We heard how after the coming of the teacher of righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit would be poured out on all flesh. It is remarkable that Joel prophesied about all these hundreds of years before it came true. The word of God is trustworthy! Sometimes it seems otherwise, but the LORD is faithful, and therefore we can trust His word. But the very word "flesh" reminds us of our fallen state. We are fallen in Adam. We are impermanent. We are sinful. How true it is that all flesh is like grass. As we read in Psalm 103:15-16, “As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;and the place thereof shall know it no more.”
How great is the gift of God's only begotten Son. How great is the gift of the Spirit who makes alive. But what is the gift the Spirit brings when He is poured out on all flesh? We read in Joel 2:28b, “and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.”
This, of course, is Old Testament language. And God periodically appeared to man to reveal His will. And He did so with prophecies, in dreams, and by visions. These were how God revealed His will, taught, and comforted His people. By these means, He gave them knowledge of Himself and of our hearts. With the light of the NT, we know how God fulfilled this prophecy, at least in part. The full fulfillment comes later. But in and through Spirit and Word, God gives knowledge. He reveals to us who He is and what His will is. And that knowledge is brought to "all flesh."
In Acts 10, we read about Peter's vision in Joppa with the sheet with the unclean animals and the head man Cornelius, In Acts 11, we hear about Peter's justification before the other apostles. And in Chapter 13, Paul is sent from Antioch to the Gentiles. Here we see the first fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. Word and Spirit go out to all nations worldwide.
That Spirit is poured out on the great day of Pentecost in rich abundance. It is like streams of living water flowing throughout the world. So that the desert comes to fruition. It is about life renewal, about recreation.
Are we renewed to live? Are we a salting salt and a shining light? Do we know this miracle in our lives?

Rev. J. Th. Pronk