“Be glad, O children of Zion,
and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain for your vindication;
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the latter rain, as before.
“The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
I will restore to you the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent among you.
“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 again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
“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,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.” (Joel 2:23-29 ESV)
What if this is not all to be taken so much literally, but more figuratively? Now I do not always reference commentaries, but I sometimes will go to them when a passage of Scripture is not clear to me as to its meaning. And I do not follow any commentator in particular, nor do I accept what any of them say unquestioningly. I read a variety of them (not all of the same theology) prayerfully, asking the Lord to direct me to the truth of what this is saying. But many of them all seemed to be consistent on this one thing.
This “early rain” is given “according to righteousness,” and also has in this verse a significance of a “teacher” being given, i.e. a teacher “unto righteousness.” This can also be spoken of as spiritual blessings being bestowed on the “Children of Zion,” which have a connection to the grace of God. And if we then connect this to verses 28-29, we can also connect this, potentially, to what happened on the Day of Pentecost when God poured out his Spirit on Christ’s followers and they did prophesy (see Acts 2:1-21).
Young’s Literal Translation of Joel 2:23: “And ye sons of Zion, joy and rejoice, In Jehovah your God, For He hath given to you the Teacher for righteousness, And causeth to come down to you a shower, Sprinkling and gathered -- in the beginning.”
Okay, what I am seeing from this is that this may be a prophecy, not only of the coming of the Lord Jesus, the Christ (the promised Messiah of Israel), but of salvation from sin, eternal life with God, the receiving of the Holy Spirit, the outpouring of the Spirit (who is our teacher and counselor), and of the gifts of the Spirit given to us by the Spirit to be used within the body of Christ to minister God’s love and grace to one another. For both Jesus and the Holy Spirit were given to us to be teachers of righteousness.
So, this would be a prophecy regarding the Messianic age and of God’s grace to us in sending Jesus Christ to be our “sacrificial lamb” to die on a cross for the sins of the entire world. And we are definitely to rejoice and to be glad in that! For this had to take place in order that we might now, by faith in Jesus Christ, be crucified with him in death to sin, and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Jesus Christ is a teacher of Righteousness!!
And when Jesus died, and was resurrected from the dead, and after he appeared to many people, he then ascended back to the Father in heaven. And after a little while he then sent his promised Holy Spirit to indwell and to empower his people and to teach them all things about Christ. So the Holy Spirit living within us is God/Jesus Christ living within us, empowering us to no longer walk in sin and to now walk in obedience to our Lord, and helping us to live righteously and to minister God’s love and grace to others.
But this also has to do with the last days before the return of Jesus Christ, and these days are days filled with trials and tribulations to test our faith, and persecutions and misjudgments because we follow Christ with our lives, and because we believe him and his word, and so we share with others what he is teaching us through his word. And so I believe there is a promise here of Jesus’ return when he takes us to be with him for eternity, when our sorrows and heartaches will be no more, but only rejoicing in heaven.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; John 16:33; John 17:14; Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]
A Believer’s Prayer
An Original Work / July 31, 2012
With my whole heart, Lord, I pray
To be Yours, and Yours always.
Lead me in Your truth today.
May I love You, and obey.
Lead me in Your righteousness.
When I sin, may I confess;
Bow before You when I pray;
Live for You and You always.
Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.
Life with You will never end.
You are with me through each day,
Giving love and peace always.
You will ne’er abandon me.
From my sin You set me free.
You died on that cruel tree,
So I’d live eternally.
Soon You’re coming back for me;
From this world to set me free;
Live with You eternally.
Oh, what joy that brings to me.
I will walk with You in white;
A pure bride, I’ve been made right
By the blood of Jesus Christ;
Pardoned by His sacrifice.
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