and Obadiah did so, following the chronological order Peter (and Jesus) suggested (Acts 3:24; Luke 24:25).
Now we turn to Joel,2 who some commentators think lived in the time of Uzziah in the 700s BC.3 This date would make him about a century after Obadiah.
In a recent post, I showed Joel’s overall flow of thought. Now let’s consider the ultimate act of God’s promise to refresh the land of Israel (Joel 2:18–32). He would do two things: pour out the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28–29) and bring a day-of-the-Lord cosmic collapse on Israel (Joel 2:30–31). These events would finish the transition from God’s judgment of Israel (Joel 1) to His worldwide judgment of the nations (Joel 3).
Other prophets similarly linked last-day events—at the end of the Mosaic age. Isaiah, for example, connected Christ’s anointing with the Holy Spirit to the day of God’s vengeance against Israel:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn. (Isa 61:1–2)
Jesus only quoted the first part of this passage in the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:21) because God had fulfilled that part. Elsewhere, He linked “the day of vengeance” to the temple’s fall (Luke 21:5–6, 22). Both events occurred in Peter’s generation.
These events—Jesus’ anointing, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, the day of vengeance, and cosmic collapse—were part of the transition from the Mosaic age to the messianic age (cf. Matt 24:1–3).
Let’s examine three stages of this transition in Joel’s prophecy.
The Pouring Out of the Holy Spirit
Joel said the age transition would begin (in part) with God pouring out the Holy Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:28–29).
The timing of this outpouring confirms inmillennialism’s view of the “last days.” Joel expected God’s judgment to fall on Israel in his near future (Joel 1:15; 2:1). God would then refresh the land (Joel 2:18). Afterward—at the end of that process—God would pour out the Spirit.
Peter equates Joel’s “afterward” with “in the last days” (Acts 2:17). Inmillennialism accounts for this. Both men talked about the “last days” of the Mosaic age, not the last days of history, planet Earth, or the church age.
The extent of this outpouring points toward life in the messianic age. It would be “on all flesh,” not just on Israel as defined in the Mosaic age.
The prophets said this enlargement would serve as a hallmark of the coming (for them) age. Isaiah, for example, said, “The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isa 40:5).
We should remember a fundamental fact about promises like these. They mean all flesh without distinction of ethnicity, social status, gender, etc. They do not designate all flesh without exception. As we shall see below, the promise is not that every person who ever lived would receive the Holy Spirit.
The significance of this outpouring would be hard to overestimate. God would use it to transform his people from flesh-based worship to a Spirit-based one (cp. 1 Cor 10:18 with Rom 8:9) and to establish a new creation (Psa 102:15–22; Gal 6:15). It would form the foundation for messianic-age life. We can now say,
The Holy Spirit intercedes through us on earth. The Holy Spirit calls and qualifies ministers for their work. It is the Holy Spirit who makes them overseers of the flock. He hears, speaks, teaches, and guides us into all truth. He glorifies Christ, receives from Christ, shows us Christ, and brings all of Christ’s words to our remembrance. It is better for us that Jesus left so He could come. He shows us things to come, knows the deep things of God, searches all things, and reveals all things.
Where He is, there is liberty. The writers of the Bible spoke as they were moved by Him. We are warned not to grieve Him or quench Him. The sin against Him is unpardonable because sin against Him is against the only One who can reveal the Son to us. Unless a man is born of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. We are convicted by Him, born again by Him, led by Him, filled with Him, and sealed by Him!4
Cosmic Collapse
Joel said the age transition would end with the collapse of the cosmos (Joel 2:30–31). The prophets often used this imagery to describe God’s judgment against a city or empire. Jesus used it to describe his generation’s “great tribulation” (Matt 24:21, 29, 34). Please read Meditations in Matthew 24—A Key Image and similar posts (here) where I discuss this imagery.
Neither Joel nor Peter says an age would intervene between the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and this cosmic collapse. Both events pertain to the end of the Mosaic age and were necessary to inaugurate the messianic age.
Worldwide Salvation
Joel said the age transition would bring worldwide salvation (Joel 2:32). The outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the judgment of Israel after the flesh would create a “whosoever” age. Our preaching now conforms to Revelation 22:17 and similar passages:
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
Still, we want also to accept the Apostle Peter’s explanation of this worldwide salvation. After God poured out the Spirit in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, he said,
Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. (Acts 2:38–39)
The promise is to all without distinction, but Scripture limits it to those the Lord calls. We should recognize that “it is God who works in [us] both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). “Salvation is of the Lord!” (Jon 2:9).
This worldwide salvation shows Joel was not speaking about the collapse of the physical cosmos at the end of history. After “the great and notable day of the Lord,” men would call on the name of the Lord and be saved. This salvation will not happen after the end of time but it is happening in the messianic age, after God’s judgment of apostate Israel!
Conclusion
Joel spoke of Peter’s “these days” in precise terms: Pentecost fulfilled the first of two significant events he foretold; the “great tribulation” connected with the temple’s fall fulfilled the other. Through these events, God moved His church from the fleshly Mosaic age to the spiritual messianic age.
As New Testament Christians, let us walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit (Rom 8:1, 4). “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal 5:25)!
Footnotes
- Please consider becoming familiar with the inmillennial view of prophecy. You can read a summary version here or tackle the full book-length version here. The title of the book—Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days—hints at the reason for my suggestion. This model says the “last days” are identical to Peter’s “these days”; both terms refer to the “last days” of the Mosaic age. This perspective will shed light on the prophets as we work through them.
Also, consider watching the sermon I preached related to this material at Hopewell Primitive Baptist Church in Opelika, AL, on June 25, 2023. You can watch it here. - The image in this post is The Prophet Joel by Michelangelo (1475–1564). It is in the public domain per PD-US-expired.
- Richard D. Patterson, Joel, vol. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary of Daniel–Minor Prophets, 7, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 7:231-33.
- Robert Morris, The God I Never Knew, https://gatewaypeople.com/series/the-god-i-never-knew. I do not endorse all aspects of Morris’ views of charismatic gifts.
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