Pentecost is associated with vivid images. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples and they began to speak in tongues. In the time that followed, other believers were speaking in tongues, prophesying, and performing miracles. To this day, some are of the opinion that the gift of the Holy Spirit enables believers to prophesy, speak in tongues, interpret tongues, and perform miracles. Is this really true? In fact, is that really the message of Pentecost?

We read about what happened on Pentecost in Acts 2. On that day Peter delivered a Pentecost sermon. After explaining that he and the other disciples were not drunk, he quotes Joel 2 to show what is really happening. We are probably familiar with these words:

In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

What did Joel mean with this prophecy? We don’t know a lot about the prophet Joel except that he preached to the southern tribe of Judah and called them to repentance. The first part of Joel’s prophecy deals with punishment for sin and a call to repent. The promise of the outpouring of the Spirit in Joel 2:28-32 is a turning point that shows the blessings and protection of God for his people.

In the Last Days⤒🔗

By saying that God will pour out the Spirit “in the last days” Joel makes clear that this is a future event. Does that mean Old Testament believers did not have the Holy Spirit? The only way a person can have a relationship with God is through faith, and faith is worked by the Holy Spirit. Also in Old Testament times every true believer had to be touched by the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. However, in Old Testament times believers did not enjoy the full gift of the Holy Spirit. At that time the Holy Spirit was given in rich measure to only a select group of people – prophets, priests, and kings. The gift of the Holy Spirit gave them insight to prophecy and power to rule over the people.

We see in Numbers 11 that Moses was endowed with the Holy Spirit and that endowed him with special gifts. The Spirit was also endowed to the seventy elders who were to guide the people. In connection with this, there is this remarkable story in Numbers 11:26-29 about Eldad and Medad who received the Spirit and prophesied. When Joshua protested and encouraged Moses to stop them, we read Moses’ reply in verse 29:

Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!

Moses had a dream: he dreamt of a day when not just special men like him or the seventy elders would have the Spirit but that all God’s people would receive the Spirit and would prophesy. Quite possibly Joel was thinking of Moses’ words when he was prophesying about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Moses’ dream would become reality. A day is coming when God will pour out his Spirit on all people. And that means the full gift of the Holy Spirit.

On All People←⤒🔗

In his Pentecost sermon Peter makes clear that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit had now happened, based on the victory of Jesus Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. Joel uses amazing imagery when he speaks about God pouring out his Spirit. The Spirit will come not in drops – he will pour like a stream of living water! The Old Testament believer could not claim that reality. For them – to use the imagery of Joel – the Spirit had come in drops: enough, but not nearly in fullness. The time before Christ was a time of shadows waiting for the fulfilment. Joel adds that God would pour out his Spirit “on all people.” There are two things we should note here. First, that does not mean automatic salvation for everyone; notice the last line of the quotation from Joel: “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Secondly, “all people” means more than the Israelites. At Pentecost the promises made to Abraham were now being realized: true Israel is not comprised of direct, physical descendants of Abraham but all true believers. The gift of the Holy Spirit would be extended to believers of every nationality and walk of life.

Prophecy by Young and Old, Male and Female←⤒🔗

In the Old Testament, prophecy was typically delivered by men of mature age. Therefore Joel’s revelation that young and old, male and female will prophesy seems revolutionary. Both male and female, young and old, free and slave, would have the Holy Spirit poured upon them. They will all prophesy, dream dreams, and see visions. We need to appreciate the terminology used by Joel and Peter. God reveals Himself in prophecy, in visions, and in dreams, as the Scriptures repeatedly testify. Therefore, when Joel and Peter speak of prophesying, dreaming dreams, and seeing visions, this is reference to the different ways that God has revealed Himself to his people. Now through the Holy Spirit amazing revelation would come to young and old, male and female. Here we come to the all-important question: does this mean we receive new revelations that prophesy of the future?

What is a Prophet?←⤒🔗

To answer this question and understand what Joel and Peter were saying, it is important that we understand what it means to be a prophet. Often one thinks of a prophet as someone who predicts the future. More recently some have supposed that a prophet is one who speaks in tongues. In the Bible some prophets did predict the future and after Pentecost in the very early church there was speaking in tongues. But speaking in tongues and prophesying of the future ended as the New Testament gospel was actually written down. For instance, the Book of Revelation gives remarkable insight into what we need to know about present history right up to and including the consummation of history. There is no need for more prophecy or speaking in tongues to communicate things not yet known.

However, prophecy as described by Joel and Peter is still needed. How do we understand this? Notice that Lord’s Day 12 says of the office of all believers: “as prophet confess his Name.” A prophet is, in the first place, someone who is intimately familiar with the Word of God. To be a prophet is to know God’s Word. The statement “Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams”

means that with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, all believers, without distinction of gender, age, and social status, receive the wisdom and ability to know God. Moses’ dream is fulfilled with Pentecost. In the time following Pentecost, being a prophet filled with the Spirit is not about predicting the future, but knowing the deep truths about the Word of God: it is being intimately familiar with the prophecies, dreams, and visions that are recorded in Scripture. Just look at Jeremiah 31:33-34:

I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.

This is like Joel 2: a prophet will know the gospel in his or her heart. That is the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out on Pentecost: every believer will be a prophet who receives incredible insights into the Word of God. As a believer you know this. You know of the love of God in Jesus Christ; you know deep truths about time and eternity, life, and death. You know how to evangelize to your neighbour. You are still learning from Bible study and the preaching of the gospel. But you also know enough and are spiritually rich enough that you can personally go as a prophet to others and teach them the gospel. We think of 2 Peter 1:19:

And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

It is a tremendous gift to us from our Lord Jesus Christ that we not only have his complete Word, but we have the Holy Spirit in us to illumine our hearts with that Word. It can be said to each believer: you prophesy, see visions, and dream dreams as the full revelation of the Word of God shines in your heart. With that privilege also comes responsibility: study the Word of God that you are a knowledgeable prophet who can apply the Word of God to personal life and be able to share it with others.