The Pulpit Commentary on Joel 2:28-32

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

The gospel age.

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh," etc. Peter quotes this passage, but not with literal accuracy. Divine inspiration secures not uniformity of phraseology, but uniformity in facts and principles. We are authorized in regarding the passage as pointing to the gospel age; or, as Peter says, to the last days. The days of the Messiah are indeed the last days of the world. The passage teaches four things in relation to these last days: this gospel age as connected—

I. WITH AN EXTRAORDINARY EFFUSION OF THE SPIRIT. "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." Flesh here stands for humanity. Under the gospel dispensation, the influence of the Spirit would be:

1. Universal, not limited to sex. "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Not limited to age. "Your young men shall see visions; your old men shall dream dreams." The redemptive influences of the gospel are like the rolling atmosphere and the shining sun—universal in their aspect.

2. Illuminating. It would bring the light of God's thoughts upon the soul. They "saw visions and dreamed dreams and prophesied." That is, men under its influence would receive and reflect God's eternal truths.

II. WITH PRODIGIOUS REVOLUTIONS. "I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke." These words may perhaps be properly regarded as a highly poetic representation of that revolution in governments, Churches, and all other human institutions which would inevitably follow the working out of the Divine ideas and spiritual influences of these last days (Isaiah 13:10; Isaiah 34:4). WhenChristianity enters with all its renovating power the individual soul, what a revolution! What wonders in heaven, what signs on earth, what blood, fire, and vapour of smoke! It is so also when it enters a community; then it shakes the heavens and the earth of social and political life.

III. WITH A TERRIBLE DAY. Peter calls it a notable day. The primary reference in all probability is to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. It was indeed a terrible day. But there is another terrible day still before us, a day of which the destruction of Jerusalem is but a faint shadow and type—the day of general judgment—the day when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise. What a day will that day be—"day of judgment, day of wonders," etc.!

IV. WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF SALVATION TO ALL. "Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered;" or, as Peter has it, "shall be saved"—saved from the thraldom, the guilt, the damnation, of sin. "Whosoever"—thank God for this "whosoever"!—D.T.

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Joel

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Joel 2 - joel-2 - worlddic.com

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commentaryMatthew Henry on Joel 2:28-32The promise began to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, and it was continued in the converting grace and miraculous gifts conferred on both Jews and Gentiles. The judgments of God…Matthew Henry commentaryPromise of Mercy. (b. c. 720.)PROMISE OF MERCY. (B. C. 720.) The promises of corn, and wine, and oil, in the Joel 2:12-27, would be very acceptable to a wasted country; but here we are taught that we must not rest in those things. God has reserved s…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joel 2:28-32These verses form a chapter (the third) by themselves in the Hebrew text, but in the LXX. and the Authorized Version they conclude Joel 2:1-32. In them the prophet passes on to spiritual blessings. Joel 2:28, Joel 2:29…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joel 2:28-32The dispensation of the gospel. The prophet had exhibited the wisdom and mercy of the Divine dispensations—God's pity for penitents, and the happiness of all who seek and serve him. "He will be jealous for them, and hav…Joseph S. Exell and contributors devotionCut to the HeartCut to the heart. The right response to real Gospel is the right question: What shall I do?DiscipleDeck commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joel 2:30And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. Along with the wonderful distribution of gifts and graces at the Day of Pentecost, attention is directed to portents of des…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joel 2:31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. These wonders in the heavens follow the wonders on earth, and these obscurations of the heavenly bodies…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joel 2:32The promise of salvation. As the preceding passage is claimed by St. Peter in the Acts, so this is claimed by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, as referring to the dispensation of the Messiah. The declaration of Jo…Joseph S. Exell and contributors