“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: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 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; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, 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.” Acts 2:14-21

The main point of Peter’s sermon is to show that the miracles which people are seeing and hearing are proving that the Messiah has come and He is Jesus of Nazareth. By this declaration of the Apostle Peter, we have a Biblical explanation of what Joel meant in his prophecy. Notice in particular that Peter does not say this is a part or a portion of what Joel said. What they were witnessing was the “FULL”fillment of that prophecy.

The timing of the fulfillment of this prophecy is described as “the last days.” This is not some future event. Since Christ came into the world, we have been in the last days. Consider what the Apostle says to the Hebrews:

“God, 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;” Hebrews 1:1-2

Everything that Peter describes are signs that the Messiah has come. Just like Elijah and Elisha could perform miracles to confirm their message was from God, the first century church had these signs to confirm to all that Jesus, in fact, is the Messiah. These gifts were given to confirm the gospel message as being sent by God. Therefore, they were never intended to continue beyond the time needed to confirm the gospel message. The Apostle Paul clearly stated that these gifts would cease:

“Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.” 1Corinthians 13:8

In fact, it is evident that these gifts ceased during Paul’s ministry because he did not heal Timothy of his stomach ailments (1st Timothy 5) or Epaphroditus who was near death (Philippians 2). Miraculous healing by the hand of Paul did not occur in either of these cases.

The pouring out of the Spirit described here is not regeneration. That is, of course, by the immediate power of the Holy Ghost, but this is a separate and special event that took place during the 1st century church. This is the giving of miraculous sign gifts to all classes and sorts of people.

One of the gifts given was the gift of prophecy. This word has several meanings in scripture. 

1. Foretell future events
2. To Divine, conjecture (explain things not seen)
3. To celebrate the praises of God
4. To teach

Numbers 3 and 4 are the most apparent examples of prophecy that still exist today, but Joel and Peter are referring to number 1, in particular, during that special time.

We read of a man named Agabus in Acts, chapters 11 and 21 who foretold of events that would happen in Judea and particularly things that would happen to the Apostle Paul.

Another gift given was that some would see visions and dream dreams.

This is closely associated with the gift of prophecy. We can find throughout scripture where prophets are often called “seers.”

“(Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)” (1 Samuel 9:9)

We also have several examples of men in the New Testament who see visions in which God directs them to special duties or understanding. Here are just a few.

Ananias regarding Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9)

Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10)

Paul and the Macedonian Call (Acts 16)

The last part of Joel’s prophecy is perhaps the most telling evidence that these sign gifts were limited to the short period of time in the early days of the spread of the gospel. The signs and wonders of which Joel speaks are certainly not present with us today.

These signs and wonders are precursors to the judgment of God — that “great and notable day of the Lord.” 

The judgment of God against natural Israel in 70 A.D. is clearly what is meant. The signs and wonders are clearly seen in the blood of Jews in the wars before the coming of Christ. There was a miraculous appearance of angels filling the sky and a star at the birth of Jesus. Jesus and His disciples performed many wondrous works beneath the heavens here on earth. The sun darkened while Jesus was on the cross. The Holy Ghost appeared as a flaming tongue on the Day of Pentecost. And finally, the judgment come on natural Israel is seen as smoke billows over Jerusalem for many days during the siege and destruction of the great city.

There may be further, more spiritual explanations, of those who called on God and were saved at that time; but suffice it to say, those that understood that the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy would end with the destruction of Jerusalem, believed the gospel message and got out of town. They called upon God and were saved!