Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Pre-exilic Prophets 1 (3)
Pray Psalm 9.1, 2.
I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Sing Psalm 9.1, 2.
(Diademata: Crown Him with Many Crowns)
I will give praise, O LORD, with all my heart to You!
I’ll tell the wonders of Your works, so many and so true!
With joy to You I cry; Your glory I will raise;
Your matchless Name, O LORD Most High, will I forever praise!
Read Joel 2.28-3.17; meditate on Joel 3.14-17.
Preparation
1. What did God promise to pour out?
2. How would that affect His people?
Meditation
In the Hebrew Bible, the book of Joel has four chapters, not three, as in English. This is because Joel 2.28-32 is set off as a separate chapter, Joel 3. It’s as if the Jews who compiled these texts into books understood that this was a very special passage. A very special promise.
Perhaps the promise of the Father.
That, at any rate, was how Jesus saw it: “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”
The Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father. The most important promise for “the last days”, as Peter rendered Joel 2.28 (Heb., Joel 3.1) in Acts 2.16, 17. The coming of the Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father because His coming brings the salvation of God to His people (Joel 2.32), invading their souls and leading them to cry out to God as Father (Gal. 4.6). With the coming of the Holy Spirit, the judgment of God begins against all those who deny or rebel against Him and His people (Joel. 3.1-6; cf. Rom. 1.18ff). But, as Jesus said, not even the gates of hell can prevail against His Church, and so God will raise them out of all their troubles and make them His mighty ones in a spiritual war in which Jesus will be triumphant (Joel. 3.7-17).
And then the blessings of God will descend upon His people in what can only be described as a new earth, where mountains drip with wine and hills flow with milk and a fountain flows from the house of the LORD to water the valley (Joel 3.18). Then all the enemies of God’s people shall be no more (v. 19) and His people, fully acquitted of their sin by the death and resurrection of Jesus, will abide forever with Him (vv. 20, 21).
All this because of the coming of the Holy Spirit—the promise all the world has been waiting for.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2.28).
I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth (Joel 2.30).
Whoever calls on the Name of the LORD shall be saved (Joel 2.32).
You shall know that I AM the LORD your God (Joel 3.17).
I will acquit them of their guilt (Joel 3.21).
Because
I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2.28).
“The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart:
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the Scripture says,
‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame’ (Rom. 10.8-11; Deut.30.14; Is. 28.16).
Jesus.
“But now I go away to Him Who sent Me…
It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away,
the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you…
When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth;
for He will not speak on His own authority,
but whatever He hears He will speak;
and He will tell you things to come.
He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you” (Jn. 16.5, 7, 13, 14).
Jesus sent us His Spirit. The Promise. The Comforter. The Helper. The Guarantee.
“Now He Who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,
Who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Cor. 1.21, 22).
“Now He Who has prepared us for this very thing is God,
Who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (2 Cor. 5.5).
“In Him you also trusted,
after you heard the Word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation;
in Whom also, having believed,
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Who is the guarantee of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession,
to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1.13, 14).
“And it shall come to pass” (Joel 2.28) has come to pass.
“Every Word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him” (Prov. 30.5).
“For the LORD has spoken” (Joel 3.8).
The Promise fulfilled.
Reflection
1. How do you experience the Holy Spirit working in your life?
2. Jesus said the Holy Spirit gives us power to be His witnesses (Acts 1.8). How does that work in your life?
3. The Spirit of God is at work within you (Phil. 2.13). What do you expect Him to do in or with or through you today?
Gospel grace, flowing from Christ, shall reach to the Gentile world, to the most remote regions, and make them abound in fruits of righteousness; and from the house of the Lord above, from his heavenly temple, flows all the good we daily taste, and hope to enjoy eternally. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Joel 3.18-21
Pray Psalm 9.7-12.
Pray for the lost people of the world, that they may come to know Jesus. Pray for revival in our churches, that we, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, may be the witnesses Jesus intends us to be (Acts 1.8).
Sing Psalm 9.7-12.
(Diademata: Crown Him with Many Crowns)
LORD, You forever reign in judgment on Your throne.
The world in bitter wrath and pain Your righteousness will own.
All those who know Your Name, though in this life oppressed,
You shelter from the storms of shame and keep them ever blessed.
Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion fair.
Tell of His deeds ’til all have heard; His faithfulness declare.
When He avenges blood, He will remember all
who honor Him as all men should and on Him humbly call.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
