I'll let our readers decide who it is that is out of context.
How
was the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost
fulfilled in Joel 2:28-32?
The same way that the Psalmist's deliverance
was fulfilled in:
Psalm 18:6-13
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked;
And the foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up [
f]out of His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With thick darkness under His feet.
10 He rode upon a cherub and flew;
And He sped upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His hiding place, His [
g]canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
If the Psalmist would use such metaphoric apocalyptic language to describe the fulfillment of his personal deliverance experience,
how much more would not Joel use such language to describe the fulfillment of an event of singularly monumental prophetic significance – the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost.
The same way that judgment upon Edom
was fulfilled in:
Isaiah 34:4-10
4 And all the host of heaven will [
e]wear away,
And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
All their hosts will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,
Or as
one withers from the fig tree.
5 For My sword is satiated in heaven,
Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom
And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.
6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,
It is [
f]sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7 Wild oxen will also [
g]fall with them
And young bulls with strong ones;
Thus their land will be soaked with blood,
And their dust [
h]become greasy with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
A year of recompense for the [
i]cause of Zion.
9 [
j]Its streams will be turned into pitch,
And its loose earth into brimstone,
And its land will become burning pitch.
10 It will not be quenched night or day;
Its smoke will go up forever.
From generation to generation it will be desolate;
None will pass through it forever and ever.
If Isaiah would use such metaphoric apocalyptic language to describe the fulfillment of the destruction of the pagan nation of Edom,
how much more would not Joel use such language to describe the fulfillment of an event of singularly monumental prophetic significance – the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost.
The same way that judgment upon Egypt
was fulfilled in:
Ezekiel 32:7-8
7 “And when
I extinguish you,
I will cover the heavens and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud
And the moon will not give its light.
8 “All the shining lights in the heavens
I will darken over you
And will set darkness on your land,”
Declares the Lord God.
If Ezekiel would use such metaphoric apocalyptic language to describe the fulfillment of ancient judgment which was unleashed on Egypt,
how much more would not Joel use such language to describe the fulfillment of an event of singularly monumental prophetic significance – the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost.
Acts 2
16 But
this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 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:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The prophecy of Joel, quoted by Peter,
was fulfilled in metaphoric apocalyptic entirety in the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost.