Jesus also drew on imagery from Joel when describing the day of the Lord in the Olivet Discourse (Mt 24:29; Mk 13:24 // Joel 2:10; 2:31; Mt 25:31-46 // Joel 2:30-31).
Peter famously quoted Joel 2:28-32 in Acts 2:17-21. The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost and the prophesying in tongues were fulfillments of Joel’s prophecy. More puzzling to some is the fact that Peter also mentions “wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes” (Acts 2:19-20). Some insist that Peter’s inclusion of these elements must mean that what Joel described with these words must have already taken place. Thus, the wonders and signs are taken to refer to Jesus’s miracles,[1] the sun turning to darkness refers to the darkness at the crucifixion,[2] the moon turning to blood to a lunar eclipse, which took place at Passover in AD 33, a potential date for the crucifixion.[3] However, these interpreters have trouble accounting for the “blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke,” which probably do not refer to the blood of Christ shed on the cross, the tongues of fire that appeared above heads at Pentecost, and the cloud into which Jesus ascended.[4] While it is the case that the cross was the day of the Lord judgment being poured out on Jesus, and while the darkness recounted in the gospels is a sign of this, the lunar eclipse is not mentioned in Scripture, nor are the other elements associated with the crucifixion. It is best therefore, to understand that Peter is not claiming that everything that Joel prophesied was happening right then. Peter was instead recognizing that some of it was taking place and that the last days had arrived. He did not know that the last days last thousands of years.[5]
Peter culminates his quotation with the statement, “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). Paul also picks up on this statement from Joel in Romans 10:13. Thus, Joel, one of the earliest writing prophets testifies to the way of salvation and that it is open to Jew and Gentile alike.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:52 both connect the trumpet with the day of the Lord, which may be a connection rooted in Joel 2:1 and Hebrews 12:26 may be referring to Joel 3:16 when it speaks of the Lord shaking the heavens and the earth when he comes.
The trumpet judgments of Revelation 8-9, as well as drawing on the exodus plagues are drawing on Joel 2. Joel said a fire would burn before these eschatological locusts (2:3), and the first trumpet judgment is one of fire (Rev. 8:7). The second and third trumpet judgments involve flaming objects falling from heaven (Rev. 8:8, 10). Joel said that this would be “a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness” (2:2) and that before the invaders “the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining” (Joel 2:10). The fourth trumpet judgment involves the striking of the sun, moon, and stars, bringing a degree of darkness to the earth (Rev. 8:12). The “army” that descends upon Israel are described in terms that evoke the locust plague recounted in chapter 1 without calling the invading “people” locusts. They are not normal locusts since they are opposed with weapons and they are described not as destroying crops but as invading cities.[6] On the other hand, this is not a human invasion force since their appearance is compared to that of horses (2:4). The fifth trumpet judgment describes strange locusts that look and sound like horses (Rev 8:7, 9 // Joel 2:4-5), but these “locusts” do not eat grass; they have scorpion tails that are used to hurt people (Rev. 8:5-6, 10; cf. Joel 2:6, “Before them the people are in anguish”). The sixth trumpet judgment portrays another invading army with strange horses that wound and kill humans. Though the connection between the sixth trumpet and Joel 2 is not as clear, it could be included in the description of the invading army. Finally, it is worth noting that Joel 2 describes an invasion of Israel, while the trumpet judgments extend to the world.
[1] Schnabel, Acts, ZECNT, 138.
[2] Bruce, Acts, NICNT, 62; Schnabel, Acts, ZECNT, 138; cf. Nass, Joel, CC, 450 (Nass also sees a future fulfillment when Christ returns).
[3] Bruce, Acts, NICNT, 62; Nass, Joel, CC, 450; noted in Schnabel, Acts, ZECNT, 139, n. 44, but rejected because Schnabel dates the crucifixion at AD 30.
[4] Noted and rejected by Schnabel, Acts, ZECNT, 138-39. While Schnabel wants to see fulfillment at the cross of Christ for this prophecy, at this point he concedes that these elements are future and that the judgment at the cross is linked to the eschatological day of the Lord judgment. Ibid., 139.
[5] Garrett, Hosea, Joel NAC, 373-74; Longenecker, “Acts,” EBC, 276; Peterson, Acts, PNTC, 143-44.
[6] Nass, CC, 216. Note, however, that Nass sees this judgment as active throughout the last days rather than limited to the period of Christ’s coming.