The Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit

Our study of the Day of the Lord now takes us to Acts chapter two. This, of course, is the familiar account of the day of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. One hundred-twenty of Jesus’ disciples are gathered in an upper room when there comes a noise “like a violent, rushing wind.” (Acts 2:2) “Tongues as of fire” (Acts 2:3) appear and rest on each of the disciples, and they are “all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” (Acts 2:4) A crowd of devout Jews numbering in the thousands gathers, apparently being drawn by the roar of the wind. The disciples are now outside speaking of the “mighty deeds of God” (Acts 2:11) in languages not their own. Those in the crowd understood them in their native language. (Acts 2:8) Many onlookers are amazed and perplexed, questioning, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:12) Others mock, saying, “They are full of sweet wine.” (Acts 2:13)

What happens next, in response to the crowd’s astonishment and mocking, is truly amazing. Peter steps forward to explain, and makes an astounding declaration in the process, saying, “This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel.” (Acts 2:16)

Here’s what I find startling about Peter’s announcement. The disciples are no doubt just as bewildered as the crowd over the events taking place. Nonetheless, while the disciples are experiencing a spectacular, momentous act of God … while the spectacular event is being played out … before there is time for an extensive Bible study … before the disciples can have a prayer meeting … after they have been drawn outside and have become the focus of a crowd of thousands of people … in the midst of all of this, Peter makes a connection between what is happening at that very moment and what Joel had prophesied more than eight centuries earlier.

Where did that information come from?

It wasn’t from the book of Joel. Peter was apparently familiar with the book of Joel, because he goes on to quote Joel’s words, but Joel says only that God will pour out His Spirit. He makes no mention of the sound of a violent, rushing wind, of fire resting on people or of speaking in unknown languages understood by the throngs of people. Yet, Peter declares with certainty that what the crowd is witnessing is the outpouring of the Spirit spoken of by Joel. The only way Peter could have gained this understanding is by a revelation from the Holy Spirit.

Not only is Peter’s statement remarkable, it is informative for this particular study. Immediately following his declaration that what was taking place was in fact what Joel had foretold, Peter begins to quote from the prophecy of Joel concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

“And it shall be in the last days,” God says, “that I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind.” (Acts 2:17a)

Notice that Peter used the phrase, ‘in the last days.’ But, Joel did not use the term last days. Instead, Joel said, “And it will come about after this.” (Joel 2:28a) It is important to note that Joel said after this, because he is signifying that the outpouring of the Spirit is going to take place after the thing about which he was writing. How can we find out what that is? We can read what Joel was saying before chapter two, verse 28. If you followed my recommendation in a previous article, The Day of the Lord: Biblical Evidence, and have read the entire book of Joel, you have seen that three verses stand out in the 1:1 to 2:28 passage of Joel. These verses state the subject of Joel’s prophecy. The verses are:

Alas for the day! For the Day of the Lord is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty. (Joel 1:15)

Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the Day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near. (Joel 2:1)

And the Lord utters His voice before His army; surely His camp is very great, for strong is he who carries out His word. The Day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, and who can endure it? (Joel 2:11)

Joel was speaking of the time in the future when the outpouring of the Spirit would take place after the Day of the Lord. However, Peter was identifying the outpouring of the Spirit that was taking place while he was speaking. Therefore, Peter could not use the term ‘after this’ because the event Joel had spoken of was happening as Peter was speaking. Since Peter could not say, ‘after this,’ he said, ‘in the last days.’ In so doing, he identified the time following the Day of the Lord as the Last Days.

Joel was prophesying that the Day of the Lord would take place before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was to occur after the Day of the Lord, and since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which Joel spoke of was taking place as Peter was speaking, we now know that the Day of the Lord had to have taken place before that particular day of Pentecost. We now understand why Peter changed ‘after this’ to ‘in the last days’. Since the outpouring of the Spirit was taking place as he spoke, the Day of the Lord must have already taken place and the phrase, ‘after this’ could not be used. Not only does his use of ‘in the last days’ confirm that the Day of the Lord had already happened, but he labels the time following the Day of the Lord as the Last Days.