Thy Strong Word — Joel 2:18-32: I Will Pour Out My Spirit: God’s Promise of Restoration

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Verse 18 reveals, “The LORD became jealous for His land and had pity on His people.” Grain, wine, and oil come back, and with them God’s promise that He will restore the years that the swarming locust has eaten along with the fields. The promise then expands: “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; and everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” When the Pentecost crowd asked what was happening, Peter stood up and answered with this text.

The Rev. Ryan Kleimola, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Toledo, OH, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Joel 2:18-32.

To learn more about Trinity in Toledo, visit trinitylutheran.org.

Edom stands at the crossroads and watches his brother Judah dragged off in chains, and Obadiah announces that the day of the LORD is coming for the bystander, too. Joel sees a locust swarm strip a nation bare in a single season, calls the people to rend their hearts and not their garments, and promises a Spirit poured out on all flesh. Nahum returns to Nineveh a century after Jonah’s revival, and this time the superpower does not repent. Zephaniah spends two chapters on the day of wrath and then ends with the Lord singing over the people He has rescued. This series on Thy Strong Word works through these selected books of the so-called “minor” prophets verse by verse, showing how the Lord judges the nations while also keeping his promises to gather His people home.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

Joel 2:18-32

The LORD Had Pity

[18] Then the LORD became jealous for his land

and had pity on his people.

[19] The LORD answered and said to his people,

“Behold, I am sending to you

grain, wine, and oil,

and you will be satisfied;

and I will no more make you

a reproach among the nations.

[20] “I will remove the northerner far from you,

and drive him into a parched and desolate land,

his vanguard into the eastern sea,

and his rear guard into the western sea;

the stench and foul smell of him will rise,

for he has done great things.

[21] “Fear not, O land;

be glad and rejoice,

for the LORD has done great things!

[22] Fear not, you beasts of the field,

for the pastures of the wilderness are green;

the tree bears its fruit;

the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

[23] “Be glad, O children of Zion,

and rejoice in the LORD your God,

for he has given the early rain for your vindication;

he has poured down for you abundant rain,

the early and the latter rain, as before.

[24] “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;

the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

[25] I will restore to you the years

that the swarming locust has eaten,

the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,

my great army, which I sent among you.

[26] “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,

and praise the name of the LORD your God,

who has dealt wondrously with you.

And my people shall never again be put to shame.

[27] You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,

and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else.

And my people shall never again be put to shame.

The LORD Will Pour Out His Spirit

[28] “And it shall come to pass afterward,

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

[29] Even on the male and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

[30] “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. [31] The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. [32] And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.