In Joel 2:28, God promised that He would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. There are many people, who believe through the doctrines of people that the promise in Joel about the outpouring of God’s Spirit has yet to take place and shall come to pass in the last days and they wait for this mighty last days outpouring of God’s Spirit. But is this Biblical? Will there be another outpouring of God’s Spirit on earth? Or are the words from the prophet Joel already fulfilled and did Joel write about the event of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost?
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh”
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; oonyana benu neentombi zenu baprofete, amadoda enu amakhulu aya kuphupha amaphupha, amadodana enu aya kubona imibono: Kwanaphezu kwabakhonzi naphezu kwabakhonzazana ndothulula uMoya wam ngaloo mihla. ndenze izimanga emazulwini nasehlabathini;, igazi, kunye nomlilo, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, nenyanga ibe ligazi, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, ukuze bonke abasukuba belinqula igama leNkosi basindiswe: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call (Yoweli 2:28-32)
Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Musa ukoyika, O Jacob, My servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring (uIsaya 44:1-3)
The prophet Joel was not the only one, who prophesied about the outpouring of God’s Spirit. Many others, among which were the prophet Isaiah, the prophet Ezekiel and of course Jesus Christ, prophesied about the outpouring of God’s Spirit aka the coming of the Holy Spirit (Owu. UHezekile 11:19-20; 36:26-27; 37:1-14, UYohane 14:16-26; 15:26-27; 16:7-16; IZenzo 1:8).
But although God promised that He would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, the outpouring of God’s Spirit didn’t happen immediately.
It’s unknown when the Book of the prophet of Joel has been written. The different dates of scholars vary from 835-200 BC*. Ngoko ke, we can’t determine exactly how many years it was before God’s promise was fulfilled. But we can determine that it took several hundred years, before God’s promise about the outpouring of His Spirit was fulfilled, just like God’s promise about the coming of the Messiah (Funda kwakhona: ‘Ukulindela idinga likaMesiya‘)
And so God’s people lived in the expectation of God’s promise about the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon all flesh. The people didn’t know when this would take place, but that it would take place was a truth and a certainty.
The outpouring of God’s Spirit on the Day of Pentecost
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, baye bonke bemxhelo mnye ndaweni-nye. Kwaza ngequbuliso kwaphuma ezulwini isandi somoya ovuthuza ngamandla, wayizalisa yonke indlu ababehleli kuyo. Kwabonakala kubo iilwimi ezabekayo, ngathi zezomlilo, lwahlala phezu kwabo bonke ngabanye. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, baqala ukuthetha ngalwimi zimbi, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, amadoda azinikeleyo, kuzo zonke iintlanga eziphantsi kwezulu. Ngoku xa kungxolwa le nto ngaphandle, yabuthelana inkitha, kwaye baphoxeka, ekubeni elowo ubebeva bethetha ngezakomawabo iintetho. Bathi nqa ke bonke, bamangaliswa, besitsho omnye komnye, Khangela, Aba bathethayo asingamaGalili bonke;? Thina ke siva njani ke, wonke umntu ethetha ngezakomawethu iintetho, esazalelwa kuyo? AmaPati, namaMedi, namaElam, nabemi baseMesopotami, nakwelakwaYuda, kunye neKapadokiya, ePonto, kunye neAsia, eFrigiya, kunye nePamfiliya, eYiputa, nakwimimandla yeLibhiya malunga neKirene, nabasemzini baseRoma, amaYuda namaguquka, AmaKrete namaArabhi, siyabeva bethetha ngeelwimi zethu imisebenzi emangalisayo kaThixo. Bathi nqa ke bonke, kwaye babethandabuza, besitsho omnye komnye, Ithetha ukuthini lento? Abanye baphoxisa bathi, La madoda azele yiwayini entsha.
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: oonyana benu neentombi zenu baprofete, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; igazi, kunye nomlilo, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, nenyanga ibe ligazi, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved (IZenzo 2:1-21)
The Spirt of the Lord, who came upon some, who were appointed by God in the Old Covenant and were faithful to God and spoke in His name, now was poured out upon all flesh; on those who believed in Christ and repented and were baptized and followed Jesus Christ and were obedient to Him. UMoya oyiNgcwele, the other Comforter, had come to the earth and made His abode in man.
I 120 disciples of Jesus were the first ones, who received the Holy Spirit and were filled with the Holy Spirit. Then about 3000 abantu, who belonged to the house of Israel and heard Peter’s testimony about Jesus Christ, the Messiah and believed Peter’s words and repented and were baptized, received the Holy Spirit.
The promise of God and the coming of the Holy Spirit was not only meant for the seed of Jacob; Sirayeli , but also for the Gentiles, who by faith in Christ would repent and be baptized. Because God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, the person who fears Him and works righteousness is accepted with Him.
And so the first Gentiles, Cornelius and his family and best friends received by faith the Holy Spirit after hearing the words of Peter and his testimony about Jesus Christ and they became a new creation (IZenzo 10, AmaRoma 10:11-12).
The fulfillment of the promise of the outpouring of God’s Spirit by the prophet Joel
Peter confirmed, that what had taken place on the Day of Pentecost, was what the prophet Joel had prophesied. And so the words of God, which He had spoken through the mouth of the prophet Joel were fulfilled.
The last days
uThixo, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds (IsiHebhere 1:1-2)
Peter not only confirmed with his words what was prophesied by Joel about the outpouring of God’s Spirit, but Peter also confirmed that they lived in the last days.
Paul, who most likely is the writer of the Book of Hebrew, also wrote that they lived in the last days.
They lived in the last days and we live in the last days. And everything that Jesus has prophesied about the sign of His coming and the end of the world, shall take place at the end of the last days (Funda kwakhona: ‘The three dispensations in the Bible‘).
Will there be another outpouring of God’s Spirit in the last days?
The words of Joel about the outpouring of God’s Spirit have been fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. NgoMhla wePentekoste, the Holy Spirit came once and for all to the earth and abides in the sons of God (kokubini amadoda nabafazi), who belong to Him and obey Jesus Christ.
There shall not be any other outpouring of God’s Spirit on earth, although there are many false doctrines, which say that the words of Joel are not fulfilled yet and they wait for the mightiest outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh, leyo, according to them must be an awesome manifestation and mighty spectacle. They look forward to something that already has taken place.
But that’s mainly because their expectations don’t align with God’s Word.
Through the words and doctrines of people, they have created an image of the outpouring of God’s Spirit that doesn’t line up with reality. Therefore they are waiting for something that will never come.
Just like many Jewish people, who belong to Israël, still wait for God’s promise about the coming of the Messiah and look forward to Him, while all the prophecies about the coming of the Messiah have already been fulfilled and the Son of God Jesus Christ, the Messiah, has already come.
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not (UYohane 1:19-20)
But many have not recognized and acknowledged Him as their Messiah, Ngoba? Because they are blinded and don’t really know God and the Scriptures and their expectation of the Messiah was different from the reality and who He really was and is (a.o. Isaiah 29:9-12, UYohane 5:37-47; 12:37-41, AmaRoma 11:7-10).
‘Yibani yityuwa yehlabathi’
*Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary
