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NOTES for Joe 2:28

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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:
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The gift of prophecy was always perceived within the people of God as something extraordinary and eminent, as a distinguishing sign, by which God marks a person. And there were all reasons for such an opinion: indeed, there were never many prophets, there was a lot auguring the ecstatic, and the real servants of God were always counted in small number. And it is not surprising: because, the prophetic service supposed a complete surrender to God's will, this same righteousness, which in all the times in the fallen humanity was, unfortunately, an infrequent phenomenon.

And for prophetic service, in addition to righteousness, is needed also a special spiritual gift, which we meet even rarer, than righteousness. It is not surprising that the real prophets were never much. But here is Joel speaks about the times, when everyone will be a prophet. How will it be? When? According to the context, it is about the messianic Kingdom, it is effectively there that the prophecy will become norm; the prophecy will become not a special service, but a normal spiritual state of man. But what about the special prophetic gift?

To understand it, it is enough to remember that the prophet is above all, God's witness. And to be such a witness, one should learn to see the events that take place with the eyes of someone living in the Kingdom. And Joel indeed, speaks like that about the coming of the Kingdom! If before only few servants chosen by God could see the world like that, now, that the Kingdom comes, this possibility is opened to everyone involved in the Kingdom. And that is why everyone becomes a prophet. This is an integral part of the life of the Kingdom.

Other notes

 
For Joe 2:18-32
18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I 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:
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.
21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.
22 Be 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.
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 in the first month.
24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
26 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.
27 And 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.
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:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
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.
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We are not surprised that the Lord continues to care for people after the trials they have endured; the Bible...  Read more

We are not surprised that the Lord continues to care for people after the trials they have endured; the Bible constantly reminds us of His mercy. We also know that images of an abundance of earthly fruits often symbolize not only material well-being but also the Lord's spiritual gifts to His faithful. There is therefore nothing unexpected in a prophecy about the outpouring of the Spirit following the promise of plenty.

Let us note that everyone will be equal before the Spirit sent by God. The Spirit will give gifts to all who are capable of receiving Him, regardless of age or social position. Moreover, salvation is proclaimed to everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, that is, who turns to Him—not only to those born among a particular people or brought close to the Temple's hierarchical structure. Salvation proves so accessible! And yet it is so often rejected...

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For Joe 2:18-32
18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I 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:
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.
21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.
22 Be 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.
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 in the first month.
24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
26 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.
27 And 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.
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:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
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.
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According to the prophet Joel, the only thing that can save people from certain destruction on the great and terrible Day of the Lord is a sincere turning of the heart to God. ‘Rend your hearts, not your garments,’ the prophet cries out to the people. It is precisely these words that are continued by...  Read more

According to the prophet Joel, the only thing that can save people from certain destruction on the great and terrible Day of the Lord is a sincere turning of the heart to God. ‘Rend your hearts, not your garments,’ the prophet cries out to the people. It is precisely these words that are continued by the promise he proclaims in verse 18: ‘Then the Lord will be zealous for His land and will have pity on His people. And the Lord will answer...’ Joel's prophecy, like the book of Job, written at approximately the same time, says that God responds when a heart turns sincerely to Him—a heart that truly suffers and therefore has no artifice or deceit. This answer from God itself becomes for people an abundant outpouring of life, overflowing into the world.

God's response to people's turning to Him, of which Joel prophesies, cannot be contained within the bounds of theological discourse. God answers, but what matters is not even what He says: the very fact that He answers brings people life. Thus, to Job, whose story reflects the spirit of the age no less than the book of Joel, God actually addresses a rebuke: ‘Who is this who darkens Providence with words without meaning?’ Yet it is in these very words that Job finds life and consolation, and all his tormenting questions disappear. In the same way, Joel says that if we cry out to God with all our heart, He will answer, and this answer will change everything. The prophet describes this gift in contrast to the devastating invasion of locusts: grain, wine and oil are given in abundance, enemies disappear, the pastures will grow grass, and the tree will bear fruit. God grants the early and the late rains, which ensure the annual harvest, through His response to the human turning towards Him; He makes up to people for every suffering and satisfies all their former hunger. In all this, God's greatness and glory will be revealed to people, and so the prophet speaks in His name: ‘And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God.’

Yet even this is not what the prophet sees as the greatest gift of God's response. The relief of sorrow merely accompanies it, as a visible sign of deeper realities. God answers the turning towards Him, and in that answer His Spirit is poured into the human heart that has opened to Him. In the canon for the Day of the Holy Spirit, St Theophanes the Branded († after 843) calls Him ‘the Source of life, in whom we believe, a stream of goodness, O Holy Spirit of God’. This is what Joel proclaims to us: the Source of life Himself enters the heart that has turned to Him, worn out by death's terrible dominion. The world is transfigured as it undergoes a terrible catastrophe; the sun turns to darkness and the moon to blood, but everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. For Joel, two sayings—the call and the promise—are inseparably linked: ‘Rend your hearts...’ and ‘I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh...’ The prophet sees that turning to God and His response deliver people from the common fate of perishable matter and make them participants in divine being.

Thus Joel's prophecy speaks not only of the outpouring of the Spirit that took place on the day of Pentecost, but also of what the Church Fathers called the deification of the human being. And this gift of salvation, like every gift of God, infinitely exceeds every measure available to our understanding and explanation. That is why the prophet says that salvation is granted not only to Zion and Jerusalem, but also to the others whom the Lord will call.

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