Joel 2:28–2:32

Joel 2:28 28. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 28. Et accidet post sic (hoc est, postea,) effundam Spiritum meum super omnem carnem: et prophetabunt filii vestri et filiae vestrae: senes vestri somnia sommabunt: juvenes vestri (aut, viri electi) visiones videbunt. We have explained why the Prophet began with earthly blessings. One may indeed think that this order is not regular; for Christ does not in vain remind us, that the kingdom of God ought to be first sought, and that other things shall be added in their place, ( Matthew 6 ;) for food, and every thing that belongs to this frail life, are, as it were, additions to the spiritual life. But the Prophet designedly mentioned first the evidence of God's favor in outward benefits; for we see how slow the perceptions of men are, and how slothful they are in seeking spiritual life. As, then, men rise to things above with so much difficulty, the Prophet makes use of the best helps; and we must indeed be dealt with as we usually deal with children. For as there is not so much discernment in them as to be influenced by reasons, we set before them what is suitable to their weak and simple comprehension; so the Prophet did; for he showed first that God would be kind to the Jews in food for the body, and having used this as a help, he then added, Afterwards I will pour my Spirit upon all flesh. By these words the Prophet reminds us, that people act absurdly when they are satisfied with vanishing things, when they ask of God nothing more excellent than to be pampered like brute animals; for in what do the children of God differ from asses and dogs, except they aspire after spiritual life? The Prophet, then, after having set before them lower things, as though they were children, now brings before them a more solid doctrine, (for thus they were to be led,) and affords them a taste of the favor of God in its external signs. "Ascend, then, now," he says, "to spiritual life: for the fountain is one and the same; though when earthly benefits occupy and engross your attention, ye no doubt pollute them. But God feeds you, not to fill and pamper you; for he would not have you to be like brute animals. Then know that your bodies are fed, and that God gives support to you, that ye may aspire after spiritual life; for he leads you to this as by the hand; be this then your object." We now, then, understand why the Prophet did not at first speak of the spiritual grace of God; but he comes to it now. He began with temporal benefits, for it was needful that an untutored people should be thus led by degrees, that on account of their infirmity, sluggishness, and dullness, they might thus make better progress, until they understood that God would for this end be a Father to them. Prayer. Grant, Almighty God, that since we want so many aids while in this frail life, and as it is a shadowy life, we cannot pass a moment, except thou dost continually, and at all times, supply through thy bounty what is needful, -- O grant, that we may so profit by thy so many benefits, that we may learn to raise our minds upwards, and ever aspire after celestial life, to which by thy gospel thou invites us so kindly and sweetly every day, that being gathered into thy celestial kingdom, we may enjoy that perfect felicity, which has been procured for us by the blood of thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour {q} out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream {r} dreams, your young men shall see visions: (q) That is, in greater abundance, and more broadly than in times past. And this was fulfilled under Christ, when God's graces and his Spirit under the Gospel were abundantly given to the Church; Isa 44:3 Ac 2:17 Joh 7:38-39. (r) As they had visions and dreams in ancient times, so will they now have clearer revelations.

And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and 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 afterwards — sc. In the days of the Messiah, which is called the "world to come," Hebrews 2:5 , but especially after his ascension, see John 7:37 Acts 2:17-21 , where this prophecy was fulfilled, and this place taken for the first text preached on by the apostles, Joel 2:17 , to the conversion of three thousand souls at one sermon. For together with the word there went forth a power, even that "spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind," Luke 7:21 2 Timothy 1:7 , here promised to be poured out, not distilled only, See Trapp on " Zechariah 12:10 " and that upon all flesh. Spirit upon flesh, the best thing upon the basest; yea, upon all flesh, without respect of persons or difference made of sex, age, or condition, provided that they know and acknowledge themselves to be but flesh, Genesis 6:3 , corrupt and carnal ( animas etiam incarnavimus, as St Bernard complaineth), and that whatsoever is of "the flesh is flesh," John 3:6 (for who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?) that whole man is in evil, and whole evil in man; neither can it be gotten out in any measure, till the heart be mollified and made tender as flesh, Ezekiel 11:19 ; Ezekiel 36:26-27 , which cannot be done till men be taught of God, and drawn out of darkness into his marvellous light; till they be spiritualized and "transformed into the same image from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord," 2 Corinthians 3:18 . And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy — This was fulfilled Acts 2:17-21 , as St Peter showeth. For the New Testament is but the Old unfolded and fulfilled, as was also typified in the two cherubims of the sanctuary, looking intently into the propitiatory, Christ, Romans 3:25 but with their faces turned one towards another: Exodus 25:20 Acts 26:22 . It was fulfilled, I say, in that visible descension of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles and the rest, Acts 2:8 ; Acts 2:15 ; Acts 2:17 ; Acts 10:44 . So that this makes nothing at all for the enthusiasts’ raptures and dotages. The true offspring they are of those ancient Euchites or Messalanii, who, leaving their trades, gave themselves to much sleep, and called their dreams and phantasies prophecies (Funcc. Chronol., A.D. 371). Your old men shall dream, …, your young men shall see visions — i.e. God will no less open his will unto them than he did of old to the propbets by dreams and visions; for by the conduct of the Spirit they shall be led into all truth and holiness they shall be all a royal priesthood, 1 Peter 2:5 Revelation 1:6 , "full of all goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another," Romans 15:14 .

It shall come to pass, most certainly this shall be done, afterward; in the latter days, after the return out of Babylonish captivity, after the various troubles and salvations by which they may know that I am the Lord, their God in the midst of them, when those wondrous works shall be seconded by the most wonderful of all, the sending the Messiah, in his day and under his kingdom. I will pour out my Spirit; in large abundant measures will I give my Holy Spirit, which the Messiah exalted shall send, John 16:7 ; in extraordinary power and gifts in the apostles and first preachers of the gospel, and in ordinary measure and graces to all believers, Ephesians 4:8-11 . Upon all flesh; before these gifts were confined to a few people, to one particular nation, to a very small people; but now they shall be enlarged to all nations, Acts 2:33 10:45 , to all that believe, all that are regenerate. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: this was in part fulfilled according to the letter in the first days of the gospel; but this promise is rather of a comparative meaning, thus, By pouring out of the Holy Spirit on your sons and your daughters, they shall have as clear and full knowledge of the deep mysteries of God’s law as prophets beforetime had. The law and prophets were till John, and during this time the gifts of the Spirit were given in lesser measures, and of all men the prophets had greatest measures of the Spirit; but in these days, the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John. Your old men shall dream dreams; no difference of age, to old men who had been long blind in the things of God the mysteries of grace shall be revealed, and these shall know as certainly and clearly as if God had extraordinarily revealed himself to them by dreams sent of God upon them. Your young men shall see visions; many young men shall be as eminent in knowledge as if the things known were communicated by vision. In a word, all knowledge of God and his will shall abound among all ranks, sexes, and ages in the Messiah’s days, and not only equal, but surpass, all that formerly was by prophecy dreams, or visions.

And it shall come to pass afterward,.... After the teacher of righteousness has been sent, and a plentiful rain of the Gospel has been let down in the land of Judea, in the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ and his apostles, and such a comfortable enjoyment of the blessings of grace in it, and the knowledge of God by it; and after the wonderful work of redemption wrought by Christ. R. Jeshua in Aben Ezra and Jarchi both say this prophecy refers to time to come; and Kimchi observes, that the phrase is the same with "in the last days"; and so the Apostle Peter quotes it, Acts 2:17 ; a phrase, as the above writer observes, which always signifies the days of the Messiah, to which he applies these words; and so do other Jewish writers, both ancient and modern (o); and there is no doubt with us Christians that they belong to the times of Christ and his apostles, since they are by an inspired writer said to be fulfilled in those times, Acts 2:16 ; here some begin a new chapter; that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; not on such whose hearts are made tender as flesh, according to Ezekiel 36:26 ; as Jarchi; for the Spirit must be given first to make the heart such; nor only upon men in the land of Israel, a place fit to prophesy in, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; but upon all men, as this phrase frequently signifies; see Isaiah 40:5 ; that is, all sorts of men, Jews and Gentiles, men of all nations; and such there were on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured down upon the apostles, and the grace of the Spirit was given to many of all nations; though that was only the beginning of the fulfilment of this prophecy, which quickly had a further accomplishment in the Gentile world; and denotes the abundance of the gifts of the Spirit, both extraordinary and ordinary, and of his grace, and the blessings of it, bestowed on them; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; as Agabus, Barnabas, Simeon, &c. and the four daughters of Philip the evangelist, Acts 11:28 ; your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; as Ananias, Peter, Paul, John, and others, some in their elder, some in their younger years, Acts 9:10 ; though prophecy, dreams, and visions, being the usual ways of conveying knowledge, here signify that the knowledge of men in Gospel times should be equal to, yea, exceed, whatever was communicated to men in the highest degree in former times: John the Baptist was greater than any of the prophets, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than he, Luke 7:28 . (o) Zohar in Numb. fol. 99. 2. Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 15. fol. 219. 2. Debarim Rabba, sect. 6. fol. 242. 2. Abarbinel, Mashmia Jeshua, fol. 9. 3. R. Isaac, Chizzuk Emunah, par. 1. p. 51.

The 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 upon a sinful world, only go before the judgment of the world in the last day. Calling on God supposes knowledge of him, faith in him, desire toward him, dependence on him, and, as evidence of the sincerity of all this, conscientious obedience to him. Those only shall be delivered in the great day, who are now effectually called from sin to God, from self to Christ, from things below to things above.

28. afterward—"in the last days" (Isa 2:2) under Messiah after the invasion and deliverance of Israel from the northern army. Having heretofore stated the outward blessings, he now raises their minds to the expectation of extraordinary spiritual blessings, which constitute the true restoration of God's people (Isa 44:3). Fulfilled in earnest (Ac 2:17) on Pentecost; among the Jews and the subsequent election of a people among the Gentiles; hereafter more fully at the restoration of Israel (Isa 54:13; Jer 31:9, 34; Eze 39:29; Zec 12:10) and the consequent conversion of the whole world (Isa 2:2; 11:9; 66:18-23; Mic 5:7; Ro 11:12, 15). As the Jews have been the seedmen of the elect Church gathered out of Jews and Gentiles, the first Gospel preachers being Jews from Jerusalem, so they shall be the harvest men of the coming world-wide Church, to be set up at Messiah's appearing. That the promise is not restricted to the first Pentecost appears from Peter's own words: "The promise is (not only) unto you and to your children, (but also) to all that are afar off (both in space and in time), even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Ac 2:39). So here "upon all flesh." I will pour out—under the new covenant: not merely, let fall drops, as under the Old Testament (Joh 7:39). my spirit—the Spirit "proceeding from the Father and the Son," and at the same time one with the Father and the Son (compare Isa 11:2). sons … daughters … old … young—not merely on a privileged few (Nu 11:29) as the prophets of the Old Testament, but men of all ages and ranks. See Ac 21:9; 1Co 11:5, as to "daughters," that is, women, prophesying. dreams … visions—(Ac 9:10; 16:9). The "dreams" are attributed to the "old men," as more in accordance with their years; "visions" to the "young men," as adapted to their more lively minds. The three modes whereby God revealed His will under the Old Testament (Nu 12:6), "prophecy, dreams, and visions," are here made the symbol of the full manifestation of Himself to all His people, not only in miraculous gifts to some, but by His indwelling Spirit to all in the New Testament (Joh 14:21, 23; 15:15). In Ac 16:9; 18:9, the term used is "vision," though in the night, not a dream. No other dream is mentioned in the New Testament save those given to Joseph in the very beginning of the New Testament, before the full Gospel had come; and to the wife of Pilate, a Gentile (Mt 1:20; 2:13; 27:19). "Prophesying" in the New Testament is applied to all speaking under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and not merely to foretelling events. All true Christians are "priests" and "ministers" of our God (Isa 61:6), and have the Spirit (Eze 36:26, 27). Besides this, probably, a special gift of prophecy and miracle-working is to be given at or before Messiah's coming again.

And it shall come to pass afterward - After the punishment of the Jews through the Pagan, and their deliverance; after the Coming of the Teacher of righteousness, was to follow the outpouring of the Spirit of God. I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh - o: "This which He says, "on all flesh," admits of no exception of nations or persons. For before Jesus was glorified, He had poured His Spirit only on the sons of Zion, and out of that nation only were there prophets and wise men. But after He was glorified by His Resurrection and Ascension, He made no difference of Jews and Gentiles, but willed that remission of sins should be preached to all alike." All flesh - is the name of all mankind. So in the time of the flood, it is said "all flesh had corrupted his way: the end of all flesh is come before Me." Moses asks, "who of all flesh hath heard the voice of the Lord God, as we have, and lived?" So in Job; "in whose Hand is the breath of all flesh of man." If He set His heart upon man, if He gather to Himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh shall perish together. And David; "Thou that hearest prayer, to Thee shall all flesh come; let all flesh bless His Holy Name forever and ever" Genesis 6:12-13 ; Deuteronomy 5:26 ; Job 12:10 ; Job 34:14-15 ; Psalm 65:2 ; Psalm 145:21 . In like way speak Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah Isa 40:5-6; Isaiah 49:26 ; Isaiah 66:16 , Isaiah 66:23-24 ; Jeremiah 25:31 ; Jeremiah 32:27 ; Jeremiah 45:5 ; Ezekiel 20:48 ; Ezekiel 21:4-5 ; Zechariah 2:13 . The words "all flesh" are in the Pentateuch, and in one place in Daniel, used, in a yet wider sense, of everything which has life ( Genesis 6:17 , Genesis 6:19 ; Genesis 7:15-16 , Genesis 7:21 ; Genesis 8:17 ; Genesis 9:11 , Genesis 9:15-17 ; Leviticus 17:14 ; Numbers 18:15 ; Daniel 4:12 ; probably Psalm 136:25 ); but, in no one case, in any narrower sense. It does not include every individual in the race, but it includes the whole race, and individuals throughout it, in every nation, sex, condition, "Jew or Gentile, Greek or Barbarian," i. e., educated or uneducated, rich or poor, bond or free, male or female. As "all" were to be "one in Christ Jesus" Galatians 3:28 , so on all was to be poured the Holy Spirit, the Bond who was to bind all in one. He names our nature from that which is the lowest in it, "the flesh," with the same condescension with which it is said, "The Word was made flesh" , from where we speak of the "Incarnation" of our Blessed Lord, i. e., "His taking on Him our Flesh." He humbled Himself to take our flesh; He came, as our Physician, to heal our flesh, the seat of our concupisceuce. So also God the Holy Spirit vouchsafes to dwell in our flesh, to sanctify it and to heal it. He, whom God saith He will pour out on all flesh, is the Spirit of God, and God. He does not say that He will pour out graces, or gifts, ordinary or extraordinary, influences, communications, or the like. He says, "I will pour out My Spirit;" as Paul says, "know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16 . "Ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" Romans 8:9-10 . It is said indeed, "on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit," but the gift of the Holy Spirit was the Holy Spirit Himself, as it had been just said, "the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word" Acts 10:44-45 . It is said, "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given us" Romans 5:5 ; but the "Holy Spirit" is first "given," and He poureth out into the soul "the love of God." As God the Word, when He took human nature, came into it personally, so that "the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in it" Colossians 2:9 ; so, really, although not personally, "doth the Holy Spirit, and so the whole Trinity, enter into our mind by sanctification, and dwelleth in it as in His throne." No created being, no Angel, nor Archangel could dwell in the soul. : "God Alone can be poured out into the soul, so as to possess it, enlighten it, teach, kindle, bend, move it as He wills," sanctify, satiate, fill it. And "as God is really present with the blessed, when He sheweth to them His Essence by the beatific vision and light of glory, and communicates it to them, to enjoy and possess; so He, the Same, is also in the holy soul, and thus diffuseth it in His grace, love, and other divine gifts." At the moment of justification, "the Holy Spirit and so the whole Holy Trinity entereth the soul at His temple, sanctifying and as it were dedicating and consecrating it to Himself, and at the same moment of time, although in the order of nature subsequently, He communicates to it His love and grace. Such is the meaning of, "We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him." This is the highest union of God with the holy soul; and greater than this can none be given to any creature, for by it we become "partakers of the divine Nature," as Peter saith 2 Peter 1:4 . See here, O Christian, the dignity of the holiness whereunto thou art called and with all zeal follow after, preserve, enlarge it. This His Spirit, God says, "I will pour," i. e., give largely, as though He would empty out Him who is Infinite, so that there should be no measure of His giving, save our capacity of receiving. So He says of converted Israel, "I have poured out My Spirit upon the house of Israel" Ezekiel 39:29 , and, "I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication" Zechariah 12:10 . And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy - This cannot limit what he has said, that God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. He gives instances of that out-pouring, in those miraculous gifts, which were at the first to be the tokens and evidence of His inward presence. These gifts were at the first bestowed on the Jews only. The highest were reserved altogether for them. Jews only were employed as Apostles and Evangelists; Jews only wrote, by inspiration of God, the "oracles of God," as the source of the faith of the whole world. : "The Apostles were sons of Israel; the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the other women who abode at the same time and prayed with the Apostles, were daughters. Luke mentions, "All these were persevering with one accord in prayer with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and His brethren." These sons and daughters of the Sons of Zion, having received the Spirit, prophesied, i. e., in divers tongues they spoke of the heavenly mysteries." In the narrower sense of "foretelling the future, the Apostles, the Blessed Virgin Luke 1:48 , Zacharias ( Luke 1:67 ff), and Anna Luke 2:36 , Luke 2:38 , Elizabeth Luke 1:42-45 , the virgin daughters of Philip Acts 21:9 , Agabus Acts 11:28 ; Acts 21:10-11 , John in the Apocalypse," Simeon Luke 2:27-35 , and Paul also oftentimes Acts 20:29-30 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 ; 2 Timothy 3:1 , 2 Timothy 3:4 ; 1 Timothy 4:1 prophesied. At Antioch, there were certain "prophets" Acts 13:1 ; and "the Holy Spirit in every city witnessed, saying, that bonds and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem" Acts 20:23 . "But it is superfluous," adds Theodoret after giving some instances, "to set myself to prove the truth of the prophecy. For down to our times also hath this gift been preserved, and there are among the saints, people who have the eye of the mind clear, who foreknow and foretell many of the things which are about to be." So the death of Julian the Apostate, who fell, as it seemed, by a chance wound in war with the Persians was foreseen and foretold ; and Cyprian foretold the day of his own martyrdom and the close of Decian persecution, which ended through the death of the Emperor in a rash advance over a morass, when victory was gained . The stream of prophecy has been traced down through more than four centuries from the Birth of the Redeemer. One of the Bishops of the Council of Nice was gifted with a prophetic spirit . Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions - "God often attempers Himself and His oracles to the condition of people, and appears to each, as suits his state" Acts 11:28 ; Acts 21:10-11 . It may then be, that to old men while sleeping by reason of age, He appeared most commonly in dreams; to young men, while watching, in visions. But it is so common in Hebrew, that each part of the verse should be filled up from the other, that perhaps the prophet only means, that their old and young should have dreams and see visions, and both from God. Nor are these the highest of God's revelations; as He says, that to the prophet He would "make" Himself known in a vision and would "speak in a dream," but to Moses "mouth to mouth; even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold Numbers 12:6 , Numbers 12:8 . The Apostles also saw waking visions, as Peter at Joppa ( Acts 10:10 ff; Acts 11:5 ff); (and that so frequently, that when the Angel delivered him, he thought that it was one of his accustomed visions Acts 12:9 ,) and Paul after his conversion, and calling him to Macedonia; and the Lord appeared unto him in vision at Corinth, revealing to him the conversions which should be worked there, and at Jerusalem foretelling to him the witness he should bear to Him at Rome. In the ship, the Angel of the Lord foretold to him his own safety, and that God had given him all who sailed with him Acts 9:12 ; Acts 16:6-7 , Acts 16:9 ; Acts 18:9 ; Acts 19:21 ; Acts 23:11 ; Acts 27:24 . Ananias Acts 9:10 and Cornelius Acts 10:3 also received revelations through visions. But all these were only revelations of single truths or facts. Of a higher sort seems to be that revelation, whereby our Lord revealed to Paul Himself and His Gospel which Paul was to preach, and "the wisdom of God," and the glories of the world to come, and the conversion of the Gentiles; and when he was "caught up to the third heaven, and abundance of revelations were vouchsafed to him" Galatians 1:12 , Galatians 1:16 ; 1 Corinthians 2:7 ; Ephesians 3:3 ; 2 Corinthians 12:1-7 .