I will pour out my spirit
1 In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on every mortal.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
2 Even upon my servants and maidens,
I will pour out my Spirit on that day.
3 I will show wonders in the heavens,
and on earth blood and fire and columns of smoke.
4 The sun will darken and the moon turn to blood
at the approach of the great and dreadful day of God.
5 Then all who call upon the name of Yahweh will be saved.
For on Mount Zion there will be a remnant,
as Yahweh has said;
in Jerusalem some will be saved ¨C
those whom Yahweh will call.
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Comments , Chapter 3
• 3.1 Joel announces the Day of Yahweh, a term indicating GodĄ¯s coming
Judgment, and the salvation of the elect, at the same time.
I will pour out my Spirit on every mortal. Already in the days of the Old
Testament God communicated his Spirit to the prophets and to saviors (see Is
11:1 and Jdg 11:1). Here, however, it is a decisive sign that the Spirit
will be given to all be lievers. They will dream dreams and see vi sions. In
those remote days, such were normal means of prophetic communication.
Through these words Joel announces what Isaiah did when he said: All your
children will be taught by God (Is 54:13 and Jer 31:31).
I will show wonders in the heavens. The wave of prophesy will accompany many
signs indicating a grave crisis in the world. The image of the sun turning
to darkness expresses both chaos in nature and impossible situations in the
life of humankind.
Then allĄ will be saved. This will be a time when people will not be able to
avoid a decisive choice: to retain their former lifestyles or to invoke the
name of Yahweh which means to surrender their lives and hopes to him and
rely on his powerful intervention.
It seems that these three factors were present for the Jewish people in the
years following the resurrection of Jesus and before the destruction of the
nation. Peter quotes this text on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17).