Through God’s Covenant with Abraham all people will have the choice of spending eternity with God through the salvation He gifts mankind in Jesus Christ. God delays the judgement out of His great love for humanity, His creation.
No greater love exists!
Acts 2:21
And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the LORD
Shall be saved.’
When we experience troubling times, may we also learn to pivot spiritually, recounting God's past faithfulness and trusting Him in our present anguish. May we cry out to Him alone, knowing that our suffering is not unfamiliar to Jesus and that He is the One who can answer our call of distress. Then may we determine to tell of His marvelous wonders and His power to save to all those who will listen. First5
God, our Shepherd, doesn’t check the weather; he makes it. He doesn’t defy gravity; he created it. Jesus said, “God is Spirit.” He has no limitations. Unchanging. Uncaused. Ungoverned. Don’t we need this kind of shepherd?
You don’t need to carry the burden of a lesser god—a god on a shelf, a god in a box, or a god in a bottle. No, you need a God who can place 100 billion stars in our galaxy and 100 billion galaxies in the universe. A God who can shape two fists of flesh into 75 to 100 billion nerve cells, each with as many as 10,000 connections to other nerve cells, place it in a skull, and call it a brain. And you have one. He is your Shepherd. Max Lucado
Joel 2:28-32
28 “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, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. The New King James Version
The Spirit of Yahweh was an expected part of future redemption. I will pour out my Spirit alludes to a state of prophetic exhilaration brought on by the Spirit of Yahweh. I will set wonders in the heavens echoes earlier descriptions of the cosmic upheaval that will accompany the Day of Yahweh.
Joel 2:32 everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh was quoted by the Apostle Paul in Romans 10:13.
The valley of Jehoshaphat an unknown location with a symbolic name that means “the Valley where Yahweh will judge.” This is the place where Yahweh gathers the nations for judgment.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all include a tradition of a final divine judgment in this valley. The traditional identification connects the site with the part of the Kidron Valley just east of Jerusalem. The pseudepigraphal book of 1 Enoch also describes a final judgment taking place in a deep valley (1 Enoch 53:1, 54:1). Both Assyria and Babylon were responsible for deporting Israelites. The scattering was one of the punishments emphasized in the covenant curses. Israel became an Assyrian province after 722 bc. Judah was a province of Babylon and Persia (586 bc and 539 bc). Judah had no independent political existence until after the successful Maccabean revolt in 167 bc. Faithlife Study Bible
Afterward indicates the prophetic future; this word is a signal that the text was pointing to the messianic age. Pour out is derived from the imagery of Israel’s heavy winter rains; it speaks here of abundant provision.
All flesh anticipates the inclusion of both Jews and Gentiles in one body in Christ. The ministries of the Spirit mentioned here were experienced in the early church. The outpouring of the Spirit and the ministries done through His power will be accomplished without regard to gender, age, or class.
The heavenly wonders described here will take place before the great and awesome day of the Lord, an apparent reference to the end times. Blood and fire correspond with Revelations 8:7, 8. Smoke corresponds with Revelations 9:18. Darkness corresponds with Revelations 8:12. Moon into blood corresponds with Revelations 6:12.
Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord—that is believes—will be saved from the judgment that will fall on the wicked and unbelieving. The NKJV Study Bible
Acts 2:17
‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
Acts 2:18
And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
Acts 2:19
I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
Acts 2:20
The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
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