Joel Chapter Two

 

Read Joel 2:1-11 – The Result of God’s Wrath

 

v.1 “BLOW YE THE TRUMPET IN ZION, AND SOUND AN ALARM IN MY HOLY MOUNTAIN: LET ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND TREMBLE: FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD COMETH, FOR it is NIGH AT HAND;

 

God in his vengeance for their rebellion and their refusal to turn from their sins; is going to bring a full measure of his wrath upon Judah.  The “DAY OF THE LORD’ is coming with all the devastation, punishment, pain and sorrow that that can mean.  Judah is being warned to prepare just as all Israel was to prepare when an enemy attack was imminent.  When danger threatened:

 

“AND THE SONS OF AARON, THE PRIESTS, SHALL BLOW WITH THE TRUMPETS; AND THEY SHALL BE TO YOU FOR AN ORDINANCE FOR EVER THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS.  AND IF YE GO TO WAR IN YOUR LAND AGAINST THE ENEMY THAT OPPRESSETH YOU, THEN YE SHALL BLOW AN ALARM WITH THE TRUMPETS; AND YE SHALL BE REMEMBERED BEFORE THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND YE SHALL BE SAVED FROM YOUR ENEMIES.” Numbers 10:8-9

 

The sons of Aaron, the priests of Israel had the responsibility to sound the warning when danger, either of a physical nature or of a spiritual nature, threatened them.  Today our ministers, our elders, preachers and evangelists have the same responsibility to sound the alarm.  They are to “BLOW YE THE

TRUMPET”, if you will allow the paraphrase, to warn us of impending spiritual danger.

Is our condition really any different than that of Judah today?  We need only look around us to see that the moral condition of this country is no better.  We need only to look around us to see that the spiritual condition of most of those who claim to be the Lord’s church is no better.  When the current digression among churches of Christ began in the middle to late 1960s some sounded the alarm.  Some did not and many joined the apostasy.  The tares that were sown then have now produced their second and third generations and what we see today at Richmond Hills in Texas, Quail Springs in Oklahoma and in 100s of other once faithful congregations of the Lord’s church is the result.  The so-called “Christian” colleges who were once sound are no longer any better than Baptist Baylor, Southern Methodist or Catholic Notre Dame and almost all of our schools of preaching have followed.  When we travel across the country it is getting almost impossible to find faithful brethren with which to worship in many places.  How much longer will God wait to bring upon us the same judgment that he had promised Judah?

 

v.2  “A DAY OF DARKNESS AND OF GLOOMINESS, A DAY OF CLOUDS AND OF THICK DARKNESS, AS THE MORNING SPREAD UPON THE MOUNTAINS: A GREAT PEOPLE AND A STRONG; THERE HATH NOT BEEN EVER THE LIKE, NEITHER SHALL BE ANY MORE AFTER IT, even TO THE YEARS OF MANY GENERATIONS”

 

God proclaims the extent of his punishment on Judah using the metaphors of darkness, gloom, clouds and then a great people.  This people would be so great that their effect would be greater than has ever been known before and will not be known again for “MANY GENERATIONS”.  It will be like the plague of locusts that God brought upon Egypt:

 

Exodus 10:14-15 “AND THE LOCUST WENT UP OVER ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT, AND RESTED IN ALL THE COASTS OF EGYPT: VERY GRIEVOUS were they, BEFORE THEM THERE WERE NO SUCH LOCUSTS AS THEY, NEITHER AFTER THEM SHALL BE SUCH.  FOR THEY COVERED THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH, SO THAT THE LAND WAS DARKENED; AND THEY DID EAT EVERY HERB OF THE LAND, AND ALL THE FRUIT OF THE TREES WHICH THE HAIL HAD LEFT: AND THERE REMAINED NOT ANY GREEN THING IN THE TREES, OR IN THE HERBS OF THE FIELD, THROUGH ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT.”

 

v.3 “A FIRE DEVOURETH BEFORE THEM; AND BEHIND THEM A FLAME BURNETH: THE LAND is AS THE GARDEN OF EDEN BEFORE THEM, AND BEHIND THEM A DESOLATE WILDERNESS; YEA, AND NOTHING SHALL ESCAPE THEM.”

 

God will wreak total and complete desolation upon Judah.  The land will be as the garden of Eden before God’s judgment, and be barren as a desert afterward.  All and everything will be destroyed.  A picture of the sand dunes of southern California immediately comes to mind.  It will be even worse than the wild fires that we see on our news reports in this country during the hot summers. A later prophet of God confirms and describes what actually happened to Israel:

 

Zechariah 7:14 “BUT I SCATTERED THEM WITH A WHIRLWIND AMONG ALL THE NATIONS WHOM THEY KNEW NOT.  THUS THE LAND WAS DESOLATE AFTER THEM, THAT NO MAN PASSED THROUGH NOR RETURNED: FOR THEY LAID THE PLEASANT LAND DESOLATE.”

 

v.4-6 “THE APPEARANCE OF THEM (this great horde of destruction) IS AS THE APPEARANCE OF HORSES; AND AS HORSEMEN, SO SHALL THEY RUN. LIKE THE NOISE OF CHARIOTS ON THE TOPS OF MOUNTAINS SHALL THEY LEAP, LIKE THE NOISE OF A FLAME OF FIRE THAT DEVOURETH THE STUBBLE, AS A STRONG PEOPLE SET IN BATTLE ARRAY. BEFORE THEIR FACE THE PEOPLE SHALL BE MUCH PAINED: ALL FACES SHALL GATHER BLACKNESS”

 

This great people that God will bring against Judah will be totally unbeatable; no one will be able to stand before them.  They shall sweep across the land as racing horses pulling iron chariots at a dead run.  The noise will be as the sound of running chariots or like the swarms of locusts which historians report could be heard six miles away when they were at their worst.  Another metaphor used is that of a raging fire, a wild fire in a dry field of stubble roaring forward devouring everything in its path.  These people will be so well disciplined, after all they are the instruments of God, that they will not turn nor can they be turned aside and will move continually forward like a marching army leaving nothing but devastation and desolation behind them.

 

v.7-8 “THEY SHALL RUN LIKE MIGHTY MEN; THEY SHALL CLIMB THE WALL LIKE MEN OF WAR; AND THEY SHALL MARCH EVERY ONE ON HIS WAYS, AND THEY SHALL NOT BREAK THEIR RANKS: NEITHER SHALL ONE THRUST ANOTHER; THEY SHALL WALK EVERY ONE IN HIS PATH: AND when THEY FALL UPON THE SWORD, THEY SHALL NOT BE WOUNDED.”

 

Like men driven mad by blood lust; these warriors will literally swarm over the land, climbing walls, marching relentlessly onward.  In addition here Judah is told that their weapons of war will be useless against them.  In war, men who cannot be hurt cannot be stopped.

 

v.9-10 “THEY SHALL RUN TO AND FRO IN THE CITY; THEY SHALL RUN UPON THE WALL, THEY SHALL CLIMB UP UPON THE HOUSES; THEY SHALL ENTER IN AT THE WINDOWS LIKE A THIEF; THE EARTH SHALL QUAKE BEFORE THEM; THE HEAVENS SHALL TREMBLE: THE SUN AND THE MOON SHALL BE DARK, AND THE STARS SHALL WITHDRAW THEIR SHINING:”

 

Joel continues to describe the punishment to be brought about by God’s wrath.  The language used in these few verses and characteristic of that used to try to persuade men concerning the terrible consequences of defying Almighty God.  Jesus describes the final judgment:

 

Mark 13:25-26 “BUT IN THOSE DAYS, AFTER THAT TRIBULATION, THE SUN SHALL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON SHALL NOT GIVE HER LIGHT, THE STARS OF HEAVEN SHALL FALL, AND THE POWERS THAT ARE IN HEAVEN SHALL BE SHAKEN. 26 THEN SHALL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN THE CLOUDS WITH GREAT POWER AND GLORY.”

 

He showed a similar vision to the Apostle John:

 

Revelation 6:12-17 “AND I BEHELD WHEN HE HAD OPENED THE SIXTH SEAL, AND, LO, THERE WAS A GREAT EARTHQUAKE; AND THE SUN BECAME BLACK AS SACKCLOTH OF HAIR, AND THE MOON BECAME AS BLOOD; THE STARS OF HEAVEN FELL UNTO THE EARTH, EVEN AS A FIG TREE CASTETH HER UNTIMELY FIGS, WHEN SHE IS SHAKEN OF A MIGHTY WIND.  THE HEAVEN DEPARTED AS A SCROLL WHEN IT IS ROLLED TOGETHER; AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND ISLAND WERE MOVED OUT OF THEIR PLACES.  THE KINGS OF THE EARTH, AND THE GREAT MEN, AND THE RICH MEN, AND THE CHIEF CAPTAINS, AND THE MIGHTY MEN, AND EVERY BONDMAN, AND EVERY FREE MAN, HID THEMSELVES IN THE DENS AND IN THE ROCKS OF THE MOUNTAINS;

AND SAID TO THE MOUNTAINS AND ROCKS, FALL ON US, AND HIDE US FROM THE FACE OF HIM THAT SITTETH ON THE THRONE, AND FROM THE WRATH OF THE LAMB: THE GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH IS COME; AND WHO SHALL BE ABLE TO STAND?”

 

v.11 “AND THE LORD SHALL UTTER HIS VOICE BEFORE HIS ARMY: FOR HIS CAMP is VERY GREAT: FOR he is STRONG THAT EXECUTETH HIS WORD: FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD is GREAT AND VERY TERRIBLE; AND WHO CAN ABIDE IT?

 

“WHO CAN ABIDE IT?”  “WHO SHALL BE ABLE TO STAND?”  Yet men stand in defiance of God in the actions of their lives every day.  The power of God is beyond what any finite mind can understand.  Represented here by an army that could not be numbered, a camp that could not be overcome, again we’re reminded that the DAY OF THE LORD” is coming, not only for Judah in her rebellion and refusal to obey God but for all men.

 

Zephaniah 1:17-18 “AND I WILL BRING DISTRESS UPON MEN, THAT THEY SHALL WALK LIKE BLIND MEN, BECAUSE THEY HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD: AND THEIR BLOOD SHALL BE POURED OUT AS DUST, AND THEIR FLESH AS THE DUNG.  THEIR SILVER NOR THEIR GOLD SHALL BE ABLE TO DELIVER THEM IN THE DAY OF THE LORD’S WRATH; BUT THE WHOLE LAND SHALL BE DEVOURED BY THE FIRE OF HIS JEALOUSY: FOR HE SHALL MAKE EVEN A SPEEDY RIDDANCE OF ALL THEM THAT DWELL IN THE LAND.”

 

Read Joel 2:12-14Judah Called to Repentance

 

v.12 THEREFORE ALSO NOW, SAITH THE LORD, TURN YE even TO ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH FASTING, AND WITH WEEPING, AND WITH MOURNING:”

 

Now Joel gives Judah a recipe for escaping the wrath that God is prepared to bring upon them.  Turn, repent, change your mind, change your attitude, and change your actions.  Turn to God, the source of mercy and judgment:

 

Hosea 12:6 “THEREFORE TURN THOU TO THY GOD: KEEP MERCY AND JUDGMENT, AND WAIT ON THY GOD CONTINUALLY.”

 

Petition God with prayer, fasting, weeping and mourning for the sins committed. Be even as the heathen of Nineveh when God’s word was brought to them:

 

Jonah 3:5 “SO THE PEOPLE OF NINEVEH BELIEVED GOD, AND PROCLAIMED A FAST, AND PUT ON SACKCLOTH, FROM THE GREATEST OF THEM EVEN TO THE LEAST OF THEM.”

 

v.13 “AND REND YOUR HEART, AND NOT YOUR GARMENTS, AND TURN UNTO THE LORD YOUR GOD: FOR HE is GRACIOUS AND MERCIFUL, SLOW TO ANGER, AND OF GREAT KINDNESS, AND REPENTETH HIM OF THE EVIL.”

 

“REND YOUR HEART, AND NOT YOUR GARMENTS”, tearing their, tearing their garments, wearing sackcloth, sitting in ashes were all outward symbols of repentance but God wants men to go further.  The heart, the mind, the conscience is the source of our actions. That is what must be changed:

 

Psalms 51:17 “THE SACRIFICES OF GOD are A BROKEN SPIRIT: A BROKEN AND AN CONTRITE HEART, O GOD, THOU WILT NOT DESPISE”

 

When we change, when we repent and turn; God is merciful, God will forgive; God will turn an ear to our prayers.  God is only bringing His discipline to us to bring us back to him, to correct our living and our lives, not to destroy; for our God is a loving and merciful God to those who love him.

 

Psalms 86:5 “FOR THOU, LORD, art GOOD, AND READY TO FORGIVE, AND PLENTEOUS IN MERCY UNTO ALL THEM THAT CALL UPON THEE.”

 

The writer repeats this assurance:

 

Psalms 86:15 “BUT THOU, O LORD, art A GOD FULL OF COMPASSION, AND GRACIOUS, LONGSUFFERING AND PLENTEOUS IN MERCY AND TRUTH.”

 

v.14 “WHO KNOWETH if HE WILL RETURN AND REPENT, AND LEAVE A BLESSING BEHIND HIM; even A MEAT OFFERING AND A DRINK OFFERING UNTO THE LORD YOUR GOD?”

 

By repenting and turning back to God Judah would prevent God from bringing this prediction of total destruction upon them.  God would then turn and repent of his plans, change his mind and give them another opportunity to continue just as he did Nineveh.  The king of that heathen city said:

 

“WHO CAN TELL if GOD WILL TURN AND REPENT, AND TURN A ROM HIS FIERCE ANGER, THAT WE PERISH NOT?” Jonah 3:9

 

We know from our earlier study that this is exactly what happened.  Nineveh turned from evil, repented before God and secular history tells us that they prospered another 150 years before becoming so sinful again that God destroyed them.

 

Read Joel 2:15-27 – The Fruits of Repentance

 

v.15-16 “BLOW THE TRUMPET IN ZION, SANCTIFY A FAST, CALL A SOLEMN ASSEMBLY: THE PEOPLE, SANCTIFY THE CONGREGATION, ASSEMBLE THE ELDERS, GATHER THE CHILDREN, AND THOSE THAT SUCK THE BREASTS: LET THE  BRIDEGROOM GO FORTH OF HIS CHAMBER, AND THE BRIDE OUT OF HER CLOSET.”

 

BLOW THE TRUMPET IN ZION”, not to sound an alarm this time but to call the people to worship God.  This was the method God specified to Israel in the wilderness and was familiar to those to whom Joel is prophesying.

 

“AND WHEN THEY SHALL BLOW WITH THEM, ALL THE ASSEMBLY SHALL ASSEMBLE THEMSELVES TO THEE AT THE DOOR OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION.” Numbers 10:3

 

The entire congregation was to gather, they were to come in clean garments, clean hearts, clean minds, sanctified or cleansed to be fit to be in the presence of God.  This was commanded through Moses as well:

 

“AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, GO UNTO THE PEOPLE, A SANCTIFY THEM TO DAY AND TO MORROW, AND LET THEM WASH THEIR CLOTHES,” Exodus 19:1

 

v.17 “LET THE PRIESTS, THE MINISTERS OF THE LORD, WEEP BETWEEN

THE PORCH AND THE ALTAR, AND LET THEM SAY, SPARE THY PEOPLE,

O LORD, AND GIVE NOT THINE HERITAGE TO REPROACH, THAT THE

HEATHEN SHOULD RULE OVER THEM: WHEREFORE SHOULD THEY SAY

AMONG THE PEOPLE, WHERE is THEIR GOD?”

 

The picture that comes to mind from this verse is a scene in the tabernacle or temple with the priests of God standing between the court or porch occupied by the people and the altar of sacrifice weeping, unworthy of approaching God.  Unworthy even to provide the sacrifice of repentance that God requires.  They needed to pray repeatedly as Moses petitioned God concerning the sins of Israel, praying with bitter tears for their preservation:

 

“I PRAYED THEREFORE UNTO THE LORD, AND SAID, O LORD GOD, DESTROY NOT THY PEOPLE AND THINE INHERITANCE, WHICH THOU HAST REDEEMED THROUGH THY GREATNESS, WHICH THOU HAST BROUGHT FORTH OUT OF EGYPT WITH A MIGHTY HAND” Deuteronomy 9:26

 

For God to destroy them now would bring nothing but reproach upon God and upon his chosen people.  The heathen around them who believed that their gods protected them personally would question the power of Almighty God, asking “WHERE IS THEIR GOD?” So “THE PRIESTS, THE MINISTERS OF THE LORD” were to weep, pray and petition God for deliverance out of his wrath.

 

v.18-19 “THEN WILL THE LORD BE JEALOUS FOR HIS LAND, AND PITY HIS PEOPLE.  THE LORD WILL ANSWER AND SAY UNTO HIS PEOPLE, BEHOLD, WILL SEND YOU CORN, AND WINE, AND OIL, AND YE SHALL BE SATISFIED THEREWITH: AND I WILL NO MORE MAKE YOU A REPROACH AMONG THE HEATHEN:”

 

God has made a covenant with the descendants of Israel.  He has an eternal purpose in preserving them for a period of time.  He has promised them the land within which they live.  He will not break his covenant and bring the reproach of the heathen that are watching Judah upon him and his people.

He will pity, show compassion and mercy upon even the vilest of sinners if that sinner repents and turns to him.  God stands ready, always, to provide his richest blessings, both physical and spiritual, his greatest gift, salvation upon those who will but love and obey him.

 

v.20 BUT I WILL REMOVE FAR OFF FROM YOU THE NORTHERN army, AND WILL DRIVE HIM INTO A LAND BARREN AND DESOLATE, WITH HIS FACE TOWARD THE EAST SEA, AND HIS HINDER PART TOWARD THE UTMOST SEA, AND HIS STINK SHALL COME UP, AND HIS ILL SAVOUR SHALL COME UP, BECAUSE HE HATH DONE GREAT THINGS.”

 

Joel continues with the fruits of repentance that Judah will enjoy if they return to God.  The army of locusts, palmerworm, cankerworm, caterpillars, symbolizing complete and total destruction will be removed.  This plague will be driven into the dry and desolate land surrounding the Dead Sea on the east and the rest into the Mediterranean Sea on the west.  But as is always true, the consequences of their sin will still remain.  The stink, the stench of the carcasses of these creatures will be a reminder of the sin and folly of the people.

 

v.21-22 “FEAR NOT, O LAND; BE GLAD AND REJOICE: FOR THE LORD WILL DO GREAT THINGS.   NOT AFRAID, YE BEASTS OF THE FIELD: FOR THE PASTURES OF THE WILDERNESS DO SPRING, FOR THE TREE BEARETH HER FRUIT, THE FIG TREE AND THE VINE DO YIELD THEIR STRENGTH”

 

In the symbolic language of prophecy, God reassures Judah that the land will be restored.  God will bring about great things to remove the devastation that their sin has caused.  The pastures of the wilderness will be restored.  The trees will bring forth their fruit again and the vineyards bear. Just as a latter prophet promises those who obey God:

 

Zechariah 8:1”FOR THE SEED shall be PROSPEROUS; THE VINE SHALL GIVE HER IT GROUND SHALL GIVE HER INCREASE, AND THE HEAVENS SHALL GIVE THEIR DEW; AND I WILL CAUSE THE REMNANT OF THIS PEOPLE TO POSSESS ALL THESE things.”

 

v.23 “BE GLAD THEN, YE CHILDREN OF ZION, AND REJOICE IN THE LORD YOUR GOD: FOR HE HATH GIVEN YOU THE FORMER RAIN MODERATELY, AND HE WILL CAUSE TO COME DOWN FOR YOU THE RAIN, THE FORMER RAIN, AND THE LATTER RAIN TN THE FIRST month.”

 

All those blessings that the people of God had lost through their disobedience will be restored when they have repented.  They will have cause to rejoice again in God’s blessings.  Just as we rejoice in the salvation of one soul, their salvation will bring that same joy, as Habakkuk writes:

 

Habakkuk 3:18 “YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL JOY IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION.”

 

Israel had been assured of God’s blessing if they would but obey God’s commandments.  But they did not; so God would bring this punishment upon them and when they repented restore the promise that he had made to them at the beginning:

 

Deuteronomy 11:13-15 “AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, IF YE SHALL HEARKEN DILIGENTLY UNTO MY COMMANDMENTS WHICH I COMMAND YOU THIS DAY, TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND TO SERVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, I WILL GIVE you THE RAIN OF YOUR LAND IN HIS DUE SEASON, THE FIRST RAIN AND THE LATTER RAIN; THAT THOU MAYEST GATHER IN THY CORN, AND THY WINE, AND THINE OIL.  I WILL SEND GRASS IN THY FIELDS FOR THY CATTLE, THAT THOU MAYEST EAT AND BE FULL.”

 

v.24-25 “AND THE FLOORS SHALL BE FULL OF WHEAT, AND THE VATS SHALL OVERFLOW WITH WINE AND OIL.  I WILL RESTORE TO YOU THE YEARS THAT THE LOCUST HATH EATEN, THE CANKERWORM, AND THE CATERPILLAR, AND THE PALMERWORM, MY GREAT ARMY WHICH I SENT AMONG YOU.”

 

Their threshing floors would be filled with wheat, their bounty would be so great that the vats set to receive the output of the grape and olive presses would overflow.  God would restore all that he had taken away from them, yea, blessing them with even greater blessings that they had enjoyed before.

 

v.26-27 “AND YE SHALL EAT IN PLENTY, AND BE SATISFIED, AND PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD, THAT HATH DEALT WONDROUSLY WITH YOU: AND MY PEOPLE SHALL NEVER BE ASHAMED.  YE SHALL KNOW THAT I am IN THE MIDST OF ISRAEL, AND that I am THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND NONE ELSE: AND MY PEOPLE SHALL NEVER BE ASHAMED.”

 

The Holy Spirit through the pen of Isaiah tells Judah:

 

Isaiah 45:5 I am THE LORD, AND there is NONE ELSE, there is NO GOD BESIDE ME:...”

 

There is no other God but Jehovah God, (that includes Allah of Islam today).  He dealt with Israel with restraint and wisdom.  He provided for them land, and the bounty of a land flowing with ‘MILK AND HONEY” (Exodus 3:8 and various others throughout Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).  He had blessed them beyond their fairest hopes and dearest dreams both physically and spiritually.

 

Leviticus 26:5 “AND YOUR THRESHING SHALL REACH UNTO THE VINTAGE, AND THE VINTAGE SHALL REACH UNTO THE SOWING TIME: AND YE SHALL EAT YOUR BREAD TO THE FULL, AND DWELL IN YOUR LAND SAFELY.”

 

Hebrews 8:10 “FOR THIS is THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAITH THE LORD; I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MIND, AND WRITE THEM IN THEIR HEARTS: AND I WILL BE TO THEM A GOD, AND THEY SHALL BET ME A PEOPLE:”

 

And thus Judah is promised the fruits of repentance from their sins and obedience to the will of God.  The blessings given also to those who chose to become children of God, worshippers of the Almighty and followers of his son. Then Joel is instructed to write about ultimate blessing to be brought by the coming of the Messiah, the Christ.

 

Joel 2:28-32 – Prophesy of the Coming of the Holy Spirit

 

v.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:”

 

So the Holy Spirit through Joel now moves from the immediate concerns of Judah and the restoration of their service to God to future blessings.  This scripture is indeed an introduction to the Christian Age, a sign provided to verify that Jesus the Christ was indeed the Son of God and the Messiah promised.

First let’s look at another prophesy of the same event, one that we may not be as familiar with:

 

Zechariah 12:10 “AND I WILL POUR UPON THE HOUSE OF DAVID, AND UPON THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM, THE SPIRIT OF GRACE AND OF SUPPLICATIONS: AND THEY SHALL LOOK UPON ME WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED, AND THEY SHALL MOURN FOR HIM, AS ONE MOURNETH FOR his ONLY son, AND SHALL BE IN BITTERNESS FOR HIM, AS ONE THAT IS IN BITTERNESS FOR his FIRSTBORN.”

 

That out pouring was promised by Jesus to his disciples:

 

John 14:26 “BUT THE COMFORTER, which is THE HOLY GHOST, WHOM THE FATHER WILL SEND IN MY NAME, HE SHALL TEACH YOU ALL THINGS, AND BRING ALL THINGS TO YOUR REMEMBRANCE, WHATSOEVER I HAVE SAID UNTO YOU.”

 

See also John 14:16, John 15:26 and John 16:7.  It was confirmed by Peter in his sermon on Pentecost, the day that Christ established his church.

 

Acts 2:16-17 “BUT THIS IS THAT WHICH WAS SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET JOEL; IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THE LAST DAYS, SAITH GOD, I WILL POUR OUT OF MY SPIRIT UPON ALL FLESH: AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS:”

 

v.29 “AND ALSO UPON THE SERVANTS AND UPON THE HANDMAIDS IN THOSE DAYS WILL I POUR OUT MY SPIRIT.”

 

This blessing from the Holy Spirit was indeed given to those who obeyed God, who held the word of God in high esteem and followed His son.  It was not reserved for a special priesthood, class or group of people; but was given to simple Galilean fishermen and others as God desired.  Examples:

 

Acts 21:9 “AND THE SAME MAN HAD FOUR DAUGHTERS, VIRGINS, WHICH DID PROPHESY.”

 

I Corinthians 12:13 “FOR BY ONE SPIRIT ARE WE ALL BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY, WHETHER we be JEWS OR GENTILES, WHETHER we be BOND OR FREE; AND HAVE BEEN ALL MADE TO DRINK INTO ONE SPIRIT.”

 

Galatians 3:28-29 “THERE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK; THERE IS NEITHER BOND NOR FREE, THERE IS NEITHER MALE NOR FEMALE: FOR YE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS.  IF YE BE CHRIST’S, THEN ARE YE ABRAHAM’S SEED AND HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE.”

 

v.30-31 “AND WILL SHOW WONDERS IN THE HEAVENS AND IN THE EARTH, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND PILLARS OF SMOKE.  SUN SHALL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS, AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND THE TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD COME.”

 

Ultimate judgment will be brought upon mankind.  Punishment for the sins of the generations will be brought upon man.  The fury and wrath of God will indeed be terrible to see.  Many signs and symbols of the coming of final judgment are given both here and by Christ himself.

 

Matthew 24:29 “IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS SHALL THE SUN BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON SHALL NOT GIVE HER LIGHT, AND THE STARS SHALL FALL FROM HEAVEN, AND THE POWERS OF THE HEAVENS SHALL BE SHAKEN:”

 

Luke 21:25-26 “AND THERE SHALL BE SIGNS IN THE SUN, AND IN THE MOON, AND IN THE STARS; AND UPON THE EARTH DISTRESS OF NATIONS, WITH PERPLEXITY; THE SEA AND THE WAVES ROARING; HEARTS FAILING THEM FOR FEAR, AND FOR LOOKING AFTER THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE COMING ON THE EARTH: FOR THE POWERS OF HEAVEN SHALL BE SHAKEN.”

 

But God will also provide a way of escape for those who chose to accept it.

 

v.32 “AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, that WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE DELIVERED: FOR IN MOUNT ZION AND IN JERUSALEM SHALL BE DELIVERANCE, AS THE LORD HATH SAID, AND IN THE REMNANT WHOM THE LORD SHALL CALL.”

 

“WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD” shall find deliverance from the wrath and fury of God.  God shall call the remnant, the children of Israel, wherever they are found return to him as Isaiah prophesies:

 

“AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY, that THE LORD SHALL SET HIS HAND AGAIN THE SECOND TIME TO RECOVER THE REMNANT OF HIS PEOPLE, WHICH SHALL BE LEFT, FROM ASSYRIA, AND FROM EGYPT,  AND FROM PATHROS, AND FROM CUSH, AND FROM ELAM, AND FROM SHINAR, AND FROM HAMATH, AND FROM THE ISLANDS OF THE SEA.” Isaiah 11:11

 

And indeed as the gospel of Jesus the Christ was taught and preached throughout the world; Jews living in all of these places became Christians, spiritual children of God.  When Paul went from city to city he first went to the synagogues of the Jews:

 

Acts 13:14 “BUT WHEN THEY DEPARTED FROM PERGA, THEY CAME TO ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA, AND WENT INTO THE SYNAGOGUE ON THE SABBATH DAY, AND SAT DOWN.”

 

Fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah and of Joel that indeed a remnant would be saved, a fact confirmed through the pen of the Apostle Paul to the Roman church:

 

Romans 9:27 “ESAIAS ALSO CRIETH CONCERNING ISRAEL, THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL BE AS THE SAND OF THE SEA, A REMNANT SHALL BE SAVED:”