And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my
spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men
shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the
handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.--Joel ii. 28,
29.
That part of the prophet Joel from which this verse is selected,
is highly interesting; and although not strictly prophetical of
the person of the Messiah, yet it is so closely connected that it
cannot be severed without injury to the whole. In fact, it serves
as a test, whereby we may prove if Jesus be in truth that Messiah,
of whom "Moses and the prophets did write." The "afterward" here
noticed, alludes to the coming of the Messiah, after which great
day of the Lord, the promise here made, of a glorious outpouring
of the spirit, was to be fulfilled. It will be alike easy and
delightful, to trace its accomplishment. The Holy Spirit, from the
earliest ages of the world, has shed his sacred influences over the
church; but no visible or open display of that divine person, God
the Holy Ghost, had ever been made. That great event was reserved
until after the Messiah's appearance; and, when that illustrious
person had publicly manifested himself to the world, then was this
promise to be fulfilled. Jesus declared himself to be the second
person, in the revealed order of the Holy Trinity--the eternal Son
of God--Christ the Messiah; and in such character he promised, when
returned to glory, to send down the Holy Spirit. Again and again
did Jesus direct his disciples to expect that event. On the last
great day of the feast, he publicly proclaimed in the temple its
near approach, and promised its fulfilment; "for the Holy Ghost
was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." When
the faithful disciples were overwhelmed with grief, on learning
from their beloved Master that he was shortly to leave them,
Jesus cheered their drooping spirits with the promise of another
Comforter, even the Spirit of truth; whom he would send from the
Father. To reconcile them still more to his departure, he told them
"it was expedient for them that he should go away," for, "if he went
not away the Comforter would not come; but if he departed, he would
send him unto them." After his resurrection, Jesus again taught the
disciples to expect this great event, and on the morning of his
ascension he repeated his promise, adding, as it would not be many
days hence, they should tarry at Jerusalem until its accomplishment.
After the ascension of Jesus, the disciples were so fully persuaded
that he was the Christ of God, that they continued daily assembled
together, waiting for the fulfilment of the great promise made to
them by their risen Lord.
It will be remembered, that all the Israelitish males were commanded
to appear, three times in the year, before the Lord at Jerusalem,
at the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. The feast of
Pentecost or weeks, was celebrated fifty days after the Passover.
It was at the first great Jewish festival, the Passover, that Jesus
was crucified. He arose from the dead on the third day, and as
forty days intervened between his resurrection and return to glory,
there could be only seven days from his ascension until the feast
of Pentecost. It was on the morning of the ever-memorable day of
Pentecost, the disciples being all of one accord, in one place; that
"suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty
wind, and filled all the house, where they were assembled; and
there appeared cloven tongues, like as of fire, and sat upon each
of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to
speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Such
a miraculous event was soon noised abroad, and multitudes crowd to
learn the fact. As the Holy Spirit was graciously pleased to make
this open display of his person and godhead, at one of the great
Jewish festivals, the number of strangers who usually resorted to
Jerusalem at that season, either for the purposes of worship or
trade, became witnesses of the miraculous gifts bestowed on those
hitherto unlearned, and many of them unlettered, Galilean fishermen.
The inhabitants of Galilee were proverbial for their dulness and
stupidity;[109] yet these men were taught, in an instant of time,
to speak, with ease and fluency, languages whose very names, it is
more than probable, they were an hour before unable to pronounce
correctly. An opportunity was instantly offered for the apostles
openly to display their extraordinary gifts. Amidst the assembled
throng were men of sixteen different nations, to whom these poor
fishermen publicly proclaimed, in their several languages, or
dialects, the wonderful works of God. They needed no interpreter,
in addressing this motley crowd. How preposterous to accuse the
apostles of drunkenness! Truly, we should not imagine a state of
inebriety the best calculated for acquiring a knowledge of any of
the learned languages. We seldom know men, (however well their
heads are furnished,) in a state of intoxication, speak any thing
except it be the language of foolishness. Beside, it was only the
third hour of the day, (nine o'clock) the time of offering the
daily morning sacrifice in the temple, before which hour the Jews
were forbidden to take any refreshment; and, as this was a solemn
festival, no doubt the command was then more strictly observed. How
mild, yet energetic, the reply of Peter, who declared the event to
be a fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel, accomplished on the return
of Jesus to glory; "when being by the right hand of God exalted,
and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he
had shed forth that which they then saw and heard." The appearance
of the Holy Spirit was sufficient to prove his personality. Might
not the sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, be designed
to show that the operations of God the Holy Spirit, are like the
unknown and unexplored sources of the air. "The wind bloweth where
it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof; but canst not tell
whence it cometh, or whither it goeth: so is every one that is born
of the Spirit." This was a lesson taught Nicodemus by Jesus, the
wisdom and word of God.
[109] John vii. 52. Acts ii. 7.
On Shinar's plains, the Lord, to testify his divine displeasure,
confounded the language of mankind. It was a curse pronounced on
Babel's tower; but at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was pleased to
use the diversity of language as a witness of his almighty power
and Godhead; when he publicly and solemnly ordained the apostles
ministers of the everlasting Gospel, and endowed them with
extraordinary gifts, as the first ambassadors of Christ, sent forth
to publish unto all nations the glad tidings of great joy.
Might we not be tempted, when viewing the immoral and profane
amusements of Whitsuntide, to imagine it an annual feast holden
to Venus or Bacchus; instead of (as at first designed) a solemn
festival, intended to commemorate the visible descent of the
Spirit of Purity? Certainly the general character of the public
assemblies, at that season, bears a much nearer resemblance to the
sports holden in honour of the deified heroes in heathen mythology,
than to the pure and spiritual nature of the Divine Person, whose
first public appearance in our world it was wished annually to
celebrate. What would the early disciples of Christ feel, could they
behold the sad perversion of this sacred festival!