This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing 
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s 
happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

Israel has just been devastated by locusts.

In the first half of his book, Joel
prophesies about a coming day  

of God’s judgment when Israel will 
be captured by an invading nation.

But in the last half of his book, Joel details
God’s plans for a future day of the Lord’s salvation.

God will undo the devastation caused by the locusts.

He’ll feed the livestock 
that starved in the drought.

He’ll water the cracked land and 
stockpile their barns till they burst.

But most importantly, God promises to restore his
relationship with Israel and restore her stolen land.

Since Eden, God has planned to live with his people.That’s
why God walked in the garden, that’s why he led Israel by
a pillar of fire, and that’s why Israel had a temple.

And that’s why on the day of the Lord’s mercy, Joel says
God will pour out himself—his Spirit—on all Israel’s citizens.

In the Old Testament, God’s Spirit 
only fell on its leaders and prophets.

But on this coming day of the Lord’s salvation, the
gift of the Spirit will be given to the lowly and ordinary.

And children and servants will be given the gifts 
of vision and prophecy once reserved for kings.

On that day the whole cosmos
will shake, and the sun will darken  

not as harbingers of doom 
but as portents of mercy.

And on that day of the Lord, all 
who call on his name will be saved.

And once their relationship is restored on this new day of
the Lord’s salvation, the land stolen from Israel will be restored.

God will soon gather up Israel’s 
oppressors, slave masters, and enemies  

into a valley called “Valley of 
Decision” or “God has Judged”.

And in that valley, God will judge Israel’s invaders
and Israel will be restored to her ancestral lands.

God will then remake the land into something
like the garden of Eden.

Mountains will drip wine, hills will flow with rivers
of milk, and clear streams will water the land.

On the day of the Lord’s salvation, 
everything wrong will be made right.  

Israel, as a nation, will be restored.

[music]

All the prophecies Joel describes have 
already or will soon come true through Jesus.

Fifty days after Jesus died, 
God poured out his Spirit.

And the apostle Peter said it 
was to fulfill Joel’s prophecy!

On the day of Pentecost, women, children,
and servants are all filled with the Holy Spirit.

Fire, like the kind that 
led Israel, rests on them.

Pentecost is proof that God’s relationship with
his people is restored!

But significantly, the coming of 
the Spirit is not limited to Israel.

All nations that call on God’s name will be saved.

And one of the first acts of the Spirit 
is for people filled with God’s Spirit  

to proclaim the day of God’s salvation 
in as many languages as are present.

On the day of Pentecost 3,000 people from all over 
the earth become the first citizens of a new Eden.

And God is not yet done pouring out his
Spirit and inviting new citizens into
a restored and global Israel.

There is a day of the Lord coming when
God will gather up all the world’s oppressors,  

slave masters, and enemies into
a new valley where God will judge.

And in that valley, God will 
destroy his people’s enemies.

He will restore not just the land of 
Israel, but the whole earth back to Eden.

On that day of the Lord, the globe will be 
remade, and we will live with God once again.

And on that day a river will 
flow from the mountain of God,  

not just for our own enjoyment but for 
the healing and salvation of all nations.

May the Holy Spirit open your eyes 
to see God as both just and merciful.

And may you see Jesus’ death as the day of the Lord
which promises that all who call on his name will be saved.