From Woe to Whoa

Fairs and festivals have long served as vital community gatherings, bringing people together for shared experiences. For example, the upcoming Antelope Valley Fair in Lancaster, with its concerts, agricultural celebrations, art displays, traditional food, rides, and games, aims to provide a space for celebrating local culture and history. Many of us have fond memories of such events. I recall how much I enjoyed taking my young children to see the animals and explore the various exhibits at our local fair. As they grew older, their interests naturally shifted towards the excitement of food, rides, and games, illustrating how our engagement with these events can evolve. This evolution is not unique to personal experiences; fairs and festivals themselves often change over time. Across the country, many have ceased operations, scaled back, or altered their themes and timing. Such change, while sometimes challenging, is a common thread in the history of communal celebrations. This pattern of transformation can even be observed in deeply rooted traditions. For instance, the ancient harvest festival, celebrated fifty days after Passover, gradually shifted its focus towards commemorating the giving of the Law. It was for this evolved celebration, Pentecost, that Jews from across the world gathered in Jerusalem roughly two thousand years ago. While the giving of the Law to Moses originally highlighted the people’s struggles to adhere to God’s purpose, the message on that particular Pentecost underwent a profound transformation. When the disciples spoke, inspired by a prophecy from Joel, the focus shifted from past failures to a powerful message of hope and divine empowerment.

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, and your young men shall see visions. 29  Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Joel 2:28–32.

The book of Joel foretells a profound and transformative gift: the ultimate outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all people, granting universal access to God’s power. This core promise of Pentecost marks a new era of extraordinary spiritual blessings, sharply contrasting with the more limited and selective bestowal of the Spirit seen in the Old Testament, where, for instance, David prayed that the Lord would not remove the Holy Spirit from him, signifying its perceived exclusivity. Joel’s prophecy declares that the Spirit will be “poured out upon all flesh.” While Joel’s immediate audience might have understood this to encompass all of Israel, the Pentecost interpretation, powerfully articulated by Peter and later reinforced by Paul, expands this to include both Jews and Gentiles. In this context, “all flesh” signifies all within the community of God’s people, without distinction of age, gender, or social status: “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.” This highlights a radical expansion of direct access to God’s Spirit and His divine communication. Joel further explains that this outpouring of the Spirit manifests through prophecy, dreams, and visions—different modes of God’s revelation that symbolize a full manifestation of Himself to all, not merely through miraculous gifts, but through His indwelling Spirit.

The universal need for God’s Spirit becomes particularly critical because the world desperately requires divine intervention. While humanity often seeks solutions from earthly powers, God calls us to rely on power from above. Joel illustrates this divine intervention with striking signs: “wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon to blood.” Though these vivid images allude to physical cosmic events, they are also interpreted symbolically as representing political revolutions, shifts in ruling powers, and broader cosmic convulsions that precede significant divine judgment. Despite the enduring ills of our world—wars, disease, poverty, and a pervasive lack of concern for neighbors—the promise of the Holy Spirit offers assurance that God will ultimately set things right. For centuries, Christians have sought to discern the timing of God’s final intervention by interpreting these signs from history and the heavens. However, the prophecy of Joel also signifies a dramatic reversal of fortunes for God’s repentant people. While the “Day of the Lord” has often been described as a day of destruction with dire consequences, Joel’s message, primarily through the lens of Pentecost, holds forth the prospect of profound hope and deliverance. This deliverance is integral to God’s promised blessings of restoration, including freedom from death and destruction. Rather than merely “looking between the lines” for future events, we are, like Peter in Acts 2, called to interpret Joel’s prophecy as having been partially fulfilled by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit during Pentecost. This historic event marks the beginning of God’s direct intervention, leading to ultimate deliverance and salvation for all who call on the name of the Lord. On that day, salvation is found in Jerusalem, representing God’s dwelling place, accessible to all who sincerely call upon Him.

This salvation from the plague of sin and separation from a holy God is made universally available through Christ Jesus and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. Deliverance is promised to “whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord.” This “calling on the name of the Lord” implies more than a simple plea for help; it signifies worshipping Yahweh, acknowledging allegiance to Him, and applying to Him for salvation. The New Testament applies this concept directly to calling on the name of Jesus, thereby equating Jesus with Yahweh and implying a call on the Messiah in His divine attributes. Furthermore, deliverance is declared to be found in Mount Zion and Jerusalem. While these locations hold significant historical and geographical meaning in the Old Testament, they are also understood symbolically in the New Testament as referring to the spiritual Israel or the Church. Deliverance is also found “among the survivors,” referring to a remnant whom the Lord shall call. This highlights that God’s sovereign grace chooses those delivered and are part of a called-out remnant, emphasizing the interconnectedness of human calling on the Lord and the Lord’s divine calling.

Prior to Jesus’ arrival, the ancient festivals served as vital reminders of God’s redemptive acts and the constant need for human reliance on Him. Following Christ’s sacrifice, our dependence on God remains, yet the burden of meticulous sacrifices has been lifted, fully accomplished by Jesus on the cross. Beyond offering universal salvation, God further empowers us to instigate genuine transformation in our world by bestowing the Holy Spirit upon us at Pentecost. This gift transcended all human distinctions—language, origin, or circumstance—becoming universally present and active. Therefore, as we might yearn for “the good old days” and lament perceived changes, we must recall the monumental shift God initiated two millennia ago. Through the Gospel, mourning was transformed into celebration, and the awesome gift of the Holy Spirit eternally reframed the world’s woes.