*Joel 2:18-32 (NKJV)* 18 Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, and pity His people. 19 The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. 20 But I will remove far from you the northern army, and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things." 21 Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done marvelous things! 22 Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; For the open pastures are springing up, and the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their strength. 23 Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you—the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. 24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. 25 So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame. 27 Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.
28 "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls." *Devotion* The Lord had led the people to repentance and the "locusts" were taken away; thus the Lord promised: "I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations." The "northern army" was thus driven toward the Dead Sea, "…with his face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea; his stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things." The invader is destroyed, and his destruction is linked to the Dead Sea, recalling the destruction that the Lord rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah. On Pentecost St. Peter quoted verses from Joel, proclaiming that the time of which the prophet has prophesied had come at last; when he and the other apostles spoke with "other tongues,” (Acts 2:4) and were understood by all men in Jerusalem, this was the fulfillment of the promise that the Spirit would be poured out on all flesh. The miracle that Peter declares fulfilled is the sign that comes after the shame of God's people has been taken away. If we are looking for the fulfillment of that which the Lord had promised, we need look no further than the Incarnation of the Son of God and the victory over all our enemies that was accomplished in His life, death and resurrection for us. "Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame."
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