Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, May 21, 2013 Read – Joel 2:28-32 The book of Joel is a difficult book to place in the OT. No one has been able to determine exactly when the book was written. Essentially, the book is about an infestation of locusts that has brought ruin upon the land. Joel sees in this infestation the demise of God’s people because they have not been obedient to God. The book is a call to repentance. And that repentance brings with it the promise of God. The words that Peter’s quotes from Joel are part of that message of promise. God will restore his people. Luke sees in the experience of the death of Jesus the same failure of God’s people to be obedient to God. – they have not welcomed the visitation of God and they have killed the very one God sent. But God has overcome the rejection of his people – just as was promised in Joel – and Jesus has been raised from the dead. And Jesus had promised that his followers would be clothed with power from on high – a power that would lead them to witness to the salvation that is in Jesus. In the Pentecost experience the promise of Jesus has been kept and the Holy Spirit has been poured upon God’s people. The image that Joel used to convey his message of renewal has come true. When Luke read Joel he saw the meaning of Pentecost revealed. We ought to notice that Joel’s vision is really about the Day of the Lord – the end of time in which God will fulfill his promises. Talk of the sun being darkened and the moon turning to blood are code words used in the OT to talk about that event. Two things to note are these. First of all, in the death of Jesus, the sun was darkened for three hours. So, for Luke and for the other writers of the NT, the words of Joel were about that event – a past event from the point of view of the book of Acts. Luke and the others heard Joel’s words with new ears as they contemplated them in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus. But, the Day of the Lord remains to come in its fullness. Luke knew that – and so the words still have promise of more to come. That’s the second thing we need to hear in these words. It is important to notice that Luke stops his quote from Joel almost in mid-sentence. Joel had more to say. Luke stops with Joel’s words, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel 2:32). Enough of Joel has been heard – it is now time for proclamation – for interpretation.