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1–11. Locusts and drought as harbingers of the coming of the Day of the Lord. 12–17. Exhortation of the people to repentance and prayer. 18–27. Announcing the end of the disaster with the message of a bountiful harvest. 28–32. Prophecy about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Joel.2:1. Blow the trumpet in Zion and sound the alarm in My holy mountain; Let all the inhabitants of the earth tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is near -: In Joel 2:1–11, the prophet views the disaster that befell the country in relation to the upcoming greater disaster - the day of judgment of the Lord. The prophet’s speech, at the same time, develops in such a way that the features of his present and future merge. “Blow the trumpet.” The prophet addresses the priests (Numbers 10.8). The name sohophaz (pipe) in Hebrew, according to the testimony of Blessed Jerome, was a metal pipe that looked like a horn and made strong sounds. It was used for signals during battle (Judges 7:8, 16–20; Jer 4:19–21; Zeph 1.16), during a sudden attack by enemies (Judg. 3:27, 6:34; Jer 4.5), when announcing the onset of festivals (Num. 10:10; 2 Kings 6, etc.). The prophet invites us to announce with the sound of a trumpet the imminent coming of the Day of the Lord. “In Zion”: the name Zion is used in the Bible and in the sense of a special name for a famous hill, and means the whole of Jerusalem. In Joel 2:1 it is used in the latter sense. The prophet’s speech, at the same time, has a figurative character. Therefore, from the command to convene the people with a trumpet, one cannot conclude (Novak) that the prophet is referring to the time when all the people lived near Zion and, indeed, could be convened by the sound of a trumpet, i.e., the time after the captivity. Joel.2:2. a day of darkness and gloom, a cloudy and foggy day: like the morning dawn, a numerous and strong people spread across the mountains, such as has not happened since the beginning of time and will not be thereafter for generations. The prophet speaks of a locust invasion, but since in this disaster he sees a harbinger and prototype of the onset of the terrible day of the Lord, the features of both in the prophet’s speech merge, and the description of the locust invasion takes on a partly hyperbolic character (cf. “the likes of which have not happened since ages”). “Cloudy and foggy day”: jom anon vaaraphel sl. arahel (in Ex 14:20, 20:21; 2 Samuel 22:10) means a thundercloud. It is better understood in this meaning in Joel 2:2. The words “like the morning dawn spreads over the mountains” (slav. “like the morning spreads over the mountains”) in Hebrew. The Masoretic text refers to the previous one (“cloudy and foggy day”). According to many interpreters, the prophet compares the onset of the day of the Lord with the spread of the morning dawn, wanting to express the idea of ​​​​the speed (speed) of the onset (Irenaeus, Arch. Pskov) or taking schahar (morning dawn) in the sense of dawn, foreshadowing a bad day (Justi), pre-dawn darkness (Wünsche). In the latter case, the prophet’s expression will look like: a day of clouds and clouds like pre-dawn darkness covering the mountains. Better, however, is the following. LXX, the words in question refer to the further “numerous people,” etc. “The people,” as in Joel 1.6, the prophet calls locusts and by comparison with the dawn gives an idea of ​​the speed with which the locusts are spreading across the country. Joel.2:3. Before him the fire consumes, and behind him the flame burns; in front of him the earth is like the garden of Eden, and behind him there will be a desolate steppe, and no one will be saved from him. In Joel.2:3, some commentators (Dobronr.) find a description of two disasters that befell the country: drought and locust invasion: “before him,” that is, before the locust invasion; “behind him”, i.e. after this; consuming fire and flame are images of drought. But the prophet's expressions retain their full meaning if, according to the context, we see in Joel 2:3 only a description of the locust invasion, which gives the impression of an all-consuming flame. “Like the garden of Eden” (cf. Ezekiel 36.35): kegan – eden; LXX translated into Heb. gan is the word παρὰδεισος, and eden is the common noun τρυφι – sweetness; from here to glory “like a paradise of sweets.” Joel.2:4 His appearance is like the appearance of horses, and they gallop like horsemen; In Joel 2:4, the locust is compared in appearance and speed of movement to a horse. In his explanation of Joel 2:4, Blessed Theodoret notes: “If someone carefully examines the head of a locust, he will find it very similar to the head of a horse. Locusts, when they fly, are in no way inferior to horses in speed.” “They gallop like horsemen” in LXX, as in Russian. lane the second half of the comparison is understood in the sense of comparing locusts with cavalry (Hebrew keparaschim, Greek ὡς ίππεῖς), but not just galloping, but pursuing the enemy; from here to glory “Like cavalry they will marry.” The parallelism will be more consistent if paraschim is translated by the word “horses”. Joel 2:5 they gallop over the tops of the mountains as if with the sound of chariots, as if with the crackling of a fiery flame devouring stubble, like a strong people drawn up for battle. The prophet compares the invasion of locusts with the invasion of a country by an enemy army (cf. Rev. 9.9). Eyewitnesses also compare the noise of flying locusts with the noise of a river or waterfall. Joel.2:6 At the sight of him the nations will tremble, and all their faces will turn pale. “Everyone’s face will turn pale.” The word will turn pale in Hebrew. corresponds to the expression kibzu parur. The meaning of the word parur is unclear. LXX translated it with the word χὺτρα “pot”, and the verb. kubzu translated freely; hence it turned out πᾶς πρὸσωπον ὡς πρόσκαυμα χύτρας, slav. “like a scorching mountain”. Others (Dobronr.) understand parur (from paar) to mean decoration and the words of the prophet convey: “all persons collect their decoration.” This understanding corresponds to Russian. lane “they will turn pale.” Joel.2:7 They run like fighters and climb the wall like brave warriors, and each one goes his own way and does not stray from his ways. Joel.2:8 They do not crush each other, each one goes his own way, and they fall on spears, but remain unharmed. Joel.2:9 They run around the city, climb the walls, climb onto houses, enter windows like a thief. The locust attack is compared to the siege of a city by a well-arranged army. The Hebrew text of Joel 2:8 is controversial and allows for different translations. Instead of the words “everyone goes his own path” to glory. “burdened with their weapons” (ἐν τοῖς ὀπλοις). The words “and they fall on spears” in Hebrew. correspond; uvead hasehschelah ippolu. The preposition vead (Russian na) is taken in different meanings (Gerenius - near, Ewald - around, Wünsche - behind, Mever - through, between); the word schelah (Russian spears), - from schalah, to send can mean any weapon - sword, spears, bows, arrows (cf. 2 Chron. 32.5; Neh. 4.13, 16). Therefore, the entire above expression is conveyed differently: καὶ ἐν βέλεσιν αὐτῶν πεσοῦνται (LXX, slav. “and they will fall in their arrows”; “they rush through weapons” Dobronr., Novak, Marti Goonak.); “and the arrows fall behind” (Goltzhausen). The Prophet, apparently, wants to express the idea that the locusts cannot be stopped by any means, even if an army were sent against them. Joel.2:10. Before them the earth will shake, the sky will shake; the sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will lose their light. Blessed Jerome explains the words of the prophet as follows: “The prophet says that the sky shakes and the earth shakes, not because the locusts could do this, but because to those suffering, due to great fear, it seems that the heavens are collapsing and the earth is trembling.” Other commentators (Novak) believe that in Joel 2:10 the prophet is talking about a thunderstorm that preceded the appearance of the locusts. In view of the general nature of prophetic speech, in which the description of the locust invasion also introduces the features of the terrible day of the Lord that is about to come, it is possible that Joel 2:10 refers to this latter (Dobronr.). (Cf. Is 13.10; Nahum 1.5 and d. Eze 32.7; Mt 24.29). Joel.2:11 And the Lord will give His voice before His army, for His army is very numerous, and the doer of His word is mighty; For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can endure it? A figurative image of the day of disaster: at the head of the army that devastates the country, Jehovah Himself appears, giving commands about devastation (cf. Is 13.2–5). Likewise, on the day of the Last Judgment of the world, the Lord will appear at the head of the heavenly army, that is, with all His holy Angels (Matthew 24.30–31; Matthew 25.31; cf. Ps. 102.20; Dan 7.10). Instead of Russian “mighty is the doer of His word” in glory. it reads: “For the works of His words are strong”; apparently LXX Heb. azum oseh, the one who does is strong, read azum maasch, the thing is strong. Heb. venora meod, “and very terrible” (day). LXX translated ἐπιφανης σφόδρα, glory. “it was bright”, since instead of nora they apparently read naro, from or to be light. Joel.2:12 But even now the Lord still says: Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning. In Joel 2:12–17, the prophet moves on to admonishing the people, the prophet says that despite the approach of the day of the Lord’s wrath, they can still be turned away by true repentance, expressed not only in external rituals, but mainly in contrition of heart. Joel 2:13 Rend your hearts, not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God; for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and repents of the calamity. “Regrets the disaster,” in glory. “Repent of your evils.” Heb. raah means both physical and moral evil; in Joel 2:13 it is used in the first sense. The whole expression has a humanoid character. The Lord’s change of His plans and decisions does not contradict God’s immutability, because promises and threats are given by God under the condition that people fulfill or fail to fulfill God’s commandments. Joel 2:14 Who knows if He will not have compassion and leave a blessing, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? The Prophet expresses hope for mercy, coupled with some doubt, so that, according to interpreters, on the one hand, not to bring the people to despair, and on the other, not to give them a reason for carelessness. Instead of the words “and will he leave blessings” in glory. more precisely: “and will leave behind him (Heb. acharaj) a blessing.” By blessing the prophet means the harvest of bread and fruits. Joel 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, call a fast, and call a solemn assembly. Joel 2:16 Gather the people, call an assembly, invite the elders, gather the young men and sucklings; Let the bridegroom come out of his chamber and the bride from her upper room. "Invite the elders", LXX unsuccessful ἐκλέξασθε πρεσβ. Slav. “elect elders”: we are talking about a meeting of everyone up to and including infants, and not about electing representatives. Instead of the words “youths and infants” (olalim vejonkej) in Slav. "babies, sucking nipples" . Joel 2:17 Let the priests, the servants of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar and say: “Spare, O Lord, Thy people; do not give Thy inheritance to reproach, lest the nations mock them; Why will they say among the nations, “Where is their God?” “Between the porch (ulam) and the altar”: in glory. “between the degrees (steps) of the altar.” The word ulam was the name given to the porch, built on the east side of the church and leading to the sanctuary, 20 cubits long, 20 high and 10 wide (1 Kings 6.3). In the next part of the church, in the inner courtyard of the priests (1 Kings 6.36; 2 Chronicles 4.9), there was an altar, towards which the priests were supposed to stand. “Do not give up Your inheritance to reproach,” etc. This is not about the enslavement of Israel by pagan peoples, as the defenders of the allegorical interpretation of the book suggest. Joel, but in general about the plight of the country, which could give rise to the ridicule of the pagans. Joel.2:18 And then the Lord will be jealous for His land, and will spare His people. Joel.2.19 And the Lord will answer and say to His people: Behold, I will send you bread and wine and oil, and you will be satisfied with them, and I will no longer give you over as a reproach to the nations. According to Russian The translation in Joel 2:18–19 speaks of the future. But with this understanding of the verses, the connection with the previous one is unclear. Therefore, according to the manual of ancient translations (LXX in Vulg.), it is better, together with most commentators, to understand the verbs vajjomer, vajaan, vajjachmol, vojjekane not in the sense of the so-called. perfectum propheticum, but in the sense of perf. historicum, i.e. translate not into the future tense, as in Russian. t., but to the past (as in the LXX and in the Slavic “zealous”, “mercy”, “answered”, “speech”; in the Vulg. zeiatus est, pepercit, respondit, dixit). In Joel 2:18–19 we have the historical note that the Lord had mercy on the Jewish people. Since in Joel 2:15–17 the prophet gave hope for such pardon only on the condition of converting the people, appointing a fast and a solemn meeting, then, obviously, all this was fulfilled, although the prophet does not mention this. “And the Lord will answer and say to His people:” the prophet probably wants to express only the general idea that the Lord heard the prayer of the people and fulfilled their requests. From half of Joel.2.19 a new speech of the prophet Joel begins, delivered after the first. In this speech, the prophet announces the end of the disasters that have befallen the country and the sending down of a bountiful harvest (Joel 2:19–27); then he makes a promise about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:23–32) and, finally, depicts the judgment of all nations and its consequences (Joel 3). Joel 2:20 And the one who came from the north I will remove from you, and will drive him into a dry and desolate land, his front army into the eastern sea, and his rear army into the western sea, and a stench will come from him, and a stench will rise from him, because he has done much evil. Joel 2.20 talks about getting rid of locusts. “And he who came from the north”: own. in euros veeth hazzephoni, and northern (northerner). Although the homeland of the locust is south, and it is the deserts of Arabia and the north-east. Africa, however, due to the change of winds, it could be brought into Palestine from the north and could be called hazzephoni. Therefore, there is no need to understand hazzephoni in an allegorical sense - “bringing disasters” (Justi, Cook), due to the fact that the north was a source of disasters for Palestine, or dark (Maurer, Gesenius), i.e. covering the rays of the sun, etc. “And I will drive it into a land without water and waste”: locusts usually die in deserts and seas. In Joel.2.20, perhaps the closest reference is to the Arabian desert or the desert located between Idumea and Judea (Dobronr.). “Eastern Sea” (slav. “first in the sea”) – the Dead Sea, otherwise called “Salty” (Gen. 14.3; Num. 34.12). “The back sea” is the western or Mediterranean sea, called the great (Numbers 34.6–7). “And a stench will come from it”: according to the message of the blessed one. Jerome, in his time, the rotting of locusts that died in the Dead and Mediterranean Seas so infected the air that it caused a pestilence on people and livestock. “Because he has done a lot of evil”; glory “For magnify your works.” In the Bible, irrational beings are often presented as sane (cf. Gen. 9.5; Ex. 21.28–32; Job 41.25; Job 39.7, 22). Joel.2.21 Fear not, O earth: rejoice and be glad, for the Lord is great to do this. Joel.2.22 Fear not, O animals, for the pastures of the desert will produce grass, the tree will bear its fruit, the fig tree and the vine will show their strength. Joel.2.23 And ye children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God; For He will give you rain in measure and will send down rain for you, the early rain and the latter rain, as at first. In view of the deliverance from the disaster, the prophet invites the earth, animals and people to rejoice, as he previously invited them to lament and cry. “And ye children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God.” The Prophet names only the inhabitants of Zion, that is, the Jerusalemites, but without a doubt he means not only them, but all those who suffered and are now freed from the disaster. “For He will give you rain (moreh) in measure” (lizedakah). Heb. moreh (from jarah threw, watered and indicated) has two different meanings - rain and teacher. In the latter sense the word is understood in the Chaldean paraphrase and in the Vulgate, in which the given expression reads: quia dedit vobis doctorem justitae, because he gave you a teacher of justice. Many newer exegetes (Keil, Merckx, Goonaker) take moreh in the same sense. At the same time, the words of the prophet are understood in the sense of a promise that the Lord will give the people teachers and prophets (Knabenbauer), in particular in the person of the prophet Joel (Orelli) or that the Lord will send a teacher of Truth - the Messiah (Shegg, Goonaker). But, apparently, in the expression under consideration it is better to understand the word moreh in the meaning of rain. It is in this sense that the word is used further in the same verse; then, the mention of a teacher of righteousness would not correspond to the context of Joel.2:22–26, where we are talking about earthly goods, and not about spiritual goods. As for the word lizedakah, we can hardly agree with its rendering in our text (“in moderation”). Heb. zedakah is used only in the moral sense (righteousness, justice) and in the expression under consideration it can only refer to Jehovah. The Prophet wants to say that Jehovah will give rain out of (due to) righteousness, that is, considering the Jews worthy of mercy, in view of their conversion (Kuk, Dobronr.) or, will give rain as a sign of the righteousness of the Jews before God after repentance (Vellg., Novak): In LXX Heb. moreh lizedakah rendered – βρώματα εὶς δικαιοσύνην, slav. “I will give you food in truth.” It is believed that LXX, instead of the cause (rain), wanted to indicate directly the effect (fertility). “Early and late rain”: early rain - autumn rain falling in the last half of October or early November; Latter rain is a spring rain that falls before harvest time at the end of March or beginning of April. Joel 2:25 And I will repay you for the years that the locusts, the worms, the beetles, and the caterpillars devoured my great army, which I sent against you. The Lord promises to generously reward the Jews for the time they suffered from the locusts. “And I will repay you for those years”: there is no need to think that a plague of locusts befell the country for several years (Novak); the prophet’s speech can be understood in a poetic sense, as an indication of the severity of the devastation of the country, which was so great that it was as if locusts had been flying for several years in a row (Gitzig, Dobronr.). Joel 2:27 And you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and I am the Lord your God, and there is no other, and my people will not be put to shame forever. The Lord's favor to the people will not be limited to sending only earthly goods; This favor will one day manifest itself with special power in the sending of spiritual blessings, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh. Joel 2:27–32 in Heb. The Bibles make up a special chapter (Joel.3), so our Joel.3 will be in Hebrew. The Bible is already Joel.4. Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass after this that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. “And it will be after that” (acharej-chen), glory. “and it shall be to this day”: Heb. the expression acharej-chen (to this day), as well as similar ones bcacharith hajjamim, glory. “in the last days, in the last days”, indicates the distant future and serves as a common term for the prophets to designate messianic times (Isa 2.2; Micah 4.1). “I will pour out my Spirit,” from Hebrews. (aschepoch roach) I will pour out My Spirit: the prophet borrows an image from the pouring out of rain, which was discussed above (Joel.2.23); he wants to express the idea that just as the outpouring of natural rain will be a source of revitalization of nature, so the sending of the Holy Spirit will once revive all of humanity (cf. Isaiah 32:15, 44:3; Zech. 12, etc.). LXX, probably wanting to indicate that the gifts of the Holy Spirit will not be poured out in full, instead of the expression “I will pour out My Spirit” they put: ἐκξεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεὺματὸς μου, “I will pour out My Spirit.” “For all flesh”, al-kol basar. The word basar (flesh) is used in the Bible to refer to all living creatures, both humans and animals (Genesis 6:13, 7:15, 9:11, 15). One of the commentators (Kredner) finds it possible to understand the word basar in such a broad sense (cf. Is 11.6) and in the place in question, assimilating to the prophet Joel the promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on animals. But further words of the prophet (elders, youths, etc.) show that he uses the word basar in a narrow sense and speaks only about people. However, one cannot narrow the promise of the prophet and believe, together with Hitzig, Wünsche, Merckx and others, that he announces the outpouring of the Holy Spirit only on the Jews: the words of Joel 2.32 - “and it shall come to pass: whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” - testify that the prophet was alien to particularism and expected the sending down of grace-filled gifts for all people, and not for the Jews alone. But since he directly proclaims his promise to the Jewish people, he says: “your sons, your daughters.” The fruit of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will be that everyone will be enlightened by the Spirit of God, everyone will be prophets. “And your sons and your daughters will prophesy; Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.” The prophet foretells the fulfillment of what Moses the lawgiver once desired when he said: “If only all the Lord’s people were prophets, if only the Lord would send His Spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11.29). The prophet names the forms in which revelation was communicated to people: dreams and visions (1 Kings 3.1, Zech 2.1–9; Dan 7:1, 8, etc.). He does not want to say that only one known form of revelation will be available to each age - dreams for the elders, visions for the youth: its expression is only a method of poetic speech, and the prophet’s thought is that divine revelation will be received both in dreams and in visions. Joel 2:29 And also on male and female servants in those days I will pour out My Spirit. “And also (vegam) on male and female slaves”: the particle gam (also) intensifies speech and indicates that something unusual is being announced (vegam - and even). Indeed, in the dilapidated economy. In history, the gift of prophecy was not given to slaves. Therefore, LXX understood the words of the prophet in the sense that he was talking about Jehovah’s servants, i.e., Jews, and supplemented them with the 1st person pronoun, translating: “to My servants, and to My handmaids.” Joel 2:30 And I will show signs in heaven and on earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The prophet proceeds to depict the terrible day of the Lord or the day of judgment and indicates the signs of its approach. The immediate transition of speech to another event does not mean that the prophet considers both events to occur simultaneously. Prophets often compare two events not by their chronological connection, but by internal, ideological proximity, because when these two events are compared side by side, the meaning of each of them becomes clearer (cf. Isa. 40). "Blood and fire and pillars of smoke." Apparently, these words refer to wars accompanied by the shedding of blood and the burning of cities and villages (cf. Matt. 24.6–7; Mark 13.6–7; Luke 21.9–10). Joel.2:31 The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. The Prophet is not talking about ordinary solar and lunar eclipses, because he points out miraculous, unusual signs. There is also no reason to understand the words of the prophet in an allegorical sense, as an indication of the mental state of people before the onset of the Day of the Lord, when, due to the severity of suffering, the heavenly bodies will seem eclipsed to them (Theodore Mopseus., Kolvin, Hengstenberg). The prophet speaks specifically about terrible signs in nature. Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass: whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be salvation, as the Lord has said, and for the rest whom the Lord will call. “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”: the prophet speaks not only about the Israelites, but about all nations. Ap. Paul applies the words of Joel to the Gentiles when he notes that in the Church of Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, because there is one Lord of all, rich for all who call on Him, for “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10.12–13). “For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be salvation” (peleitah). The prophet means the spiritual Zion and Jerusalem, that is, the Kingdom of God (Heb. 12.22). Heb. pelejtah is better translated - saved, as in LXX ἀνασωζ´ομενος. “As the Lord said”: these words are understood either as Joel’s confirmation of the truth of his prophecy (as the Lord said), or in the sense of indicating the prophecy that existed before Joel about salvation in Zion. By this latter they usually mean (Keil, Cook, Novak) the prophecy of Obadiah that there will be salvation in Zion (Obd.1.17). “And among the rest whom the Lord will call”: thus, those of those who call on the Lord will be saved, whom the Lord Himself will call. LXX has euros. ubasswidim (Russian and others) translated due to a different reading with the word εὑαγγελιζόμενοι; from here to glory "and the gospel". The following must be said about the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy about the outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit on all flesh. In the Old Testament, the gift of prophecy was given only to certain persons, but the abundant sending of the gifts of the Holy Spirit was old. writers expected a messianic time (Isa. 32:15, 54:13; Jer. 31.33; Zech. 12.10). The prophet Joel undoubtedly has this time in mind. According to Ap. Peter, in the speech he delivered before the people, the prophecy of Joel was indeed fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, in the fact of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles (Acts 2:14–21). But according to the apostle, the day of Pentecost was only the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy, since the apostle, based on the words of the prophet, promises in the future the sending down of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to all those who repent and are baptized (Acts 2.38–39). We can, therefore, say that Joel’s prophecy will be fulfilled until he enters the Church through repentance and baptism, through which the gift of the Holy Spirit is given, “the filling of tongues” (Rom. 2.25). The prophet Joel also combines with the promise of the sending of the Holy Spirit the foreshadowing of the coming of the Day of the Lord, that is, for the Last Judgment. Since Ap. Peter, explaining the great event of the day of Pentecost, also cites this foreshadowing of the prophet Joel, which means he considers it fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. And indeed, with the sending of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, the work of saving mankind was completed, and all the grace-filled forces necessary for salvation were given to people. From this day on, every person is invited to choose either eternal bliss or condemnation to eternal torment; a new period opens in the history of mankind, which will end with the day of the Last Judgment of the world. But the great event of the day of Pentecost was only the beginning of the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy of judgment. In its entirety, this prophecy will be fulfilled when the terrible phenomena foretold by the prophet come, when “heaven and earth are moved,” “and all the tribes of the earth will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24.30). You might be interested in: