Radical Repentance Part 3

The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit

Joel 2:28-3:21

28 “And it shall come to pass afterward,

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

29 Even on the male and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.

4 “What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.”

9 Proclaim this among the nations:

Consecrate for war;

stir up the mighty men.

Let all the men of war draw near;

let them come up.

10 Beat your plowshares into swords,

and your pruning hooks into spears;

let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”

11 Hasten and come,

all you surrounding nations,

and gather yourselves there.

Bring down your warriors, O Lord.

12 Let the nations stir themselves up

and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;

xor there I will sit to judge

all the surrounding nations.

13 Put in the sickle,

for the harvest is ripe.

Go in, tread,

for the winepress is full.

The vats overflow,

for their evil is great.

14 Multitudes, multitudes,

in the valley of decision!

For the day of the Lord is near

in the valley of decision.

15 The sun and the moon are darkened,

and the stars withdraw their shining.

16 The Lord roars from Zion,

and utters his voice from Jerusalem,

and the heavens and the earth quake.

But the Lord is a refuge to his people,

a stronghold to the people of Israel.

17 “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,

who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain.

And Jerusalem shall be holy,

and strangers shall never again pass through it.

18 “And in that day

khe mountains shall drip sweet wine,

and the hills shall flow with milk,

and all the streambeds of Judah

shall flow with water;

and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord

and water the Valley of Shittim.

19 “Egypt shall become a desolation

and Edom a desolate wilderness,

qor the violence done to the people of Judah,

because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

20 But Judah shall be inhabited forever,

and Jerusalem to all generations.

21 I will avenge their blood,

blood I have not avenged,

for the Lord dwells in Zion.”


Think of the best thing God could do. What we see here is that God will actually do better. Up to this point God’s blessings and restoration for His people have always or almost always had taken a physical, materialistic form.  Example; crops, land, wine, oil and grain. So when Israel thinks restoration that is what comes to mind. Joel says that there will come a time when God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh, on all people. For Israel that is a profound statement; totally unheard of, to include all people. During this time, we must understand that the Spirit of God only came upon certain people. Ones to whom God had raised up for His purposes, like Moses, David, and Joseph.  Also the Spirit could come upon someone and then leave that person like He did with King Saul.  (1 Samuel 16:14)  And in Numbers 11, we see God putting His Spirit on some of the elders of Israel.  Moses needed help leading God’s people so the Lord gave Him help.  As you read through Numbers 11 you see that the Holy Spirit came upon two guys who were not in that meeting.  Well Joshua freaked out about it and told Moses to make them stop prophesying in the camp.  But Moses responds by saying “Oh how great it will be if the Lord puts His Spirit on all His people.” Now Joel is saying that this will happen. This would be great news! What? We can all have God’s Spirit on us?  Sweet!  But get this; God will not just put His Spirit on us, God will actually pour out His Spirit, an overflowing. Again, this is great news! It will be on all people not just the Jews, not just on Kings, priests, judges, leaders or the elders but on all people. Men, and women, slaves and the free, young and the old will have His Spirit not just on them but in them! And if all people have God’s Spirit then that can only mean that all God’s people will have gifts from His Spirit as well.  (v.28-29)  Not all will have the same gifts, some will prophesy, some will dream dreams, and some see visions. Joel is saying there will be a time when all God’s people will be doing God’s work. Not just some elite, but everyone. This will be a great time indeed, a great promise that has been fulfilled at Pentecost.  I want us to look at something when we look at the book of Acts and at Pentecost.

(Acts 2:1-25; 6:3) When we see Acts mention people filled with the Spirit of God, it always points others to Jesus. 

·       Acts 4:8-12   Peter preached Jesus

·       Acts 4:31  People spoke God’s Word

·       Acts 7:54-56  Stephen speaking Jesus

·       Acts 9:1-20  Paul preached Jesus

·       Acts 13:48-52  Preaching Jesus brought persecution but also joy and the Holy Spirit

Jesus said that this would be the Spirit’s work.  (John 16:12-15)  So again we are seeing the movement of God,  not just blessing certain people with His Spirit but all His people for His glory.  All His people will become ministers of God. The gifts God has given should always point to Christ.  The church today has really gotten this confused. The church is trying to revert back and has reverted back to the Roman Catholic position of clergy and laity. The leaders work and the people follow.  The Reformation tried to get the church headed back in the right direction with what they call the priesthood of the saints, the priesthood of all believers.  (Ephesians 4:4-13)  these teachers, pastor, are here to assist the church (Christians) to be what they should be and do the work that they should do, which is the proclamation of the gospel to the world. The church is not a building, it is God’s people through Christ. We have the Spirit living in us, just as the Christians did in the Book of Acts.  If that is the case, we should look like they did, with the Spirit working in and through us.  If He is in us, He will be moving. Is He in you? Is He making much of Jesus through you? Peter’s testimony to the historic movement of fulfillment still stands today. The climatic hour of the rule of Jesus has come. The invitation for everyone to call upon Him is still here. The Day of the Lord has come! The Sovereign rule of Jesus over all the nations is now! This is the Day of the Lord! This is the day of salvation!  (v.32)  Paul quotes this verse in Romans 10:13. Today is the day of salvation, we are not guaranteed tomorrow. We have been looking at the Day of the Lord.

·       It came upon Israel with the plague of the locusts.

·       It came with the radical restoration of the years the locusts destroyed.

·       It came at Pentecost when the Lord poured out His Spirit.

·       It will come again for the final time, when everyone will assemble for judgment.

God will not fail to judge the nations.  (3:1-3)  Jesus speaks of this in Matthew 25:31-34.  This gathering at the valley of Jehoshaphat is literally “the valley where the Lord will judge.” Joel is probably thinking back to 1 Kings 22. Joel says that the Lord will enter into judgment for people, My heritage, and My land, for the Kingdom of God. (3:4-12) These nations, these people who are against God and His people try and gather forces to do battle with God. Mere men! In verse 4, what? You are going to pay Me back? Right, I will turn that back on your head. How would you like God to say that to you? God will restore and redeem all that are His! Romans 12:19, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”  God even calls the people to prepare for war if they really want to fight Him.  This is actually the opposite of what God calls His people to so in Isaiah 2. God calls us to peace as His people but He calls his enemies to war. But the fact is there will be no war. There will be no battle.  The Lord changes the scene quickly from the battle field to the time of harvest. (v.13-15) This is more of a picture of the final day of the Lord. We see in 14 that the wickedness is great, multitudes and multitudes. 15 Even creation responds at the Day of the Lord.  16 The Lord roars! Wow that is power!  But as Christians, the Lord is our refuge.  We are safe in Jesus!  17 All this will prove that Jesus of Nazareth is the lord.  Every knee shall bow and every tongue profess that Jesus is Lord.  18 In that day, the final day, eternity describes perfect paradise and prosperity.  19-21 God judges his enemies and radically redeems His people. As a child of God this should encourage us and give us much hope. If you’re not, today is the day of salvation.  Repent and trust Jesus!