The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit
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. Joel 2:32
whosoever shall call... This has always been the case and always will be. When men call upon the Lord for mercy He always gives it; there is no such thing as the door of mercy being closed either to the Jews or Gentiles during any period of this age or any other (John 3:16; Rom. 10:9-14; 1Jhn. 1:9).
in mount Zion... The Jews will be saved as a nation during this time (Isa. 66:7-8; Zec. 12:10-13:1; Rom. 11:25-29). It is spoken of separately from Jerusalem, which represents the physical house of Israel. The remnant here are the natural Jews that turn to the LORD. The Christians are the large number beyond counting. Those believing in Christ during the tribulation.
Rev. 14:1 "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty [and] four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads." The Jews will be saved as a nation during this time.
in the remnant... In spite of the nation’s sin, God promised to fulfill His unconditional covenants (Noahic, Abrahamic, Davidic, and New). A future remnant of Jews will inherit God’s promised blessings (Isa. 10:20-22; 11:11, 16; Jer. 31:7; Mica 2:12; Zeph. 3:13; Rom. 9:27).
What a wonderful promise, that God will save everyone who calls upon His name.
Notice, the Father's name is written in the foreheads of natural Israel, who have turned to the Lamb.
Rev. 7:9 "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;"
These are the tribulation Christians spoken of above. They are dressed in white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev. 7:14 "And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
At this time of universal judgment, everyone who calls on (i.e., invokes) the name of the Lord will be saved (i.e., delivered from physical danger; cf. see Rom. 11:26). “Everyone” does not refer to all people, but the Spirit-empowered people of God mentioned in Joel 2:28-29. In Rom. 10:13 Paul related this passage to Gentile (as well as Jewish) salvation, but he was suggesting a mere analogy, not a strict fulfillment of Joel 2:32, which pertains to Israel.
In the day of the Lord Jerusalem will be a place of refuge for the survivors whom the Lord calls. This remnant with whom the Lord initiates a special relationship (for the sense of “call” here, see Isa. 51:2) should probably be equated with the group described in Joel 2:28-29, 2:32 (cf. Wolff, Joel and Amos, pp. 68-9), though some (e.g., Driver, The Books of Joel and Amos, pp. 68-9) see this as referring to returning exiles.
On the day of Pentecost the Apostle Peter quoted Joel 2:28-32 in conjunction with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2:17-21). His introductory words (cf. Acts 2:16, “this is what was spoken by the Prophet Joel”) may seem to indicate that he considered Joel’s prophecy as being completely fulfilled on that occasion. However, it is apparent that the events of that day, though extraordinary, did not fully correspond to those predicted by Joel.
In attempting to solve this problem one must recognize that in the early chapters of Acts the kingdom was being offered to Israel once more. Peter admonished the people to repent so that they might receive the promised Spirit (cf. Acts 2:38-39 where he alludes to Joel 2:32). Shortly thereafter Peter anticipated “times of refreshing” and the return of Christ in response to national repentance (cf. Acts 10:19-21). Not until later did Peter come to understand more fully God’s program for the Gentiles in the present age (cf. Acts 10:44-48). When he observed the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost he rightly viewed it as the first stage in the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. Apparently he believed that the kingdom was then being offered to Israel and that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit signaled the coming of the Millennium. However, the complete fulfillment of the prophecy (with respect to both the extent of the Spirit’s work and the other details) was delayed because of Jewish unbelief (for further discussion see Acts 2:16-21; 3:19-21).
Praise God!
There is hope.
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