When the Spirit Comes

In reassuring his people amid devastation and destruction, God goes beyond the immediate situation to address a distant future. He promises that he will pour his Spirit on all people–male and female, young and old (28,29). They will see visions and dream dreams and prophesy. Anyone who calls on God’s name will be saved. This was marvelously fulfilled at Pentecost, when Peter referred to this passage in his sermon after the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17-21). As a result, 3,000 people were saved and added to the church that day (Acts 2:41).

The Old Testament (which was the Bible that Jesus and his contemporaries read) points to Jesus the Messiah (Luke 24:27). All of God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus, who was sent for the salvation of all people (2 Cor. 1:20). God’s purposes in history have to do with our salvation through Christ, which results in our being filled with the Holy Spirit and becoming like Jesus (Rom. 8:29,30). This is important when we consider the dreadful day of the Lord mentioned by Joel. Who can endure it? The answer is that those who call on God’s name and are saved will find the day of the Lord a different kind of experience. For them, it will be a day of delight rather than dread, a day of deliverance rather than destruction (32). They will survive the day because they have been saved in Christ.

The additional signs mentioned–that the sun will be darkened and there will be many other drastic changes in the sky–suggest that the day of the Lord is yet to come. How can we be prepared for that dreadful day? By ensuring that we have turned to Christ for salvation, and by sharing the good news with those around us.

Meditate on the day of the Lord. What sort of day will it be for you? Christ, and your relationship with him, makes all the difference. Seek him and live.