Do Not Fear

Do not fear, My land! Rejoice and be glad, because the Lord has accomplished great things! – Joel 2:21 (NET)

A few verses after this, we find what is perhaps the most famous and well-known statement from the book of Joel, which is “After all of this I will pour out My Spirit on all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your elderly will have revelatory dreams; your young men will see prophetic visions. Even on male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days” (2:28-29). This is quoted by Peter, in the second chapter of Acts, in his address to the people of Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. For Peter, this is couched in the necessity of the Resurrection of Jesus. This pouring out of the Spirit can only take place because Christ has been resurrected from the grave and an entirely new age has begun.

Along with this, we must remember, as a basic rule of exegesis, that when New Testament writers or speakers make reference to isolated Old Testament passages, that does not mean that they are merely looking for proof-texts for their opinions, but that they have entire narratives, entire sections of texts, and entire patterns of thought in mind. Though Peter quotes a selection from Joel (2:28-32), we must presume that his hearers would have in mind the entirety of the context from which that selection is lifted.

So looking back to Joel, we must take notice that the twenty-eighth verse begins with “After all of this.” The statement begs the question, “After all of what?” Because what follows is clearly connected with what God is going to do among and through His covenant people, what precedes must speak to the world in which these things will be done. For Joel, it will be as if a new age has dawned, in which He grips the promise of God that “I will make up for the years that the arbeh-locust consumed your crops---the yeleq-locust, the hasil-locust, and the gazam-locust---My great army that I sent against you” (2:25). Because the Bible presents one continuous narrative of creation, fall, cursing, God’s-single-plan-of-salvation-for-the-world, redemption, and restoration, we are justified in thinking about the curse that came upon the ground (the world/creation) because of the fall of Adam (as well as the Torah curses of Deuteronomy) when we read about locust consuming crops.

In this new age, the one that has been inaugurated so that God can pour out His Spirit on all flesh as Peter will say in Acts, God says, “Do not fear, My land! Rejoice and be glad, because the Lord has accomplished great things!” (2:21) This is an age in which God is reversing the curse that mankind brought upon His good creation. God will begin to do this through His covenant people in union with Christ, with that beginning pointing to a final consummation in which a great and final restoration, a final reversal, will take place. God says, “Do not fear, wild animals! For the pastures of the wilderness are again green with grass. Indeed the trees bear their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield to their fullest” (2:22).

In this new age, God speaks to His covenant people, saying “Citizens of Zion, rejoice! Be glad because of what the Lord has done” (2:23a). What has the Lord done? Well, because Peter links all of this with Jesus, we know that He has performed a great work in Christ, and through Him, redeemed a people for Himself from exile. Once again, a new age has been inaugurated. This is an age in which Resurrection power has been brought to bear, with Jesus the first to thoroughly experience that Resurrection power, as the first-fruits of what is to come for God’s people and God’s creation. In this inaugurated age, where Jesus is King, awaiting His final crowning (much like David was anointed king, merely awaiting His final crowning), it is said that “The threshing floors are full of grain; the vats overflow with fresh wine and olive oil” (2:24). Such language speaks to the removal of the thorns and thistles that plague this world.

Through His prophet, God says that in this age “You will have plenty to eat, and your hunger will be fully satisfied; you will praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has acted wondrously in your behalf” (2:26a). Because of what God has wrought---the Resurrection of Christ and the redemption of His people---the promise is made that “My people will never again be put to shame” (2:26b). That is, once God brings His Spirit to bear in this world, His people will never again experience the curse of exile. After declaring that His people will be fully convinced of His power (2:27a), which will take place by the gift of faith by the Spirit, God repeats Himself, saying “My people will never again be put to shame” (2:27b). We do not fear, for everywhere, the Word of God speaks of His faithfulness, Resurrection, redemption, restoration, renewal, and re-creation. In Him, we may confidently trust and rejoice.