Holy Spirit
Acts 2:16-21
Joel (applied by Peter) · ~835 BC / 30 AD · Status: Fulfilled · Confidence: 65%
“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: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:”
King James Version · the opening — all 6 verses are below
Peter applying Joel's Pentecost prophecy to the outpouring of the Spirit, declaring its fulfillment in Acts 2.
Read the whole passage — all 6 verses (KJV)
2:16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
2:17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
2:18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
2:19And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
2:20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
2:21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Fulfillment References
Joel 2:28-32 Acts 2:33 Numbers 11:29
How Traditions Read This Prophecy
Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalPeter declares Pentecost the fulfillment of Joel: 'I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.' The one God poured out His own Spirit — the Spirit of the risen Jesus (Acts 2:33) — upon the church, with the apostolic signs of prophecy, visions, and tongues. 'Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved' (v. 21) — and that Name is Jesus (vv. 36-38). The outpouring is God Himself come to indwell His people.
JewishJoel's promise of the Spirit poured on all flesh in the last days, with cosmic signs and deliverance for those who call on the LORD — a prophecy of national-eschatological renewal.
CatholicPentecost as the birth of the Church and the age of the Spirit, fulfilling Joel; the universal outpouring on all flesh.
ProtestantThe inauguration of the Spirit's age at Pentecost; 'whosoever shall call' grounds the universal gospel offer (cf. Rom. 10:13).
AcademicLuke frames Pentecost as the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32, adding 'in the last days' and signs; the citation shapes Acts' theology of the Spirit and the universal mission.
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