The Spirit poured out
Whether Pentecost fulfills Joel's prophecy or resembles it, and how the cosmic signs are reckoned.
Joel 2:28-32
28“It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
29And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit.
30I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.
31The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
32It will happen that whoever will call on Yahweh’s name shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
Acts 2:16-21
16But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:
17‘It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.
18Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.
19I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
20The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
What each tradition says
Rabbinic / Midrashic
The Jewish Encyclopedia states that in the Messianic time the Holy Spirit will, according to Joel 2:28-29, be poured out upon all Israel. That means all the people will be prophets, as Num. R. xv., end, indicates.
Jewish Encyclopedia, Holy Spirit (Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-1906) — 'In the Messianic time' (on Joel 2:28-29)
Patristic
Chrysostom reads Joel’s wonders and signs as speaking of the judgment to come and the taking of Jerusalem. He says the blood, fire, and vapor describe the capture, while the darkened sun and bloody moon result from the sufferers’ internal affection; Josephus attests many such sky phenomena occurred.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, Homily V (NPNF ser. 1, vol. 11) — Homily V, on Acts 2:16-21 (the signs = the judgment and the taking of Jerusalem)
Catholic
The note says Joel 2:28 onward speaks of the times after the captivity and especially the spread of the gospel. It adds that God’s people’s enemies will be destroyed, which seems to refer to Cambyses and Ezekiel 38. Finally, “my spirit” plainly foretells the coming of the Holy Ghost in Acts 2.
George Leo Haydock, George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary (1859) — Note on Joel 2:28 ('I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh')
Orthodox
Cyril teaches that His grace is not other than the Spirit's grace, and that the crucified one who gave the promise made good what He promised. The testimony cited is that this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: "And it shall come to pass after this, saith God, I will pour forth of My Spirit."
Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XVII, §19 (NPNF ser. 2, vol. 7, trans. Edwin Hamilton Gifford) — Lecture XVII (on the Holy Ghost), §19 — on Acts 2:16 / Joel 2:28
Reformed / Protestant
Joel does not express “the last days,” but because he treats the perfect restoring of the Church, the prophecy belongs to the last age alone. Peter’s quotation does not dissent from Joel’s meaning; he adds this word for exposition, so the Jews might know the decayed Church could be restored only by being renewed by God’s Spirit.
John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 1 (ed. Henry Beveridge from the trans. of Christopher Fetherstone; Calvin Translation Society) — Commentary on Acts 2:16-17 ('this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel')
Evangelical
Wesley identifies the times of the Messiah as the last days, since the Gospel is the last dispensation of divine grace. He reads the Spirit’s outpouring as not limited to the day of Pentecost but upon all flesh—persons of every age, sex, and rank.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament — Notes on Acts 2:16-17