Connection of Joel 2:28-32 to Acts 2
The book of the prophet Joel is a short book. It is made up of three chapters and isn’t quite like the other books of the prophets. Whereas most of the books contain three parts, this being warning of the coming judgment and a call for repentance, judgment, and future restoration. The book of Joel only cites judgment and Yahweh’s response with a few verses at the end, hinting towards future restoration. However, I want to focus on a particular area of Joel. This is the prophecy in Joel 2:28-32. I feel there is a near/far view to this prophecy, as many others found in scripture.
Joel 2:28-32 states, “It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, Your old men will have dreams, Your young men will see visions. And even on the male and female servants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 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. And it will come about that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, there will be those who escape, just as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”
If this sounds familiar, that’s because this prophecy is mentioned multiple times in the New Testament. Parts of it are mentioned in Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:1. At Pentecost, Peter refers back to this passage to explain what was going on.
However, I want to focus on the claim that Peter makes. During Pentecost, the scriptures say that about 3,000 people became believers in Christ after only 120 people had before. Many were astonished, confused, skeptical, and in denial. The Scriptures state that the Spirit landed and dwelt on many. They started speaking in tongues and were speaking to each other in their own languages. Some claimed they were drunk on new wine, but Peter gave the reason for what was happening.
“He first debunks any misunderstanding that the upper-room group is drunk. What they have witnessed is the fulfilment of God’s promise to pour out God’s Spirit on whomever God chooses in ‘the last days,’ as Joel prophesied.” Peter gave his famous sermon in Acts 2, referencing the prophecy in Joel about the Lord’s Spirit coming down and dwelling on all. Hays explains, “Yet, as in the Old Testament prophets, the New Testament also underscores the important event in which God pours out his Spirit to dwell within each of his followers. Jesus explains and expounds on much of this in John 13-17. Then, as mentioned above, at Pentecost the Spirit actually comes and fills each follower of Christ.”
This moment seems to fulfil the prophecy of Joel, and Peter acknowledges it. Peter states in Acts 2:16-24,
But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophecy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know- this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
The first aspect is “Luke shows his dependence upon disparate traditions regarding the speaking of other tongues. In some places it appears as glossolalia (unintelligible ecstatic speech) and at others places as xenolalia (speaking other intelligible human languages).” The second is “the theology of Peter’s speech appears so similar to Luke’s own perspective throughout Acts that it seems likely that, like the historians of his time, Luke did his best to recreate an unrecorded speech by supplying the words himself.” The third is “Luke summarily describes the post-Pentecost Jerusalem in such ideal terms that it appears a theological exaggeration.”
However, there is also a composite View of Acts 2 explained. “Between these two extreme opinions stands a variety of more mediating opinions, which accept the relative historicity of the Pentecost narrative. For instance, Acts 2 may rely on numerous traditions recounting the coming of the Holy Spirit to various believers-despite whether these comings all occurred simultaneously at Pentecost. Scholarly consensus generally maintains that Peter’s speech is primarily Luke’s own creation following the typical literary conventions of the day. There is little consensus regarding the historicity of the summary description of the post-Pentecost life of the early Jerusalem church. It can be viewed either as a relatively accurate historical description or an idealized literary account by Luke.”
I can see how many could think it would be fiction; however, I think they are missing some things. In the first point, I don’t think people were talking pure gibberish. I don’t believe speaking in tongues is some “heavenly language” or gibberish. I believe it is simply speaking another language one doesn’t understand, and another is there to translate or understand it. They were all from different areas of the world at Pentecost, so most of them more than likely did not speak the same language. They were probably shouting scripture. The second and third can be summed up by the fact that I believe Luke may have been paraphrasing Peter’s sermon. Peter, more than likely, would’ve had a pretty long sermon, and Luke probably paraphrased to the best of his ability and memory. More than likely, only retaining the important parts of Peter’s sermon.
The last thing I want to touch up on is the idea of baptismal regeneration. The baptism talked about here by Peter is not a saving one but a declaration of faith. As Constable writes, “Then he added that each of them should be baptized in water as a testimony to his faith. The promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit was for his hearers, for their children when they trusted in Christ, and for everyone, including dispersed Jews and Gentiles, whom God would call to salvation. By trusting in Jesus, Peter’s hearers would be saved from divine judgment that would come on their ‘corrupt generation’ of evil unbelievers.”
We see that baptism is not an act of salvation, but rather it is an act flowing from salvation. We get baptized in water as a declaration of our faith. Like a wedding ring, if one were to take their wedding ring off, they are still married. The ring doesn’t hold the marriage together; it simply represents that the person is committed to someone.
“Peter makes the obvious connection, citing Joel 2:28-32 to explain what has happened. The role of the Spirit in the book of Acts, both as the indwelling presence of God and the empowering force for the early expanding church, is evidence that the prophecies of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Joel are being fulfilled and that the messianic age has indeed dawned.” I believe that this does indeed fulfil the prophecy in Joel. However, I feel it is kind of a near/far view prophecy.
Just as Christ will return, I also believe the ultimate result of the promise in Joel will show. However, I am not fully sold on this idea. I believe the prophecy was fulfilled in Acts 2; however continues to be fulfilled as more believers come to Christ all over the world.
There are varying interpretations of Pentecost. The two main different interpretations are Acts as History and Acts as fiction. The Lexham Bible Dictionary dives more into this topic. “While it is possible that Acts 2 narrates the events of the first Pentecost exactly as they happened and appeared outwardly, it is also possible that the early Christians’ experiences at Pentecost were subjective in nature. That is, the miraculous events of Pentecost were primarily ‘inward experiences.’”
I find this to be the most likely answer. I don’t believe there were literal “tongues of fire” that came down on them. I do believe this is imagery of what it may have felt like or how many during that time would have described what was happening. After all, figurative language has always been used throughout scripture, especially to explain things that are difficult to understand. Just as in Scripture, the word of the Lord is a “double-edged sword.” This does not mean the Bible is a literal sword, but that the word of the Lord is both powerful and convicting.
The other conflicting view is Acts as fiction. “It is possible that Luke had a few significant sources regarding the coming of the Holy Spirit and that Acts 2- including its setting at the Feast of Pentecost- is mostly a literary creation. Three literary aspects of Acts 2 support this theory.”
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