Holy Spirit in 1 and 2 Thessalonians

Our tendency in reading through Joel’s words is to emphasize the prophetic terms contained within them. However, to do so is to miss the point. The words that need our attention come before the mention of prophecy, dreams, and visions and are repeated afterwards as well. What makes Joel’s prophecy so amazing is that the promised prophetic abilities are guaranteed to “all flesh.”

Acts 8 is the text that illustrates how the apostles went about carrying out the promise made in Acts 2. It is the passage to which we should appeal to explain the manner by which God ensured that “all flesh” in His kingdom would have the Holy Spirit “poured out” on them. It is the bridge that ties Acts 2 to the rest of the New Testament. Unfortunately, most teachings of the work of the Holy Spirit cannot cross it.

The New Testament’s lack of reference to other specific Old Testament prophecies about the Holy Spirit should be of great concern for those seeking to explain the Spirit’s work without a reference to Joel 2. Essentially, they must create a doctrine about the Holy Spirit’s work from a collection of New Testament verses and do so in a way which does not refer back to Acts 2 or Joel 2. Interpreting Acts 3 – Acts 28 without connecting their references to Acts 2 is flawed hermeneutically and practically.