Acts 2:17

"It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain (of the house) of the Lord shall be manifested"; "and in the last days I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh" as Joel says.

" For "in the last days," saith He," I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh."

" Now was absolutely fulfilled that promise of the Spirit which was given by the word of Joel: "In the last days will I pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and their sons and their daughters shall prophesy; and upon my servants and upon my handmaids will I pour out of my Spirit." Since, then, the Creator promised the gift of His Spirit in the latter days; and since Christ has in these last days appeared as the dispenser of spiritual gifts (as the apostle says, "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son; " and again, "This I say, brethren, that the time is short" ), it evidently follows in connection with this prediction of the last days, that this gift of the Spirit belongs to Him who is the Christ of the predicters.

But yet Almighty God, in His most gracious providence, by "pouring out of His Spirit in these last days, upon all flesh, upon His servants and on His handmaidens," has checked these impostures of unbelief and perverseness, reanimated men's faltering faith in the resurrection of the flesh, and cleared from all obscurity and equivocation the ancient Scriptures (of both God's Testaments ) by the clear light of their (sacred) words and meanings.

I see, however, that the special coming of the Holy Spirit to people is declared to have happened after Christ's ascension into heaven rather than before his coming into the world. Before that time the gift of the Holy Spirit was bestowed on prophets only and on a few others among the people who happened to have proved worthy of it.

"I will pour out of My Spirit": He said not Spirit, but "of My Spirit," for we are not able to receive the fulness of the Holy Spirit, but we receive as much as our Master divides to us of His own according to His will.

"And your sons shall prophesy." And yet, he says, not yours this achievement, this distinction; the gift has passed over to your children. Himself and his company he calls their sons, and those whom he is addressing he calls his and their fathers. "And your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy." So far he shows that he and his have found favor, in that they had received the Spirit; not so they whom he is addressing; for that they had crucified the Lord. So Christ also, willing to mitigate their wrath, said, "By whom do your sons cast out devils?" He did not say, My disciples; for indeed it seemed a flattering mode of expression. And so Peter also did not say, "They are not drunk, but speak by the Spirit:" but he takes refuge with the prophet, and under shelter of him, so speaks. As for the accusation of drunkenness, he cleared himself of that by his own assertion; but for the grace, he fetches the prophet as witness.

"I will pour out," etc. And then, that he may not seem to limit the privilege to the sons only, he subjoins, "And your old men shall dream dreams." Mark the sequence. First sons; just as David said, "Instead of thy fathers, were begotten thy sons." And again Malachi; "They shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. And on my handmaidens, and on my servants." This also is a token of excellence, for we have become His servants, by being freed from sin. And great is the gift, since the grace passes over to the other sex also, not as of old, it was limited to just one or two individuals, as Deborah and Huldah.

And besides, the sequel is enough to bear him out on this point: so now the discourse is for all in common. "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith the Lord God." Nowhere as yet the name of Christ, nor His promises but the promise is that of the Father. Observe the wisdom: observe the considerate forbearance. He did not pass on to speak at once of the things relating to Christ; that He had promised this after His Crucifixion; truly that would have been to upset all. And yet, you will say, here was sufficient to prove His divinity. True, it was, if believed (and the very point was that it should be believed); but if not believed, it would have caused them to be stoned.

And he added nothing, but, "This," says he, "is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days." He shows, in fact, that the consummation is nigh at hand, and the words, "In the last days," have a kind of emphasis.

"And I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh." He offers even to them excellent hopes, if they would have them. And so far, he does not leave it to be regarded as the exclusive advantage of himself and his company; which would have made them be looked upon with an evil eye; thus cutting off all envious feeling.

"I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh." To some the grace was imparted through dreams, to others it was openly poured forth. For indeed by dreams the prophets saw, and received revelations.

And He pours it out upon all flesh. And this is clear, that it is not upon those of the circumcision alone, but upon all without exception who are called through faith, whether they be from Greek error, whether small and great, slaves and free, barbarians and Scythians. For the grace of salvation in Christ is set before those throughout the whole world under heaven, because He Himself is "the Expectation of the nations." And he says that sons and daughters will prophesy, indicating through these things the abundance of grace and its equality for all. For the female sex would not be rejected by God, if it eagerly does the things that seem good to Him, and indeed also chooses to think, nor indeed unhonored, or without a share of holiness, if it is to be approved through faith and goodness in works; Why? For it too has been deemed worthy of grace and mercy, and it receives "the pledge of the Spirit" from God, and has been counted among the children. He says, then, that the old men shall dream dreams, and the young men shall see visions, speaking, as I think, of the older age as that which is preeminent and superior in the quantity of virtue, and as it were grown gray with splendid achievements, and distinguished and admired for its most perfect wisdom, such as was the divine Paul, who saw in a dream a certain man from Macedonia, begging him and saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us;" for so it is written in the Acts of the wise apostles.

Then he brought forward the prophecy of Joel, nowhere mentioning Christ here, and of the signs of which they were eyewitnesses, or that this had been his promise. For if he had said this, he would have overturned everything and exposed it to scorn; but he first introduces the Father who had promised these things to them through the prophet, and removes the envy; not, he says, to the apostles only, but to every flesh, clearly to those believing sincerely, and with character. For he does not mean the one who says to me, he says, "Lord, Lord," (Matt. 7:21) but the one living a life of the best sort and doing this. He does not add this, making the word of the promise more burdensome and making it light, because the request alone suffices for salvation.

I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh. The word effusion shows the largess of the gift, because, not as before to the prophets and to the priests only, but to all indiscriminately in both sexes, conditions, and persons, the grace of the Holy Spirit would be given. For what all flesh may mean, the prophet subsequently explained.

And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, etc. And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs on earth beneath. Wonders in heaven, when a new star appeared at the birth of the Lord, the sun was darkened when He ascended the cross, and the very heavens were covered with darkness. Signs on earth, when the Lord gave up the Spirit, the earth quaked, the graves opened, rocks were split, and many bodies of the saints who slept arose.

It does not say: "I will pour out My Spirit," but: "of My Spirit." Not the Spirit, but the gift of the Spirit is poured out "upon all flesh," and specifically upon that which has believed, that is, upon the Gentiles. But he does not yet reveal this to them, and the words "upon all flesh" give them good hopes and do not allow them to claim the expected blessings for themselves alone; through this very thing he also cuts off envy at its very root. But pay attention to how diverse the revelation of the Holy Spirit is. One, having the grace of the Spirit, prophesies; another, incapable of this ministry, receives the gift of visions: thus Peter at the sixth hour of the day sees a vessel, Cornelius at the ninth hour sees an Angel. A vision of the heart is not called a "glance" or a "gaze," but a "vision." One sees a vision in one way; one sees a theorem in another way, when one sees not with the eyes; one is instructed by images in yet another way, such as those that are presented in sleep.