2006 Jan-March: Issue no.5; PAGE 5

Issue no. 5: 2006 1^st Quarter; article overview:

Page 1:First Article;The Messianic context of Psalm 110 -exegesis part two
Page 2:Second Article;Samson Option, Samson as national allegory in Deuteronomistic theology
Page 3:Third Article;Qohelet and the background to Ecclesiastes
Page 4:Fourth Article;Nathaniel under the Bo-tree - Buddhism and the problem of suffering
Page 5:Fifth Article;The Spirit in the latter days-Part four
Page 6:Sixth Article;Book review of the writings of Santala
For the PDF version of this article click here

The Spirit – part four

A series of articles that present a Biblical understanding of the “Spirit” in the Old and New Testaments – debunking the dogma of the “personhood” of the Spirit and defining the role of the Spirit during the last days witnessing”

The latter day outpouring

The last in our series of articles on the Spirit will attempt to understand the latter day outpouring of the Spirit. This is a complex subject that requires an approach devoid of dogmatism. The key prophecy in this discussion is Joel 2:21-32 cited by the apostle Peter at Pentecost in Acts 2:15-21. Before examining the apostolic usage our exegesis must first establish the Joel prophecy in its original context. The next stage of our approach will be to question whether the prophecy was exhausted in the first century. Lastly, if it still has a “latter day” fulfilment is this before or after the Second Advent?

The Joel prophecy in context

Our primary difficulty is establishing when Joel lived and prophesied, and whether the “locust” invasion is literal or allegorical. If it is an allegory then is the prophet contemplating a Babylonian or an Assyrian invasion, or perhaps a different enemy? Those in favour of an early date compare the purity of the style and believe that Amos was familiar with the prophecy. [1] The foreign nations named in Joel do not provide a clue because their hostility was permanent from 800 BC to 400 BC and they are all denounced by the other prophets. [2] The slave trade mentioned in chapter three, especially the trade with Greece would indicate a late date, but as early as the prophet Isaiah (11:11) Israelite captives were exported to these lands. The phrase “to bring back the captivity” (Joel 3:1) indicates a post-exilic date but this phrase can be also understood in the wider sense as “to reverse the calamity” [3] and is also open to other pre-exilic historical situations as we shall shortly demonstrate. Scholarship is then divided over the dating of Joel with the consensus opting for a post-exilic date.

The Jehoshaphat connection

We have at least a starting date or terminus a quo for the prophecy; Joel must have written subsequently to the accession of Jehosaphat (BC 915) for he refers to the “valley of Jehoshaphat” (Joel 3:1); the question remains- how long after?  Jehoshaphat means Yah has judged and at least as early as Eusebius in the 4^th century AD the valley of Jehoshaphat was identified with the Kidron valley outside Jerusalem. The choice of Jehoshaphat is not coincidental to Joel but is a deliberate choice, as his prophesy was directed at Judah (nearly unanimously agreed by the commentaries), and the deliverance under Jehoshaphat served as encouragement to the people of Judah. Parallels must therefore be sought with the reign of Jehoshaphat who was a good king and undertook to instruct the people by removing false worship and sending priests and Levites, with the Book of the Law in their hands to teach in the cities of Judah (2 Chron 17:7-9). After his reform had begun, a great confederacy of Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites invaded Judah from the south-east, making their headquarters at En-gedi on the west side of the Dead Sea. Jehoshaphat claimed the promise of deliverance which Solomon had asked (cf. 2 Chron 6:24-30 with 20:9). Jahaziel prophesied deliverance, and Jehoshaphat went forth with thanksgiving and placed singers before the army to praise the Lord. Success was achieved without fighting. Hostilities broke out in the confederate army, the Ammonites and Moabites attacked and destroyed the Edomites, and they, quarrelling among themselves, turned their weapons against each other (20:1-30).

The parallels that we are seeking are to be found some 187 years later (ca. 728 BC) during the reign of the Judean king Hezekiah. Hezekiah was also a reformist (2 Chron ch. 29, 30); this time Judea was attacked by the Assyrians (2 Kings 18:13), and Hezekiah went to the temple in order to appeal to Yahweh (on the grounds of the Solomonic prayer: 2 Kings 19:16 cf. 1 Kings 8:37-40) and was subsequently miraculously delivered (without fighting: 2Kings 19:35-37). [4]

Jihad- Holy War

The context of the Hezekiah narrative (and Joel) is essentially “Holy war”- a direct challenge to the sovereignty and authority of Yahweh:

The composite picture drawn from Kings, Chronicles, Isaiah and Micah is of a young godly king Hezekiah, [9] who at the height of his reformation was struck down with a mortal illness at the very time of the Assyrian invasions and siege(s). Hezekiah forms the prototype for the “suffering servant” of Isaiah 53 and was about to die childless without succession to the throne secured. The Assyrians operated a “burnt earth” policy and subdued all resistance until they reached Jerusalem and issued a direct challenge to Yahweh. Jerusalem was probably crowded with the faithful remnant that had responded to Hezekiah’s call to celebrate the Passover. We have no indication how long the invasions and siege(s) lasted but anywhere up to three-and-a- half years (?) would accommodate the chronology. [10] During this time Hezekiah was struck with his disease, one can imagine the residents of the city responding with “sackcloth and ashes” particularly on the Day of Atonement:

Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? (Joel 2:13-17)

The unusual formulation (highlighted) is not as impossible as it sounds when one realises that the Assyrian city of Nineveh had repented in the past at the preaching of Jonah.  Yahweh heard the prayers of the people and their faithful king as well as the hubris of the enemy. Yahweh responded with a spectacular Passover deliverance (cf. Isa.31: 5; 30:29-31; 26: 20, 21; 33:20; 29:1); the captives taken during the Assyrian campaign (more than 200,000 according to the Taylor Prism) were released and the devastated land experienced an unprecedented Jubilee of blessing and recovery. It is against this background that the prophecy of Joel must be understood:

²⁸And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:  ²⁹And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.    ³⁰And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.   ³¹The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.  ³²And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

The deliverance of Judah presaged an unprecedented outpouring of the Spirit on all the residents of Jerusalem (the former rain); their weeping had been turned into joy and their joy into prophetic utterances and visions concerning an even greater future deliverance and outpouring of the Spirit (the latter rain) by the promised Messiah. The faithful remnant had been delivered at Passover, but even more important their God had been vindicated and their king restored to health thus ensuring continuance of the Davidic line and the fulfilment of the covenant promises. God showed wonders in the heavens, no doubt a lunar eclipse where the moon turns blood red. [11] This is particularly significant for the name of Sennacherib (In Akkadian Sin-ehhe-erib), means "Sin (the moon god) has taken the place of brothers to me." The Assyrian army encamped around Jerusalem would have understood the blood red moon as an omen of impending defeat.

The Joel prophecy and Pentecost

The NetBible offers the following commentary on Joel 2: 21-32:

This passage plays a key role in the apostolic explanation of the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2:17-21. Peter introduces his quotation of this passage with “this is that spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16; cf. the similar pesher formula used at Qumran). The New Testament experience at Pentecost is thus seen in some sense as a fulfillment of this Old Testament passage, even though that experience did not exhaustively fulfill Joel’s words. Some portions of Joel’s prophecy have no precise counterpart in that experience. For example, there is nothing in the experience recorded in Acts 2 that exactly corresponds to the earthly and heavenly signs described in Joel 3:3-4. But inasmuch as the messianic age had already begun and the “last days” had already commenced with the coming of the Messiah (cf. Heb 1:1-2), Peter was able to point to Joel 3:1-5 as a text that was relevant to the advent of Jesus and the bestowal of the Spirit. The equative language that Peter employs (“this is that”) stresses an incipient fulfillment of the Joel passage without precluding or minimizing a yet future and more exhaustive fulfillment in events associated with the return of Christ.

It is true that the heavenly signs do not correspond to the physical signs in the heavens described by Joel but perhaps the answer should be sought in a more idiomatic interpretation. The language employed by Joel and cited by Peter anticipates Revelation 12 which in turn reflects Isaiah 66 (which is a commentary on the Hezekiah deliverance):

“And I will shew signs in the heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath…” (Acts 2:19)

“And there appeared a great wonder [sign] in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown with twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing with birth, and pained to be delivered.” (Rev.12:1-3)

“Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.” (Isa.66:7)

The woman in Revelation obviously represents the nation (Gen.37:9, 10) enduring the “birth pangs of Messiah” – the firstborn of the faithful remnant is the “suffering servant” (Jesus/Hezekiah) who in this cosmic myth is about to be swallowed by human opposition, which in its latest incarnation is not Assyria but Rome (the “red dragon” 12:3). The “earthly sign” in Revelation is expressed as; “the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the river [12] that which the dragon cast out of his mouth” (12:16). Whatever the exact historical reference of these first century events, they were understood as signs of divine protection in heaven and earth [13] of the newly constituted people of God against human hostility, particularly in the form of Imperial aggression.  The events of the first century were therefore prophetically portrayed in the Joel prophecy, particularly the endowment of the Spirit at Pentecost, but the prophecy is by no means exhausted by those events.

The latter rain

The prophets speak of a latter day outpouring of the Spirit after the Second Advent; Zechariah refers to “the spirit of grace and supplications” (Zech.12: 10) and “a fountain opened to the house of David for sin and uncleanness.” (Zech.13: 1) This is not simply water baptism but a baptism of the Spirit and the flowing forth from Jerusalem of Spirit gifted missionaries who effect the healing of the nations (Rev.22: 1, 2).

There is however, every indication that Spirit witnessing will advance the Second Advent. God always sends his prophets to warn the nation to repent and turn to him in order to avert impending punishment. In this context the phrase “early rains” (the Hebrew word hammoreh usually means “the teacher”) used in Joel (cf. Ps.84: 7) can mean “teacher of righteousness” (hammoreh lisdakah).  [14] The “two witnesses” of Revelation chapter 11 are given power to accomplish this function in the latter days [15] and as such can be considered “teachers of righteousness.” 

Conclusion

The sequence of events in Joel seems to follow the pattern of (1) prophecy (2) repentance (3) deliverance (4) outpouring of the Spirit. Nevertheless, the prophecy is not always sequential or chronological and it is difficult to draw hard conclusions on this basis. The New Testament suggests that a Spirit witnessing mission will advance the return of Christ after which a final cleansing of the nation and ultimately the world will occur through the activity of the Spirit.

Notes

[1] Amos prophesied during the reign of Uzziah (Amos1:1). Striking similarities can be observed between Amos 1:2 and Joel 3 [4] 16, and Amos 9: 13 and Joel 3 [4] 18. It is however imminently probable that Joel is using Amos.

[2] Joel mentions: Tyre, Zidon, Philistia, Greece, Sheba, Egypt and Edom, also    the phrase “the Northern” (2:20), which may indicate Assyria. Tyre and Zidon are denounced by Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah.   Philistia is mentioned by Amos, Isaiah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Edom is denounced by Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Obadiah, Ezekiel and Malachi; Egypt by Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

[3] See Ewald on Jer.48:47, and Keunen, Th.T, 1873, p.519 f. [Di. on Job 42:8 etc]

[4] See the Taylor Prism for a historical account:

http://www.biblehistory.net/Chap23.htm

http://www.bible-history.com/archaeology/assyria/taylor-prism.html

http://www.bible-history.com/empires/prism.html

[5] Winged lions see: http://www.crystalinks.com/wingedlions.html

[6] The netBible (http://www.bible.org/netbible/) comments: The woman described here may already be married so the reference is to the death of a husband rather than a fiancé (a husband-to-be). Either way, the simile describes a painful and unexpected loss to which the national tragedy Joel is describing may be compared. The suggestion we make is that Hezekiah was  betrothed to marry (Hephzi-bah Isa.62?).

[7] It is doubtful that Hezekiah paid tribute to Assyria but more likely that his illness was used as an opportunity by the pro-Assyria lobby, probably by Shebna acting on “his behalf”? (A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth- Isa.21: 1)

[8] The Hebrew word for “stench” appears only here and in Isa. 34:3 and Amos 4:10. In the latter references it refers to the stench of dead corpses on a field of battle (not dead locusts).

[9] For a short biography of Hezekiah see: http://hezekiah.biography.ms/

[10] Many consider that the account in Isaiah (37:9, 10) combines features of two originally distinct sieges of Jerusalem by Sennacherib. Tirhakah: may have been general of the Egyptian army in 701 B.C.; later he became king, one of the Ethiopian Dynasty of Egyptian kings (c. 690-664 B.C.) The narrative in the Bible states Sennacherib invaded Judah again within two years (Isaiah 33:1; 2 Kings 18:17; 2 Chronicles 32:9; Isaiah 36). The plural years (Joel 2:25) suggests that the locust plague (Assyrian invasion) to which Joel refers was not limited to a single year. Apparently the locusts (sic) were a major problem over several successive years. During this period of foreign invasions some in the northern tribes responded to Hezekiah’s invitation to celebrate Passover at Jerusalem and it became a rallying place for the faithful remnant. We have suggested three-and-a- half years for theological reasons, for it is always associated with the eschatological time of trouble.

[11] The image used here is by Fred Espenak who has some spectacular photographs see: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhelp/eclipsePhoto.html

It is an image of the total lunar eclipse of 1992 Dec 9, which was the darkest eclipse in a decade. Months before, millions of tons of gas and ash were spewed into the atmosphere through volcanic eruptions of Mount Pinatubo (Phillipines). This debris permitted very little sunlight to reach the Moon resulting in a very dark eclipse. The “fire” and “pillars of smoke” mentioned in Joel would have the same effect –a dark blood red eclipse. These “pillars of smoke” etc may have been a consequence of the invasion  or perhaps an erruption? The Nasa Lunar Eclipse page calculates all lunar eclipses in a 5,000 year catalogue from 1999 BC to 3000 AD – it also demonstrates how to calculate the visibility of the eclipse from any known location (latitude and longitude): http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/lunar.html For the difference between a solar and lunar eclipses see http://www.keyway.ca/htm2003/20031109.htm

The reign of Hezekiah is notoriously difficult to date (see note 7) he was probably 15 when he began to reign (not 25) this increases the difficulty in pinpointing a particular lunar eclipse although the defensive work implemented by Hezekiah has been reliably dated to 700 BC http://www.ourjerusalem.com/ourjerusalem/story/oj20031214.html with the (second?) Assyrian invasion (siege) probably occurring shortly after.

[12] Interestingly Assyrian hostility is expressed as the flood of an overwhelming river (Isa.28:2; 59: 19).

[13] Heaven and Earth is a metaphorical expression encompassing the full spectrum of national affairs – both the cultic elements as well as the political; Jesus warned that “heaven and earth” would pass away (Mtt.24:35) and Peter prophetically describes the event in 2 Pet.3:10. Temple worship and nationhood were swept away in AD 70.  

[14] The Dead Sea scrolls use a similar expression (Heb., moreh hassedeq) to refer to a particular charismatic leader.

[15] For a comprehensive exegesis of Revelation 11 see http://www.carelinks.net/books/wyns/intro.htm pay particular attention to the comparison with Isaiah chapter 66.